Author Archive
Posted on May 18, 2012 by jason
Colonia is a great place to hang out and sip mate.
Super-relaxed. Lots of cafes and quiet streets to meander.
You’ll get bored quickly if you’re not skilled in the art of the chillax, but we managed to stick it out for 4 days. We originally had planned to make a loop around the country and check out the beaches and the interior, but we’ve got a few reasons to just get north.
Primarily, we’re out of season. I’m sure the beaches are fine, and the weather is stellar crispy fall fresca… just not ideal for beach-bumming. And, we’ve got to get moving north to Iguazu in a week to meet Angela’s mom. And, gas is $7.50 USD a gallon, so meandering is just a bit tougher on the wallet. Two of those would be manageable, but put together all three and we’ve decided to just head north.
Still, if we were only going to visit one town, I think we picked the best place in Uruguay. Before we left, we made sure to try a local delicacy – chivitio. Multiple steaks piled high with cheese and ham, then french fries and multiple eggs on top. They throw some greenery in there, but just dig down to the steaks…
Posted on May 13, 2012 by jason
”THE ISSUANCE OR DENIAL OF A VISA IS THE ACT OF A SOVEREIGN STATE.”
-Brazilian Consulate in Buenos Aires.
We’ve heard some stories about this being a difficult process. There are always stories. Still, we cruised through pretty easily, despite not having all the ‘required’ paperwork. Here’ s the handy dandy BodesWell Brazilian visa guide for Americans in Buenos Aires. FYI – we need a visa to enter Brazil, since our country requires one of Brazilians to enter the U.S. Its the whole reciprocity thing.
First, fill out and submit the forms electronically here.
Second, make an appointment here.
Gather the required paperwork noted on the above link…
You will need actual photos on glossy photo paper – we tried color prints and they refused them. No worries, there is a quicky passport photo place around the corner from the consulate and they will give you directions after you strike out. Adds 10 minutes.
If you travel with a kid (you should), they claim to require notarized ‘parental documents’ and the original birth certificate. We had neither and took a color scan of Bode’s birth certificate. They just made a photocopy and handed it back.
Take your passports and leave them there.
Consulado-Geral do Brasil
Carlos Pellegrini 1363 piso 5
Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
They specifically asked for copies of a recent bank statement (I wasn’t going to volunteer it) and they just glanced at it. I had changed all the numbers anyway.
I had a ‘fake’ hotel reservation in my pile of documents since it’s supposed to be required, but they didn’t ask.
I brought my car papers, since we were supposed to have proof of reservations on a bus or plane into and out of the country. They didn’t ask for them, and I mentioned that I was driving. She asked me 5 minutes later if I was driving and I nodded yes. That was about all for transit discussions.
I requested 180 days on the application and she thought we were crazy. You get 90 days max (she even went somewhere to ask if she could make an exception). You can extend it another 90 days once in the country.
They give you a payment stub and directions to their bank. Go to their bank, take a number and wait. Pay in ARS cash. They get notified of payment electronically. It’s about 770 ARS per person (about $175 USD). Yeah, ouch. It’s the same as the U.S. charges Brazilians to enter the U.S. That whole reciprocity thing again.
It was painless… they spoke English, Spanish, and I assume, Portuguese.
We picked up our passports and visas 24 hours later.
You must enter Brazil within 30 days to validate the visa. Only now did we realize that they misspelled Bode’s middle name… we’ll let you know if it’ an issue.
It’s one of the largest countries in the world, with over 1 million miles of road… and you get 90 days. Good luck.
Oh, and overstaying your visa comes with a penalty of about $2 USD per day. So, don’t worry about it. Start learning Portuguese.
Posted on May 11, 2012 by jason
We’re making one more trip through Buenos Aires with Simon and M.C. before we continue north.
Following our normal procedure, we break down when carrying passengers. This time at a toll booth right in the middle of the city. We literally pushed the bus through the booth and into a median. Since we were a little preoccupied, we didn’t pay the toll. Five minutes later, the toll booth operator kindly walked up to us with a receipt and asked for her money. I thought there might be some sort of exception for human-powered vehicles, but apparently not.
