Argentina

25th of January
I wanted to sleep on the bus, but I was afraid of getting my items stolen, but truthfully that wasn't my biggest worry at all; my biggest worry was how to cope with the smell. I was surrounded by indigenous people, who all smelled like rancid, stale and rotten meat. When the first got on board, the stench was so horrible I almost gagged. In a futile attempt not to throw up, I turned on the mini air-con above my seat, but alas... It did work, but very very faintly; and did nothing to cover the smell. All their screaming children running about didn't do anything to improve the situation, but just like pain, you grow used to it (if it is consistent) and can end up living with it. But sleeping was a whole new problem. If I was asleep I couldn't protect my valuables; so I placed my bag in such a way that to even touch it, you had to move my leg a lot (and hopefully in the process, wake me); but I awoke to an untouched bag (and neck-wallet) around 9 in the morning.
I was supposed to arrive at 12:04 (according yo my ticket), but really I arrived 14:30; and quickly found my way into a cheap hotel (no hostels here).

I'm quoting Lonely Planet when I say "picturesque Patagones, with historic cobbled streets and lovely colonial buildings", which really feels like they got something wrong, because this place has none of that. It doesn't matter much as it was still quite a charming place. I went to see the church which has southern Argentina's oldest depiction of Saint Mary (oh, really?) and some flags captured in a battle with the Brazilians in 1827. The main attraction for me here though, was a nice little museum outlining the history of the city, and get this... The information around the place was there in Spanish and English, so finally I understood everything. It has to be noted though, that throughout the day it rained; the first rain I have had so far, and it was lovely (cooling).

For dinner I walked about 8 blocks to a restaurant which just turned out be closed for holidays, but back at my hotel there was a place to eat, and oh my if everything isn't cheap in Argentina. Before dinner I was feeling rather hungry, so I bought two apples, 1,5 liters of water and a big packet of biscuits, costing the immense sum of 5 peso (I have understood that not everyone knows how to convert currency, http://www.xe.com/ucc/full.php so there is a link to a great currency converter). However I sat down for dinner and asked for some pasta from the menu, but they didn't have any pastas on that day... So all that was left was desserts and drinks. I asked about that, and it turned out there was a page missing. I ended up with some fried fish and a bottle of water. Having eaten I went to bed and slept very comfortably.