This morning, I had my first taste of dulce de leche. I had been avoiding it because it came in a box that didn’t look very sanitary.
But I decided to give it a try after Macarena said a restaurant serves very good dulce de leche pasty.
Dulce de leche is a jam-like substance that is muddy brown but tastes of milky caramel. It’s quite nice as a bread spread but between you and I, kaya is much better.
Class went well, we learned how to talk about the weather which is very useful as small talk.
La Boca
Same as yesterday, there was an after-school activity. Today’s event was a trip to La Boca.
Our guide was still Macarena. This time, we were given a sheet of paper with explanation of different important sites in La Boca. The whole sheet was in Spanish. Gulp.
Macarena was around to help with deciphering the sheet. It’s good that I didn’t visit La Boca on my own because I wouldn’t have known the significance of important buildings.
We started at the pier. The water was muddy and didn’t smell so good. On the pavement, there were chalk-drawn games.
One of the games was this box jumping game. Back in Malaysia, we call it 跳飞机(Translation: Jumping from [or is it on] airplanes).
There was also a gigantic tic tac toe which requires people to stand in the little circles. It reminded me of Hogwart’s gigantic chess pieces.
Our tour involved walking into one small lane, being stopped by touts to go sit in their coffee shops, looking at tango shows for tourists and lots of listening.
One surprising thing was that one of the coffee place touts managed to figure out where I was from. It started out with the usual calls of “Ni hao. Annyeong hasseyo” which I ignore.
Suddenly, the guy said, “Malaysia.” I stopped in my tracks, turned to him to give him a thumbs up and a “Muy bien!”
He proceeded to explain why he said Malaysia. “No ‘ni hao’. No ‘annyeong’. No ‘konnichiwa’. Is Malaysia.”
OK. That’s a good deduction, I suppose.
Bit of history of La Boca
I’m terrible at recounting history so if you want a proper version, Wikitravel La Boca will be great help.
La Boca used to be the living area of immigrants who found work at the shipyard. They built their houses using left over materials from the boats. The colorful walls were the result of using leftover paint from ship.
Writers and painted moved to La Boca, probably because it was rustic, and the place became a bohemian place.
From what I saw now, La Boca is mainly touristic. It’s a nice place to take photos that say, “Hey, I’ve been to Buenos Aires!”
After La Boca, we took a bus back to the main city area.
At night, I went to a tango show. I’ll tell you more in a separate post.
Would you paint the walls of your house like how they do in La Boca?
One of my goals for South America is to get my Spanish up to conversational level so I signed up for a week of class here in Buenos Aires.
I believe I searched for my school using Foursquare. I really do not like walking in the cold so I figured that my school should be very near where I stay.
Luckily, there was a school on Foursquare. I checked out the place, paid a deposit and became of of their students.
The school is literally opposite my hostel. I only have to go over a crossing to get there. Wonderful.
YQ goes to school
First day of class
My class was small, with only 3 students. Our teacher is Felisitas, who’s younger than I am. Actually, I’m the oldest in class and the youngest is a 19 year old. (NINETEEN!)
Our class started with lessons in the middle of nowhere. We were asked to read a passage on our photocopied textbook (or really just sheets).
I realized that I’ve forgotten almost everything. I don’t remember how to conjugate verbs “to be”, “to have”, to anything, actually. I even have to count on my fingers to get to number 9 which means I probably have to use my toes when counting to 19.
Still it was quite fun, although I do not look forward to memorizing all those new words I learned. Blergh.
After school, one of my classmates brought us to the pizzeria below my hostel for empanadas.
Empanadas are curry puff-like pastries, only it’s much much better. I’m not a big fan of curry puffs because I find them boring. But empanadas are totally different.
The size is about 2 times larger than a regular curry puff. This means more filling. My chicken-filled empanada was bursting with chicken. I fell faint remembering how good it was. I’ll get you a good photo one day.
Tour of the avenue
Our school organizes after-school activities. Today, it was a tour of Avenida de Mayo with Ms Macarena (I am not kidding).
It was less of a tour and more like one hour of intense intermediate Spanish listening lesson.
Ms Macarena spoke at full speed Argentinian (lots of “sh” replacing the usual “y” sounds). I could catch about 20 percent of what Ms M said and was too confused to ask about parts I didn’t understand.
After the tour, I headed to Carrefour for groceries. I am finally cooking, after two months of travelling!
