Argentina, dec 23/jan 24

[Latbear4blk]

I am in Argentina since mid-November. This is not an adventure trip, so I do not think I will share much. I just wanted to post a few tips, as the local situation has radically changed this year.

Bringing cash is yet the most convenient option, but as the local currency is now stronger, the difference between the official rate and the "blue dollar" is less than 10% and dropping. Yesterday it was 7%. This makes the use of credit cards a new and convenient option. CC operations run according to the "dólar MEP" for foreigners, which is slightly higher than the official rate and closer to the blue rate. 

Do not plan on withdrawing cash from ATMs. The limit is extremely low for withdrawals (in my case, $AR 50,000 with a Priority City account), and the fee you have to pay is about U$S 12 each time. Yep, it is a no, no, no. 

An appealing alternative if you run out of cash is to transfer money to yourself through Western Union, just be aware that you may need to carry a voluminous pile of bills due to the rampant inflation. I would not make big transfers, but always less than 1,000, preferably less than 500. Consider that currently the biggest bill here is $AR 10,000, they just printed $AR 20,000 bills but they are not yet available. 

In general, I would say prices are twice (calculated in US dollars) what they were during my previous trip, in June 2023. The challenge for the local economy is that all prices were distorted by subsidies and gov control. You add inflation, and no one knows where prices really are. It is going to take some time for the local economy to balance, meanwhile you will find the same product with a huge price variation from one shop to another. Some prices are currently higher than in the US, like some meds and clothing, but most of the prices of goods that visitors would consume are similar or lower than in the US. For the locals it is unbearable, for a tourist coming from the US or West Europe it is still a good deal. But due to the currency situation in Brazil, all tourism is going to be sucked by our Brazilian friends.

I have not hired escorts so far, and I do not think I will. But perusing the comments in the local forums, the sex market situation seems to be similar to the broader market's. People are sharing experiences with prices from 20 bucks to 200. As in the past, the best deals are from Skokka, the highest prices are in soytuyo, and Rentmen is a guarantee of ridiculous overprices. Again, this is not based on my experiences but on comments I am reading in the Foro Pirata. 

In Buenos Aires, Grindr worked very well for me for non-transactional sex. Now I am inside the country, close to Paraguay. Although I have found a menu abundant on chipá, chipá mbocá, sopa paraguaya, asado, empanadas, milanesas de surubí, and other local delicacies, my diet has been low on dicks. None so far, but I have not been hunting. 

For the older forum members, if you remember and traveled back then, the general situation seems to be evolving to a context similar to the 90s, under Carlos Menem’s presidency. Argentina will probably stop being a popular destination for international tourism (all tourism from bordering countries is already gone), and countries like Brazil, the US, Spain, France, and Italy (all fav destinations for the locals) will see an invasion of Messi fans. 

[vinapu]

Big change in one year as I was there exactly 1 year ago.

Than prices were  at some instances ridiculously cheap and Blue rate was 3 times official. Biggest note was only 2000 , rarely seen so exchanging  100 $ yielded brick of roughly  100 peso banknotes.  

So it looks Milei brought some sense to economy after all and as always there will be winners and losers

[tm_nyc]

On 11/28/2024 at 2:03 PM, Latbear4blk said:

my diet has been low on dicks

Excellent post!  Hope that your diet situation improves soon.