sorry I haven't written any blog entry for so many days by now. I was busy and did not want to write it because it always takes so much time..

So first would like to tell you what Ï've learned so far during the two weeks of traveling in Argentina. It's a lot and maybe you will benefit from one thing or another ;)

1. don't ever think of travelling alone to South America (especially outside Argentina) at least if you're female and/or blonde.

2. stay always alert. always, with no exception. you should always be aware of the people surrounding you and stay even more alert if there is no person you can see.

3. avoid staying near or walking by or be followed by young guys, especially if they wear a cap and seem to do nothing but hanging around. if you encounter a group of those young fellows the best is to walk away as fast as you can.

4. if you're at a bus terminal, don't talk to anybody except for the person at the cash desk. and even then be aware of what's happening next to you.

5. don't use your camera unless it's absolutely necessary.

6. put the most valuable things in a secure place and always be conscious of the fact, that actually a safe place for your passport does not exist (at least not in South America)

7. don't stay any night alone with a male couchsurfer especially if you feel "uneasy" with him.

8. always make sure, that all your stuff is there. look at least twice whether you have left something before leaving the place you have been. especially if it was a bus.

9. don´t trust Argentine policemen (and the rest of South America's policemen even less then "not trust")

10. don't use any taxi without having ordered it by telephone and the price agreed upon in advance.

11. if someone attracts your attention by pointing at some dirt on your backpack or clothes RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN. it's a VERY common trick to rob people in South America.

12. South America is as double expensive as you have ever thought. In most areas Argentina has the same price level as Austria.

13. If you're alone make sure to be back to your ho(s)tel before the sun comes down.

14. Finally: STAY ALWAYS ALERT and be aware of the fact that even this measure will not avoid unpleasent incidents.


okay.. so what happened during the last ten days or so?

I was in

Mar del Plata

where I stayed at the brewer Gabriel and his maniac girlfriend Julieta. We spent a great time together and as Gabriel is a great cook I also tried a lot of really good tasting Argentine stuff.
With him I also drank my first MATE. Mate is the Argentine national drink, it´s type of tea and difficult to explain. And because I'm already tired I won't explain to you the Mate thing now - although it's really intresting!
In Mar del Plata a strange tiredness stopped me from doing too many activities so I limited myself to walking along the beaches, jumping the 2-3 metre waves there, strolling with a couchsurfer through the city, looking for new sun glasses and visiting one of the biggest sea lion (dt: Seelöwe, esp: Lobos del Mar, Russ: морско́й лев) colonies only half a kilometre away from the city. It was an amazing experience to see those big, fat animals living in the wild on the beach and watch and smell them sleeping, burping, fighting, cuddling and lying around as if they were dead.
On the last day in Mar del Plata I was fed up by the city and hopped the bus to Sierra de los Padres, some kind of local holiday area, 15 km away from MdP. There I was walking for hours to and around a big lake named "Laguna de los Padres" where I saw wild Capibaras, many, many birds, numerous fishers and some kind of "Waldorfschule" nearby. I liked this much more than the nonexciting city...
So I left Mar del Plata last Thursday and took a bus to Puerto Madryn. This ride lasted 17 hours - yippie yay!

Puerto Madryn

To be honest, my first day in Puerto Madryn wasn't THAT nice... First of all, I nearly lost my 200€ shoes and I lost my expensive sun glasses for real (two days after I've bought them). Then my couchsurfer was one of the ugly kind.
So I fled to a hostel, which was EXTREMELY nice :) I met a whole bunch of interesting travelers who gave me many tips and with whom I spent great time together.
The city of Puerto Madryn is even less exciting then that of Mar del Plata. What's intresting about this place is its surroundings! To cut a long story short:

- I was snorkelling with wild, cute sea lion babies :) :) :) :) :) :)

- I stood only a few centimetres away from cute, small, wild, penguins :) :) :) :) :) :)

- I visited a boring Welsh village and ate a lot of Welsh cake ;)

Furthermore I ate much, much meat. You know, there's some kind of saying that if you come as a vegetarian to Argentina, the country of the best meat of the world, you'll leave as a carnivorian....



so....

after a 29 hours bus ride to Ushuaia, the most southern city of the world, where I arrived only a few hours ago, I am extremely tired and sorry that I don't want to write more. I hope you understand this. At least you would, if you had done the same trip like I did today/yesterday :P

PS: it's snowing!!!