Riding the Bus

I've spent countless hours on buses the past few months, including several 10 hour+ overnight  rides.  Overall, these rides have been a positive experience. I've been able to see some beautiful country that I wouldn't be able to see in an airplane.  Also, South America's buses can be extremely nice and affordable when you go with the right company.  Although I can't afford to ride first-class when flying,  In South America you can ride in comfort for an extra $10 bucks or less.

On my most recent ride,, I rode 10 hours from Arequipa, Peru to Cuzco with a company called Cruz Del Sur.  I paid about $60 for the nicest seat available since I wanted to be able to get some sleep.  I had a seat that reclined almost fully on a row to myself.  An hour into our ride, the bus attendent served us dinner and afterwards entertained us with a game of bingo.  In Argentina, I rode a bus that even served red wine with dinner. . .on a bus!

Although the longer bus rides going between major cities have all gone smoothly, I've had plenty of bad and strange experiences such as: 

• I rode on Dorado from Sucre to La Paz in Bolivia.  My seat fully reclined and the bus and I only paid $22 for it. The only thing strange was that when the lights came on, I noticed  two people sleeping on the floor beside me that didn't have seats. Apparently that's allowed on the buses in Bolivia. 
• My bus from Uyuni, Bolivia to Tupiza left at 6 am.  It was freezing and the bus didn't have heat.  I can't remember ever being so miserably cold. I thought my toes were going to fall off.
• Later on during this same ride, our bus nearly plunged off a cliff while negotiating a turn.  You know you're in danger when the locals get out of their seats and start demanding to be let off the bus!
• In Tupiza,  I nearly missed the bus when they changed companies but didn't tell me.   Luckily, the lady at the other company which I bought the ticket from found me and pointed me to the bus I needed to take. 

I could go on and on.  Every bus station seems to have an entirely different system for how you get your ticket, find your platform, check your bags, and get on the bus which has caused me plenty of confusion. I still look forward to each ride I'm able to take with one of the nicer companies.  It's going to be an adjustment when I have to return to my cramped coach seat for my flight back to the U.S. in a week.

Intermission: Mas Espanol

After a couple months on the road moving from city to city every 3-5 days, I'm taking a break.  I've been in Sucre, Bolivia for 10 days now and if feels great to finally empty my backpack completely and relax.  The main reason I decided to take a break here in Sucre is that it's an awesome city to take Spanish lessons.  They have several Spanish language schools in the city and private lessons cost a fraction of what I paid in Buenos Aires.  Aside from costs, I also find Sucre a much better environment to study in since it's quieter and the cafes are often filled with other gringos studying which makes it feel like a college town for backpackers.

For the past week, I've been taking lessons for 2 hours a day at Fenix Language School.  I've been very happy with my progress so far working with my profesora Yashira. The format for my classes is very flexible which I prefer.  We usually start with simple conversation where I'm able to practice both speaking and listening. The advantage to having a conversation  in Spanish with a teacher is that she corrects any grammatical and pronunciation errors I make right there on the spot. I had no idea how many bad habits I'd formed over the past couple months on the road. Also, whenever I get stuck due to not knowing a word in Spanish, she will tell me the word and write it on the board.  At the end of my lesson, I usually have a list of 8-10 words which Yashira will then quiz me on to see if I remember their meaning.  After 30-45 minutes of conversation, we begin the lesson for the day.  Many of the lessons are based on Yashira's observations during our conversation of areas I need to improve upon. 

I decided to stay with a host family while in Sucre which was arranged through the school.  This has proven to be a great decision since I get to practice speaking Spanish with the Gutierrez family while I'm not in school.  I have one more week of lessons before I load up the backpack and hit the road again.

Trip Update: Chile

After a rough start, I learned to love Chile after spending 3 weeks traveling around the country.   Here's a summary of the places I visited:

Pucon

After an long, exhausting day on the bus, I woke up the next morning in Pucon with a view of a volcano from my bedroom window.  Pucon is a small village in the foothills of the Andes that is known for the wide variety of outdoor sports available.  Similar to Cafayate, Argentina, it's also very quite and relaxing.  Due to rain, I didn't get to do as much as I had hoped (such as hiking to the top of the snow capped volcano) but I still always mention Pucon in my list of highlights of my trip so far.

 

Santiago 

The capital of Chile may not have the flair of Buenos Aires but I was impressed nonetheless.  It's a relatively clean city with a modern subway and nice, large parks. What's also unique about Santiago is that on a clear day (or somewhat clear) you can see tall snow capped mountains in the background.  I'll also always remember Santiago as the place I finally bid farewell to my big blue roller bag and became a backpacker for the first time.

