argentina: RN40

my bus ride from bariloche to el calafate was long...more than one day...very very long...much of the ride was on RN40, the only north south highway on the west side of argentina...it's a small highway, i doubt there is ever a lot of traffic...the scenery is awesome...
my bus left bariloche (the weather had finally cleared up, just as i was leaving:(  at 0800, i had a front row seat...i had my camera out, and took photos during the entire ride...this bus ride was no different from any other bus ride i took, other than being longer than most...

argentina: bahia blanca

early in my visit to argentina i learned that most public transportation is done by bus, but there are also options for train rides...i wanted to try everything, and a night train ride to bahia blanca worked in my itinerary...
i boarded the train at constitution train station in buenos aires...my ticket was for second class...
the train was cold and dark...as i was waiting for the train to start rolling, i figured the lights would come on as we started moving...the windows did not close properly, and i'm guessing it's been years since anything was cleaned...this was one time i was not thrilled with my transport choice...

the train started moving, and the lights flickered on and off...i could feel the wind coming in through the windows, even at the slow speed, so i knew it was going to be a long, cold, ride...i looked around and saw that everyone else had scarves, hats, and blankets, so clearly they knew what was coming...as the train sped up, the lights got stronger...then the train slowed down again, and the lights got weaker...in other words, the lights were tied to the electricity generated by the train...ugh...
i was COLD when i got off the train the next morning...and tired, since i didn't sleep much...i don't feel the need to ride another train in argentina...

i was second class, there was one level worse than me, and one better...i can't imagine how much worse it could've been...and i'm curious what first class would've been like...would it have been so much better?
i took a taxi from the train station to the bus station in bahia blanca, bought a ticket for later that night, then stored my bags...
i wandered around bahia blanca all day, there wasn't much to see...it's just a town...(with a couple good bakeries, i stopped into almost every bakery i passed, hee hee)...the normal statue of a guy on a horse...a couple parks...

when it got dark, i made my way back to the bus station to kill time until my bus left...i was happy that i found a plug, and a wifi signal...the bus station was new and modern, i was more comfortable there than i'd been on the train the night before:)
my bus to bariloche left on time :)

argentina: buenos aires again

we went back to buenos aires because bo's time in argentina was almost over...boooo
the late arrival of our bus back in buenos aires was not particularly convenient...it took us a bit to find our way out of the massive bus station, partly because we tried to find someone who would give us change...we knew we were going to ride a local bus, which doesn't give change, and we didn't want to overpay simply because we didn't have small change...
the local bus dropped us in a neighborhood called san telmo...(i mentioned this neighborhood in an earlier post)...after a lot of discussion and investigation, we'd booked a hostel in this neighborhood...though rosario is only three hours from buenos aires, we checked into the hostel 7 hours after we left rosario...

our dinner was at a self service place across the street from our hostel, i had empanadas...yummy, as usual...after dinner we walked to plaza dorrego, and tried to find a mural of che...the guidebook says this mural is on plaza dorrego, but it wasn't there...we looked everywhere, but it wasn't there...it might be in a small side street in the surrounding area, but it isn't easily found...if it's even there...
the next morning we got up in time for the breakfast that was supposed to be included in the hostel price...it was less than adequate, to say the least...after breakfast bo started rearranging his pack, in preparation for several flights on his way back to the states...

we went for a quick walk, one last effort to find the che mural...we failed again...
then we walked up a main street to the money changing area of florida street, i needed to change money...we had lunch at a fantastic empanada place called la cocina...(the same place i went with the girls before bo arrived in argentina)...
more walking led us to a supermarket with wine, bo stocked up with three bottles...
after returning with the wine, we stopped for a cup of tea at a cafe on plaza dorrego...the decor of the cafe is super old school, great for sepia toned photos :)

we returned to the hostel, and bo finished packing...he knows how to pack wine bottles so they don't break in transport...we walked to the shuttle bus place so bo could catch a bus to the airport...a bus left almost immediately, so we said goodbye and went our separate ways...
my next chore was to buy train tickets, and buy a sube card...a sube card can be used to ride buses and subways in buenos aires...you can charge them in heaps of places in the city, but it is far more difficult to figure out where to buy the card itself...eventually, i succeeded, after going back and forth between several locations for a while...

