Last thoughts on Argentina

Argentina has a lot to offer. It has one of the best natural wonder I have seen: The Iguazu Falls and the Patagonia region. It has hands down, the best beef I have had anywhere. It has the best and most luxurious bus transport system I have ever seen. It also has some of the most beautiful girls in South America.

However, the one constant thing that has been irritating me during my past 5 weeks here in Argentina are the people. They are certainly different to the rest of their South American siblings. As a tourist I have seen too many unfriendliness, cold-shoulders and snobbishness shown. Others say this is mainly from the "porteño" aka people from Buenos Aires. But I couldn't agree less! I felt the same attitude when visiting the Patagonian region and the Lake district region.

At the shops, it feels as if the staff seems annoyed to serve. They don't seems to want to work in the place. Nor have I ever seen a smile on their face. Never, nunca, nada...! Only an indifference. I have never seen such horrid customer service. Can you imagine working in a customer facing role back home and treating your customer like dirt? It would be unheard of! Whilst participating in adventure activities, I feel I was treated as a number with no feelings. An example was at my glacier trek, where the tour guide had no personality nor did he make the group feel welcome.

So as a joke I would sometimes challenge myself to crack them up, just to see if I can re-arrange their face!

Now this feeling is shared by fellow backpackers, as well as foreigners working in the tourist industry. My bicycle tour guide, a French man name Damien, has lived in Buenos Aires for a year, and has a "porteño" girlfriend. He mention that the locals here have an European attitude: The indifference and cold shoulders. But to be honest, besides getting this feeling in France (of all places!) I did not feel it when travelling through the rest of Europe. So maybe Damien is referring to the famous French snobbishness!

Unfortunately for me, the people is probably the most important matter to me when visiting a foreign country. This is more so over it's scenery, food and adventures. And in South America, Argentina would rate at the bottom in terms of their people status.