sao paulo

A dreadful flight. Not because of turbelence or anything but some Brazilians decided unilaterally to change a whole series of seats with the result that I got a really sh*t seat sitting beside some man-mountain. I suppose I was too polite to protest although I should have. I was quitely enraged. It felt just like those pushy seat changing Isreali's I encountered in Cambodia.

At least when I got through arrivals the bloke at the tourist information both was really helpful. My Portugese is simply laughable and he sorted me out with a hotel. Quite a relief as few people speak English. A quick bus trip and I was in Sao Paulo. I wasn't exactly in the nice part of town. It was dimly lit and many shadowy characters lurked about. I had been warned about the city. Crime is rampant. Thankfully nothing of note happened. I try to carry a 'don't mess with me' deportment when I walk around.

I stayed in the old town partly as hotel rates are cheaper but it isn't very nice to be around after dark. But the main sights are there so it suited me. The old town is dirty and neglected. Tramps and beggars abound. It seems like the pavements were primarily set aside for the homeless. Sad really for what is one of the worlds wealthiest country's. It boasts one of the tallest buildings in the region and I went up and had a look. The thing that really amazed me was to see over a dozen helicopters buzzing over the city. Presumably ferrying the businessman from meeting to meeting. Understandable in a way as the traffic below is impassable.

The new town is all spick and span. It is here that the wealthy live in their gated communities. Patrolled by security and nursed by maids. The new town is all high rise buildings. The historic buildings giving way to the gaudy, modernist. Apart from that there is little else to see. I found the one Irish pub here. I met some of the locals and ended up debating the stark inequality of the city. And it is stark.

The metro system allowed me to get around this megapolis fairly easily. But in truth there isn't a lot to see or do in all the city. It isn't really a tourist magnet but interesting to see if for nothing else than being home to over 29 million people. The second largest city on earth.

buenos aires

As it happened Jacky pushed back her return date again. And before thinking about the upcoming Peru elections. Voting is mandatory so she would have to stomach a nice fine for not voting. The Peruvian consulate were unhelpful in the extreme. It seems that a Peruvian can't travel on election day. Democracy, eh!

Coming from the bus station we managed to jump the taxi queue by virtue of Jacky showing a bit of leg. The driver was very keen to talk and flatter me. I soon discovered why when I tried to pay for some empanada's. The c*nt gave me all fake notes as change. Almost $35. What's worse is I tipped the c*nt nicely too!

I have now stayed in Buenos Aires so many times that there isn't anything left to see. The only novelty was taking the underground train. A very antiquated system but one that works well and efficiently. Oh, I forgot. We went along to the Boca district to see the colourful houses of the early Italian immigrants. And of course to see the famous Boca stadium. Unfortunately there were no home games at this time so a tour of the ground was all we got. The chocolate box, as it is called, is a small compact stadium. A bit like highbury. It is said that the atmosphere is electric on match days. For me, it was great to stand on the grass where one of my idols, Diego, cut his teeth. I stocked up on plenty of merchandise especially tee shirts gloating about the hand of God and the goal of the century.

A few tonnes of beef later and Jacky was set to fly home. We bid our mournful goodbyes and off she went. So it was back to solo travel again. Naturally I would downgrade the quality of hotels in a bid to save money. Something that I am not very good at. I also had to think of the next place to go and make a plan of how to reach Rio for the end of November for my flight out of the continent. I studied the bus journeys to southern Brazil and the journey duration was just to much to take. So I bought an expensive flight to Sao Paulo.

And so I bid farwell to Argentina. One of my favourite countries. The people get bad press for being brash and arrogant. I don't find them that way at all. I really like them. I enjoy their culture and their lifestyle. Good eating, excellent wines and a nice outlook on life. They are well organised and have some beautiful cities, Buenos Aires being a jewel. One of the great benefits of traveling in Argentina is it is very inexpensive. I had a thoroughly great time there.