Goodbye- Don´t cry for me Argentina (1 post of 4 new ones today)

From San Juan we took an early morning 3 hour bus ride to Mendoza, Argentina. Upon arriving in the city of Mendoza, we found a hostal and some food (including ice cream which Argentina is famous for) and then took a bus to the neighboring town of Maipu which is famous for its wineries. The touristy thing to do is to rent bikes and do a wine tour by bike. After inquiring about renting bikes we eliminated this idea due to the price and the time and decided to just walk 3.5 km to a winery and hope to make it here and to one other winery before closing time. Unfortunately the 3.5 km walk seemed like a VERY long time to Mike who still had some lingering problems from the Argentine black sausage (in combination with all the other food we had eaten). On the way, we stopped at a gas station which thankfully had a public bathroom - a very rare thing in South America. I walked up with him to the door and quickly learned that it would be much better for me to stand out of earshot. Many minutes later, Mike came out and I tried to convince him that we should just get a bus back to Mendoza and go to the hostal but he insisted we keep going not wanting to miss out on anything. After finally getting to the winery we sat down and were told to wait a few minutes and then we would have a tasting session. As we sat there I watched Mike´s usually happy face lose even more color so I tried to convince him that we should just go but he didn´t budge. After another minute or so, I just got up and thankfully he followed.On the way back a police man offered to give us a ride back to where the bus could pick us up. Although he most likely just wanted to help we decided we had made it this far without any problems and it was best not to press our luck. So, we made another stop at the gas station for Mike and then got on a bus back to Mendoza. From there, I gave Mike his privacy for a bit but all was well by 8pm when he ate 9 empanadas (meat, cheese, or chicken stuffed things like hot pockets) for dinner.The next day, we took an early morning bus to cross the border to Santiago, Chile. Thankfully, MANY buses cross this border so the price for the 8 hour bus ride including food was only $13 American. The ride was absolutely beautiful through the Andes and customs was set at the highest point of our drive through the snowy peaks. Customs was a slow process - about an hour plus - in which we got off the bus. Mike threw a snowball at me, I pushed him in the snow so that he got one foot wet and then he angrily retaliated by taking a huge pile and throwing it just below my head so that the cold snow went all down my back. We´ll see who will have the last laugh though...When we arrived in Santiago, the rumors we had heard of the city being dirty and looking unsafe were confirmed so we immediately took a bus 3 hours south to Talca. Arriving at night, we immediately got into a taxi and went to a predetermined hostal where the owner helped us out a lot. We wanted to go to a national park called siete tazas which has 7 plus waterfalls. Turns out, no buses really go to the park at this time of year because it is winter. Instead, the owner helped us figure out how to get to another national park which we set out for the next morning.In the morning, we took the 7:15 am very old, rickety bus to the park. The bus was absolutely freezing. No heat and the windows kept coming open bcause the bus was so rickety. About two hours later we arrived 2 km from the park. After walking 2km we met the park ranger who gave us a map and showed us the one route we could do because the rest of the routes were covered too deeply with snow. With the park to ourselves, we hiked in our sneakers through a muddy and snowy trail. Unfortunately, we were unable to get to the pretty lake and volcano viewpoints but it was a nice change-up from the usual hikes we have been doing through very dry-weathered areas. The whole thing was very Pennsylvania in the winterish. By 2pm we made it back to the entrance with wet feet and got on the bus to go back to Talca.At this point, we are still in Talca and have decided to wait until tomorrow to go to Santiago because we did not want to arrive at night.

