Choose another map, showing:

• South America (south)
• South America (central)
• South America
• The World

Other entries in Argentina

Losing Weight in Buenos Aires

I can´t believe we did it again! This is the fourth time since we started this trip that we decided we must lose weight, i.e. get rid of some gear!  The 1^st time was in Bogota, when we realized we could not get all our stuff in our panniers.  We abandoned clothes, straps and various stuff. A few months later in Cochabamba we sent back home a parcel weighting over 5 kg, and again, we abandoned a few bits and pieces in the hostal. The 3^rd time was when my bike was stolen. I had to travel to Porto Alegre by bus and Alistair would carry most of the stuff, including my motorcycle gear. I was only taking my 2 panniers as hand luggage. We gave lots of camping gear to a couple of Belgian travelling on a 4X4 and ditched some none essential stuff in the hostel.

This time we have been very ruthless.  After using most of our spare parts in Buenos Aires servicing the bikes, we decided to leave behind some of the rest. We don´t need 2 clutch cables or 2 sets of levers, one set should be enough, plus we were carrying 2 rear inner tubes for example. We also left all the cooking stuff and stove. In total we filled a bag with 7 kg of excess gear that we will store in Buenos Aires at DakarMotos until we come back in March.  Obviously the reason for this is that I had to leave my panniers in Porto Alegre.  With the support frame of my panniers stolen, I could not keep them, I have to continue the trip with a roll bag strapped on the back seat.  It means we must travel light!  

So we made it to Buenos Aires (BAs) in the end! Getting off the ferry we were met by Karl, a fellow biker. This was when Alistair discovered what he hoped was a particularly Porteno custom of blokes kissing blokes as a greeting (more on that later).  So we had escort service to get to the flat.  I got in contact with Karl by internet, through the www.HorizonsUnlimited.com website.  Few months ago I posted if someone could advise me where I could rent a flat for 2 weeks in BAs.  Karl sent me an email offering his father´s flat and the deal was done!  Top bloke all around.  He even invited us to the family country home for an asado one weekend (but more of that later).

The 2 weeks we spent in BAs were busy. We had a lot to sort out: Take our bikes to DakarMotos for maintenance and repairs, find insurance for both bikes, replace our stolen camping gear (sleeping bags and mattresses), a few Spanish lessons for Alistair… 

DakarMotos is a famous place among motorcycle travellers. There is a constant stream of travellers calling in. Many people from Europe ship their bikes to BAs and will stay few days or weeks while they get their bikes out of customs. These people congregate at DakarMotos and can even sleep there, either pitching a tent in the garden of the workshop, or using one of the bunk-beds in the dorm.  As we kept going back to check progress of the work on my bike and for Alistair to work on his, we met lots of people there, mostly Germans and Dutch but also Irish, English......!  It´s also a great place to chill, drink mate or a coffee, a sandwich de lomo or share a pizza.  Some people don´t seem to want ever to leave (mentioning no names - Daniel).

A great BAs tradition is the asado (BBQs).  We went for a couple of Asados during our stay in BAs. One at DakarMotos and one at Karl´s father´s country house.  Forget the Aussies,  Argentinians really know how to put on a BBQ!  Count on ½ to 1kg of meat PER PERSON! And very little else! I can´t see how a vegeterian could survive in Argentina! I am not sure it is a true story of some sort of “urban legend” but there is a story that goes like this: 

- A tourist traveling around Argentina goes to a restaurant. As he is tired of eating so much meat he ask the waitress: “Would you have some vegetables or salad on the menu” The waitress replies quite seriously “We have chicken”!!  

The asado at Karl´s country house was an excellent full day affair.  Most of the inhabitants of DakarMotos were invited along with his friends and the friends of Javier´s.  They really are the most open friendly people the Argentinians.  There was so much meat even the seasoned asado eaters couldn´t finish it off.

As I mentioned earlier, the men in BAs greet each other with a kiss.   Alistair has been resisting the advances of his brother in law, Francois, every visit as he also subscribes to this way of greeting.  Obviously for the British this is a nightmare.  Usually a handshake is considered a bit too much, you might get a nod of the head though. However there will be no escape now, as by the end of our stay in BAs greeting blokes with a kiss (on the cheek I should clarify) became the norm - even the big sweaty ones!

