Trip Report..Argentina... And a warning for Yanks Canucks and Aussies

[Elexpatriado]

Ok ..first of all an apology..I only brought my I phone..so dont expect very verbose postings and expect lots of typos..
I started my trip to Bariloche for skiing.
I got a,surprise at the airport in Pereira.. Turns out citizens of US , Canadá and Australia have to.pay a tax called a "Tasa de Reciprodad" a reciprocity fee for equal taxes Argies have to pay to enter these 3 countries.
The part that causes problemas is you have to do it on the internet..you cant pay inmigración in Argentina when you arrive.The other thing that sucks is the travel agents and whatever dont tell you anything about it when you buy your ticket they dontvtell you squat about it..even if you specifically ask about visa requirements and such. lucky I had time to go to the Internet café to pay the fee and print the reciept off.otherwise I would have been SOL..and they wouldnt let me on the flight..

More on the trip later..maybe..

[utopiacowboy]

My stepson recently traveled to Uruguay and Argentina. He used his Colombian passport when he entered Argentina and the woman looked at the passport and said, you did not use this passport to enter Uruguay. He said no, he didn't, he used this one showing his US passport. She was pissed but she couldn't do anything about it - she had to let him in free without paying the reciprocity fee.

[robert angel]

My stepson recently traveled to Uruguay and Argentina. He used his Colombian passport when he entered Argentina and the woman looked at the passport and said, you did not use this passport to enter Uruguay. He said no, he didn't, he used this one showing his US passport. She was pissed but she couldn't do anything about it - she had to let him in free without paying the reciprocity fee.

Having dual citizenship and passports has a number of advantages! My wife enjoys hers, even if we did have to travel to the Embassy in Washington DC to secure hers.

Did you know if you have grandparents who were born in Ireland, it's not too difficult to get an Irish passport too? They're actually--as passports go, quite coveted and in most nations, for some reason, they really like people who have passports from Ireland! Luck of the Irish, maybe?

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/how-to-get-an-irish-passport-130522453-237778381.html

[Gato4Astrid]

Glad I had no problems at all when I went to Argentina & Uruguay 4 months ago cos I'm British 


Anyway are you on the way to Baricolche?

[Elexpatriado]

I am there now..recovering from my long day yesterday waiting in Bogota airport and my night flight from Bogota to BA and my morning flight from BA to Bariloche.

Its almost as long to get here from Colombia as it is to get to Western Canada.

I am also learning about "Blue " Dollars and how bad the cajeros are here compared to most places in the word.Bottom líne..take as much US cash as posible..has many uses here.

[utopiacowboy]

I am there now..recovering from my long day yesterday waiting in Bogota airport and my night flight from Bogota to BA and my morning flight from BA to Bariloche.

Its almost as long to get here from Colombia as it is to get to Western Canada.

I am also learning about "Blue " Dollars and how bad the cajeros are here compared to most places in the word.Bottom líne..take as much US cash as posible..has many uses here.

Strange that this is such a problem. We did not have any problem in Uruguay.

[Elexpatriado]

I found a French bank that gives me money, but with a very high fee..8% with maximum withdrawal
If your going to Argentina bring as much US cash as posible..the exchange rate is about 14 pesos to the dollar on the Black market., vs 8 or 9 approx.as offocisl rate. So you can see the difference. You can save substantially as can be seen.Pretty much every hotel and shop will exchange "Blue" Dollars as they call US Cash dollars

As far as skiing..The resort here in Bariloche aint that crear..marginal snow,marginal terrain , always close the lifts fue to wind.
The resort skiing in Western Canadá is way better, but I ammore of  back Country guy anyway.I may come back here to ski the volcanes some year.

Today I am staying late, just drinking a cofee before heading out on the runs.

As far as women go..which is what this site is about..well I didnt come here for women and Argentina is not Colombia,DR or even Perú in this respect.Though I did make a bit of an effort.More on this later.

[Elexpatriado]

I found a French bank that gives me money, but with a very high fee..8% with maximum withdrawal
If your going to Argentina bring as much US cash as posible..the exchange rate is about 14 pesos to the dollar on the Black market., vs 8 or 9 approx.as offocisl rate. So you can see the difference. You can save substantially as can be seen.Pretty much every hotel and shop will exchange "Blue" Dollars as they call US Cash dollars

As far as skiing..The resort here in Bariloche aint that great..marginal snow,marginal terrain , always close the lifts fue to wind.
The resort skiing in Western Canadá is way better, but I am more of  back Country guy anyway.I may come back here to ski the volcanes some year.

Today I am staying late, just drinking a cofee before heading out on the runs.

As far as women go..which is what this site is about..well I didnt come here for women and Argentina is not Colombia,DR or even Perú in this respect.Though I did make a bit of an effort.More on this later.

[utopiacowboy]

I had to laugh - "it's not even Peru"! That was a good one.

[Elexpatriado]

Ha Ha I just spent a good half hour updated my trip report.. and the internet here went down...lost everything..


Lesson Learned..Copy and save with desk top browser before posting long articles.


Wonder iF RA has troubles like this with the novels he posts?


Anyway, back in Colombia from Argentina  will post again later..maybe a bit at a time

[Elexpatriado]

Okay..take another "Bite" at it. Skiing not that great in Cerro Catedral..in Bariloche..but OK. So spent 6 days skiing , and then 2 days sight seeing in Bariloche. Went on a couple tours around Bariloche..one called "Circuito Chico" takes a half a day, around the lake, and up a ski lift on a small mountain near one of the lakes. Views are more spectacular than from the top lifts of Cerro Catedral, which is much higher. I will post fotos later.


Second day , I went on a longer tour to Glaciar Negro del Cerro Tronador. Cerro Tronador is the highest mountain in the area- 3650 m and heavily glaciated. You spend about 4 hours and drive to this lake which has a dirty "black " glacier feeding ice into it , with a big white glacial icefall on the face of Cerro Tronador above. Will post fotos later.


General item- Argentina is quite expensive, a lot more than Colombia, even if you take a bunch of US cash and buy Pesos with "Blue" dollars.


Well thats a big enough "Bite for now. Next I will have a discussion on my 2 days in Buenos Aires and my attempt to contact women in Argentina..I had a little success- though this wasnt my goal of the trip by any means. made a new friend there I still communicate with on internet..