American Tourist Stabbed In La Boca.

I saw an interview of a bystander in the La Boca incident on TN and he said the ambulance took about one hour to arrive. The hospital is about 10 blocks away. :confused:
 
A retired Colonel was out one night and ran into trouble waiting for a taxi. A car pulled up and a man jumped out and struck him on the head with his gun. With the thief holding him up at gun point, he didn't have much choice but to go along with their demands and to surrender his Rolex. While he was taking off the watch, the bad guy fumbled and dropped his gun. Then the American tossed the watch to the other side of the bad guy, to keep him down longer. So he could reach onto the road side and grab the 2 by 4 and slam it into his shoulder. He probably put one of them in the hospital.
When I'm out at night, (or day) I keep an eye out and walk at a pretty good rate.
 
I know it's unsafe everywhere but I feel much safer in the heart of Recoleta. La Boca is really a no man's land and San Telmo dangerous too. I go out with a limited amount of cash - basically what I need. Only carry one credit card and then only when I know I am going to use it. I don't own expensive cameras, watches or jewelry so that is not an issue. Never dress like a tourist. Some years ago I went to Temaiken by bus from Plaza Italia. Two Argentine friends accompanied me. On our return we decided to walk to a train station and go back to the city that way. Mistake. I forget the name of the area but it was clearly poor and scary. One of the friends started taking photos. A couple of teens were eyeing her. I suggested she put the camera away. Everyone waiting on the platform looked poor, all in grubby clothes. All three of us were tense waiting for the train. When it finally arrived we were only slightly relieved. The train itself was a string of ratty coaches with broken windows. What you'd expect in Bangladesh. We boarded, found seats and looked around at a truly forlorn group of impoverished people, absolutely no-one smiling or animated. One of my friends started to say something in English, then realized his mistake and and switched to Spanish. The train inched its way out of the station and continued on its way to the city. There was a pattern to the scenery: neglected town plazas with lots of stray dogs, tree trunks painted white as far as you could reach, then a villa (shanty town) followed by a luxurious gated community surrounded by a high wall and barbed wire. You could usually see the neat and attractive homes beyond the walls. Looking at the contrast between dreary towns and far worse villas and the impeccable gated communities I thought to myself that this situation can only breed resentment and, in some places, possible revolution - but not likely revolution. Argentines, however much they like to march and bang pots, seem resigned to the their plight. I'll never forget the sorry faces on the ragged looking passengers. We arrived safely.
 
25 years ago, with no internet, I used to have several "pen pals:. One of them, a British young man came over to visit. I showed him around the city, and he wanted to go to La Boca. We went to Caminito and explained to him it was not a safe area to be walking around any further. He did not believe it and insisted, I reluctantly agreed and we walked 6-8 blocks from Caminito to some park in the middle of a sunny day, two guys jumped out of nowhere and pointed a gun at him ( he did not have any expensive camera, etc, so I guess his height and skin color got their attention ).

At a gunpoint and now introducing a knife into the scene they wanted his ring ( that he could not remove ) and they were going to try and cut his finger off to take it. I talked them into not doing it, they took all his money, watch, chain, etc, my cash and gave me some change to take a bus. This was one out of two times I was ever a victim of robbery in this city in 43 years ( should have been just one really )

Foreign media more often than not, show Latin America as the wild jungle full of taco eating narcos and corrupt cops. What makes any foreigner in their right mind go and wander around areas outside of touristic circuits is beyond me. I hope this tourist recovers and gets well soon. It is very sad to hear, but some places are just sketchy and dangerous for locals and foreigners alike.

Bottom line is: La Boca should be Caminito, the fair, museums and only on weekends and in day light. Go and leave in a cab or 152 bus, to remain safe.
 
Nikad, even Caminito is unsafe. Also the whole area around the Plaza Dorrego on weekends is full of pickpockets. My father was a victim of the throw-mustard-on-a-tourist scam. Fortunately I was wise to what was going on and we got away from the thieves before they could get anything. The feria can be interesting but I have never understood the attraction of La Boca.
 
sergio said:
Nikad, even Caminito is unsafe. Also the whole area around the Plaza Dorrego on weekends is full of pickpockets. My father was a victim of the throw-mustard-on-a-tourist scam. Fortunately I was wise to what was going on and we got away from the thieves before they could get anything. The feria can be interesting but I have never understood the attraction of La Boca.
Click to expand...
Me neither, except for the Riachuelo / bridge view, I would never eat there, etc. Pick pocketers are everywhere in the downtown, subway, etc, but guns, knives, etc is not something you want to be dealing with when on vacation, people think they just carry them to threaten you, but as we can see, they clearly will use them. Stay safe and give friends and family good advice, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Really local city authorities should warn tourists and visitors.
 
nikad said:
Bottom line is: La Boca should be Caminito, the fair, museums and only on weekends and in day light. Go and leave in a cab or 152 bus, to remain safe.
Click to expand...

In my Argentine art lover's opinion, even if you only went to La Boca (on the 29 bus) to visit the Museo Quinquela Martin it's worth the trip!

https://turismo.buen...useum-fine-arts

https://www.facebook.com/MuseoQuinquela/

PS: The bus stops in front of the museum. which is actually located at the "entrance" of the tourist zone.

An episode of Scam City: Buenos Aries included a scene of pickpockets operating on the sidewalks just past thee museum.

https://www.google.c...S4RCzogUnE2iNi9

You have to be on guard everywhere!
 
My wife is from the heart of La Boca and the 87 year-old mother- in-law still lives there and always has. About 30 years ago I was warned incessantly to stay away from the neighborhood by fellow students while on a university exchange program. I've never had any problem there but it is best to remain low key and vigilant. While courting my now wife I would take the bus there in the wee hours to accompany her home and walk back to the stop alone to wait to return to Barrio Norte.
I doubt I would do that today and perhaps choose a 'cheta de Recoleta instead. :p
 
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