Argentina and the Blue Dollar

Got to (Chile Chico) last night. Checked into same stoopid hostel. Met a couple of people on the bus. Clarice ("Well, Clarice - have the lambs stopped screaming?"), from France. She knows everything. And even when she doesn't she annoyingly pretends she does, and Martin from the Netherlands. He speaks really good English but I couldn't undershdand a word he shaid cosh he shpoke like thish all the time, really fasht too! A pretty uneventful evening and next morning then we all caught the 1030am bus which crossed the border to to Los Antiguos in Argentina.

The Blue Dollar

So let me tell you what I've learned about Argentina and the US dollar. It's probably a lot more political than this but my simple understanding is this: The Argentina Peso is very unsteady at the moment and in the next couple of months it's value could drop dramatically leaving people here completely skint! So the only way the Argentinians can save any money is in US dollars, which are much more secure. Because of this, they will pay over the going rate for dollars, sometimes 50% more. The locals have been banned from obtaining dollars through banks so the only way they can get them is from us tourists. Win win situation for all of us right?. The only problem is that dodgy people have taken advantage of this situation and it's entirely possible the pesos I am given will be fake. Especially if you walk down the street in Buenos Aires and you hear someone shouting "cambios cambios!" This is a blue dollar trader and they will take you to an unmarked office in a back street.

So I have a couple of hundred dollars I'm willing to gamble. That's what life's all about right?