 

 

 

Valparaiso

I'm not sure if I've been to a city as quirky and unusual as Valparaiso.  The closest comparison might be San Francisco due to the views of the harbor, colorful houses, and the steep hills which the city is built upon.  Getting around town involves going up and down steep stairways. Luckily, they also have several  "ascensors" which look like large cable cars that you can ride to get part of the way up the hills.

 

La Serena 

This is a small city near the Pacific I only stayed at for one night.  I only stopped here because it was too late to catch a bus into the Elkui Valley. I wasn't really that impressed with the town but I didn't get a chance to make it to the ocean which is a 25 minute walk from the center.  

Elkui Valley 

The Elkui Valley is located in the foothills of the Andes and was absolutely beautiful.  Despite its reputation as one of the best places for astronomy in the world, I found it to be relatively undisturbed by tourism.  In the valley, there are several quaint villages surrounding by steep mountains.  The valley is also filled with vineyards used for growing grapes used in Pisco (a strong brandy most commonly used in Pisco Sours). I stayed in a village called Pisco Elkui which was very quiet and relaxing.  This was one place I wish I could have stayed longer but I was itching to head North to San Pedro.

 

San Pedro de Atacama

My tour of Chile ended in the village of San Pedro de Atacama in the extreme North of Chile bordering Bolivia.   San Pedro is in the desert which means warm days and frigid nights.  The village is made up of a few dirt roads with rustic restaurants and no-frills lodging options. San Pedro is a launchpad for tours into the Atacama desert and the surrounding mountains.  After a few days, I departed for a 3 day tour ending in Bolivia's famous Uyuni salt flats. 

Trip Update: Part 1 - Argentina

I have a little less than two months left here in South America. Here's a quick update of where I've been with  pictures:

Iguazu Falls

 Located in the North of Argentina on the border with Brazil and Paraguay. Even after seeing the pictures and hearing about how amazing it was for 2 months I was still impressed when I saw the falls in person.

Salta (with day trip to Cachi)

 After spending two months in Buenos Aires, Salta was my first stop on my trip around the rest of Argentina and one of my favorite places. I took a tour to the mountain village of Cachi where the picture below were taken.  Cachi was amazing and if I ever make it back to this part of Argentina I'll try to spend a couple nights there.

Jujuy

Jujuy is a province north of Salta close to Bolivia in the Quebrada Valley. In addition to amazing rock formations, Jujuy also contains the Salinas Grandes, a large salt flat which was one of the highlights for me.  The first picture below is the drive to Salinas which was one of the highlights for me. If I had to do it over again, I would have stayed in one of the small villages in the valley such as Pulmamarca.  The city of San Salvador de Jujuy which I stayed in was unimpressive.

 

Cafayate

After staying 3 nights in Jujuy, I took a 4 hour bus south to Cafayate, a small town in the wine region of Argentina.  Cafayate has the quaint, laid-back small town vibe but happens to have many bodegas (wineries) within walking distance of the town square and others you can bike to through beautiful country.  I preferred Cafayate over the more well-known Mendoza.

Mendoza

Had a great time here but no good picts to post.  It's a much cleaner city than Buenos Aires but I found it kinda boring.  What made the experience for me was staying in the Karma House where I met some great people and had a fun time grilling out, drinking wine, and relaxing. 

Bariloche

I hadn't originally planned on going to Bariloche but after hearing everyone rave about it I decided to check it out and I'm glad I did.  Bariloche is located n the lakes district of Argentina, 16 hours south of Mendoza by bus.  I spent 4 days hiking, biking, and checking out the landscapes.

And after Bariloche ..   it was finally time to cross the border into Chile before my 90 day visa expired.  Despite my negative first impression of Chile, I learned to love the country after 3 weeks traveling through Pucon, Santiago, Valparaiso, The Elkui Valley, and finally San Pedro de Atacama.  To be continued. . .

Big Blue Roller (2010-2012) RIP

Earlier this week I finally had to replace my blue suitcase I'd carried around with me all around Argentina and Chile the past 3 months.  Getting rid of big blue was not an easy decision for me.  Having a suitcase that rolls is quite convenient the majority of the time.  The problem is that once you begin moving around from place to place you never know what situation you're going to be in when you get off the bus in a new location.  I found myself in unroller luggage friendly conditions only twice in the past 3 months, but that was enough to make me realize it was time to look at the man in the mirror tugging a giant blue suitcase. . and make that change.

