Comodoro Rivadavia

I know, the name of this city is a bit of a mouthful. Fortunately, it is nicknamed simply Comodoro so you don’t need to try to pronounce it all (and possibly embarrass yourself) when buying a bus ticket. That, however, leads us into the next basic question: Why would anyone like to buy a bus ticket to Comodoro Rivadavia?

The answer is that it is conveniently located and works like a transportation hub for traffic to the north, the south and to the west. I came from Bariloche and planned on just changing bus here. When getting off the bus, I found out that this was not the final stop; the bus continued south the same way as I wanted to go. Damn, if I had paid attention maybe I could have saved some pesos and missed the experience of Comodoro altogether.

And what an experience; the city is relatively new, founded only in 1901 when oil was found here. It has quickly grown into the oil industry’s nerve centre of the south and there are few sights around apart from the petroleum-museum (what did you expect?).

Lonely Planet suggests that the Cathedral is the ugliest one you are likely to ever see. And after having seen it, yes it was pretty ugly.

Another annoying thing was that the bus station didn’t have a luggage facility, which meant that I had to carry the bag around town while waiting for the next bus in the evening (no way I was going to stay the night!). I only had the energy to go short walks in the centre and didn’t attempt climbing the hill with views over the city.

I have already written more than the city deserves. Was a short stay and I am never coming back. So long suckers.