Road Trip Argentina Style

Early morning lost in another city - this time San Juan. At this point Jill and I welcomethe confusion of a new place because it is what we are used too. Wewander the city and check out the center and other major sites which
happen to be on our way. What we both tend to enjoy is being out of
the city and exploring the landscape. We already have an idea of what we want to do so we make our way to the car rental place
and get the hottest new sports car they have (Ha if you know my cheapass then you have an idea of the car we got). This little dinky car is
way out of the price range we have been used to and the gas down here is the same price as at home but looking back it was worth it. Jill and I hit the openroad. We get out of the city where the driving is crazy and finally
start to cruise. We blare the english radio station and race for thehorizon. 10 minutes later the radio waves are lost to the desert, Jillis brushing her teeth on the side of the road, and I am enjoying theprivacy of a bush. I couldn´t ask for anything more. We head north and
the view is great. I let Jill drive and apoligize to the clutch.After Jill gets the hang on the cultch she tries her luck in some offroading. A minor detour but absolutely worth it. We drive most of theday winding our way through canyons and cliffs following the river. Wesee a cool lake which has the highest winds on earth regularily (ithas some claim to fame but I dont know how it word it). We keep goingand spend the night in Villa Union. WHAT you never heard of the town!?Yea, not much there and so we get dinner (at a gas station), try not todie of hyperthermia, and set off the next morning to the main attraction.We get up with the sun and roosters (8:00 am - dinner is at 10pmresturants don´t even open till 8:30pm) and head to the two nationalparks. The first one is expensive and a rip off. We bailed on it but
the second was the one we really wanted to see. Ok, I wanted to see it
because there was dinosaur bones. We get to the park and tours start onthe hour. You must have a vehicle because you join a caravan anddrive through the national park. We stopped in 5 different locationsover a 40km circuit at some really cool desert sites. I have neverbeen but at some points, it seriously looked like we were on the moon. Really coolwhat wind and water erosion can do. Ok so this is were things getiffy. 3/4 of the way through the guided tour the gas light goes on.Ok so we need gas. Jill asked mister ranger where the nearest gas stationis and he tell us 70 km away. Okay, the gas light is on and I pullout of the parking lot headed straight into the desert with my gaslight on. Jill and I tried to chit chat to take our mind off of it but with 50km to go the gas light starts blinking. Of course, it was hard to not think about it (we´ve never seen a blinking gas light before) and the conversation was more uninterested thenlistening to the ranger guide talk in Spanish for an hour straight. Well, somehow, we
make it to the 3rd town (the closest to the park with a gas station)
and add gas to the fumes on the tank. We trully were lucky. By now, it wasfive and we wanted dinner but all the resturants wereclosed so we head back
to San Juan. Jill is now driving and has to stop at a customs checkpoint. She really was doing good the entire time with the stick shift
but I guess the cop made her nervous. We pass the check point with noproblem and the cop says we are free to go. So Jill goes. Tiresspinning, we pull away with a very uncomfortable look from the cop.Anyway, later, we get close to the big city so I take over and we return thedustball of a car. If you ever make it to South America, rent a car. Theroads are unbelievable and the laws...um are there traffic laws?

Mas Carne

We set out early in the morning from Cafayete in hopes to make it to some
ruins nearby. Luke and Paulina (two people we didn´t know at the
time) overheard us struggling to communicate this with the bus attendant and
helped us out. Turns out, the two of them met in Mexico volunteering - Luke
is from Colorado and Paulina is from Argentina so they were fluent in both
English and Spanish. Long story short, we ended up hanging out with them
all day because they were on the same path we were.

From Cafayete we took a bus to the small town of Santa Maria where we ate
some Lomitos (aka really big sandwiches with a full slab of steak) for lunch
right in the butcher shop surrounded by machines used to cut the meat.
After this, we took another bus to Amaicha - another very small town which
is apparently goverened by the indigenous people and not the Argentine
government (according to Paulina). Then, the four of us took a taxi to
ruins of indigenous people who resisted the Incas. It was very interesting
because the whole time we have been in South America we have been in Inca
territory. As we have been through quite a bit, obviously the Incas were
very powerful so for these ancient indigenous people to resist the Incas and
draw the boundary line of Inca territory was very impressive. After the
ruins we tried to get some dinner but were denied until about 8pm - in
Argentina the sun rises at 8:15am and thus they don´t normally eat dinner
until 9 or 10pm (WAY past our bedtime!).

The next morning we took the first bus to Tafi de Valle where we planned to
meet up with Sergio and his family - the man that drove us over the border.

