Farewell Argentina in true Argentina style: meat, wine and a different kind of crowd surfing

It’s been well over a month since we arrived in Argentina and we’ve loved our time in the beef and wine country. Having decided to head back to Bolivia to learn Spanish, we’d been dreading the 37 hour bus trip from Buenos Aires to Santa Cruz de la Sierra. But, come the end of Carnival, it was a reality, a next day reality! So, with no sleep at all, we caught a bus back to Buenos Aires and, having a mere twelve hours left in the big city, we did the essentials. We had our last taste of street food - a choripan (sausage sizzle), smothered with our all time favourite, chimichurri. This was followed (after a long siesta) by a final meal at the amazing San Telmo steakhouse, Desnivel, accompanied by a good bottle of local red.

The following day on our way to board our 9.15am bus, we were given one last parting memory of Argentina, provided this time by our ride on the metro: peak-hour. The backpacking way means we take public transport whenever we can, and this includes when we’re laden with our heavy packs. So you can imagine the look on our faces when, 45 minutes before our bus left, we physically couldn’t fit on the train. It was impossible. There were just too many bodies crammed into each carriage. So we waited for the next one, hoping for a change. Same deal. This time, however, the urgency of getting to the bus station on time took over. Like front rowers charging a scrum we did the same to the pack of unsuspecting passengers on their way to work. Surprisingly, us and our packs (which made us four people, not two) made it on unscathed. So my parting memory of Buenos Aires - and Argentina - is not the meat or the wine, but standing like an upright sardine in a can, swaying with the movement of a sweaty crowd as the train took corner after corner, hoping desperately that no one person would send us all falling down like a set of dominoes.

So thanks for the memories Argentina, I’ll miss you!

Before heading to Sucre, we’re off to spend two weeks volunteering at an animal sanctuary called Inti Wara Yassi, near Villa Tunari in Bolivia. I have a feeling that the monkeys and pumas there aren’t huge users of the internet, which means the blog’s going to have to have a two week siesta. Not to worry, sure there’ll be plenty of material in the making over the next fortnight. Until then xo