Closing round - Adios Argentina, adios South America

Unfortunately, the time for the conclusion has come. As always, the vacation has been too short, the schedule too tight, and the return flight date too soon.

When I land in Prague on Friday, I will have over 41,000km behind me, including over 430km on foot.

If you have a plan or a list of things to tick off somewhere and you get there and tick something off, you can immediately write down 3 new points and you won't be disappointed that you can't stay any longer. I would have liked to stay in El Chalten for another two or three days, it's very beautiful there.

Unfortunately, many things had to be left behind: Tierra del Fuego, Bariloche, Mendoza, Florianópolis, Punta del Diablo, etc. - actually just one reason to come back, we'll see.

Finally, I would like to give a few overall impressions.

Before my trip, I read a lot of bad things about Argentina and South America, from theft, assaults, taxi fraud, rip-offs, punctuality issues, etc.

I want to point out that I have NOT experienced anything like that, on the contrary, the night taxi ride to Ezeiza (remember the bad weather) was far from being a rip-off at 18€ 800 pesos, most shuttles cost more than that. It is usually advised to take remise taxis because the regular ones would rip you off, not in my case. Of course, you can also use the Sube card and public transportation, where a bus ride costs about 30 cents and a subway ride costs 50 cents. Now, a nice ride with Collective #8 to Ezeiza for 25 pesos doesn't take much longer.

Never and nowhere did I feel unsafe, even at night. But honestly, there are areas where even locals who are not from the specific neighborhoods don't go alone (San Lorenzo, for example), but those are areas where I don't have anything to do anyway. The only place I wouldn't wander around at night is Porto Alegre in Brazil.

Theft? As a solo traveler, I often had to leave my backpack somewhere, in supermarkets there are special drop-off points or lockers, but at the terminals, I sometimes had to leave the big one standing or lying around, and no one even approached it.

Rip-offs? If you made a mistake with the tip, either the money was returned or you were asked multiple times if you meant it seriously. Prices are almost always listed and on a low level compared to Germany, especially in the national parks they are high, and I recommend bringing drinks and snacks here.

If you don't completely mess up and use a little common sense, this is a great travel destination (countries) with nice people, beautiful landscapes, expandable railway lines 😉, the best beef ever, which should actually be in Uruguay because there is a very natural agriculture there - but there it was usually grilled more so that it was very crispy on the outside. So, meat from Uruguay 🥩 🇺🇾 and the asador from Argentina 🇦🇷👌, all in all, not a country for vegetarians 😉, as the vegetables are too expensive. Beer and especially wine are absolutely enjoyable. If you need something quick, go for "comida per kilo", where you pick out everything at the buffet and pay a (slim) fixed price based on weight, or a few empanadas 🥟 are always available somewhere, as well as delicious medialunas (especially delicious stuffed ones) or alfajores with coffee. Also, the many restaurants with their slow-moving but attentive waiters in white and always with bow ties, the people who water 'their' street trees in the summer, the bus drivers who have everything under control, including my luggage, the beautiful parks in Buenos Aires without dog poop (the dogs have their own designated park), the football-crazy people, the openness of the people, and luckily not that damn German political correctness and this security madness in all areas - simply refreshing, here you still have to use your mind and senses a bit.

Met some great people along the way, the Chilean Australians, Steve from Colombia (nice saying 'life is like a football game, we used to stand on the field, now we're still here but sitting in the stands'), the Argentine and Brazilian dancers, Nick from La Plata / Kiel, Natalie, the hostel crew from Blumenau for Christmas, and the New Year's crew from Montevideo, the Belgian beer drinkers during the fire brigade operation, etc.

Another tip, you shouldn't forget to take the paper from outside with you into the toilet cell in Brazil 😜 - golden rule, always check beforehand! Otherwise, everything is usable.

During longer bus rides, there is either something to eat directly on the bus or, as in Brazil, there are often 2 stops at service areas with a rich selection. You can pack drinks as desired, a jacket or blanket too (there were blankets in some buses), my noise-canceling headphones and my very durable phone were also useful, not least to provide you here with travel reports and pictures.

I only needed a power adapter in Argentina (I got a gift directly in the first hostel 👍), otherwise the Euro plug somehow fit. For transferring my pictures, I have a mini card reader and a multi-USB cable that can handle all standards (micro USB / USB C as well as male and female connectors).

Rei aus der Tube has made some of my shirts human-friendly again, the sun cream is very much eaten up by the sun here, my Swiss knife Hercules is indispensable, especially when it comes to wine bottles and sausages, a small umbrella is always useful, I brought medicine but didn't need it, the schnapps was enough.