On the chilly drive in we came over a mountain to look down on the town


below covered in clouds. We descended into the very cold but beautiful Tafi
in its offseason. After waiting around for a couple of hours, Sergio and
his son, picked us up and took us back to their cabin vacation home to meet
his wife, daughter and daughter´s friend. After lots of preparation and
Mike and Sergio´s son sharing stories of traveling in Europe (Sergio´s son
had just returned from a trip) we sat down and ate a traditional Argentine
barbeque. It consisted of meat, meat, and more meat as well as a little bit
of onion-tomato salad and plain bread. Mike was in heaven. We were all
given many helpings and once I thought I was finished eating I was given
even more. Then, when everyone was finished eating Mike had 3 more servings
which were happily offered to him because it was ¨a compliment that he likes
it so much.¨ Although it was delicious, unfortunately it backfired on him a
bit and I don´t think he will be eating an Argentine black sausage anytime
soon.

After the barbeque, we walked a bit outside in some fields where there was
ancient pottery pieces (we each have one now). Then, we had a cup of tea to
get warm and got ready to leave. Sergio insisted that he could take us to
his home town since that was the direction we were heading in. With our big
packs, we squeezed into the back fold-up seat of his smaller SUV and then
everyone else got in. It was a site to see with us all piled in to Sergio´s
car but it was a very nice gesture and very much appreciated. So, we headed
down to Tucuman about 2 hrs away. Here, Sergio and his family went home and
we went to the bus station to get an overnight ticket to San Juan,
Argentina.

White Cafayate Wine

Jillian and I made our way down to Salta, the largest city in the Jujuy
providence. The city was indeed large but Jill and I arrived on a
Sunday and walked to the center. It was a ghost town. All the storeswere closed and most streets didn´t have a car or person in sight. Itwas rather odd. Anyway, because everything was closed we checked out a
few churches and the center. We then decided to hike the mounatinwhich overlooked the city. It is essentally a large park which as a
gondala that goes to the top. ( $4 american per person so out ofour price range). The hike was nice and the view was better but thebest part was we made the most of our saved money, burned calories and made up for it later. Jillian did it up big. All you can eat buffet. YEA. It was a nicerplace in the center and Jill and I really classed up the place. Due to
the cold weather we are constantly wearing the only warm clothes we
have which consist of mulitiple layers. They are our hiking, busing,sleeping, and apparently going out to nice dinner clothes. So we went to a nicedinner looking homeless, snuck in boxed wine, stole the bread, and ate
like it was the last meal we ever had. It was the first nice meal we
treated ourselves to but it was also a cultural experience because wegot to try all the different Argentine foods (at least that what wetold ourselves). The next morning we were up bright and early and on ourway to Cafayate. The bus had amazing views the entire way and Ihad the lucky seat of sitting next to the sick little boy who showed me
what he ate for breakfast an hour earlier.
Cafayate was my personal favorite stop in Argentina. Jill and I walkedthe city 3 times looking for the cheapest hostel. We couldn´t really find
one so we settled. The town is a large wine producing town in
Argentina and many tourists come to try Argentina´s famous whitewine. (can´t remember the name right now). Jill and I dropped our travelpacks and head down a road 6 km to start a hike. We got to the Rio Coloradoand followed it upstream hopping from side to side and scaling walls toget to the beautiful 10 meter waterfall. The river cut a caynon in thedesert mountain and fed the many cacti and shrubs in the valley.The hike was challenging but it was a truly a rewarding trip and Jilland I didn´t hesitate to reward ourselfs. We stopped at a winery on the 6km walkback down the road and tasted both the red and white. We enjoyed them both so webought them both ($12 American total and this waived our tasting fees). The white was exceptionally good and lasted about 10
minutes from when the cork was off and the cheese and crackers wereout. The red we saved for dinner.
Dinner was in a market in the cheapest place in town, at a picnic table, and Jill and I opened the red. Classy. I enjoyed the mystery food, the wine and the company and
before I knew it was in the middle of a game of tops with the local
children. I lost terribly and am still embaressed by my lack of topskills.

ARGENTINA!!!!!!!!!

Cotahuasi Canyon is behind us and it is time to head south. The clock

is ticking and we want to see as much as we can before we leave South

America. We got a bus from the small mountain town of Cotahuasi to Arequipa so we

could get a bus to the border. There were three different bus companies

and ALL THREE leave at the exact same time. It was a ridiculous site. Three large buses acting like they don´t do the same

thing everday. The streets were jamed and it took about a 15 point turn

to get our bus past the other three to leave first. By the way, the buses all leave

at 5:00pm so that you get to Ariquipa at 3am. I will never understand

the logic behind this.