I was planning to make tomato soup but at the supermarket, the tomatos were expensive and half of them look like they were rotting.
Broccoli was much cheaper so that ended up on my menu. I also tossed in a packet of small pasta called Fideos Semolados Ave Maria.
Fideos Semolados
In the first floor kitchen, I manage to make my very first dish: Broccoli soup with pasta.
Based on the other half of broccoli, I’ll be having the same thing tomorrow but maybe I’ll throw in an egg or two.
YQ made brocolli soup
Do you cook when you travel? What’s your secret recipe?
I don’t really have any plans for Buenos Aires. My main goal here is to learn enough Spanish to venture out into the wild wild South America.
So for today, I listened to the advice of someone on Instagram and decided to check out San Telmo Sunday flea market. A Google Map search told me that it was within a walking distance of 2.4km.
It was drizzling slightly when I walked out of the hostel building. The street was empty except for a few people and some taxis.
As I walked down the road, I realized that I was the only person carrying an umbrella. Other people were walking in the rain or standing in a shade.
It was a bit unnerving walking down the long stretch of road and not seeing another umbrella even though the rain was enough to soak into my clothes.
I thought that maybe Buenos Airesians (?) do not believe in umbrella. But umbrella is not a religion, how can you not believe in it?
Finally, when I turned into Ave Indepencia, I saw another umbrella. I could only see the white beard of the person carrying the umbrella.
Before heading to San Telmo, I walked along Ave Indepencia, trying to find a Japanese restaurant. I didn’t manage to find it but I did see the Japanese Association in Argentina.
(Later, I found out that the restaurant shared the same address as the association but I still could not find the entrance.)
Japanese Association in Argentina
After the fruitless search, I continued on my way. I turned around the corner and stopped to take a photo.
Suddenly, two boys appear near me. They stopped and one of them sat on the window sill. From the corner of my eye, I saw him holding a bottle of beer.
I felt uneasy. I suspected that they might want to rob me so I looked at the one nearest me in the eyes. I walked off but turned around to see if they were following me. The boy was still sitting but was looking in my direction.
I quickly walked down the streets. Luckily, a lot of people were walking a few roads down. I followed the current of the people and reached San Telmo Market.
The inside of the market wasn’t fascinating. It had different stalls. Some selling antiques, coffee, flowers, clothes, leather everything. One shop sold creepy antique dolls.
San Telmo Market, Buenos Aires
I walked around for about half an hour before I got bored. I thought to myself, “Is this it?”
So I got out of the market and walked right into the real Sunday flea market. Since the rain had only stopped just now, most of the stalls were only starting to set up their wares.
I also discovered the sister restaurant of the Japanese restaurant I wanted to go to. However, the price of A$100 (S$25) for a set meal scared me off and I gave an excuse that I should continue walking.
So I walked. All the way from one end of the market to the other end at Plaza Mayo. Walking on Buenos Aires’ cobbled stone path wasn’t easy. I sometimes trip but manage not to fall.
The wares sold repeated themselves: Woolly clothes, mate cups and straw, leather goods etc.
San Telmo Sunday flea market
I did manage to buy a comic book for Spanish practice.
Mafalda comic
After the long long walk, I headed back to my hostel. On the way, I stopped by SUMO, an ice cream shop recommended by a classmate.
In Argentina, they don’t serve ice cream like you know it. The sizes come in 1/4 kilogram, half a kilogram and a kilogram.
I didn’t realize that and ordered a medium ice cream. It came in a bad tasting waffle but was quite big. I found out that for 3 pesos more, I could have gotten the 1/4 kilogram of ice cream. Now I can only dream of such an ice cream.
Ice cream from San Telmo’s SUMO
After the cold lunch, I finally got back to my hostel. I stayed in and didn’t do much since it was the last day before classes start.
The best and worst meal
For dinner, I was deciding between dinner at the pizzeria downstairs or a nice meal out. In the end, nice meal won because I’ve made up mind to start cooking on Monday.
So off I went to a Tripadvisor recommended steak house. The restaurant only had another table of customer because it was still too early for dinner.
I ordered the smallest steak and rashly added a glass of champagne. We have to enjoy life to the fullest, don’t we?
The champagne was delightful. It wasn’t too dry and the bubbles were popping about. I was down to half a glass when my steak finally came with its expensive serving of thick cut fries.