I am now officially a backpacker.  Everything I need for the next couple months must fit inside a 70 liter bag that I can carry on my back.  It makes me more mobile and flexible with my travel plans but it has also forced me to make some very difficult decisions on what to keep and what to leave behind.  It's also a huge pain in the ass each time I change locations and no longer have the option of simply unzipping my dresser on wheels to instantly reveal all my possessions folded and organized. Below is the "group picture" I took right before abandoning big blue at the apartment I was staying at in Santiago.  To the left is my new backpack.  In the middle is my smaller backpack I use to carry my laptop, papers, and smaller electronics.

Bienvenidos a Chile

My first impression of Chile was not a very pleasant experience.  I got off the bus in Osorno, Chile and had to use the bathroom badly.  I realized I had to go 15 minutes before, but I figured I'd just wait it out since we were so close to the station where I had 3 hours to kill before my next bus to Pucon. Big mistake!   Apparently in Chile it is customary to charge money to use the public bathroom (see photo).  This was a problem for me being that I had exactly ZERO Chilean pesos in my possession.

I asked a very unfriendly man guarding the bathroom if he accepted Argentine pesos and he said "no" but did it in a very chastising way, wagging his finger at me as if to say "Oh no buddy,  I'm not going for that trick again."  Despite the fact that Osorno is a major hub for buses, they had no place in the station I could exchange foreign currently.  I finally had to take-off down the streets tugging my large suitcase behind me until I found a sitdown restaurant.  I was able to order lunch, use the restroom,  found an ATM, and headed back to the station with plenty of Chilean pesos in my pocket.  Lessons learned:

• Always come into a foreign country with currency. I do this as a precaution when I can but this time all the money exchange places were closed since it was Sunday. 
• Never take a free bathroom for granted.
• Time to switch to a backpack.  Normally, it's more convenient (and easier on your back) to be able to roll your luggage but you just never know what situation you will enter in a foreign country so it's better to be prepared for the worst.

Crossing the Andes: Border Control

On Monday, I rode a bus across the Andes to leave Argentina for the first time during my South American vacation. The bus ride was beautiful but going through border control was quite an interesting experience.

After about 2 hours of riding through some beautiful country with mountains, lakes, and forests on each side, we came to what appeared to me to be a regular bus stop.  Without any announcement (that I heard) people gradually began getting off the bus.  Eventually, it was just me and a couple Australian guys still on the bus so I asked the bus attendant how long we will be stopped. This clues him in that we have no idea that we're supposed to get off the bus, have someone check-out our passports, and then get back on the bus. The only other time I've crossed borders in a bus was in Europe, so this was new to me. Luckily, the process went fairly quickly since it's low season now in Patagonia and our bus was relatively empty.

Now that we were back on the bus and moving forward again I assumed the next stop would be the Osorno, Chile bus station.  Wrong! 10 minutes later, We pulled into a Chilean border control station  and once again had to get off the bus once and stand in line to get our passports stamped. I learned later that the first stop was actually the Argentinean exit control which I assume is to assure we're not attempting to smuggle any empanadas out of the country.

As we were waiting in line to get our passports stamped, our luggage was being removed from under the bus so the dogs could sniff them out.  Meanwhile, inside the border control office, we're asked to put the backpacks we're carrying with us on the ground so the dogs can give them a sniff as well.  I'm last in line and as the pooch runs by it suddenly stops, taps a  paw on my bag and and looks up at the border control officer as if waiting to be rewarded for the discovery.  The officer politely asks me if I'm carrying any fruit. I say no, and he asks me to open the bag so he can take a look.  Luckily, he finds nothing incriminating. I've seen way too many movies (usually with Harrison Ford) where the innocent guy is somehow left carrying a bag of coke or a severed human head so needless to say I'm very relieved. My theory is that the dog was smelling the banana I had stored in my bag 3 days ago. 

Eventually, we were allowed to board the bus again.  Once we're seated and about ready to take off, a man comes on the bus and walks down the aisle to collect tips.  That's right, apparently in Chile you are expected to tip the people that unloaded your bag so it could be searched.  Luckily, I still had a 2 peso bill left so I didn't have to risk offending the people that decide whether or not I should be allowed to enter the country. 

Even with two stops, this was still much quicker than getting through customs at Atlanta or pretty much any international airport in Europe. The real headache occurred a couple hours later when I arrived at the Osorno, Chile bus station.

To Be Continued

Karma House

I arrived in Mendoza on Thursday morning at 9:30 am after an 18 hour bus ride from Cafayate.  After a short cab ride I had arrived at the Karma House to check into the "Meditation Room" that I had booked on Airbnb.com.   I've stayed at quite a number of accommodations over the years and this is by far the most interesting experience. 

