Post by Ella.
Technically, it’s blue, but once you find it, it’s a treasure. The Holy Grail. The Sube card. Your ticket to ride the buses in Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Mendoza.. A transport card, purchase the card for 2000 ARS (US $2) and then top it up with credit. And for some reason, it is scarce. Don’t know why yet. It isn’t a tourist thing. Everyone has to use it.
We arrived in Bariloche (on a Saturday) without a Sube card. Our AirBnB host tsked when she found we hadn’t rented a car and was visibly taken aback when we admitted we didn’t yet have THE Sube.
Staying 7 km outside of town, we had planned on using the bus but hadn’t quite thought ahead to how we’d manage the first trip into town to purchase that precious blue card. It had been easy to grab a taxi at the airport to get to our place. But no taxis were going to be hailed from here.
Our host shrugged her shoulders and said maybe Uber or you can get on the bus and see if another passenger will tap you in. You can pay them the fare (320 pesos or US 32 cents). Good luck finding the card she said.
Okay, plan A, try Uber. Plan B, try the bus scheme. I visualized in my head how I would pantomime asking someone to if I could buy a tap on their Sube.
We had to try a few times to connect with a driver on Uber, but we did. We made a beeline for Centro Civico where the tourist office is. Scanned the QR code for their WhatsApp. Really nice set up. You just type buses or walks or tours and you get back all sorts of specific info. We talked to the agent at the desk and she filled in some gaps for us. You take this bus for this, that bus for that.
Where can we buy a Sube card? That was our burning question. “You don’t have the card?” Said with a look of alarm. They are hard to find, she added. She got out a small paper map of the area and circled a kiosk about 4 blocks away. Good luck she said.
Did I mention that it’s all uphill? So we get to the kiosk and it’s closed. The whole town is pretty quiet because it’s Sunday.
We popped into a mini mercado nearby. Nice young guy wrung his hands about how hard it was to find the card and then pointed us across the street to Alfredo’s mini mercado. Good luck he said.
Alfredo’s the man! We got the gold.
It’s funny and fun how ordinary things like getting a bus card can be an adventure. I am relieved that you found one!
We were pretty relieved also!