Bariloche March 25th, 2009
If you ever plan to embark on a 32hr bus ride, make sure you keep a book or two with you. Since I have my camera and lenses that weigh just about as much as I do, I skipped on the book much to my regret. So I borrow ¨Anna Karenin¨ by Leo Tolstoy from Felix (one of the two friendly Dutch guys that make the bus ride fun). The book makes me cry buckets so I put my sunglasses on and try not to look silly.
´That is the way to begin¨, observed Tolstoy. ¨Pushkin plunges his readers right into the middle of the action. Others would describe the guests, the rooms but Pushkin at once gets down to business¨. I file this important tip that I picked up from the fat book by Tolstoy. I will make sure to use it in my future stint as a writer.
Ah! Bariloche in the lake district is beautiful. So very beautiful that I wish I had more time here. Right on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi (meaning “Island of the Jaguar (or Puma)” in the native Mapuche language), this town is the Switzerland of Argentina with the best chocolate. I cannot believe all this water is from melting glaciers and snow.
While exploring, I run into Nir, my Greek friend with whom I will make the trip to Cerro Otto. Dedicated photographers that we are, we get up at 5AM, take a cab to the base of the hill and OH GOD, NO!!!. We realize we are the biggest idiots. Its freezing cold and the sun doesn´t come up till 7AM. We sit in the cold for an hour and a half. Then at the first light we run up the hill for 30 minutes, scared to death of what might be lurking in the dark behind the trees. I slip at least a dozen times but it pays off in the end.
El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier March 20th, 2009
I make the trip to this amazing Glacier and in spite of the rain it is breathtaking. Here in Patagonia, they say that one can experience all the seasons in one day. I run around with some sheep, make a new Brazilian friend (who speaks English) and finally meet Christina, a Guanaco, the very elegant and beautiful cousin of the Llama. It is by far the friendliest animal I have ever met. Oh! I am in love.
Glacier Perito Moreno There are no words to describe it. Rain or shine (rain in this case), it is spectacular.
And some ugly pictures of me with the beautiful Glacier.
Did I mention that the dogs in Argentina are way too friendly. This one followed us around for 3 hours.
El Calafate and Bariloche next..
Jujuy and Tren a las Nubes March 18th and 19th, 2009
Today I start my two day excursion to many small villages in Salta following the famous Tren a las Nubes (Train to the clouds) and remote villages in Jujuy (Humahuaca, Uquia, Tilcara, Maimara and the famous Purmamarca, all close to Bolivia) plus the visit to Salinas Grandes (Salt Lakes). Waking up at 5AM and sleeping late everyday is taking its toll. I need a vacation from this hectic vacation.
I stay overnight in this utterly beautiful and very remote village of Maimara at the base of the mountains in a room that reminds me of a monastery. I am starving so I venture out to eat and step into the first place I find. It is where all the locals eat and they all look like they might be the descendants of the Incas (or i feel like this is the closest I will come to dining with the native people who might be descendants of the Incas, till I make the trip to Peru and Bolivia). I spend the next morning with this native woman picking corn with her donkey in the field. She doesn´t understand me, her donkey doesn´t understand me and I don´t understand them but it is an amazing morning nonetheless.
The mining town of San Antonio de los Cobres, 3773m above sea level.
We stop at this hut in the middle of nowhere 4000m above sea level on our way to the Salt Lakes to eat some food. When I say `in the middle of nowhere´, this hut is seriously in the middle of nowhere. I promised myself that I wouldn´t try the Llama meat but they were only serving Llama meat and since it is put in front of me, I couldn´t say no. Yea, I ate the Llama..sigh!! And it tastes like lamb. I also have the best empanadas ever in this hut.
From 4200m, we descend to the Salt Lakes (Salinas Grandes) in Jujuy. This is a depression of the high plateau where volcanic salt has accumulated. Salt is extracted here for human consumption and iodine has to be added as volcanic salt doesn´t contain iodine. Bolivia has the largest Salt Lake in the world.
Maimara. High up in the Andes, it almost feels like you can reach up and touch the clouds. While driving to the villages, I can see mountains below me with clouds hovering over them and it looks amazing.
Cachi and Pre Inca Ruins at Las Pailas March 17th, 2009
Since we spent 4 hours driving to Cachi, we decide to stay here overnight and visit the ruins, the next morning. This is the best day of my whole trip to Argentina. I catch the 6:50AM bus with Matias to go to Las Pailas after a disappointing first day in Cachi. After 40 minutes we get dropped of literally in the middle of nowhere and it´s freezing. We are probably the only human beings around. After trekking 4 hours through a stunning landscape, getting lost and wading through channels of water with god knows how many creatures lurking around, getting scratched numerous times by the Cacti, we finally give up hope of finding these ruins.
