Day 88: Random Buenos Aires Adventures

This is a random assortment of events in one blog with buses, Kansas Grill, Thai Embassy, etc., but it all happened in one day, and it was quite adventurous so read on!

We thank our lucky stars that we can do this kind of traveling without hassle by virtue of having been born in countries that allow their citizens to roam freely around most of the world (We don't take it for granted.  Our freedoms CAN be taken away).  There are others that require their people apply for visas to leave their own country, and plenty of nations that require visitors from certain places to apply for tourist visas before entry.  That's a lot of embassy hopping.  For the most part, our journey doesn't require us to obtain special visas.  Except, if we want to stay in Thailand for longer than 30 days in October, which we do.  

It seems premature to apply for a tourist visa in July (for October), but looking at our next 2-3 months, we will frequently be on-the-go without the benefit of a Thai Embassy nearby.  Since we're hunkered down in Buenos Aires (BA) for 3-weeks, why not get this business taken care of now?  We did have to consult our calendar because we cannot be too hasty...we must enter Thailand within 90-days of issue, or else the visa expires.  This happens to be the perfect window of opportunity.  

We already made a visit to the Thai Embassy in Belgrano District of BA on Wednesday, only to be told we need additional documents.  Specifically, we showed up with our passports, copy of our flight itinerary for Bangkok, passport photos (which we took a bunch at a Walgreens in Alabama!), plenty of Argentine pesos, and copies of Akiko's green card.  Well, it was no bueno.  It seems we also needed a copy of our bank account, a hotel reservation for when we arrive in Bangkok, plus a completed application form.

Many literature on Medical Tourism
at Thai Embassy.

It's routine for a country issuing a visa to want to see proof that: (1) yes, we actually have solid plans to be in your country, (2) yes, we actually have a place to stay.  We won't be slumming it on your streets, (3) yes, we have an exit plan.  We promise not to accidentally stay indefinitely, and (4) yes, we don't intend to mooch off of your country.  We have our own money.  But comeawwwn!  It's only for 45 days.  Did we mention that the visa application window is only open for about 3 hours/day, and closed during the weekends, Thai holidays, Argentine holidays, extended lunch, breaks, and whatever else they've got going on?  Mental note: research how to get a job at an embassy.  

Clearly, we were not going to complete this errand in one day and needed to return with the additional documents.  After Mike roamed around our neighborhood for a while, looking for a place with a printer and copier, we were ready to tackle this task again on Friday.

View from inside the bus, route 166.

Friday turned out to be a glorious day, and we decided to take the city bus instead of walking. We've been a little gun shy about the BA bus system because everything we've read made it seem quite complicated.  There's really no reliable Internet resource that shows the routes in a user-friendly manner.  We did recognize the bus numbers that kept coming by our street, so we had that to work with.  Apparently, a master route book can be purchased at one of the many Kioskos.  Also, there's no standard rate per ride.  The rates are determined by distance and/or destination, so we would have to know where we want to get off, tell the bus driver, and he/she tells us how much we should pay.  We were also told we need exact change, which makes it difficult when we don't know what the rate is in advance!  And finally, we have seen some bus stop signage on the major roads, but aside from that, we noticed that the buses just stop...wherever...mostly every street corner that someone wants to get on and off at.  

Bus was clean and modern.

We were headed to Kansas Grill and Bar (more on that in a moment) in Palermo on Libertador Avenue.  It was a bit far for a walk, and no subway lines nearby.  Perfect for our bus experiment!  We knew Bus 166 serviced the major road by our apartment, Avenida Juan B Justo, and ended at Libertador Avenue.  With a pocket full of change, we boarded 166 and told the driver where we wanted to go.  He punched something in a keyboard, and I kept asking "¿Cuanto cuesta?" but he wouldn't acknowledge me, until I finally noticed a machine behind the driver's seat that showed an amount: $1.10 pesos.  I put in $2, not expecting change, but the machine gave me $0.90 back!  We stayed vigilant for Libertador Avenue, and was able to get off where we wanted to. Overall, the experience was easy and we were pleasantly surprised to receive change back -  a feature many American buses do not have, by the way.  

We walked down Libertador Avenue, past the Hipodromo - a huge horse racing track, casino, and restaurants!  We also walked by the Argentine Polo field.  

We decided to eat lunch at Kansas Grill and Bar because it was on our way to the Thai Embassy, and our Aussie laundromat owner recommended the place to us, saying they had the best BBQ ribs in town.  He did add by saying, "...but since you're actually from Kansas, you may not think so."  Without getting our hopes up too high, we were up for the challenge of trying out "yanqui" cuisine in BA.  We arrived right when they opened and people were already streaming in - a good initial sign.  We bellied up to the bar and perused the All-American menu, complete with wings, potato skins, nachos, burgers, BBQ ribs, BBQ sandwiches, salads, grilled steaks, etc.  The layout of the tables, big open stainless steel kitchen, and circular bar immediately transported us back to an upscale American bar and grill in Overland Park, Kansas. 

The food looked as close to "yanqui" as we've seen in all of our trip through South America.  Mike decided on the BBQ pulled beef (beef is king in Argentina) and creamy slaw sandwich.  Akiko ended up with grilled salmon in a restaurant named Kansas...something she would never do in the States, but nevertheless very satisfying.  We would definitely come back because the price was very reasonable for a professional and accurate representation of American cuisine.  

We walked our meal off by heading to the Thai Embassy in Belgrano.  A different lady was there this time, and we handed her all the information along with our passports.  What should've been a 10-minute transaction (really, 5-minutes if she spoke English) came to a screeching halt when she asked for payment in US DOLLARS!  Wha?!  Let's see...we're in Argentina in a Thai Embassy.  We have plenty of Argentine pesos, no Thai baht, and definitely no US Dollars.  We could not seal this deal without US Dollars.  

We did manage to get our hands on some US Dollars*, but we were reminded that all this was unnecessary when, a couple of days later our good friend Lisa  - upon reciting the story to her - asked us why we didn't just use our emergency stash of US dollars?  Ummm, good question.  We had totally forgotten about our hidden cash.  Apparently, we could've avoided all the back alley  clandestine hoop-jumping, but then, we'd be without a good story.  "And, oh the stories we could tell." - Tom Petty.  'Til more random adventures, ciao!

*Here's a few links to headlines related to the currency issues in Argentina that we discovered, after-the-fact:

1.  Argentine Clamps Down on Access to US Dollars

2.  Argentina's President Fernandez Stops Savings in Dollars
3.  Argentine Top Lawmaker Admits Having His Savings in Dollars

We see a lot of professional dog walkers with many pooches, walking around the neighborhoods of BA.