i rode the subway to constitution train station, and bought train tickets for the next evening...then i rode the subway back to an area called retiro, and walked to the fantastic german bakery called smeterling...(i think i mentioned it in an earlier post)...i bought and ate too much...YUM...
on the way home i ate real dinner food, and listened to a bunch of the podcasts stored on my iphone...
the next morning i reserved flights online, then walked to the airline office to pay for the flights...i reserved the flights pretending i was argentinean, which got me a much cheaper fare...to make that work, i had to pay in cash, at the office, pretending i was paying for a friend...(domestic flights are heavily subsidized for argentines)...

i spent the afternoon back in the hostel, reading...it was raining, and i'd spent plenty of time in buenos aires, so i didn't feel like i was missing out...all of my stuff was packed up, as i had checked out that morning...
after finding dinner at the place across the street again, i grabbed my bags and took the subway to constitution train station...
my night train to bahia blanca left on time :)

argentina: rosario

we arrived in rosario after an easy bus ride from cordoba...we got easy to read maps from the old lady working the desk in the information office in the bus station, which was quite modern and still under construction...she also told us where we could find a bus to the city centre...
after walking for a bit we found a hostel, and dropped our bags...
rosario isn't filled with specific sights to see, it's more of a relaxing place to go...there is a river through the city, and quite a few restaurants along the river...there are beaches too, so it's probably pretty busy in summer...

rosario is actually one of the birthplaces of argentina...the flag of the country was developed in rosario, and there is a giant monument to guy who made the whole thing...you get a pretty strong feeling of national pride in the city...rosario is technically the hometown of che (though he didn't live there very long at all) and is also the hometown of football superstar lionel messi...
we stopped for ice cream before doing anything else...then we continued walking, looking for someone with whom we could exchange money...that turned out to be rather difficult, we only found one guy, and the rate he offered was nowhere near the current blue market rate...rosario isn't that far from buenos aires, so the excuse of distance didn't fly...

after the money failure, we continued walking...we found a pedestrian street, which was pleasant enough...one of the popcorn vendors had salted popcorn, yahoo!!
eventually we made our way down to the monument/memorial area...lots of people sitting around doing nothing in particular...we also found the eternal flame...
the guidebook mentioned one street in particular as being full of restaurants, so that was where we headed...it took a while to get there, but i don't know how far it was...both of us wanted sushi, but the place we found wasn't going to open for at least 30 minutes...we were both starving, so we found a cafe where we could have a quick snack to tide us over...the sushi was okay...not great, not awful...

i remember being really cold by the time we got back to our hostel, but it probably wasn't that cold...
the next morning i asked if i could buy postcards before we left town...the one place i'd seen postcards being sold was on the pedestrian street, and it didn't seem like it was so far away in my memory...but when we did the walk with our packs, it seemed rather long...especially because it was in the opposite direction of the bus station...
we took a bus to the bus station, and bought tickets for the next bus to buenos aires...easy enough...
unfortunately, our bus broke down at one stop between rosario and buenos aires...everyone piled off the bus and waited...i should say this is what bo and i assumed happened, since we never heard a specific announcement, and my spanish is not nearly good enough to eavesdrop on most conversations...
eventually a new bus came, and took us to a GIANT bus station in buenos aires...

argentina: cordoba

we took a night bus from mendoza to cordoba...bo and i both woke up while on the bus at the perfect time, we got to see a beautiful RED sunrise...if the bus had stopped i would've tried to take photos, instead i just enjoyed how amazing nature can be at times...breakfast on the bus was a single roll in a box...argh...
we expected to stay in cordoba for a couple nights, but didn't want to walk around to the cheapest places while carrying our packs...i guess we were both feeling rather lazy that morning...we found a place close to the bus station that was within our price range...

