Mar del Plata Hotels
|
  | |  |
Another beach resort
Entry 26 of 119 | show all | print this entry |
|
A short 2-hour bus ride took us to our next destination, Mar del Plata. T managed to rip open the back of his hand getting the luggage out of the bus boot, which was a nice introduction to the place. But, unphased, we had an easy time spending $344 (that's Argentine Pesos not US Dollars!) on a night bus to Puerto Madryn tomorrow.
The hostel is a lovely converted private house where they genuinely encourage you to make yourself at home. Walking around town revealed it to be much nicer than the guide books describe and with the brilliant hostel we would have stayed longer had we known. We had just came here for one night as it is the place to catch the bus to our next big destination. There was a mix-up with our room and we ended up getting a double room even though we had booked a dorm. Yay! It felt really nice after camping for 3 nights and we got ourselves and our clothes a good clean. The owners kindly allowed us to stay and use the facilities until our bus at 8pm the next day. Double yay!
We went for a walk along the waterfront to see a colony of sea-lions. Unfortunately we underestimated the distance by quite a large factor so after 2 hours we finally got there. The last half hour of the walk wasn't very pleasant as we walked through the industrial port and the smell of rotting fish got stronger and stronger. But when we arrived we were rewarded with a small group of sea-lions lazing at the waters edge. Mostly they slept, but after a while one male started causing trouble and we saw a bit of action. They really are quite big and you can see why they are called sea-"lions" due to their manes and roars. The main colony was only about another 10 mins away but by that stage we couldn't be arsed and just got the bus back. The strong sun here really saps your energy during the early afternoon.
Soon we were on the night bus to Puerto Madryn, our longest bus journey yet at 15 hours. Tired after our walk and general travels we were asleep pretty soon and glad of it. As an aside, this place is mad for Mate. Mate is a herbal infusion much like tea, but in Argentina is surrounded by ceremony and has it's own special drinking vessel (called Yerba). Everyone drinks it constantly and people walking around with flasks and Mate gourds is a very common sight. People drink it on the bus, at work and even whilst driving. They are quick to defend it saying it is not a drug but we have never seen a people so consumed with a drink and the ritual surrounding it.
More thumbnails ...
Latest Comments (1)
|
What's up mate? (reply)
Mar 8, 2007 08:49 EST by skry
Just looked up Mate on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate) and it appears that it isn't an addictive drink. It does have drugs in it such as caffine and the like, but nothing very serious.
It's strange but it does say that their is a very ritualistic kind of tradition around it in South America, kind of like the Japanese and their tea tradition. Very odd, but I guess it's... show all
|
 Post a new comment |
|
If you like this entry, search for other entries from Argentina or try a new search. |
| |
Back to Entry - Back to Home
|
7 votes 
