Never send a teenager to do a traveller´s job

In our sleep habits at least, we´ve had rather an unapologetically adolescent week. The Buenos Aireans, we discovered the evening of our arrival, don´t waste quality darkness on sleep. The party-goers hibernate in a standby stupour until gone midnight and slowly but surely rear their bopping heads for a full (and I mean full) night of drum´n´bass, dancing and debauchery. I´m not ashamed to admit, therefore, that we have lived a life of very late nights our only experiences of a curious entity known to the layman as ´morning´ have been down to our insistence on staying up past sunrise in order to get a breakfast bagel when the first cafes begin to open.

Having a great time is all well and good, but these late nights and sleep-ins take their toll on one´s energy to do, well, anything. We have therefore been carefully rationing our time so as to preserve some drive to go sightseeing and experience the city which, believe it or not, is pretty lively during the daytime as well as the night. We´ve been to see various parts of the city, each one being individual in their own way but all sharing a common beauty as described in the previous post. The streets are so beautiful and the people are adorable to talk to, even when you´re accidentally shouting at them for a croissant at 7am because the ringing is still in your ears from the club you left less than half an hour before.

I must sound like such an English tourist, which is something to avoid like the plague in a city as rich as this. As I think I´ve said before, you can make whatever you want of travelling, and this flexibility is especially easy in a city which offers far more than you can ever hope to do in a matter of weeks. It´s important, therefore, to feel like you´re seeing the real city, and not just cushioning yourself in the lifestyle which can be found in just the same way at home. This week has been a lively mix between seeing new things and sticking to reassuring but unchallenging customs (i.e. clubbing with the english). I´d like to think the former has outweighed the latter.

There is something for everyone in Buenos Aires. The "gringo triangle" (Rio, Iguassu, B.A.) ends (or begins, I suppose, depending on which way you do it) here, and you bump into all sorts of travellers, most of whom are in very small groups or alone. We´ve met some really beautiful and interesting types, and it will be like leaving home all over again when we get on a bus to the airport tomorrow. Alas, the rose of constant travel bears the thorn of leaving so many lovely people and places behind. We have been tempted more times than we can count to delay delay delay and stay out here for a few more weeks, but the impulse to move on and see new things is still vastly superior in strength to the bonds formed over the last ten days. So, we shall say goodbye but not for good. A great thing about our trip - perhaps the best thing - is that we are learning about the world as a somelier discovers his wine. No doubt he hardly ever has a full glass and certainly never allows himself to get drunk from one sample alone. On the contrary, he tastes, spits out, remembers and returns to his favourite bottles when the time is right. Without meaning to, both Cosmo and I have already found ourselves making flimsy but earnest plans to return to the places we love the most (Rio is his shangri-la while I feel more attached to Buenos Aires), and we´ve met enough people to be fully assured that travel is by no means reserved for the young (not in years, at least).

I do apologise to loyal followers of this blog that the posts are so infrequent and so long. Seeing this site always makes me somewhat homesick as it reminds me of TFL´s bus service; you wait around all day and then an onslaught descends all at once. Still, I feel like there´s one can write with more meaning and depth if the material has been compiled over some significant period of time, so no complaining.

Lima next. The Inca Trail, sadly, has been cancelled. The mudslides of January still appear to be taking their toll on local infrastructure and the route is deemed too dangerous for dimwitted tourists to tread. We shall get on the plane, nonetheless, and find something to do. I have heard nothing pleasant about Lima, so I expect we shall get on a bus and head into the Andes as I hear it´s stunning.

God knows when we´ll be able to put pictures and videos up. I expect there´ll be time and means in Mexico as we´ll be staying in a home rather than a hostel. Meanwhile, sit tight and try to conjure up your own images.

Love to you all from both of us.

Louis and Cosmo x