we walked around the city, looking at whateva struck our fancy...as we walked through the big platz in the middle of the city, there was a demonstration of some sort taking place, complete with fireworks and police...we didn't know what was happening, so it was a concern...we'd both been warned about accidentally getting caught up in this sort of thing...
there was a big church on this platz, the inside was full of colour, i loved it...
CORDOBA SELLS SALTED POPCORN!!! i was sooooooo excited when bo figured this out...needless to say, i bought a bag...so did bo...later, i bought another...the day after, i bought more...i knew it wasn't likely that i'd get another chance to have a food i love so much...
the pedestrian zone marked on the map wasn't at all impressive...heaps of people selling things, nothing remarkable...

we descended under one of the streets to the jesuit crypts, but those werent very impressive...there was so much lighting, it didn't feel at all like a crypt...it wasn't possible to see what was once there...plus, you could hear the cars drive over the street that goes just above the crypts...we saw some artwork, which seemed out of place, of course...there was a small diorama of how everything had been when it was first discovered...
after continuing to walk for a while, we stopped for a break, i had te con leche...yum...it's as close to chai as i can get outside of india...i love having afternoon tea breaks while traveling:)

the most morbid/meaningful sight in cordoba is a memorial museum...it's full of information, and is almost overwhelming...all the people who went missing during the awful years, as well as maps of where all the detention centers were located, as well as photos, letters, etc...when we walked out we both felt rather stunned...subdued...
our last sight for the day was the jesuit manzana, which is still an active educational institution...it's a unesco sight, but it wasn't aesthetically impressive...at least, not that i could see...i enjoyed the church next door a lot more...

dinner that night was at a local place a couple blocks from our hotel...not only were the portions huge, and cheap, but they brought us free mineral water!! woo hoo!!
the next morning we took advantage of the breakfast included in our hotel, then checked out and moved to a hostel...
(check out the jesus maria post for my daily activities)
dinner that night was at a steak place...when we asked for a menu, they said they didn't have one...it was a grill restaurant, and every argentinean knows what is available at such a restaurant...my steak was awesome, but too big...both of us forced ourselves to eat salad, as a small attempt at being healthy :)

(check out the alta gracia post for my daily activities the next day)
after returning to cordoba for dinner, we realized it was sunday evening, and almost nothing was open...we ended up having dinner at a random place across the street from our hostel...i ordered milanesa, which is known as pork tenderloin in indiana :)

argentina: alta gracia

breakfast was not included in our hostel price, we ended up eating at a cafe on a platz...we found the small bus station in cordoba from where we could take a bus to the city of alta gracia...alta gracia is on the unesco world heritage list, as it has one of the jesuit estancias that were so important in argentinean history...alta gracia is perhaps more famous as the city in which che guevara spent many years of his childhood...
our bus dropped us off at the bus station, we stopped into the information office to pick up a map and figure out where to go...it turns out there are a bunch of museums in the city, though we weren't interested in most of them...

we decided to find che's house first...on our way there, we walked through a park, and passed a churro truck...YUM...there is nothing better than fresh made churros...full of grease and sugar, there is nothing better...that being said, both bo and i weren't feeling so good by the time we finished eating...
the park was called the parque of the americas...we saw flags for a number of the countries in south america, but nothing from north america...we both climbed on that statue for a picture...
we found che's house...then we found another house...and finally we found a third house in which he lived...guess what, they were all on the same street; i don't know what prompted the family to move so much on the same street...one of the houses has been turned into the che museum, the other two aren't even marked...i only noticed them because i knew the addresses at which he lived...needless to say, che's life was never stable, though his family was always close...

che was actually born in rosario, but his family moved to alta gracia because he had really bad asthma...alta gracia is at a higher altitude, and the air is dryer...
the entry fee to the museum was expensive (75 pesos!)...i hope they use that money in a good way, but i don't know...the house is small, but well curated...each room has photos and letters and information signs about different aspects of che's life...there are a couple maps showing the routes of his motorcycle trips through south america...some of the information has been translated intp english, most is only in spanish...

