No hay dinero
We've been in Argentina for a week now, and we still don't have any money. We can pay for things, as almost every place in El Calafate takes credit cards since the town is so touristy, but we don't have any cash.
Argentina is experiencing very high inflation. Last year it was measured at around 200% for the year. This is devastating for Argentinians and super annoying for tourists. All of the same issues that we saw in Turkey are present again, plus a few new ones. Let's start with some data and follow with a narrative.
The data: The bank rate for conversions is around AR$400 per US$1. The market exchange rate is around AR$820/US$1. The unofficial "blue" rate is around AR$1150 per US$1. We aren't sure what the black market rate is, but safe to expect that it is over AR$1200 per US$1.
We took the bus last Saturday from Puerto Natales, Chile, to El Calafate, Argentina. The bus ride was long, almost six hours, and drove through the Patagonian desert. There was one stop, at a restaurant in Esperanza, Argentina (which was way, way off course, but that's another post). I popped inside and successfully purchased some peanuts and cookies using a credit card, so we were feeling pretty good. The bus arrived in El Calafate around 9 PM, we walked to our apartment, and found a nearby grocery store which also sold us some goods using a credit card.
At this point we had several unknowns: What exchange rate is the credit card giving us? Will we be able to get money from an ATM the following day, a Sunday? What rate will the ATM give? Can we exchange cash, since we've got a couple of US$100 bills hidden away in our stuff? We had heard travelers use Western Union to get cash, how does that work?
Over the past week, we've gotten several answers.
First, the credit card is giving us an exchange rate of around AR$1100 per US$1. That's good! But it is risky to rely on credit cards alone--the network could be down, the bank might reject the transaction, we might find ourselves in a place that doesn't accept cards, etc.
On the second day, we tried an ATM. Pop in the card, type in the pin, ask for a withdrawal of AR$20,000 (not all that much!) and the machine replies that we have exceeded the transaction limit. We tried two banks with no luck.
On the third day, Monday, I went by the local "Cambio" near our house. It was closed, and has remained closed all week.
On the fifth day, Becca tried again at the ATM and managed to take out AR$5000. The fee on top of the withdrawal was AR$6000 (yes, that's more than the withdrawal). The good news is that the exchange rate appears to have been around 1000, and our bank eventually will refund the ATM fee. So we got cash (about four dollars) and at a reasonable rate. But four dollars isn't going to be enough.
On the sixth day, I fired up my dormant Western Union account and wired myself US$100 from my bank account. Western Union happily replied that it would take four business days to complete the transfer, and, since there is a weekend in the way, that would be ready on the following Tuesday (day 11 for us).
I tried again with Western Union, using a credit card as the funding source. "Ready in minutes!" it told me. Armed with an email tracking number and my passport, I triumphantly marched into the local (only) Western Union and asked for my money: "No hay dinero" the guy replied. Arrgghhh! "Y mañana?" I asked, hopefully. "Si, mañana," he said.
On the seventh day, I was ready. Tracking number and passport in hard, I queued at 8:45 for a 9:00 AM opening and found myself 18th in line. Pretty soon a murmur passed through--you need a photocopy of your passport to leave with the office after the transaction. The woman behind me confirmed--you definitely need a photocopy, she made that mistake once before. But I was in luck, there was a nearby store offering copies for AR$200/copy. Back in line, the 9:00 AM opening approached. I could sense the nervous excitement in the crowd. Then...nothing. The opening hour came and went. Soon someone at the front of the line shouted, "The money truck isn't here yet!" Then, a few minutes later, "It's coming at 11!" I and several others gave up.
Tomorrow we are flying to Bariloche, which is a much larger town, where we have heard that the withdrawals are much easier. So, maybe. But for now, after seven days in Argentina, no tenemos dinero and, apparently, no hay dinero either.
Day 8 update: Arrived in Bariloche, everything is closed on Sunday.
Day 10 update: Stopped by a Western Union at our local grocery store, but the system was down.
Day 12 update: Drove by a second Western Union as we returned from a hike, but the line was too long for us to reach the front before closing time.
Day 13 update: We moved house into Bariloche town where there are several Western Unions, and I managed to retrieve US$100 that I had transferred to myself. This wasn't trivial, I was 16th in line, waited about 40 minutes, and walked out with 200 AR$500 notes and 203 more AR$100 notes (about 8 cents each). For a total of AR$123,000.
Day 16 update: I got another US$100, this time from the original bank transfer to Western Union (which came fee free). So now we have a different problem--where to store all these bank notes while we take a six-hour bus ride to Neuquen tomorrow...?
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