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.