The Karma House is operated by a man named Karma who is quite possibly the world's most interesting man.  Karma is a Tibetan who speaks five languages, has owned two restaurants in the past, makes and sells his own brand of wine, and entertains his guests with magic tricks.  He rents out rooms in his house he's named "Little Tibet" and the rooms range from $18-40 USD depending on the size. My first night ending up being quite an experience.  Here is an hourly account of the events of that night: 

8 pm: Dinner time.  Karma owned and operated two Thai-Indian fusion restaurants. He gives a couple girls from Ohio and me lessons on how to turn a couple chicken breasts and some vegetables into a tasty dish that can feed 4-5 using a wok and a few spices.  It turned out delicious! For dinner Karma gave us a couple bottles of his "Karma" brand wine he makes. 

9 pm: Tristan from the U.K. joins us at the dinner table and tells us all about his adventures fly fishing in Bariloche, in the lakes region of Argentina. 

10 pm: Now we are joined by 4 members of a film crew who are staying in the 2 back bedrooms. They are in Mendoza for a week  for a documentary they are filming.  Most of the crew isn't fluent in English, so the conversation transitions to Spanish. . or in my case Spanglish.

11 pm: Seeing how great of a time we're all having, Karma announces that tonight is a special occasion and he brings out a bottle of his Karma Special Reserve Malbec which sales for $180 in U.S. restaurants. The special reserve wine is made from the best grapes from the harvest and spends an extra 6 months aging in a barrel to create the full flavor.   

12 am:  Karma brings out a Tibetan guitar and begins playing traditional Tibetan songs and singing.  It sounded really good despite not being able to understand the lyrics.

1 am:  Apparently Karma knows magic as well.  He begins performing several tricks that leave us befuddled.  The highlight was a trick that involved him being handed a full banana and after some hocus pocus,  he hands the banana to one the Ohio girls who peels it to reveal that it is now sliced in 3 even pieces.  


2 am:  The night ends with all of us putting our heads together in an attempt to figure out the secret for the tricks.  We were unsuccessful.  Need to do more Google research. 

All in all a great first night in Mendoza.  Throughout the next few days, Guests came and went and I was able to meet may interesting people. 

Buenos Aires: Final Report

Last Monday, I flew out of Buenos Aires after living there for two months in 3 different neighborhoods.  Overall, I would say I had a very positive experience.  There will be many things I miss about the city and I hope to make it back someday.

Although I'm leaving with a positive impression, I didn't always feel that way.  Living in a large city in a different part of the world can be frustrating at times and there were definitely moments were I was counting down the days Until I could leave BA and move on to other parts of the country. The irony is I feel like I was just starting to get into my groove the last couple weeks before I left.

Regardless, since my overall experience was positive, I'm going to start off by listing the things that stood out for me and I'll save the other stuff until a later blog since many of the things that bothered me so much the first few weeks were in reality very trivial.  Here's the highlights:

• The People:  I found "Porteños" (people from Buenos Aires) to be very warm, friendly, laid-back, and fun to hang out with.  They are naturally nice, social people and very welcoming to foreign visitors.  

•  The "Porteño" lifestyle: Porteños generally don't go to dinner until 10 pm at earliest.  It's not uncommon to see families with baby strollers rolling into dinner at midnight.  Most importantly, at 4 am you can still hang out at an outdoor cafe and order a beer and food without any bouncer standing over you telling you how long you have to consume the beer.
  
• Cabs: To start with, no matter what time of day it is or where you are in the city, you can be assured of finding a cab with 5 minutes of walking out to the street. You will then be greeted by a driver that is probably dressed better than you and despite all the warnings of getting "taking for a ride", I probably took 50 cab rides during my 2.5 months and suspect I may have been ripped off once. 
• Wine & Steak: Yes, the wine and steak really are incredible in Buenos Aires.  You can eat a huge steak and wash it down with some decent wine for far cheaper than you'd pay in the U.S. and there seems to be a "Parilla" on every block.
  
• Affordable Services: When I was in BA, I had a maid clean my apt. once a week for 20 pesos (approx. 5 USD).  I dropped off all my laundry at the Lavanderia once a week and paid 35 pesos (aprox. 9 USD) to have all my laundry washed, pressed, and folded.  These are services I couldn't possibly afford in the U.S.
  
• Ice Cream: You will find a "heladeria" on almost every other street corner in Buenos Aires.  I've never really been a big ice cream eater but after two months in BA I finally wandered into one of the popular heladerias and was immediately addicted. Thanks to the Italian influence, the Portenos do some wonderful things with ice cream.  I've never tasted anything so creamy and delicious

Those are just a few of the items that stood out for me.  I'm sure there will be other things I miss after being away from the city for awhile. I'm not going to claim it's a perfect city (I'm yet to find that place) but I left with an overall positive impression and would definitely recommend anyone visit BA for a week or more if they have an opportunity. 

