II
SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAVELLERS
It is no longer necessary for the person visiting Argentina to take the roundabout way via Europe. The Lamport and Holt Company runs some very comfortable boats between New York and Buenos Aires, making the round trip in from twenty-three to twenty-six days. Since the completion of the Transandine Railway one can go from New York to Buenos Aires by the way of Panama and the West Coast, in even a shorter time, if close connections are made. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company and Compañia Sud Americana de Vapores maintain a joint service between Panama and Valparaiso, stopping at a number of ports en route. It is advisable for any one visiting that country to go by one route and return by the other, and thus secure a comprehensive view of the greater part of South America. It requires from ten to fourteen days to make the trip between Buenos Aires and Valparaiso via the Straits of Magellan. The boats that make that trip do not go up the river to Buenos Aires, but it is necessary to transship at Montevideo.
One should not miss the opportunity to visit Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, which is a night’s journey from Buenos Aires down the Rio de la Plata, and on the opposite shore. Comfortable steamers make the trip every night, and the charge is $5.00, including berth. Montevideo is an attractive city of about four hundred thousand people, and contests with Santiago, Chile, for the position of third city in South America. Two or three days can be devoted to that city very profitably, even by the hurried traveller, and there are two or three very comfortable hotels. The money of Uruguay is on a gold basis, the peso being worth about $1.04 in United States currency.
It is well to remember that the Spanish language is universally used in Argentina. In the cities, however, there are numerous British residents, and quite a number of Germans, most of whom understand English; so that it is not difficult at all for one to visit the populated centres of that country without being able to speak the Spanish language. The railways are almost entirely under British management, so that it is generally possible to find some one speaking English at the stations in the important towns. At the hotels it is not so easy to find an English-speaking clerk or waiter, although there are quite a number who keep a clerk who understands English. Comfortable hotels will be found in most of the cities, as new ones have been erected within the past few years, owing to the increased travel and the growth of the cities. In the city of Buenos Aires there are many hotels of merit. The Phœnix, at which the writer stopped, is a very comfortable hotel and centrally located, with an English air predominating, and is a favourite stopping-place for English-speaking people. The hotel rates at most of the hotels are rather higher than for similar accommodations in the United States. The rates are generally inclusive, and provide for coffee and rolls in the morning, which is generally served in the bedroom, and two substantial meals which differ very little.
The railway equipment of the roads in Argentina is generally very good, with wide and comfortable coaches and good seats, although one wishes for the Pullman trains of our own country on the long journeys. The principal discomfort arises from the dust, which at times fills the cars and covers everything. The sleeping-cars are all of the compartment style and are quite comfortable. The dining-car service is very commendable, and an excellent meal of several courses is furnished at a uniform price of two pesos, so that with the tip and all it does not cost the traveller to exceed $1.00 in United States currency.
The money of Argentina is all arranged upon the decimal system. The standard of their currency is the peso, which is divided into one hundred centavos, and has a pretty fixed value of about forty-three cents in money of the United States. The money is nearly all paper, as very little gold gets into circulation. Rates of postage are about the same as everywhere in the postal union. A letter to the United States or England costs twelve centavos, and a postal card five centavos. The service is prompt and reliable.
The price of clothing and most articles of wear is rather high, because the import duties in many instances are excessive, but they are not, as a rule, so high as in Brazil. In Buenos Aires one will find some very fine stores where almost anything can be purchased, and the goods are well displayed. There is in that city one of the largest mercantile establishments in the world, which has a number of branches in the capital as well as in some of the other cities. There are several English bookstores where books and American magazines can be purchased, although the prices are rather staggering. Cab charges in most of the cities are very reasonable, and in some places extremely low. It is best to find out beforehand at your hotel, or some other place, what the local rates are. At the end of the journey give that amount to the driver, together with a small tip, and do not ask him the price, or enter into any controversy with him. Like his counterpart in almost every other country, the cab driver in Buenos Aires will take advantage of the stranger in his charges if the opportunity affords. Electric street cars reach every part of the city, and the fare is ten centavos. The routes are rather complicated, however. Each car bears a number, and the traveller should secure a book giving the various routes by numbers.
In planning a visit to Argentina the traveller must never forget that the seasons are reversed, and that summer time in the United States is winter time in Argentina. Buenos Aires is about the same latitude as Atlanta, Georgia, and Los Angeles, California. As you go north from there the temperature gets warmer, and when you go south it becomes colder, being just the reverse of conditions in northern latitudes. Furthermore, the temperature changes with the altitude, and as you go up the Andes, there is a perceptible change of temperature for each thousand feet of elevation, and the clothes to be taken along should be arranged in accordance with these suggestions.