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HAIRDRESSERS
Hairdressing is pretty cheap compared to UK/USA. You can pay less than 100 pesos for hi- lights and cut. There are no English speaking hairdressers. But contact us for numbers of tried and tested salons.
HOTELS
Tower Hotel, 4 star corner of Ballofet and Hyrigoyen
Karlton Hotel, Hyrigoyn, 3 star
San Martin Hotel and Apartments, San Martin....also has a nice spa
List of other hotels and cabanas available from the tourist office
HOUSESITTING
There are quite a few expats who own properties in the area who do not live here full time. Security is always an issue. Take a look at www.mindmyhome.com. This could be one answer...find a good housesitter...it probably won't cost you anything but will give yo peace of mind.
HOLIDAYS
There are a lot of holidays (feriados) - some are National Federal holidays, others are not always non-working days, and there are religious holidays that are non working days for those of particular faiths ie. Jewish New Year, Day Of Atonement (Judaism), end of Ramadam and Muslin New Year (Islam) and Eastern Orhtodox Christmas Day - January 7th.
Christmas Eve, 24th December, is more important here than Christmas Day, which is more for catching up on sleep from the day before! The Christmas Even holiday starts at midday, as does New Year's Eve. The 26th December (Boxing Day in the UK) is a normal working day unless it falls on a Sunday.
On Federal holidays, all the banks, shops, offices and schools are closed. The main Supervea supermarket is usually open on all holidays. On some other observed days there will be the odd Locutorio and Kiosko open also.
Main Holidays:
January 1st New Year's Day
Holy Thursday and Good Friday - dates alter
March 24th Day of Remembrance - anniversay of the 1976 coup d'etat
April 2nd Malvinas Day - Tribute to the Fallen in the Falklands Conflict
May 1st Labour Day
May 18 Cockade Day - this is a patriotic day
May 25th Anniversay of the first independent government in Buenos Aires
June 20th** National flag day
July 9th National Independence Day (ind. from spain 1816)
August 17th** Anniv.of death of Gen Jose de San Martin
October 12th* Columbus Day
December 8th Day of the Virgin
December 24th Christmas Eve (from midday)
December 25th Christmas Day
December 31st New Year's EVe (from midday)
*If the date is on a Tuesday or Wednesday the holiday is the monday before. If the date falls on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday the holiday is the following Monday.
**Always the third Monday of the month.
There are other non federal holidays:
September 11th Teacher's Day (primary schools only) September 21st Student's Day/ Spring Day (High schools only) July 20th Friend's Day Mother's Day - Third Monday in October; Animals' Day - Second Sunday in June; Father's Day - Third Sunday in June; Children's Day - Second Sunday in August.
IMMIGRATION OFFICE
Oficina de Migraciones 150 Cmte Jose A Salas....this is current, but the office does have a habit of changing locations without notice!
INTERNET
Internet provision in town is good and fast, but once you go a few kilometres out you start to get problems. You either need a satellite dish or line of site with an aerial (you may even need to erect your own in the back garden).This will be expensive. The other option is to have a mobile modem; Claro and Movistar do these...at the moment there are some good offers and you may not need to pay for the modem. You will have a monthly fee though, which is currently around 100 pesos. For this you get unlimited internet access.
I live 30km out of town and the modem system is frustrating...some days the connection is good, other days bad. If you need to upload and download material, this is not the best option.INSURANCE
Vehicle insurance is mandatory.
The two biggest insurance companies are Mapfre and La Caja.
LAGUNA DEL DIAMANTE
Is the most stunningly blue lake at the foot of Maipu, a 6,000 meter high dormant volcano in the heart of a National Park - Reserval Provincial Laguna del Diamante in the foothills of the Andes. The lake itself is 7km long and 2km deep.
Bruni Aventure do a day trip up here which is well worth doing. You leave San Rafael at 9am and drive up through the National Park and the mountains for a picnic at the lake. You usually get back to town about 7 or 8pm. You travel by Landrover 4x4, and with only 5 clients in the car it is quite comfortable.
The slight downside is that the tour does not have an English speaker, but there are several stops in the park where you are able to see some information about the volcano and the park itself, and the scenery is stunning.
Bruni provide all the drinks and food and factor in some toilet stops too!
Bruni Aventure is located on the corner of Ballofet and Col. Suarez streets...near the Tower Hotel.
www.bruniaventura.com.ar
MATE
Is a mildly narcotic herbal concoction drunk from a gourd or mate pot. Drinking mate in
Argentina is a national past time....it is drunk all the time...even the bus drivers embibe whilst at the wheel. A dried herb is poured into a small pot or gourd, sugar (optional) and hot water (though not boiling) are added, and then a metal, flat ended straw from which you drink, is placed in the pot. It is an acquired taste as it is very bitter, and if you have trouble sleeping, best not to drink last thing at night!! You will see street sellers administering hot water and/or mate; and some people have especially designed leather or synthetic shoulder bags with pockets for flasks, mate pots and the herb itself. All garages have dispensers for filling your hot water flask and you can go into pretty much any restuarant, shop or cafe for a refill.
MOBILE PHONES
Are still expensive. Providers are Claro, Movistar or Personal. They are all pretty much the same. You can either have an account, whereby you pay an agreed fee per month…the size of this affects the price per minute and cost of texts etc. Or you can buy a phone with a pay as you go top up card. You normally have to do the latter if you are a foreigner. When you purchase a phone make sure you have a copy of your passport or ID with you as it will be required.
You should be able to make and receive international calls and texts with your mobile. If you live out of town you will find your mobile signal can be frustratingly intermittent.
If you do have a montly phone bill plan, these can be paid either on a credit card, or cash at the bank or any Pago Facil outlet.
For the pay as you go system, most Locutorios and kiosks sell top up cards - they are usually in denominations of 10, 20, 30 and 50 pesos. The 50 peso card is most cost effective (Claro) as you get 40pesos worth of calls free. Most plans also have 'family and friends' whereby you can have free calls or texts to certain specified numbers.
It is law to wear a crash helmet on a bike, although you will often see the driver with a helmet hanging on his/her wrist, or even several people on a bike and only the driver wearing a helmet.
Full beam lights must also be on, in town or out.