from che's house we walked to a lake in the city centre, it's a man made lake which has been surrounded by a concrete boardwalk of sorts...on one side of the lake (which is really small) was the second sight we wanted to see, the jesuit estancia...
unfortunately, the church in this estancia was not open, we weren't able to find out why...booo...as we were exploring the rest of the estancia (which had good displays about how life was back in the day, as well as the family that had lived in this estancia) bo managed to set off a motion detector...hee hee...

after walking through every open room we could find, we exited the estancia and bought two bags of salty popcorn, yahooo!!!
it was easy to find our way back to a bus stop to catch a bus back to cordoba...

argentina: jesus maria

one of the reasons i wanted to visit cordoba was its proximity to several other unesco sights...the town of jesus maria is one of those...there is a jesuit mission worth seeing...
we found the small bus station in cordoba from which we caught a bus to jesus maria...the estancia we wanted to see is a unesco listed sight, but i don't think jesus maria gets very many visitors...if i hadn't read about the mission in the guidebook, i don't think we would've visited this town...
we got off the bus, everything was quiet...we stopped for lunch at a bus station cafe, both of us had pizza...
i was really glad i was able to use the maps function on my phone, otherwise we never would've found the estancia/mission...there were no signs indicating where we should go!!
we were only allowed to take photos in the church of the mission...the church was simple, but i liked it...it was pretty chilly, i bet it never really gets that hot, even in the middle of summer...i was actually pretty cold by the time we left the estancia, as the whole thing is stone...

one of the display rooms had more paintings of angels garbed in colonial clothing carrying weapons...similar to the paintings we'd seen in the church in uquia...
not much else to report about jesus maria...

argentina: mendoza and maipu

we took a looong bus ride from salta to mendoza...18 hours...we'd chosen seats at the front of the bus, so we had great views of the scenery the entire time, but it was still a very long ride...we were fed three times during this ride, all three meals were the same...not very tasty...each box had three ham and cheese sandwiches...i know this is a common food in argentina, but really? argh...
we walked from the bus station in mendoza to the city centre, then found places listed in the guidebook...we chose a cute place, it seemed quiet...wifi didn't reach to our room, but that was okay...this place had a couple nice sitting rooms, i'm guessing they would've been lovely if we were visiting during warmer weather...

since we arrived fairly late in the day, there wasn't much daylight in which to explore, or get to know the city...even though we hadn't burned any calories during the day, we still wanted a proper meal...after a bunch of walking we found a local diner type of place...
before walking out of our hotel, we looked at the map of mendoza, and saw that it was built around 5 plazas...one in the middle, four situated in square positions...after dinner, we decided to walk around the outline of the squares...
it wasn't super cold, but i had a hard time warming up and sleeping that night...i have no idea why...

breakfast was included in the price of our hotel, it was nice...a typical spread of cereal, rolls, tea, milk, etc...i ate too much, as i always do in a breakfast buffet included in my hotel price...
we asked our hotel lady where we could get laundry done, she gave us an idea...when we found the laundromat, we discovered the prices weren't great, and neither one of us was super keen to deal with it...we walked to the plazas again, to see how they were different in daylight...there were statues or memorials in the middle of each, bo decided to climb on one of the statues and have me take the photo...i did the same, but on a much smaller statue :)...

of the four plazas, my favourite was plaza espana, as everything in the plaza was decorated with tiles...we had heaps of fun taking photos...there were plenty of other people in the plaza, we had to wait a while to get the views we wanted, without anyone else in the picture...
we found a giant supermarket called carrefour, and decided to check the wine and olive oil sections...bo already knew he wanted to bring wine with him back to the states, i knew i wanted to buy olive oil...we didn't think we would buy at the supermarket, but we were keen to get an idea on prices...

from the market we headed up the street toward a park...a big park...i stopped to get ice cream on the way, then almost dropped the ice cream...the street we were walking is supposed to be a really nice area of mendoza...it was okay, but i didn't feel super impressed, at least, not the way the guidebook made it sound i should be impressed...
the entrance gate to the park was being renovated, and was surrounded by green plastic fencing...boooo...bo climbed another statue for another picture, i skipped my turn...there is a 'lake' in the middle of the park, which was empty while we visited...not only was it empty, there were vehicles in the bottom, digging around...the temperatures were still chilly, and had clearly been cold for a while, as there was still snow on the ground in shady areas...

