2nd post.

Time passes! 5 days in BsA are already coming to an end!

Ÿesterday, i took a stroll in the city. The downtown area is ginormous. It takes 5 minutes just crossing the main street. Regarding security, i thought i was prepared for just about anything, but not today. Who might expect to be mugged in the middle of the day? One little lad came up to me and pointed at my headphones. So i guess thats lesson nr. 1; never flash anything that might look expencive. In the next second, someone grabs my camera which I'm holding in my left hand. For some reason, i manage to grab around it as a reflex. I guess the time of day proved helpful for me to be able to walk away without them following me or anything. But the camera still went into my pocket and my headphones in the backpack. Nothing's better then a lesson learned without any harm done.

WARNING! Football paragraphs coming up!
The first hours of yesterday were very calm. I just went to the supermarket (at which, apparently, efficiency are not one of the demands to get a job) and picked up a few things and walked a bit around to take some pictures of some street art, amongst other things. (wish you would see this kind of graffiti downtown in Oslo) The later part of the day was reserved for probably the biggest event to take place in BsA this evening. Last years winner of the Argentine top division against one of the biggest clubs in the city; Club Átletico de Independiente vs. Boca Juniors at Estadio Libertadores de Àmerica. The game itself wasn't the best one. The 1st half had really nothing to it, but a decent Independiente free kick somewhere in the middle. Otherwise, both teams seemed insecure and suffered from a total lack of disipline. This was a lack who would grow even bigger in the 2nd half, as Boca went ahead in the 50th minute or so (the stadium had a very large lcd screen, but no match clock, would you believe). One of the many fascinating factors about this clash, was the total silence that surrounded the stadium at the time of the goal. I wasn't exacly expecting applause, but you would think that 40.000 home fans would have at least some opinion about it..



But although the match wasn't much, the experience was of course great. There is no need for me to preach about the cultural differences between a south american league game and, say, a norwegian one. But some aspects need to bementioned. To assure that this event could go by without anyone being seriously hurt, or even killed, we had to wait for twenty minutes after leaving the bus that took us to the stadium area - twice! After the game, we had to wait for at least half an hour for the Boca-fans to leave the area. I believe that the total amount of waiting came to five hours if you include the somewhat delayed hotel pickup.

Tomorrow starts the rest of my trip. Many things point to Salta as my first stop, before heading to Cuzco. The original plan was to go to La Paz as well. But yesterday i talked to someone who were also going to do the inca trail, and that they had to pick up the ticket for the trek three days in advance. My voucher says nothing about this, but it seems like being in Cuzco three days ahead of the trail is not necessarily a bad thing. According to experiences of others i have talked to, you could need the days to climatize to the altitude, so maybe it's a good idea.