Learning Spanish

One of the main reasons I came to Argentina for my six month break was that I wanted to learn Spanish.  I came into this trip thinking it was going to be very difficult to learn a second language based on my previous experience attempting to learn Spanish.  As it turns out, it's been even more difficult than I imagined but I'm slowly making progress each day.  I've used a variety of methods to learn the language in preparation for the trip and since I've been down here which include:

- Fluenz Spanish 1 DVD
- Intensive Spanish Class (20 hours/week for 2 weeks in groups of 5)
- Private Tutoring
- Language Exchange Meet-ups
- Various forms of self study

By far, I've found the private tutoring and language exchange meet-ups to be the most effective methods for me.  For the past 3 weeks, I've been meeting with a private tutor for 1.5-2 hours a day where I practice conversation and learn new grammar, verb tenses, and other elements.  I've also discovered a few social groups that meet in bars and restaurants for the purpose of practicing speaking Spanish and English.  The other benefit of the meet-ups is that I've been able to meet some very interesting locals.

By the end of this trip, I hope to obtain some level of fluency but it's going to continue to be challenging - which is fine since the challenge is really my main motivation.  I'm not sure what the textbook definition of "fluency" is but I simply want to be able to express myself in Spanish and have the words easily flow out of my mouth without having to translate each word in my mind before speaking.  It would also be nice if I could speak Spanish better than the 5 year olds walking around here!

The Great Escape

While  cleaning out my apartment a couple months ago, I came across the Washington Post article that had originally inspired me to take a long vacation and move to another country.  The name of the article was The Great Escape, and I came across it in the Sunday Travel section while lounging at the pool in 2007.  What stood out the most when I read it almost 5 years ago was how natural it is for us as human beings to come up with reasons why we can't do something as adventurous as quitting our job to travel the world.  I remember thinking to myself "if a couple with a 3 year old can move to a foreign country, why can't I?"

The 2nd time I read the article, just a couple months ago, I was amazed by how similar my experience was leading up to my trip as the author's.  I also had a lot of pre-trip anxiety:  Will I have enough money? Is this career suicide?  Will everyone think I'm a loser for leaving a good job and a great career to travel for 6 months? Will I be the "old guy" at the hostels?

The answers to the first two questions are still unknown.   The answers to the other two: No.   I was pleasantly surprised by how supportive my friends, family, and co-workers were when I told them about my plans. I even had multiple people tell me they had considered doing the same thing.  For anyone that does decide to take a long vacation, I'll certainly have plenty of advice. 

As far as being the old guy, I've met people ranging from age 21-65 that have decided to travel around South America. The 65 year old was a retired body shop owner who had ridden here from Alaska on a motorcycle!  I'm yet to meet someone who has regretted making the decision nor have I heard any horror stories about anyone that left their job to travel and spent the rest of their life recovering from the mistake.  I still have over 3 months left so I will report back if I encounter "that guy".  Hopefully it won't be me!

What is Bife al Punto?

 Nearly two months ago, I began a six month sabbatical from my job for the purposes of moving to Argentina, learning Spanish, and exploring South America.  This is my first time living overseas and so far it's been an amazing experience.   The purpose of this blog is to share some of these experiences . . both the good and the bad.   Living in a foreign country where you don't speak the native language is quite an adventure and at times can be very challenging.  Almost every day I have some type of new experience that leaves me thinking. . "this is really going to be hilarious when I reflect back on it in a few months." Being forced to walk 2.5 miles to Spanish class in the rain with a malfunctioning umbrella due to a subway strike is just one example (actually .  I'm going to need some more time  on this one).

Attempting to learn Spanish has been a different challenge that has been at times both rewarding and frustrating.  I still have plenty of work left before I've reached any level of "fluency", but I've tried many methods of learning Spanish over the years and am hoping to use this blog to share my experiences on what methods worked/didn't work for me. The key words are "for me" since everyone learns differently . but more on that topic later.

By the way, Google Translate won't tell you this but "Al Punto" is how you order a steak in Argentina if you want it cooked medium.  If you want it rare, you would say "Jugoso".   Perhaps the greatest thing about Argentina is no matter how badly your day goes, you can always end it with a very affordable steak & wine dinner.  If you feel really adventurous,  you can order one of those mysterious menu items that produces a huge smile whenever you ask an Argentine  "so exactly what type of meat is this?"