Eventually we run into a tour guide (thank god) who tells us that we are standing on the ruins. Sure enough we look around carefully and spot a broken grinding stone where the tribe used to grind maize a 1000 years ago. I touch pieces of the ´Morteros¨ (utensils) scattered amongst the cacti and I am in awe. A 1000 years ago, the Diaguita Indians used to live here at the base of the mountain of Nevado de Cachi (mountain that always has snow). They were here before the Incas and they used to put their dead in funerary urns (urnas funeraries).
We get back to Cachi in time to make a trip to the Llama farm. I am absolutely in love with the Llama and I cannot leave Argentina without getting a first hand glimpse of this animal. But alas, all the Llamas in the farm have gone to graze in the mountains and wont be back till later in the evening. We are understandably upset after our long trek to meet them. What kind of Llama farm is open to tourists from 9AM to 6PM and then sends all its resident Llamas to graze in the mountains in the middle of the day. They should have at least kept one home. We meet some dogs instead. oh well! such is life. We head back to Salta.
I witness the most spectacular sunrise and sunset I have ever seen in my life right here in Argentina. In Cachi, I climb up this treacherous hill with Matias, slip and almost get attacked by bees, encounter a pig and some sheep and I am rewarded with the most amazing sunset.
A bit about the food..
The food is great here if you are into meat and lots of it. I miss vegetables. I had some amazing Asado (Asado is a technique for cooking cuts of meat, usually consisting of beef alongside various other meats, which are cooked on a grill/parrillaor open fire) at Estancia La China and it was barbecued right in front of me. No spicy food here so the Indian in me is not to happy. I have tried Bife de Chorizo, Vacio, Colita de Cuadril, Morcilla and Chinchulines and I don´t remember what any of these are except that they all are some kind of meat. Salta is said to have the best empanadas in Argentina and I did have my best empanadas in Salta.
It probably doesn´t make any sense but I have this new found appreciation for Dulce de Leche ever since I found out that it is an Argentinian invention. Dulce means sugar and Leche is milk. I probably tripled my sugar intake in the past few week due to massive consumption of Dulce de Leche. It tastes great here.
Los Valles Calchaquies March 16th, 2009
I make the wonderful trip to Cachi with Matias and it is the most memorable one. We ascend up the mountains to a height of 3400m and then go down into the valley to the village of Cachi with it´s small adobe (mud) houses. Each town/village occupied by the Spanish has a main square and a church right next to it. The village is very quaint and pretty. We trek up to the cemetery and then try to walk up to the real village of Cachi away from the tourist routes. After walking uphill for hours and encountering a couple of native people, we give up. I am a bit upset. The Spanish have destroyed most of the native people and the remaining ones live in extreme poverty. I lament the fact that I haven´t met a pure Inca descendant or heard Quechua. However, the locals do have features very similar to the 500 year old Inca mummy we saw at the museum.
At the end of the day, we are disappointed. Cachi is nice but not all that nice. What was the hype all about? Little did I know that the next day would be absolutely amazing and that I would fall in love with Cachi.
Salta La Linda March 15th, 2009
I step out to explore the town of Salta with my Dutch friends from the hostel, Arne and Floor and my new English speaking Argentine friend, Matias. The cable car up the San Bernardo Hill, a visit to the Salta Museum and the bus to San Lorenzo make the day spectacular.
San Lorenzo and the Hike in Las Yungas
We take the 40 minute bus to San Lorenzo and go on a short hike to the Las Yungas (a part of the rain forests but not quite). On the hike we bump into a cow. She freaks out, we freak out and eventually we sort out a solution to get past each other (only one person/animal can navigate the path at one time). I end the day with a nice dinner. The whole menu has to be translated to me by Matias. A lot of it is different parts of the cow. I try tamales for the first time and well, I´ve been on the empanada diet ever since I got to Argentina. They sell La Coca (used to make cocaine) here up in the Andes because the Incas used to use it to help with high altitude sickness. Unfortunately, as many people find out, it takes a LOT of Coca leaves to make cocaine and chewing a couple of leaves doesn´t get one high. I just found that quite amusing.
Los Niños Del Llullaillaco
The highlight of the day was the visit to the Museum of Archaeology of High Altitudes in Salta. There are about 200 mountains with high altitude shrines here and 40 of these are found in the Salta province. Mt. Llullaillaco is the most important high altitude sanctuary where the preserved mummies of the three Inca children were found.
Religious Activities of the Incas closely related to nature and fertility. One of the most important rituals of the Inca calendar was the Capacocha (royal obligation) where people expressed gratitude to Mama Huaco, an Inca ancestor who had introduced maize. One or more children chosen because of exceptional beauty and perfection were sent to Cuzco from each of the cardinal points of the Inca territory. The Inca celebrated symbolic unions between children of both sexes and then returned. The child to be presented to god was dressed with the best clothes and given Chica (maize beer) to drink. Once asleep the child was left with a trove of objects. According to the Inca beliefs, these sacrificed children didn´t die. They reunited with their ancestors and watched over the villages. Human sacrifices were performed only in the most important huacas or ritual sites of Tawantinsuyu. The Llullaillaco children were offered at 6730m at the peak of the mountain, which has been their burial place for 500 years.
