Argentina: Buenos Aires

Two night buses and 48 hours later, we finally arrived in Buenos Aires and immediately fell in love with the city. But first things first, these smelly girls had to hit the showers pronto; five days of no showering really took its toll. So feeling human again and in the home of great steak and all night parties...we cooked super noodles and went to bed.

The next day was a rather busy affair sorting out some money and what not. They have a rather "blue" system over here that allows you to get a much better exchange rate on the street, rather than using banks. We then hit up a four-hour bike tour around the south of the city, lapping up the history of La Boca and the Argentine tango. It has a fairly interesting story as it goes: it used to be a foreplay dance between prostitutes and their customers. We also saw the Boca Juniors football stadium, which is the team that Maradona used to play for. Unfortunately, there wasn't any matches on while we were there but it was still cool to see the stadium.

Plaza de Mayo

Biking on the port

La Boca

Boca Junior's stadium

Just to add to our super Argentinian day, we joined in with the hostel's free tango lesson that evening. Imy was a rather reluctant participant, which only spurred the teachers on to use her as an example continually. "Peeved" is an understatement for her reaction. We intended to have a big night in Buenos Aires but Kat is still incapable of holding her alcohol and after a very tiring day, found herself in bed by 2am, having not left the hostel.

Imy hating life..Peruvian guy loving life.

After a whole day nursing our hangovers, we managed to tear ourselves away from bed to go to Siga la Vaca - a restaurant whose title translates as 'follow the cow'. And we did just that. It is an all-you-can-eat restaurant, and for a measly 10 pounds, we stuffed ourselves with insanely good steak, chicken, ribs and pork, accompanied by a bottle of wine each (fanta for Kat) and desert. One of the best nights of our lives.

Siga La Vaca...heaven

Meat

Having heard great things about Recoleta Cemetery, we decided to explore, unsure of what to expect. We certainly weren't expecting to find monuments the size of small houses commemorating the dead. It turns out that Argentinians are just as opulent with their celebration of the deceased as they are in their day-to-day celebration of life. Thanks to the hoard of tourists surrounding her grave, we even managed to find Evita's grave and paid our respects to the First Lady of Argentina.

Recoleta cemetry

Evita's quite modest grave

A not so modest grave

It was a rather drizzly day in BA, so we hopped in a cab and trundled off to Palermo; a fancy area with really nice boutique shops and great bars. After a wander around and a white chocolate latte, we got the bus back to the hostel, with enough time to get ready for our tango show. The show was in a really old cafe called Tortoni and included some amazing dancing, singing and a traditional drum show. Yet again, we couldn't resist the steak and indulged in dinner while we watched. After the show, we met back up with some pals and this time managed to make it out of the hostel. We went to Club 69, where there was an outrageous transvestite show as entertainment. We returned back in the early hours and spent the following day nursing yet another hangover.

White choco-latte

Drum man

Tango-tastic

Pals

Taxi party

We couldn't leave Buenos Aires without experiencing the joys of La Cabrera. It was everything we could have hoped for and more. Steak cooked to perfection, more sides than an octagon, and wine to wash it all down. Plus the happy hour meant we got 40% off our bill! Win win.

Stuffed

Beefy deliciousness

Buenos Aires was a dream come true. Next stop: Iguazú Falls.