RIO, CARNIVAL and the hunt for Indian food

 

DAY 1 BUENOS AIRES

 

We landed in Buenos Aires in the morning by 7.30 am by United Airlines from Newark via Houston.

The Airport was large new and shiny. Unlike the USA, atleast 15 or more of the immigration counters were staffed and it took less than 20 minutes to be cleared. But  at the embassy in Delhi and at the airport, there were plenty of questions about duration and place of stay. We had to show the hotel confirmation to the immigration officer. But they were very polite  and after having seen SRK in DUNKI, one cant complain. Baggage claim was a very short wait and overall the airport experience was quite impressive. We had booked a taxi from the hotel which was waiting for us and we were quickly on our way to downtown BA.

Now, the impression I had of Argentina as a country was that of a poor nation with hyperinflation.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a wide expressway out of the airport all the way to downtown. Greenery all round and storied apartment blocks as we got closer to the city. Not all were glass and chrome  but not exactly rundown. I was quite surprised to see more French cars on the roads than  the typical Toyotas or Hyundais.  Even more surprising was the thin presence of American brands on the roads, considering GM has plants in   Argentina and Brazil.  The economy is predominantly agrarian and exports are meat, soy beans and corn. Imports are pretty much everything else in terms of electronics, machinery, cereals. Services sector is half the GDP.

Lots of malls, high end brands bely its current status as a struggling economy.  I did see  Harrods, the British store occupying a whole block, shuttered up. A good 33%  of the population are considered poor, but it doesnt seem  they are in Buenos Aires. I have barely seen  homeless people . Inflation is down to 4 % in Jan 2025 from a high of 229 % in 2024 !  Hopefully the economy stabilises. The people are pleasant and helpful, though unfortunately few speak English. Only the tourist  oriented activities have English speaking personnel.

There are several money exchange kiosks and shops. Rates vary wildly and one may need to shop around. Strangely banks dont seem to exchange USDs for the local pesos. Evety 10 feet or so you hear the sing song calls of "cambio cambio' from unauthorised vendors . They are all a single person  operation and, though they give better rates, I have read enough to be wary of them.   Another interesting and confusing issue is that of the signage of  the AR peso. It has exactly the same sign as that of USD , thats $. Apparently unless specified it means AR pesos by default.

Vegetarian food is not easy to find in this land of Carne’. Italian restaurants and pizzerias abound  but one can quickly tire of this diet. There are  a few Chinese and Korean places  and one needs to hunt for veggie food. The mall food courts are a great help here. There is a sprinkling of Indian restaurants and we have yet to try one.