Posted in Tech on 05. May, 2010
No sane person in this day and age would contemplate living without a cell phone, no matter where they are in the world. So what’s the story with getting one in Buenos Aires? Well it’s easy enough if you want to buy a cheap phone here with prepaid service. The big three phone companies – Personal, Claro, and Movistar – will all sell you a SIM card with a phone attached for about $150 to $175 pesos (that’s for the most basic phone). You’ll need to show your passport to buy one though.
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If you’re reading this, then chances are you have at least a passing interest in photography: very few people leave home and travel half-way around the globe without wanting to capture their new environment. After all, how will you impress the folks back home without photographs of your new and exotic surroundings?
Photographing Buenos Aires is a little bit tricky though. Sure, there’s stuff like tango, the dog walkers in Recoleta, the colorful houses of La Boca, and that most classic photo of all – you, about to eat a huge steak – but there’s no grand vista, no easy-to-capture skyline that sums the city up in one shot. The only instantly recognizable physical landmark that Buenos Aires has is the Obelisk, and that’s pretty hard to get a good shot of. Shooting it from ground level on Avenida 9 de Julio just doesn’t do it justice: you’ll have to point your camera up at it and it’ll look like it’s falling over backwards in the photos.
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Anyone living in Buenos Aires is going to want to take at least a couple of trips inside Argentina during their stay and will want them to be cheap. The two big destinations are of course Iguazú Falls in the north of the country, and Patagonia in the south – towns like El Calafate, Bariloche, Ushuaia and Puerto Madryn. These places are absolutely unmissable.
Argentina is a big country though, so how are you going to get there? Bus? That might work if you have: a) a penchant for suffering; b) a healthy supply of Valium, and c) an entire day (or more) to waste, but otherwise it’s a terrible option. Puerto Iguazú is a 17 hour journey from Buenos Aires by bus, Bariloche is 19 hours, and Ushuaia? You’ll need to block out a lazy 50 hours in your diary for that one.
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While Buenos Aires is not as cheap for Gringos as it used to be, hacking your budget can still be achieved with relative ease. Does this mean you are going to be living like a king? No, but if you are on a tight budget and want to see how long you can push it, you can still enjoy Buenos Aires. So lets talk about how you can live in Buenos Aires on only 5 dollars per day.
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When we’re in our own country, and speaking in our native language, tactfulness and saying what we mean are things that come naturally to us (…well, most of us). But expat life in Argentina is a whole different kettle of fish!
To help you navigate these treacherous waters, here are 10 things that you shouldn’t say while you’re in Buenos Aires. Some of them are culturally offensive; some are mistranslations that Spanish speakers will find puzzling and/or hilarious, and some just reflect a mindset that will prevent you from having as good a time in Buenos Aires as you otherwise might.
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The bus system in Buenos Aires can be a little intimidating for newcomers but in reality it is a great and cheap way to navigate the city if you known what to take. A great way to get familiar with the bus system is to use the website Como Viajo . The concept is simple. Enter in your starting address followed by your end address and Como Viajo will give you the fastest possible route by bus or a combination of bus and the subway.
When starting out, it is very tempting to take a taxi everywhere. The fact is, for a lot of routes (some, but not all), you could take a bus or use the subway and arrive at your destination faster. This can usually hold true if your route is through a more residential area or at an off peak hour where the bus is not stopping every minute to pick up passengers.
Visit Como Viajo
Posted in Tech on 13. Jan, 2010
If you are living in Buenos Aires for an extended period of time and have unlocked your iPhone or are just here for a couple weeks and have your iPhone from back home, there are some great Apps to download that will make your life here a lot easier.
Below is a comprehensive guide of 10 of the best iPhone apps that are geared toward Buenos Aires in no specific order.
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