dinner that night was in another steak house...my steak was overcooked, boooo...
the next morning we checked out after breakfast...we walked to the bus station, dropped our bags at the left luggage office, then caught a bus to the nearby town of maipu...
maipu is basically a wine town...tourists and visitors to mendoza often organize tours of maipu, it's an easy way to see several vineyards...we rented bikes and got maps of maipu and started peddling...
our first stop was an olive plantation...well, not really a plantation, but a place that dealt with olives and products made from them...

our entry fee included tasting several products, an explanation of how olives are grown, and olive oil is made...we got to see the machine that is used to press the olives, and got an explanation about the different types of olive oil...(extra virgin, virgin, etc)
our next stop was a biergarden for lunch...i don't know why bo wanted bier, but i went with it...
our next stop was a french winery...it was the furthest away on the map, and my legs were tired by the time we got there...bo used to be a competitive rider, so he was fine, while i was huffing and puffing...we got a quick tour, then bo decided to do a tasting...since i can't have alcohol, i could only smell and look...even though i can't taste, the smell is usually indicatvie of the taste to some degree...

across the street from the french winery was another olive plantation...i did a tasting of 5 different olive oils...they didn't have a lot of flavour, as olive oil never does, but i was able to taste small differences...i ended up buying a small bottle, i knew i wouldn't be able to get it back in buenos aires...
we pedaled back to the bike rental place, arriving just after we were supposed to return the bikes...at first we were afraid we wouldn't be able to return the bikes at all (the gate was closed) but the wife came out and took the bikes...she also served us juice...my legs were tired, so i was thrilled to have sugar...

we caught the next bus back to mendoza, then walked around trying to find dinner...we found a sushi shop that looked interesting, but it turned out they only did delivery...we asked if we could just wait as they made our order, but that would've taken over an hour (despite them not having any orders coming in at the moment)...we weren't seeing any logic in that, so we walked away...our dinner ended up being at a small place near the bus station...
our bus to cordoba left on time :)

argentina: quebrada de humahuaca

we hopped on an early morning bus from salta to tilcara...the ride is about three hours, and i made the mistake of not eating breakfast first...by the time we arrived, i was NOT feeling good...the road wasnt particularly twisty, but i still felt as though i was going to puke...this was a huge disappointment, because the scenery was awesome, and i was annoyed at myself for not being able to relax and take it in...
the quebrada de humahuaca is a stunning area in northern argentina...the mountains are a wide variety of colours...greens, pinks, purples, reds, browns...amazing...it would've been even more amazing without all the wind...

i know it all has to do with minerals, and where they are when layers of sediment are created, but it's still hard to understand how some of the land in this area looks like God created it while on an acid trip...
we arrived in tilcara, it was dusty and windy...we were able to find a place to stay, electricity was out in the entire town for the time being...it doesn't mean much when a hostel says it has free wifi if electricity is out during the entire day, most days...
i needed food, badly, so we found an empanada place...yum...is it ever possible to eat too many empanadas? i dont think so...

we followed the map we got from tourist information to make our way to pucara, which are the ruins of a fortress...now the area is taken over by cacti...some dead, some alive...the inside of a dead cactus is a bit sad, really...it was really windy and dusty, so photos dont look very dramatic...i tried to be nice to the cacti, they were not nice to me...booo...somehow i ended up with cacti prickles in my toe? is that considered free acupuncture?
some of this fortress has been rebuilt, it looks terrible...(my opinion of course)...there are no windows in any of the buildings, apparently this is how it would've been back in the day...considering how much sun this area receives, that would make life rather depressing..