Sometimes BAs was just a little too close to home for my liking.  We did nearly all our shopping in a supermarket (though little shops still exist unlike a lot of the UK) and a lot of people pay relatively small sums with credit cards.  This also happens in the petrol stations.-  I´d almost forgotten just how annoying this is after surviving on cash only for the last 6 months.  Then there are the mothers clogging the streets on the schools run.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh!  I thought I´d left that back in Surrey.  At least here they don´t use 4x4s the size of a small tank to ferry their kid around.  However, even taking these things into account I´d have to say that BAs is a great place to spend time.  The friendly nature of the people and pace of life far outweigh any downsides.  Oh, and the people even look like they are enjoying life.  Not something you can say about every place. 

Leaving BAs after 2 weeks, with the bikes fixed, the next stop was Azul.  Now, you won´t find this town mentioned in any travel guide. It is however a very famous place in the Motorcycle travelling world. Everybody goes there and stops at “La Posta del Viajero en Moto”. For over 13 years now, Pollo, (real name Jorge) and Monica, have been opening their house to travellers. You can either pitch your tent in the garden or use the travellers building and one of the bunk beds in the room. Fitted with a kitchen and shower room, it is simple but very convenient. Pollo has always refused any money from the travellers in compensation for the accommodation. He simply enjoys having travelers as guests, and he had had many visitors over the years! How is that that the poorer people are always the most generous? 

Anyone in the UK, or Northern Europe for that matter (except France and Germany obviously where the official working week is down to about half an hour these days I believe), bitching about working long hours (we´ve all done it at some point and I´m no exception) should consider Jorges daily routine.  Between him and his wife they have 5 jobs to make ends meet and send one daughter to university, and this is the guy who refuses to take money off travellers who use his facilities.  He´s already gone to an office job by the time we get up, returns at 3pm and opens his shop and if there aren´t any customers does some metalwork for customers in his workshop.  Monica is out during the day doing a bit of cleaning and then has an evening job working at childrens parties!  Makes you think just how easy a life a lot of us have back in the UK.

Pollo is appreciated for his generosity I´m glad to say.  In 2005  the Japanese bikers pooled together and invited Pollo to Japan.  He would never had been able to pay for such a trip himself. It was the dream of a lifetime come true! As he had expressed the wish to visit a Honda factory the local bikers organized the visit.  Arriving at the factory, there were 2 big flags at the entrance, one Japanese, one Argentinian! There, he also met with the parents of Tokisho.  Tokisho had visited La Posta in 1996, during a round the world motorcycle trip. In 1999 he went missing in Libya. In January 2003, his remains were found by Bedouins in the Libyan desert. He had got lost and died of dehydration. Pollo corresponded with his parents and met them during his visit to Japan. Tokisho´s father gave his son´s helmet to Pollo. The helmet he wore in all his adventures around the world, until this fatal day in Libya, is now in a display cabinet in La Posta. 

There are lots of memories in La Posta. The travellers room is filled with drawings, names, dates, graffiti in every language of the world. It is truly a special place and Pollo is an exceptional man!

We arrived on Sunday and we were the only visitors. The next day, Sebastian, a German friend we met in DakarMotos joined us there. It was quite a spectacular sight! His bike is such a monster it has been nicknamed "The Balrog", as Sebastian himself looks a bit like a hobbit, with his bright smile, good sense of humour and small beard! Today a 73 year old argentinian biker turned up at lunch time with his 125 pulling a trailer!  He seemed most concerned by what  he would have for lunch and did not need much encouragement to join us! 

Tomorrow, we will do an Asado, it´s a way of life in Argentina!  

 ***BIKE STUFF FOR THOSE WHO CARE****

On both bikes we changed the oil filter, oil, spark plugs, chain and sprockets and cleaned the air filters.  On mine: Javier adjusted the rear shock to soften the preload. He also fitted a new horn button (again!) , repaired my side stand and checked the heated grips. It seems the guy who repaired my handlebar removed the grips and snapped the electric cables! I will have to wait until I am back in the UK to fix this! That explains why the fuse kept  blowing!   

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit

Photos / videos of "Losing Weight in Buenos Aires":