So its three in the morning and cold. Jill and I are just kickin it

in the bus terminal waiting to get on our 7am bus to Tacna (the

Pervian border town with Chile). Im reading to pass the time but Jill

is having fun of her own. A peruvian family but mainly one man is just

fascinated with Jill. They are all just staring at her. Not saying a

word. The family looses interest after 10 minutes but not this one

gentleman. He keeps looking at her like she belongs in a zoo. Jill,

wanting to blend with the culture, trys to act Pervian normal and

stares back. I know that staring contest aren´t exactly the most

exciting thing but at 4am in a cold bus terminal it was more entertaining than

the best movie I have ever seen. The match was equally weighted so I was forced to

join to tip the scales. We won!!!. Don´t worry though - we were still stared down until we got on our bus hours later.

So we finally get on the next bus. We get to Tanca around 11 and have 5 hours to kill before we can take a train to Chile. Finally,

we get our tickets and go through customs. We get ripped off. The

last chance the Peruvians had to get us and they did. Sucking my last

nine american dollars away from me. After the confusion and many people go in front of us, we get on the way overly crowded

train and our luck turns for the best. Instead of cramming us in we got to get out and ride up front with the conductor. It was a great way to end our Peruvian trip, however,

our travel south are far from over.

We made it to Chile at 5pm. We had been traveling for 24 hours and

made the quick decision to continue south. The border town we were in

was a cool surfer beach town but we decided we would get enough of this in Honduras

so we got a bus ticket that left around 10pm.

The trip was long and stopped a lot. For some reason we have to go though

customs again half-way though our travels and unload all of our bags at

4 in the morning. We reached our destination at 9am the next morning.

At this point, Jill and I are pumped. We have be Traveling for about a day and a half

and we reached this desert town. Located in the dryest desert in the

world this town has sandboarding, geysers, world renowned stare gazing,

and a hole bunch more outdoor action stuff. We hit the town ready to

roll. We just want a hostal to drop our large packs and hit up the

geyser tour. Wait, Chillian pesos are worth a lot more then Peruvain

soles. Not good. We learn that it is a super super touresty town and

it is a Chillian holiday weekend. Hostals cost upwards of $100 US,

geyser tours are full and food costs $5-10 US. We decide these prices are not worth it and decide to head to Argentina - a hard choice but being who we are, we both thought it was for the better. After making this decision, we

find out buses are $100 America and only run 3 days a week (the next one is not for another 2 days and both companies have the exact same schedule---so dumb) Anyway Jill and I come up with plan B. (Mrs. Heck this part is not for your eyes) We decide

to hitchhike. We start asking all the cars lined up at customs for a

ride. We are getting shot down pretty fast. Finally, with diminishing hope

and our luck takes a change for the better. We

ask a gentleman on a laptop sitting alone in his car. He said we can join him and

that he would enjoy the company. All right our luck is changing for the

better. NOOOO..... He said that he would take us but the road is closed.

Snow. The dryest desert in the world happens to get snow the night

before and the mountain road to Argentina is closed. They don´t know when

it will open. Without even on word of news from the clean up crew we sit at

the border for 2 days waiting for it it open. What a waste of time.

Really we should of been getting frustrated but the break was nice

and we were able to talk with Sergio who I would like to tell you about. Sergio, the man who said we

could ride with, happens to be one of the nicest people I think I have ever met.

He was nice but not that weird over bearing nice. A normal guy with a

son traveling in Europe and he just hoped that if his son was in our

position someone nice would help him. We really enjoyed sharing stories with him and he helped us out so much. He drove us around to find

hostals the first night, split one with us the second night, bought us food, and when the road

finally opened the third day he drove us to the town we wanted to get

to in Argentina. He wouldn´t let us pay for much at all and just kept telling us that he is greatful that we volunteered our time and just hopes that when we get older we would pass it on as well. Traveling is such an experience and meeting people

like him make it all worth the experience. He was the nicest person

and best of all when we get to his home town in Argentina he invited us to come to a BBQ so we can meet his family. He hopes that we can become friends with his kids (who he proudly showed us pictures of) and they can practice English with us. It is now a must on our travels through this new vast country.