At the museum, we get the see the 500 year old perfectly preserved mummy of the 15 year old Inca girl (Virgin of the Sun) coming from the house of the chosen women or ´aclla huasi´. I remember reading an article a long time ago about this mummy found high in the mountains. Never did I imagine that I would be standing here staring in awe at this mummy and wondering how after 500 years, she looked liked like this. I feel like she would open her eyes and stare at us any second now.
Salta March 14th, 2009
They say ´Salta La Linda´ here. Salta is beautiful. Oh! so very beautiful. It´s so unlike the other parts of Argentina. I arrive at Inti Huasi quite panicked about my first time staying at a hostel alone. But then I realize that they weren´t kidding when they said that hostels are the best way to meet people and make friends when traveling alone. My first night in Salta, I go to the BBQ in the garden and have asado and wine with a very cool British and Danish couple and swap stories till 2AM.
People here have been traveling or will be traveling for 6 to 8 months. And I thought it was a big deal that I was going away for such a long time. I laugh to myself.
Estancia La China March 13th, 2009
I´m off to experience the rural Argentina and a bit of the gaucho culture by spending a day (and night) at an Estancia two hours from Buenos Aires. I miraculously manage to get to Magdalena by myself without speaking any Spanish.
Estancias are Argentina´s ranches where one can spend some time as a guest of the family and get a first hand glimpse of the Argentinean rural life. Gauchos are Argentina´s cowboys of the Pampas (the plains). Gaucho means someone who cares for the cattle. The lack of fences required that someone be responsible for keeping track of the cattle and hence the Gaucho came into existence living the life of a nomad. With the invention of the fence in the 1850´s, life changed for the Gauchos dramatically and they started leading a more settled life.
At La China, Cecilia and Marcelo are gracious hosts I feel like a part of their family for a day in this tranquil setting. I enjoy some amazing Asado with pumpkin made by Coqui and my first horse ride on Masquerita.
Mate is a drink made of dried yerba leaves and is shared by a group of Argentineans as a daily social ritual. The inside of a mate cup is made of wood and the outside is usually made of leather. The metal straw used to drink mate is called a bombilla. I try the mate at Estancia La China for the first time and promptly go buy myself the mate, bombilla and a few kgs of yerba leaves.
El Tigre March 12th, 2009
I get on the train to El Tigre, the weekend hangout of Porteños (folks who reside in the Federal Capital of Buenos Aires). I am mildly heartbroken when I see that the water of this much talked about delta is brown in color. Fernando and Kilian, my new friends for the day assure me that it is because of mud and not pollution. I get on a little motor boat with Sebastian and Kilian to explore the Tigre Delta for 4 hours, sailing through the jungles and swamps and the islands with communities on riverbanks.
We stop at a small hut with a bar and then continue the journey, get drenched in a sudden downpour which is definitely my favorite part of the El Tigre trip. We meet up with Fernanado to drink some wine. I chill with Lola who is too busy devouring her bread to spare a second for me.
Buenos Aires March 11th, 2009
I fall asleep on my ride to the city center from the Airport. I wake up with a start. I am supposed to be gawking outside the window like an excited tourist instead of dozing. So I look out and laugh to myself. It reminds me of Delhi. Did I take the plane to the wrong country? Eventually I get to the apartment in Recoleta that I am renting only an hour late. Nobody arrives on time in South America so no worries.
I collect the keys, get in and the apartment meets all expectations and more. I´m so tired but crashing is not an option. I have to explore this city, the so called Paris of South America and confirm to myself that it meets expectations as well.
I´ve been exploring for 5 days now and yes, I love this city. It´s clean, it´s not very safe (as I found out for myself), it has passion, it has history and it is beautiful. Even the rain here is beautiful. On day two in Buenos Aires, I get into trouble just like I always do when I am by myself. I end up at the police station horrified at having been robbed and crazy as it may sound, the whole trip becomes twice as exciting and attains some major character. I´m definitely loving every minute of it.
On two occasions, I think to myself that I wish I was here with friends. I feel alone in a big city. But then things change all of a sudden. A series of events lead to new friends, people that I would not have interacted with if I wasn´t by myself.
By now I have walked everywhere, from Puerto Madero to Palermo, Recoleta to Balvanera and San Telmo. I am avoiding making the trip to La Boca alone. I didn´t realize that Tango would be so passionate and powerful. I am blown away by it. Crazy as it sounds, a cemetery tops my list of the most awesome places in the city. The Recoleta Cemetery is just amazing.
March 7th, 2009
I started this trip like I start most trips - by missing my connecting flight to Buenos Aires in Washington D.C. Not the best way to start my month long sojourn to Argentina. But I was stranded with seven other Argentines who did a great job of reassuring me that I would come back alive from their country. So that being said, I have nothing to complain about.
