A Subway Ride in Buenos Aires

Here, the subway is called the "Subte" and is pretty big, very crowded and fairly cheap to ride.

You have to buy a ticket first, of course. Each ride, or "viaje" (trip) is $2.50 pesos which is 57 cents.

Let's go down to the platform. Somestair cases have these nice tiled walls. But there's a lot of graffiti too.

Oh man! We just missed a train. No importa. I'll have time to look around.

The routes seem to start at the port, which is the right of the map, and fan out as they go inland. There are only two cross-town lines. 



There's a lot of people who beg in the subte. Here, a child is sleeping while his mother (out of sight) asks for money from passersby.



On the trains, people are selling all kinds of things such as books of stickers and even socks! The passengers are very tolerant and a surprising amount actually buy stuff from the vendors. The portenos (people of Buenos Aires) seem to treat poor people with respect.

Here's an action packed photo from this morning's ride. Here is an ample woman and a man sniffing his armpit. At rush hour the trains are really packed.

 It's a relief to be out of the subte and I find myself on the edge of a plaza with stalls of booksellers and these guys playing chess. Their concentration is so great they don't notice me take their picture.