So now we are in Argentina. We spent last night in Pummamarca. It has

¨the hill of seven colors¨. It was crazy landscape -the driest mountain is 7

distinct different colors. Jill and I hiked through it this morning and

then took a midday bus to Tilcara. Here, we hiked up a catcus filled, crazy color

canyon to see two water falls. Then we hiked down to some old Inca ruins.

Thats it for now. Our travels contain so many details, but I dont want to bore you and I would be happy to catch up with over a beer with I get home.

Good bye everyone and thanks for the comments. They are appreciated.

The Real Grand Canyon

After leaving the icy weather in Puno we decided to try to get to Cotahuasi Canyon - the deepest canyon in the world. The canyon thought to be the deepest up until Cotahuasi was found is very touristy and much more easily accessible but as Mike likes to think of us as non-tourists we tried to avoid the tourist route.
From Puno, Peru, we took a bus to Arequipa where we found out there are only two bus services to Cotahuasi and they leave at 4:30pm and 5:00pm so we decided to stick to our plan of avoiding the tourist trail and got a place for the night in Arequipa. We had some ¨burgers¨ from a stand for dinner - Mike got his with the works - topped with chips, mustard, mayo, ketchup and hot sauce. The next day, we toured around the ¨white city¨ and set off on our bus trip. The first few hours were pleasant and we dozed in and out. After that, it was a bumpy, windy, cold ride through unpaved mountain roads (hence the non tourist track) and we arrived at 4:15am - not an ideal time to arrive but we had no choice. Luckily, a woman flagged us down right away and we were able to get a hostal quickly.
The next morning, we awoke at 8am and began to explore the town in hopes to get a ride to the canyon. Turns out, the town has only a handful of public transportation vehicles and the lone car that uses the streets otherwise belongs to the mayor. It also turned out that we missed the transportation to the canyon, so we were again delayed in our travels. Thanks to the owner of our hostal, we were able to find a good hike to do for the day and even planned out some more to do over the next two days...
That afternoon, we set off to get on the 4pm taxi-van to Pampamarca - a town 2.5 hours away (about 10miles). As we walked up to the van with our packs it looked like all the seats were already full which would have been really disappointing to have missed another ride. After being in South America for a month and a half, we should have known better. We walked up to the van and a few people in front insisted on making room for the gringos. We thankfully squeezed in the van and thought we would set off shortly. Again, we thought too quickly. About 8 more people proceeded to board the vehicle leaving us with 25 people inside a 12 passenger van and one brave soul on the roof with the caged in luggage. The ride was comfy cozy of course and we had some incredible views along the way. Also on the way, a man let us know that he had a hostal. When we arrived in Pampamarca it was easy to see that we had little other choices - there was one other hostal across the street, no restaurants, and one market-convenience type store.
The next morning, the man from the hostal pointed us in the right direction to get to a trail that lead up to ¨bosque de piedras¨ or rock forrest. The rocks that made up this ¨forrest¨ were definitely unlike anything we had seen before and we had our fun trying to climb on them before deciding it was better to be safe than sorry. After hiking down, we also checked out a waterfall nearby, enjoyed some cookies for lunch, (as we lacked any other choices) and then took a much larger but equally crowded bus (hence the girl in the picture on Mikes lap) back to Cotahausi.
After a good nights sleep, we set out on the 6:30am bus to the canyon and hiked to a ¨150 meter¨ waterfall. The waterfall definitely didn´t seem as high as claimed but it was still very pretty. After the visit, we hiked back and thankfully had enough time to shower (due to the next turn of events...!) before getting the bus out of Cotahuasi.

Ok, sorry but we completly forget until we went through the pictures. So as we are hiking up to the rock forest and we find two odd looking rock formations. Obviously man made and we look inside. They are old buiral tombs from the Incas. You can see the children´s skeletons in the picture. Creepy stuff.

