Buenos Aires + Uruguay + Panama

My wife, Barbara, and I booked a trip to Buenos Aires for March ’07 with Escapes Unlimited (2012 Lerner Lane, Santa Ana, CA 92705; 800/243-7227, www.escapesltd.com). We would be flying COPA airlines, which uses Panama City as its hub. Since it was necessary to change planes there anyway, we chose to take a layover in Panama City on the way down. (We had good service on COPA, by the way.)

At a cash price of $1,077 each (use of a credit card would have cost extra), the tour package, March 14-22, included air from Miami; two nights in Panama City at Hotel Marbella; six nights in Buenos Aires at the Regis Hotel; a half-day of sightseeing in Buenos Aires, and airport transfers in both Panama and Argentina. This was just a basic package; most of the time we were on our own.

ARGENTINA — Taxis in Buenos Aires were plentiful (an understatement) and cheap. A short ride of a mile or so cost $2-$3. Subway fares were under 25¢. U.S. dollars were accepted everywhere, including in taxis, but I would recommend having pesos also.

Among our wanderings in the city, in the San Telmo section we visited the Sunday antique market, a crowded but very interesting glorified flea market.

Later we stopped in at a travel agency located downstairs in the Galeria Pacifico shopping center on Florida Street and purchased tickets for a tango show and dinner. We chose the show “Piazzolla,” as it was held in a beautiful theater located below the main floor of a (different) shopping center. The tickets cost $131 for two and included hotel pickup and return. The theater lived up to our expectations; the food was good and the show great, lasting about 1½ hours.

Near the end of our stay we took a train north of B.A. to Tigre, a nice quiet town on the river where you can take a boat ride if you so choose. Train tickets were 1.90 pesos (about 61¢) each, round trip.

URUGUAY — After two days of sightseeing in Buenos Aires, the same travel agency sold us a tour package to Colonia, Uruguay, with the ferry company Buquebus (Av. Antartida Argentina 821, Buenos Aires, 1104, Argentina; phone [54 11] 4316 6500, www.buquebus.com) for $182 for two. The ferry left the next morning at 11:15 and took about one hour for the 45-kilometer crossing. At Colonia we boarded an “English Tour” bus that took us to a downtown restaurant and for a tour of the area. The return ferry left at

5:30 p.m.

Colonia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was great to visit after experiencing the hectic pace of Buenos Aires with its 12 million people. When we arrived at the restaurant, on the main street, there were no vehicles moving. It was very quiet. We loved this place.

PANAMA — Since I am a train nut, on our layover in Panama City I wanted to ride the Panama Canal Railway. We took a taxi to the train station (near Balboa) to make reservations for the next day only to find the station closed. A guard gave us a letter stating reservations were not needed; tickets could be purchased on the day of departure. We had our taxi take us to the Miraflores Locks visitor center; this new 5-story tower has exhibits and a good view of the locks.

The next day we bought our tickets ($22 one way) and boarded the train for its 7:15 a.m. departure. The train had six cars, all refurbished 1950s stainless-steel cars, including one full-length dome car; one has to get there very early to get a seat in the dome. The 50-mile transcontinental trip to Colón took one hour. This rebuilt railroad has welded rail and concrete ties — very smooth. The return train left at 5:15 p.m.

At the Colón terminal, a few blocks from town, a number of tour minibuses and taxis awaited the train’s arrival. We had not made prior arrangements for a tour. A taxi driver offered to take us on a tour of the Gatun locks, etc., for $60. We declined and instead paid $2 each for him to take us to town.

Colón is not someplace you would want to walk around. We walked up the main street, and when we ventured off the main street we were warned not to go there, twice.

We walked a few blocks back to the bus station and took a bus back to Panama City for $2.50 each. There is very frequent bus service between Panama City and Colón. The ride took two hours, and we were deposited in a new bus terminal located next to a very large new shopping mall.

Incidentally, the U.S. dollar is still the currency of Panama. While the balboa is the official currency, paper money isn’t printed (at least for the people to use), but they do have some coins. Panama coins and U.S. coins are interchangeable in use.

NORMAN HOLMES

Portola, CA