montevideo

Jacky and I took the overnight bus to Montevideo. All new to her but familar to me. But this time round I would have a Spanish speaker rather than a bumbling gringo to find the way.

I made a promise to go to Paraquay to show her around. Another stamp in her passport, I suppose! All part of my grand plan to give her things that she wouldn't have the chance to do otherwise. Call it 'charitable tourism'. Maybe it is derived from a sense of guilt about my relkative wealth.

I like the country and their mate drinking ways but whether I like it so much that I would visit it again is another matter. Never mind within a matter of weeks. But I am here nonetheless. Maybe this time I will find new things, see new things and experience new things.

Checked into the same hotel. Ventured out, spent a little more time in places seen before. Jacky was keen to record all on an old Sony camcorder. I obliged, figuring myself to have some cinematic skill. I think the novelty held me and allowed a certain detachment. Otherwise I would have felt bored.

Having Jacky with me makes things easier. I can leave the lingo to her and get what I want without jumping through linguistic hoops. And she's a drinker too. That's always a bonus.

buenos aires

The crossing of the River Plate took just a little over a hour by fast ferry. We had quite a panic trying to sort out a hotel despite all our online efforts. I don't know why but I have never experienced problems with hotels as I have in Buenos Aires. Sue generously splashed out on a really nice central place and it was quite a luxury too.

It was more of the same with Buenos Aires. Eating far too much beef and all. We got to see the remaining attractions. Observe the dog handlers walking around with 15 dogs. Watch the grinding poverty of the street people as they toil away collect garbage. They had a demonstration one day with the simple demand for dignified work. Fancy that. It is hard to reconcile it with the many rich in their fortified apartments with armies of domestic support. Sadly I will remember Buenos Aires for its profound inequality too. The number of dog beauty shops is quite disturbing too.

My passport still hadn't arrived when I got to Buenos Aires. Why it had taken over a month I don't know. I was fed the usual excuses and was a bit worried given the lack of page space in my current passport. It would mean problems for me.

Sue soon headed back to London after her South American foray. It was very nice to have the company of a friend for the past month. We travelled at a swift pace and took in many places and it is to Sue that I have to thank for making Easter Island possible for me. But with Sue gone I had to go through the usual headache of finding a new hotel. I walked to no less than a dozen establishments and not one place had availability. I was getting desperate. But I eventually I found one as I was just reaching the end of my tether. Maybe my bad Spanish is to blame.

This was very much needed as soon, Jacky, my Peruvian chicka would be arriving for a two week stint with yours truly. She arrived safely but managed to take the wrong bag of the
carosel at the airport. This significant oversight was only discovered as we walked into the hotel reception. The upshot for me was that I had to make three taxi trips to the airport that day.

So I had another round of seeing Buenos Aires, take in some markets, see some tango dancing and wolf down inordinate amounts of beef with lashings of quality red wine. And all very inexpensively. The weather was very nice too.

Thankfully the embassy got in touch to advise the arrival of my passport. Computer problems in Dublin apparently. I was disappointed that the place of issue wasn't stated as Buenos Aires, just good auld Dublin.