Argentinian steak is so lovely.
The steak as DE-LI-CIOUS. I ordered it rare, knowing that it is cooked to medium rare here in Argentina. It was very tasty. The best part was the fat which was crispy and oozed of liquid cholesterol.
There was also pools of pink blood leaking but that was comforting because it meant that it wasn’t fully cooked.
While the whole meal was wonderful, almost at the end of my steak, I felt the strangest sensation.
I was feeling quite tipsy since I drank champagne on an empty stomach. Worst thing was, the delicious meat that I had was actually clawing their way up my throat.
Oh dear.
I sat in my chair, staring out of the window at the Carrefour Express opposite. Half of me wanted to pay my bill, run to the supermarket and chug down 1 liters of water. The other half of me knew that I would probably throw up on the corner of the street before I even leave the restaurant.
The blood on the plate made me more nauseous. The whole fragrant grilled meat smell was making me disgusted.
I did the best thing. I ordered a A$16 bottle of non-gassy water.
The water was my saviour. I immediately felt more clear headed and less nauseous. I gratefully took sips of the water and finished the whole bottle.
I couldn’t wait to leave the restaurant since the smell of meat wasn’t helping with my stomach. I paid my bill and walked back slowly, planning my next less-alcoholic menu.
I’m open for suggestions on food to cook in hostel kitchens. If you have any recipes, please share them with me in the comments. Muchas gracias.
When I learned about La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, I knew that I must visit the place. I didn’t have an exact visit schedule so I slotted it in for today.
Since Google Maps does not have public transport directions for Buenos Aires, I did the safest thing and walked all the way from my hostel.
Good thing Buenos Aires has a grid system. I just needed to walk straight and turn when there is a bend and continue walking.
On my way, I stopped by a GIGANTIC Carrefour for a pack of biscuit (in case I get hungry from the terrible hostel breakfast) and a cup of coffee at the Carrefour Cafe.
I found out that raw steak is sold at as cheap as A$22, making me determined to make my own steak instead of spending A$80 outside for a restaurant steak.
Back to the cemetery… I found it easily since the crosses and angels peeped over the high walls surrounding the resting place.
The place was amazing. Larger than life statues were littered everywhere looking mournful.
Many of the mausoleums were exquisite. My sister mistook the crosses for churches when I sent her and mom photos of the cemetery.
I walked for so long that I decided to take a rest at one of the partly sunny benches. I read through several chapters of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban during the wait.
At last, it was time for me to leave. Before that, I visited Evita’s grave. It looked more like a small black marble box, not as glamourous as many of the “houses” in the neighborhood.
After seeing the cemetery, it got me wondering what people nowadays prefer to be placed after they die.
Swindled by a restaurant
As I walked back from the cemetery, I peeped at the different menus. Alas, everything in proper restaurants cost about A$80 (S$20). I was in my miserly mode of mine so I didn’t go into any of them.
In the end, I found a dingy place near my hostel that offered set meals for A$45. I was tempted by the photo of the steak.
When I went into the restaurant, there were 3 men sitting side by side with their backs to the counter. They stared at me when I walked in. Oh well, I guess none of them wanted to handle the foreigner so I grabbed a menu and read the dish, adding a “Si?”
They said, “Si.” I mimed sitting down and one of the man nodded.
He asked, “Frites?” I replied, “Si.”
The dish took a while to cook. When it came, it was decent but not spectacular. If I wanted spectacular, I should have just gone to the A$80 shops.
When it was time to pay the bills, one of the man asked another man something. The other man said what clearly sounded like “30 pesos” in Spanish because the “t” was audible.
But the change I got back from the first man was change for A$45. I stared at the bill, turning it over to see it taped down the middle.
I could have asked the guy who gave me change, “30 pesos or 40 pesos?” I could do these numbers but it didn’t seem worth it making a scene for what is only S$2.50 of change.
I took leave, vowing to have enough guts to confront that swindler in the future.
#Bilingualsummer achievements
O Google Tranlated “Can I buy a SUBE here?”, memorizing the translation and using a broken version of it to ask for a SUBE. Extra points for understanding the lady’s question of how much I want to load into my card.
After yesterday’s frozen knees incident, mom told me I need to get something warm for the winter. (I still have hopes that the weather would not get too bad or that I could just stay indoors while it’s almost-freezing outside.)