there is a rather large monument to geologists in the middle of a platz, no one was thinking about aesthetic appeal when that was approved...
after the fortress we started to walk to an area called the garganta del diablo (devil's throat)...along the way we ran into people coming back the other way who said it was closed (it's a canyony area) due to high winds...boooo...bo sat down to rest for a while, i kept walking just because i wanted to move, and the wind had calmed down a little...
we started dinner with candles everywhere...cooking must be more of a challenge if you can't see very well...power came back on as we were eating...

i ordered coca tea to drink, and no, i didn't feel anything...coca leaves are sold on the street in this part of the country...my meal was llama filet, which was rather tough and chewy...i can now check llama off the list of animals i've eaten...don't need to do that again...
breakfast was not ready on time the next morning, we had to head to the bus station before we found anyone to get the food out...argh...our bus took us to the town of humahuaca...it's the last of the little towns in this area, and i would consider it the most authentic...it's definitely been affected by tourism, but it hasn't been taken over by tourism...the local meat and veg market is very authentic, we loved walking around...i've never seen yellow and red speckled potatoes before...and green potatoes too!! too bad we couldn't buy food and cook with it...

according to the guidebook, locals in this town speak the native language, not spanish...
for snack we had empanadas made to order...YUM...i could've sat at that stall all day long, just eating...the lady had such a rhythm, it was awesome...she would make an empanada, then drop it in the fryer; the whole process took about 10 seconds...
people in this area still wear traditional dress, and have amazing faces...SO MANY PHOTOS...
we walked across a small bridge, i saw a cactus garden of sorts...again i tried to make nice with the cacti (doesn't everyone love a hug?) and again they weren't having anything to do with it...bo ended up talking with a local guy who played a mini-guitar sort of instrument...

in the 'city centre' is a giant monument dedicated to the independence heroes...it's gaudy and doesn't fit in with anything else in the town...there is a large platz in front of the monument, filled with souvenir stands...we left town just as a couple large tour buses arrived...
the bus took us to a teensy tinsy place called uquia, it's a short ride...tourists stop in uquia to see a small church with interesting paintings on the walls...the paintings are of the angels, but with a twist...they're all wearing colonial clothing, and carrying weapons...it's quite strange! an angel carrying a blunderbuss? the church is open only a few hours each day (2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon) so you have to think about your travel/bus timing...

we also walked in the area behind the village, it's gorgeous...the mountains were mostly red, but there was so much colour...there was one other couple, that was it...i loved the quiet...we found a red sand dune, and a canyon...if we'd had more time in argentina, the entire area of the quebrada de humahuaca is one place i would've extended our stay, to do more hiking...
we didn't have to wait long for the next bus to tilcara, thank goodness...we picked up ham and cheese tortillas from ladies running grills on the street...yum

there is a tourist market set up around a park in tilcara, and after looking through every scarf option available, i finally bought one...i bargained a little, but not much, as i don't enjoy it, at all...i paid 45 pesos, the girl had a very difficult time finding change for the 50 peso note i handed her...
we ended up going to the same place for dinner...i had a thick stew...
the next morning i wore boots for the first time during this trip...it was COLD...we caught a bus to purmamarca, not too far away...it was snowing lightly as we arrived, bo was not thrilled...he didn't have much winter clothing with him...fortunately, i had an extra pair of gloves and hat...

purmamarca is completely overrun with tourism...i doubt anyone in that town isn't somehow related to the industry...it's another beautiful area, but it's still sad to see this happen...(and since we visited, we only contributed)...booo...since the town is based entirely on tourism, there is no central bus station...a bunch of different companies offer tickets to nearby towns, but there is no specific station...
we followed a trail called the hill of seven colours...i loved it...even though there were plenty of other people doing the same thing we were, it didn't feel too crazy...(that being said, i would not want to be doing this hiking in high season)...this trail goes around and through a few hills...

at first it was cloudy, which was annoying in terms of trying to take photos...then the sun came out and the photos started to begin to show the breathtaking views...
fortunately, i found postcards...heaps of them, not surprisingly...
we caught a bus to the city of jujuy (which i love just because the name sounds cool) and used that as a transfer point for another bus, to salta...in salta we dropped our bags at the station, and wandered around the town again to kill time before our night bus...