Puno´s Titicaca

Another night bus!!! No hotel fees. The bus from Cusco to Puno was most likely the most interesting bus ride so far. The bus departed around 8:30 at night for a seven and a half hour ride. We were trying to get the 10:30pm so that we wouldn´t arive in the middle of the night but due to a national Peruvian road strike we ended up taking the last bus which left at 8:30pm. Jill and I checked our large bags under the bus and brought our book bags on as carry ons. Within a hour of the trip both of us had on every single article of clothing we had brought on. The bus must of been about 40 degrees. It was so cold. Anyway, as we are crusing though the frost covered mountain roads I noticed lights up head. The bus slows and we are able to see large rocks lined across the road and several men with tourches and a rather large fire going. It didn´t take long to realize that the road block was in effect. Fortunately, our bus driver was able to talk his way through the block and the converstation was uneventful (I think i saw the bus driver hand something to one of the strikers but Im not a 100% sure) Although nothing drastic happened it was still an unnerving situation. Anyway, we contuinued on to the bus station were we arrived at 4 in the morning. By far, the next two hours was Jill´s least favorite part of the trip. Due to the time we decided to wait out the night in the saftey of the bus station. The stations was located at 12,000 feet altitude, in the middle of winter - obviously, not the ideal place to wait for the sun to rise. It was near freezing if not freezing with no heat. It was a long two hours.

As the sun rose and melted away the bad vibes from our bus trip, we made our way down to the docks of Lake Titicaca ( the highest lake in the world). At the docks we met Albert. Albert, the captain of a 25 footer, sold us a round trip ticket plus housing and food to an island located 3 hours way by boat.

We boarded the boat and began our 4 hour jouney. The boat stopped at two islands adding an hour to our trip but it was worth it. The two island we stopped at were reed islands. The local people cut down the reeds and pile them in staggered formations to create ¨floating islands¨. This method is used because during certain times of the year the reeds are completely covered by water. The new man made islands have the ability to rise and fall with the water level. It was so interesting - two of our pictures are of the islands. Everything on the island was made of reeds. The houses, boats, beds, lookout towers, and somehow the fire place. It was a very fascinating way of living. Most of the islands maintain the life style for tourism sake but of the 30, two are completley independent of tourism and uphold the traditional way of life. Absolutely wild stuff.

So the skipper herds the tourists back on the boat and we begin our 3 hour tour. ( ha) The island was 3 hours away but to translate it was actually probably about 5 miles away. During the trip, we rounded the point and saw the island and so so so slowly putted our way toward the island. It was so slow that I tried to convince my Big Ten swimming partner to let me ride on her back as we she swam to save time but she didn´t want to get her bag wet. Anyway we met some cool americans on the boat which helped pass the time.

Fyi - the road stike is still going on so I have time to just ramble and ramble because we are stuck in this town.

We finnally arrive to the the island. It was a nice trip - I just wanted you to understand how slow the boat was. It´s not like were pressed for time anyway. When parking, Alberto glides our boat into port but has trouble. I couldn´t bare to watch the man struggle so I grabbed a long pole and helped guide it in. The entire time he is barking orders at me. ha. I don´t speak spanish so I had no idea what he said but we still managed a semiprofessional park job. We left the boat at about 3 and met our island host family. Coolest part of the trip. It was like stepping off the boat right into the 16th century. The house we stayed at cooked by fire, and had a candle for light in our room. We had to end our island hike before dark because otherwise we would have no light to find our way home. We did find some old Inca ruins on the island, explored them, watched the sunset and luckily had a full moon to find our way home. There were 6 blankets on the beds (just enough to keep us warm).

Albert is a busy man so we had to be at the dock at 7:30 in the morning to leave. Jill and I got to the dock on time and the boat left at 7:30 Peruvian time (8:30). We stop at a 4th island in the way back to main land Puno. Jill and I hike most of the island in the 2 and a half hours we have. Unfortunately ( now you are gonna hear me complain) this is a tourist island. We stop to get lunch and the gringos are just flocking to the island. Meals are now 15 soles ( 5 american). Not acceptable considering we got lunch the day before for 1.50 soles (50 cents American). Dang Gringos make prices go up everywhere and Jill and I will not play that game. Instead, we bought crackers for 1 sole and boycot the tourist trap. It was understandable why people came though. The view of the lake with the Bolivian snow capped moutains in the background was beautiful. Jill and I found a rock overlooking it all and enjoyed our year and half anniversary with crackers. (we had the best view on the island!)

Then, we went back on the boat to Puno. We had to spend the night here because of the strike. We are still stuck in this small town but we just got bus tickets for 2:30 this afternoon. Thanks for reading!

Oh Jill made me go for a run this morning which really means one more cold shower than necessary. I stuck it to her by just not showering. I think we all lost that one.