I did look around the shops but everything was over A$200 (~S$50) so I didn’t want to get them. In the end, I decided that I should visit the second hand stores for something warm.
I followed the directions on Foursquare and found Juan Perez’s collection center. The real shop’s just a block away.
Juan Perez thrift store
When I entered the shop, I was required to put my bags in a safety bag that was locked. This was to stop people from stealing, I suppose.
The shop had a lot of thick jackets. Some of them had fur and some of them didn’t look warm enough. I searched high and low for something cheap. Sadly, the cheapest I could find was A$145 (~S$36).
I also spotted a Le Sport Sac bag for A$180. My second hand bag of the same brand was tearing at some parts.Even though I really wanted that to replace my old bag, I resisted because finding something warm was more important.
In the ned, I did find a coat that I quite liked. It had a A$145 price tag, a little out of initial goal of A$100. I brought the coat to a mirror.
Then I discovered the stairs to the second floor.
The second floor had a cheaper selection. It didn’t take me a long time to find something I like. Guess how much it was. Only A$70 (~S$18).
Turns out, El Alteneo was only next door to Movistar which I went to yesterday. Based on photos I’ve seen, I imagined that the shop was huge so I was kind of disappointed to find that the size wasn’t that big.
I just walked around the shelves, looking around. I’ll come back another day and soak in the book smells.
Cycling in the park
After a quick lunch, I joined my future Spanish language schoolmates and one of the school’s advisor for some cycling.
Getting to the bike shop took a long while and loads of walking. The bike ride was very nice since we got to see the park.
The weather was beautiful. It didn’t feel like winter at all and I wished that everyday was the same.
Buenos Aires city and nature.Don’t do this at home. Taking selfies while cycling.Derailed. I swear the gods of bicycles don’t like me. I’ve had this problem in San Francisco and Hoi An.
The advisor walked us back to the main avenue and I walked back to the hostel. DInner was two microwaved eggs, to save on eating expenses.
Cloudy Buenos Aires. The building has Evita on it.
#Bilingualsummer achievements
I signed up for a week of beginner’s Spanish at a language school just opposite my hostel. I cannot stand walking in the cold so the distance is very important for me.
At a cafe, the lady helpfully wrote down the Menu of the Day. Seeing the words on paper made it easier for me to understand, although I thought that papa was actually “father” and found out that it stood for “potatoes”.
I also made use of body language. I passed a tuck shop with a “Reload your Movistar” sticker. Like a caveperson, I pointed to the sign and said, “Si?” The rather cute shopperson said “Si” back and I said “veinte” (I actually remember the number 20!).
And that was how I got my phone credit reloaded with body language.
I’ve been on the road for about 2 months and not being able to speak the local language hasn’t been that much of a problem for me.
But when I went out on the streets of Buenos Aires, I realized that not being able to understand Spanish is not an option here.
I figured that English is widely used in Buenos Aires. I keep reading stories about how Spanish-learners kept getting responses in English so I thought I could survive a while with only knowing how to count to 10 and ask for the toilet.
But I found out the hard way that the only place where people would speak to me in English is in my hostel. Dios mio!
I did take Spanish-for-fun lessons in Singapore because of a cheap Groupon. My favourite line from the class was, “What is your favorite color.” I suppose it’s good as a pick up line and for buying presents for people.
Let me summarize my Spanish fails in the next segment which I’ve enthusiastically call:
#Bilingualsummer achievement
If you remember, #bilingualsummer is a self-imposed period of intensive learning of a foreign language.
O Asked for SUBE in Spanish, retreat when didn’t understand shopowner.
O Understood 20% of hostel employee’s speech about heater in the room.
O Didn’t understand anything Movistar employee said about getting a SIM card but understand that I didn’t need to pay anything.
X Keep mixing up gracias with grazie. Damn you Italian.
X Keep trying to use French to replace Spanish. Apparently it does not work.
Other strange things that happened
Being person who was raised in the tropic, I am defenceless against cold weather. I didn’t realize how cold Buenos Aires could get in winter until I checked my Weather app.
Buenos Aires weather
Uh oh… Somebody is in trouble.
But I do have enough clothes to layer on so I was quite warm when I went out. What I didn’t realize was that the exposed area between the end of my skirt and knee-length socks would be assaulted by the wind.
