Travel Week 20
Day 134:
| Breakfast | 110 |
| El Chabot Hostel (2 nights) | 880 |
| Bife a la Portuguese | 410 |
| Coffee | 80 |
| Personal | 100 |
| Happy hour Beers | 270 |
| Pizza and a pitcher | 400 |
| Total: | 2260 ARS (28.68 USD) (RMB 201) |
Having run out of coffee beans, my daily coffee expenses are significantly higher. The availability/quality of beans in supermarkets is depressingly low, and while unexpectedly I found two different gourmet coffee shops in which one could theoretically buy beans, both were effectively out of stock and waiting for a new shipment from their Buenos Aires-based roasters. The Airbnb was nice, but I moved back into a hostel to round out the last couple of days in Salta. Though not lacking any phone credit, I took advantage of an offer 250 MB free by charging .
Day 135:
| Saeta bus card | 120 |
| Ice cream | 130 |
| Vea Supermarket | 743 |
| Total: | 993 ARS (12.60 USD) (RMB 88.3) |
I took a day drip over to the town of San Lorenzo and its “famous” quebrada (valley) for a couple of hours of hiking. I had to drop 70 pesos to purchase the bus card (more than the round trip of the bus) because my hostel didn’t have one available to borrow and I was assured that it was both cheap and a “good souvenir.”
I secured additional funding from Western Union at a less optimal rate than my last time getting cash. (New rate 77.5) Bought ingredients to make steak and chicken fajitas for dinner.
Day 136:
| Remis (taxi) to terminal | 130 |
| Bus ticket to Catamarca | 2150 |
| Luggage handler | 10 |
| Total: | 2290 ARS (29.06 USD) (RMB 203.7) |
Technically, I should log this expenses under day 137 as they all occurred after midnight (a 1:30 am bus is not fun).
Day 137:
| Luggage handler | 10 |
| Bus ticket to La Rioja | 560 |
| Coffee at terminal | 110 |
| Taxi | 130 |
| Wayra Hostel (2 nights) | 900 |
| Changomas burgers | 428 |
| Total: | 2138 ARS (27.59 USD) (RMB 193.4) |
My friend whom I was planning to visit bailed on me, prompting me to buy a ticket onward to the next town about as soon as I arrived in dusty, little San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. La Rioja wasn’t much better with the new terminal a solid 3-4 km outside of town and an afternoon temperature of 39 degrees. Sleep La Rioja takes a siesta from 1pm to 6pm, with businesses not even opening back up until closer to 7 or 8pm. Luckily, I found Changomas, which is a Wal-Mart owned brand in Latin America and looks like a Sam’s Club. I purchased enough ingredients to make four cheeseburgers with french fries.
Day 138:
| Grido ice cream | 80 |
| Coffee | 80 |
| Happy Hour @ Templo | 155 |
| Total: | 315 ARS (4.06 USD) (RMB 28.5) |
There wasn’t much to do in La Rioja with the one possibly interesting museum closed for Monday and the “nearby” national/provincial parks inaccessible without an expensive tour package or one’s own vehicle. This was the first time I had bad coffee in a cafe sitting, when otherwise it has always been a decent espresso.
Day 139:
| Cab to terminal | 85 |
| Diet Coke | 60 |
| Bus to San Juan | 1650 |
| Luggage x2 | 20 |
| Snack (crackers) | 20 |
| Hostel Destino (2 nights) | 1000 + 3.09 USD |
| Coffee Merienda | 100 |
| Groceries (American goulash) | 364 |
| Total: | 45.66 USD (RMB 320) |
I managed to save some money by sharing a cab to the terminal in the morning before the interminably long ride to San Juan. The direct route passes by the aforementioned parks, but the bus driver preferred to take the un-scenic and longer route. To make up for all the walking, I booked a hostel literally 50 meters from San Juan’s bus terminal and took a good walk through the charming, relaxed provincial capital.
Day 140:
| Museum of Natural Science | 150 |
| Coffee and alfajor | 140 |
| Vegetarian buffet | 220 |
| Beer and snacks | 295 |
| Total: | 805 ARS (10.39 USD) (RMB 72.8) |
There were actually things to do in San Juan (according to the tourist information office), but my timing wasn’t very good for some of the things I would have liked to see (Museum of Wine, Museum of Olive Oil, the art museum etc). The very expensive Museum of Natural Science was dedicated to dinosaur fossils, and I learned that the provincial park I skipped is the equivalent of Montana’s Badlands for paleontology.
Not the cheapest week with all the traveling around, but still bringing down the daily average.
Running Total: 3655.82 USD (RMB 25620.72)
Daily Average: 26.11 USD (RMB 183)