My BA

Somewhere Between Buenos Aires and Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

I'm on the bus, heading 18 hours northwards towards Iguazu Falls, and I just wanted to say one thing: Goodbye, BA. We loved ya.

I must admit, I wasn't expecting too much from Buenos Aires. I had never heard that much about it, and, up to that point, none of the South American cities had been that great. Santiago was my favorite, but it there was something missing. I couldn't really imagine myself living there. Buenos Aires, on the other hand, has definitely made its way onto that short list of places I would want to hang my hat.
It's not so much the city itself that's the draw. It looks like any other major metropolis. It has a waterfront and nice neighborhoods with ample shopping, along with some not-so-nice neighborhoods, parks, an airport, clubs, etc... Everything you would expect from the biggest city in the country.
The real shining point about BA for me was the people. I had heard from multiple sources that portenos (folks from the city) could be rude, obnoxious, stuck-up assholes. I guess that's a common world-wide complaint about most big-city folk. But, I found that the people in Buenos Aires were pretty much the same as the rest of the peeps in Argentina. They are a relaxed, fun-loving people. They don't take themselves too seriously, and they're quick to smile. In a way, they had a lot of the qualities that I liked in Thai folk.