I tried not to care and went to sit on a bench in front of the congress building. Then something wet dropped on me. I realized that it was bird poop. I should buy lottery because this means good luck.
Thank goodness there wasn’t anyone around me or I would think that it’s one of the bird poop scams.
I took out some money from the ATM (charged a crazy 0.038% transaction fee–on top of my Singapore bank fee) I had to come back to the hostel and type away until past noon when the sun.
At night, the hostel had a BBQ (A$70). The BBQ pit was enormous and was roasting slabs of meat. Slabs of meat, I repeat.
The strangest thing was that I didn’t have as much meat as I thought I could. Maybe I was still jet lagged or the smell of meat was too much to endure.
Until next time!
Which country did you have the most difficult time communicating with locals?
When I first bought my ticket from Istanbul to Buenos Aires, I didn’t know how long it would take. Judging from the times in the different time zones, I guessed it would only take about 12 hours.
I didn’t realize that flying on Day 1’s 7pm and reaching on Day 2’s 7pm probably doesn’t mean 12 hours.
So at the airport at Istanbul, I tried counting how much time I would be travelling. To my horror, the total time, including transit, would take 31 hours.
In this post, I recount what happened at different time milestones.
Hour 0 [Istanbul 17:00]
Reach airport. Airport shuttle bus takes less time than taking the public transport.
Tickets for my 31-hour journey
Hour 1 [Istanbul 19:20]
Emirates plane
Board plane. Sit next to two ajuma (Korean middle aged ladies). Ajuma II said “Annyeong hasseyo” to me.
Find loads of goodies to watch. There’s even Mad Men season 5, all add into favorites list.
Seafood meal is nice. Ajuma does not eat but kept talking and talking.
Mad Men binge on Emirates
Hour 5 [UAE 00:12]
Watch Mad Men S5E5. Ajuma stole my seat belt and couldn’t figure out how to wear it. She seems to be annoyed at me even though she’s the one who took my seat belt.
Stickers you stick on your seat so the cabin attendant knows to wake you up for food or leave you hungry.I am in heaven!
[UAE 00:32] Plane lands. Frank SInatra song “It’s Nice to Go Travelling” blasts from speakers.
Finally reach Dubai! But I have 7 hours to go before I board my plane to Buenos Aires.
Dubai airport for transit
Hour 6 [UAE 01:00] Walk around airport, trying to find bench to sleep. No luck. The facilities here are not as good as Changi Airport.
Hour 7 [UAE 02:12]
Retrieve laptop to type things. Laptop difficult to balance on knees so I keep the laptop again.
Hour 8 [UAE 03:05]
Sit at Costa Coffee with a hot chocolate. Try to connect to Dubai Airport Wi-Fi but fail miserably.
Hot chocolate at Dubai airport
[UAE 03:55] Play a bit of Candy Crush. Still cannot pass that stage I’ve been stuck at for 2 months.
Hour 9 [UAE 04:40]
Use the free shower in the airport. Since I have no towel, I use my pashmina instead. Realize I look like a hobo with my luggage in the trolley.
Hobo in the airport
Hour 10 [UAE 5:30]
Take train to correct terminal. Find a bench near boarding gate which I can lay down horizontally. Set alarm and start snoozing with airplane blanket.
Dubai airport train
Hour 11 [UAE 06:30]
Finally able to board the plane. Hurray! Breakfast is served really soon. Sadly, it’s only omelette with unknown seafood.
Emirates omelette
Hour 14 [Buenos Aires 02:44]
Finished “Far Away Places” from Mad Men season 5.
Hour 15 [BA 03:32]
Finished “Lady Lazarus” from Mad Men.
Alternate between napping, Mad Men, tiny food.
Starry night on Emirates flight
Hour 21 [BA 09:17]
Watch Hitchcock after season 5 of Mad Men.
Hour 25 [BA 13:28]
Watch Parks & Recreation.
Hour 26 [BA 14:50]
Land in Rio airport. Play a bit of Bejewelled before leaving plane.
Bejewelled on Emirates
Hour 27 [BA 15:00++]
Weather outside of airport looks very warm. Registers onto free Wi-Fi in Rio airport and desperately use my iPhone.
Rio airport
Hour 28 [BA 16:26]
Back on the plane. A socked foot appears at one arm rest away from mine. Korean ajuma behind has her foot stretched.