After 30 minutes of fruitless searching for the problem, the bus just fired right up. We had narrowed it down to the fuel pump (which was squirting fuel when we checked) or a mystery short, but just decided to continue into downtown. You can’t fix it if it ain’t broke. Of course, it broke again. Right as we were pulling into a parking garage downtown. Still not fully convinced, we replaced the fuel pump and it’s been running fine ever since. I’ve carried a spare for almost 3 years, so I’m actually kind of glad it wasn’t for nothing.
Anyway, the ladies decided they needed custom-made leather coats. Apparently, this is a thing to do in B.A. It makes sense for M.C., heading back to Canada. Angela is on her way to sweltering Brazil, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. Happy wife, happy life… right?
Even Bode got in on the act when he found one he liked. “I want this!” as he checked himself out in the mirror. He did look pretty cool, but he would probably grow out of it before we even got to Rio.
Posted on May 8, 2012 by jason
We’ve been hanging around Buenos Aires… mostly in Lanus, actually… and working on some projects. All new CV boots and one CV. New rear shocks… yep, more shocks. It’s been a week already. Time flies when you’re under the bus.
Fortunately, we’ve been hanging out with new friends learning to appreciate regular mate breaks. Our new friend Rodi has been hosting us – we’ve got the top popped in his workshop. The place is fitted out with a living and kitchen area, so we are quite comfortable. We just have to squeeze past a few VWs on the way to the bathroom.
Lanus is a short train ride and metro ride from El Centro. We’ve managed to go downtown twice and meander the city. Definitely a European-style “cafe culture” and a big city.
Buenos Aires is one of the top 20 largest cities in the world. Number 17, by some counts. Now, you know.
Posted on May 5, 2012 by jason
We were asked to be interviewed for a radio show put together by some local VW guys… Radiokombinauta. Cool folks and a good time. I embarrassed myself trying to speak Spanish on the radio for 10 minutes, but hey… I did it.
And, if you are near B.A. this weekend… come meet us at Kombi ROCK! Primer festival de Rock Kombinauta en Argentina
Posted on May 4, 2012 by jason
While we were in Tandil, I did a quick search through some of my contacts in Buenos Aires and started to look them up. It turned out there was an anniversary party for the CukVW Club the next day, so our timing was perfect. And, there would even be free hamburguesas if we could make it! Well, that was an easy decision.
We got up at dawn and started the 5 hour trip up to B.A.
Our welcome in B.A. made us feel like we just crossed the finish line of race. I guess we sort of did. At least, it was nice to drive through something festooned with balloons and have people up at our windows greeting us.
The Cuks made us feel right at home… and again, we had an instant family with a VW bus club. La lengua no es importante.
Good folks, good food, good times.
Heck, we even took home a major award… an easy one for us: “Integrante del cuk que vino del mas lejos!“ Maybe next time we should wash the bus.
Posted on May 3, 2012 by jason
The past few days have been a blur… lots of driving and not much else. We have absolutely confirmed that we are here in the wrong season.
From Las Grutas, we decided to follow the coast around to Balneario El Condor – home of the largest parrot colony in the world. Except, they had already migrated for winter. We saw one or two stragglers, but that was about the only living thing in town. The entire city was shuttered and the sand dunes had already started reclaiming the roads. I imagine the first order of business in the spring is to bulldoze the town out of the dunes.
From there, we went north to Viedma – we heard it was nice and it was. We arrived at peak kayak hour and the river was full. But, at the municipal campsite, we arrived to find a crew destroying it with sledgehammers. Next door, Carmen de Patagones didn’t hold much appeal for us, so we turned north to Pedro Luro. No more coast for us – time to set our sights on B.A.
We drove around in the dark until we found a nice place to boondock near the lake at Laguna La Salada – of course all the campsites were closed. It was actually the most peaceful sleep we’ve had in a while… and woke up with more flamingos.
The next day, we gave the coast one more try at Monte Hermosa… but… everything was closed. Admitting defeat on beach towns, we cruised through the cow pastures and spent an uneventful night in Tres Arroyos. Then, we booked it to Tandil. There, we finally found signs of life and an open campsite. We picked a grassy spot and started on some bus projects.
Fixing the pop-top latch required lots of trial and error, and I even had to remove the interior ceiling panel to make some adjustments. It’s still not perfect, but we can now drive down the highway without duct tape holding it down.
« Older Entries
