Reflections - driving, people and language
When I get home I always like to do some reflections on the trip.
The information on-line and in Lonely Planet makes Argentina seem like a really dangerous place. It probably is if you go into the wrong places of Buenos Aires. However, I there wasn't time during our two weeks there that either of us felt unsafe or threatened. That is not to say that we were not security conscious. But we took sensible measures like not putting our cell phones or wallets on the tables in restaurants and cafés.
In both BA and Mendoza (the city) police were a very visible presence.
Young Argentinians (and not so young) like the world over all seemed to have a mobile phone which they had either plugged into their ears or walked along looking at. How they did not break or sprain or ankles is beyond me given the state of many of the foot paths, particularly in BA.
I fearlessly took to the road. I came to the conclusion different assumptions are made about driving in Argentina to New Zealand and Australia. In our countries we assume there is a bubble around us and that is our space and no-one is going to take. In Argentina no one makes that assumption. If there is a space it is to be filled (Europe is a bit like that as well). You constantly aware of what is around you and if some cuts in front of you there is no loud honking of horns. Nonetheless horns are used much more frequently than in NZ but not in the aggressive way as here.
The roads a poorly maintained. There was one motorway out of Mendoza which was not too bad as long as you were in the left lane. The right lane had two grooves where the trucks all travelled. Unlike NZ or Australia, trucks dutifully kept to the right slower lane and cars did the same only moving into the left lane for a passing manoeuvre like Europe.
The speed limit seemed to optional rather than obligatory and we did not see any speed cameras or cop cars. We did end up going through a few checkpoints in Mendoza which seemed to be about stuff being transported around the province. The cars range from new to the very old. Some would not get a Warrant of Fitness in New Zealand. There are few SUVs but for the most part they are smaller cars. No doubt the price puts them out of the hands many people.
The people we met were lovely. Despite our lack of English we found people helpful and obliging. For the most part we could make ourselves understood and pointing is really useful. Many young people can speak English as it is a compulsory language. My takeaway is that while I could make out what something was saying due to some similarities of the language to French it was still a struggle and I would try to get some basic Spanish before I went next time.
It is a big country with people very proud of their history. It is incredibly white due to colonists having done their best to wipe out the indigenous people. They have to be resilient due to governance issues over the centuries. They could be a very wealthy country if they could get their finances sorted and deal effectively with the gap between the poor and wealthy. The middle class are not doing well. They manufacture a lot of stuff and it was neat seeing how much was actually made in Argentina compared to NZ or even Australia.
The public transport system in both cities was great and we used the light rail in Mendoza and the underground system in BA without problem. There were also frequent buses in both cities. There were lots of people cycling and the infrastructure had been set up to facilitate that with separate bike lanes and car parking alongside them. If only Wellington would see the advantage and get on with providing that safe facility and we get a few more cars off the roads.
Would I go back. Like a shot. B and I loved it. I would like to go back to Mendoza but also to Ushuaia which is the southern most city in the world and is on the Beagle Channel. That would be so interesting although cold.
The information on-line and in Lonely Planet makes Argentina seem like a really dangerous place. It probably is if you go into the wrong places of Buenos Aires. However, I there wasn't time during our two weeks there that either of us felt unsafe or threatened. That is not to say that we were not security conscious. But we took sensible measures like not putting our cell phones or wallets on the tables in restaurants and cafés.
In both BA and Mendoza (the city) police were a very visible presence.
Young Argentinians (and not so young) like the world over all seemed to have a mobile phone which they had either plugged into their ears or walked along looking at. How they did not break or sprain or ankles is beyond me given the state of many of the foot paths, particularly in BA.
I fearlessly took to the road. I came to the conclusion different assumptions are made about driving in Argentina to New Zealand and Australia. In our countries we assume there is a bubble around us and that is our space and no-one is going to take. In Argentina no one makes that assumption. If there is a space it is to be filled (Europe is a bit like that as well). You constantly aware of what is around you and if some cuts in front of you there is no loud honking of horns. Nonetheless horns are used much more frequently than in NZ but not in the aggressive way as here.
The roads a poorly maintained. There was one motorway out of Mendoza which was not too bad as long as you were in the left lane. The right lane had two grooves where the trucks all travelled. Unlike NZ or Australia, trucks dutifully kept to the right slower lane and cars did the same only moving into the left lane for a passing manoeuvre like Europe.
The speed limit seemed to optional rather than obligatory and we did not see any speed cameras or cop cars. We did end up going through a few checkpoints in Mendoza which seemed to be about stuff being transported around the province. The cars range from new to the very old. Some would not get a Warrant of Fitness in New Zealand. There are few SUVs but for the most part they are smaller cars. No doubt the price puts them out of the hands many people.
The people we met were lovely. Despite our lack of English we found people helpful and obliging. For the most part we could make ourselves understood and pointing is really useful. Many young people can speak English as it is a compulsory language. My takeaway is that while I could make out what something was saying due to some similarities of the language to French it was still a struggle and I would try to get some basic Spanish before I went next time.
It is a big country with people very proud of their history. It is incredibly white due to colonists having done their best to wipe out the indigenous people. They have to be resilient due to governance issues over the centuries. They could be a very wealthy country if they could get their finances sorted and deal effectively with the gap between the poor and wealthy. The middle class are not doing well. They manufacture a lot of stuff and it was neat seeing how much was actually made in Argentina compared to NZ or even Australia.
The public transport system in both cities was great and we used the light rail in Mendoza and the underground system in BA without problem. There were also frequent buses in both cities. There were lots of people cycling and the infrastructure had been set up to facilitate that with separate bike lanes and car parking alongside them. If only Wellington would see the advantage and get on with providing that safe facility and we get a few more cars off the roads.
Would I go back. Like a shot. B and I loved it. I would like to go back to Mendoza but also to Ushuaia which is the southern most city in the world and is on the Beagle Channel. That would be so interesting although cold.
Comments
Post a Comment