Spot the thing that is not supposed to be there. Cinderella looking for her slipper.
Hour 29 [BA 17:00++]
After “lunch”, I find a snug corner and put on my eyemask to sleep.
Hour 30 [BA 18:00++]
ZZZZzzzzz.
Hour 31 [BA 19:30]
Wake up when plane lands with a jolt. Plane finally in Buenos Aires. A lot of people are too eager to go out of the plane even though the door isn’t open.
Immigration officer only gives me 30 days in Argentina. Oh well…
Manuel Tienda Leon shuttle service
Hour 32 [BA 20:15]
Bought A$90 shuttle bus ticket to the hostel. Weather isn’t as cold as I thought.
After thoughts…
Even though it took me a long time to get to my destination, I don’t feel that the time is wasted. The biggest reason is that I had the chance to watch season 5 of Mad Men, that alone is priceless.
One of my goals for South America is to learn Spanish. That’s why I’m joining the Bilingual Summer suggested by Christine Gilbert.
The Bilingual Summer steps are:
1. Pick a language
> Mine is Spanish.
2. Set an intention to learn it > I want to have conversational Spanish skills before I leave South America
3. Create an immersive environment this summer full of movies, music, books and other media in that language. Reach out to native speakers on sites like LiveMocha.com for language exchanges. Find local resources. Be creative.
> I will be in South America. I guess it’s immersive enough unless I lock myself in my room.
4. Do a little bit, at least, every day
> Gulp.
5. Keep yourself motivated, by participating in our summer long language love-fest.
> A dessert after every milestone.
My problem with languages
I have a problem with speaking foreign languages.
I took Japanese and French while I was in school. Even though I can understand what people are saying and I have enough vocabulary, I am unwilling to speak to native speakers because I am afraid that I might butcher their language.
Of course, those are just excuses. I’ll be in South America and everyone would know that I am foreign. Perhaps they will be more forgiving when I pronounce things wrongly.
Out of all the places I am going to on my round-the-world (RTW) trip, South America and Central America are least familiar to me.
For me, South America’s allure is its mystery and affordability. (Sort of what western tourists think about South East Asia.)
I’ve wanted to visit the continent but never did because it’s expensive to get there for no reason. Since I’m doing a RTW, I might as well visit South America along the way. Besides that, South America is most likely cheaper than Europe or the United States.
I have only 2 months in South America. That’s very little time so I won’t be visiting some countries.
For example, I won’t go to Brazil because they speak Portuguese there. (A rather strange reason but I want to practice Spanish and not get muddled up.)
I’ve put Central America into the blog title, but I’m only visiting El Salvador. My flight from Lima to Los Angeles had a stopover at San Salvador so I requested an extra 7 days there.
I stop at Buenos Aires after a transit at Dubai airport from Istanbul (yes, the connection is terrible). I don’t plan to spend too much time in the capital because I’ve heard that things can be as expensive as the US or Europe.
I want to be able to speak Spanish so I might take a week or so of lessons here. I’ve read that Argentinian Spanish is very different from the rest of the Latin American countries but it would be quite cool to speak differently from others.
From Buenos Aires, I plan to head to Iguazu Falls to see the magnificent waterfalls. I’m thinking if I should take the chance to step into Brazil and Paraguay since they are near the falls.
I didn’t know of Bolivia until I started reading up on South America. I fell in love with the name Bolivia and want to visit the place very much.
Another reason I want to visit here is because I’ve heard that living expenses here is really really cheap. If I can handle the high altitude, I might even take Spanish classes (if I haven’t done so in Argentina).
[Side note, while in search of La Paz, I found a photo of this posed skeleton.]
Can you go to South America without heading to Peru? (Well, technically yes but my plane leaves from Peru so I must be there.)
Top on my list for Peru is MACHU PICCHU!!!!!! OMGWTFBBQ!!! I haven’t made any bookings for the site. I wonder if I will be able to get into the place when I am there.
El Salvador
I have a week in El Salvador to recover from my 2-months in South America. Since my flight from Lima has to make a stop in San Salvador, I requested Airtreks to let me extend a week here for an extra US$60.
I have no plans for San Salvador but I will probably stay in the country for the whole week despite it being the smallest country in Central America. (It might even feel like Singapore without the tall buildings, great public transport and airconditioned malls.)
What tips do you have for South and Central Americas?
YQtravelling 
