[Tango-L] Report from Buenos Aires #4: Before you dance

[Michael]

Here are some travel tips:
1) Buy the Insight fleximap of BA. It´s laminated so it won´t rip like
paper from opening and closing.The website is www.insight.com

2) Buy a BA Guide Book. Mine is lonely planet.

3) Get a copy of BA Tango Guide. Write to abatango at Yahoo.com and
you´ll get on the email list. It lists practicas, advertisements for
shows and lessons, and the milongas.

4) Arriving at BA´s airport
A) Go through immigration
B)  Collect your luggage and go through Customs. The Customs
declaration form asks for your cell phone serial and model numbers.
C) Currency Exchange
Use Banco de Nacional Argentina at the airport and not kiosks. There
is no commission charge at the bank. If possible, get all the pesos
you´ll need. You´ll have to wait in line if you decide to do it in
town. In fact waiting in line at the bank is the Argentine national
pastime, not futbol.

There are windows inside the security zone. If they´re closed, there
are doors outside the security zone. Have your passport ready.
(Remember to bring a copy of your passport and credit cards) so in
case they´re stolen you know the numbers.

D) At a newsstand, buy Guia ¨T¨de Bolsillo Capital Federal. It´s a map
of BA showing ALL the streets by barrio. It has more detail than the
insight map.

E)  Use Remise instead of Taxis to get into town. Remiss charge a flat
fare (about $100 pesos) whereas taxis charge by the meter. You pay the
rate PLUS tolls.

F) Buy some sunscreen if you come during the hot months. You can buy
it here as ¨dermaglos solar.¨¨
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Public Transportation

A. The subway ¨el subtle¨ (subterra´neo)
is easy to use. You can get a farecard called monedero though I don´t
know where. My guide had an extra which she gave me. You can add
value, just like farecards in New York and Washington, DC.

B. Buses
The bus routes are difficult to read in the Guia. In New York, they
are called buses, in Mexico called autobus and in BA are called
colectivos. There are 700+ bus routes, all operated by private
companies. Each route (outbound and inbound) is described in detail in
the back of the guia. However, when you look at a barrio in the guia,
you don´t see bus routes on streets. Each barrio is divided into map
grids. When I took my walking tour of Retiro and Microcenter, I found
the grids for both the house and Retiro (tour starting point) and
looked to see which buses operated in both grids. I found that bus 150
was listed in both grids so I took the 150 from the house.

There is a fare zone system. Tell the driver your destination. He will
punch a button that will display your fare on the farebox. Enter coins
(exact change) only. The machine will give you a ticket. Hold onto the
ticket in case transit enforcement comes on the bus to check for
tickets.
Fares range from 1.2 to 1.75 pesos depending on distance.

Because the bus companies are privately owned, there are no transfers
which means you have to pay an additional fare if you change to
another bus.

Next dispatch, if anybody is there reading, will be about my horrible
night at Gricel. What a disaster! I couldn´t wait to pay my water bill
and leave. I´m never going back!

Reporting from Buenos Aires where it still feels like summer instead of fall
Michael Ditkoff
Washington, DC
-- 
I'd rather be dancing Argentine Tango