Argentina...home to the best steaks in the world! For months now, long before I arrived here, I kept hearing "wait til you get to Argentina" regarding how good the beef is and how much steak I am going to eat while here. And finally, I can now share the same story. Argentina is a vegetarian's nightmare!!! Every restaurant offers huge cuts of beef at bargain basement prices. And after many many months of chicken, rice, and beans, every backpacker I see is gorging themselves with the red meat alternative. I even met an Englishman in my hostel that claims to have "beef poisoning" he's eaten so much steak! I'm not sure if that's possible but Argentina presents every traveler with an opportunity to have the best fillet mignon in the world, at the nicest restaurants, every night of the week. Personally, I am participating in this activity 100%!
Argentina is also famous for some pretty good red wine so now that has a place in my daily diet as well. So how is it possible to feast like a king on a daily basis? Simple, I just thank Argentina's past governments for years of unsound fiscal policy and sit back and wait for the financial crisis to ensue! The result, which occurred a few years ago now, devalued the Argentinian Peso big time. It was once locked to the value of the American dollar one for one (bad idea). But after the crisis, it dropped in value so drastically that the current exchange is just over 3 pesos for $1 USD. In other words, the former $18 dollar, inch-and-a-half thick T-bone steak I eat still costs 18 like it did before.. but 18 pesos... these days, that's 6 bucks to me. And the $30 peso bottle of wine I share with my dinner companions is just less than $10 bucks... get it??? (SECRET: For those who are severely mathematically challenged or cannot see a pattern even on a plaid shirt, you just divide by three to get the price in American dollars) So there's your little history lesson and political commentary regarding Argentina. So for now, I will continue my pursuit of "beef poisoning".

I am in the far north of Argentina and bus service to the small towns and villages is less than ideal for day trips. So on the advice of a girl I met from Paraguay (yes, I explained that I am not happy about her country's visa policy for Americans), I rented a car with Max and Javier from France and Spain respectively. We beat that thing all day on the dusty back roads and long desert stretches of the Argentinian north. The scenery was awesome, it was fun to drive again, and we had the freedom to stop and go as we pleased... an unavailable option when using the bus.