Northern Argentina and Chile

After leaving Mendoza, we had a rough plan to visit the northern part of Argentina and its desert landscapes. After an 18-hour bus ride we arrived in Salta. We wandered around town, checking out their old colonial buildings and tasted some of their famous empanadas while trying to figure out where to go next. We had considered going into Bolivia for a few days. We had seen pictures from other travellers of amazing salt flats, crazy rock formations, flamingos and high alpine lakes. But due to our country charging Bolivia citizens $135 to apply for a visa, Bolivia now charges US citizens $135 just to enter their country. So we decided to check out some small towns, and then cross into Chile briefly to visit the Atacama desert, supposedly the driest place in the world!

Tilcara: This part of Argentina is completely different than the rest of the country. This is a dusty town. The streets are not paved and the buildings are made of adobe. For our first lunch when we got off the bus, we had quinoa empanadas (quinoa is a rice-like grain native to South America) and Llama empanadas (Tasted like beef, but a little drier).  Here the days are warm (generally) and the nights are cold. We thought our room in our hostel did not have heating and it was a cold first night. The second night we discovered that the air conditioner unit was a heater as well. Who knew?  This town is known for some ruins that have been partially restored which were interesting.  
The coolest thing we did while in Tilcara is go on a guided tour of some local caves. The group consisted of the guide, three Argentineans about 20ish years old, a mother and her 15 year old daughter from Buenos Aires, a Brazilian, a girl from San Francisco and the two of us. We had a decently steep hike to get up to the caves, and we started at about 8000 feet in elevation.  Another thing that makes this province unique in Argentina, is that coca leaves are legal here. The Argentines offered us some on the climb up. You take a pinch of leaves, stuff them in your cheek and leave them there. 
It is entertaining talking to everyone with one big cheek, muffling all your words. The juices from the leaves are supposed to give you a boost to help with elevation. We didn´t feel much different, I would say coffee gives a more noticeable energy boost, but we also didn´t feel the elevation (we think) as much afterward. The first cave was long and lit by candle light. We got some great photos with our group here. The second cave was short but went straight through the mountain which opened up to some amazing views. The most entertaining part was when the guide insisted on breaking us in to two groups, " for safety." The second group consisted of the guide, the BA mother and the three Argentine kids. Soon, we smelled something burning and when they returned (much later) they were all giggling like little kids. This continued for the full hike back to town. 

Lots of colors

Purmamarca: Oh the colors! We took a half hour bus ride from Tilcara and after about three hours of hiking, had seen all that Purmamarca had to offer. But as you can see from the photos, there were some incredible  sights.

Sooo Cold!

San Pedro De Atacama: It was an adventure getting here. There we're no buses that went straight from Tilcara to San Pedro De Atacama so we got up early and took a local bus to Purmamarca and then (because there is no bus terminal) began our search for the hotel, where it was rumored that they sold bus tickets to San Pedro De Atacama. We found the hotel only to find out that it was too late to buy the tickets and the next available bus was not for two days. We then waited in the cold for the bus to arrive in the off chance that they might have seats available. The bus finally arived and to our surprise and delight they did have space for us. We went over  the border and made it to town without complications.

Dirt road and adobe buisnesses

Day 1 we found the tourist office, acquired a map and made our way to Hostel Mamut where we had a reservation. They over-booked and for some reason every hostel in town was full (this is supposed to be the slow season) so we were forced to share one, single-sized bed.
It was cold our first day in this town.  As we walked around looking for a place to eat dinner we started with trip advisor recommendations but switched to whatever looked warm. For some reason every restaurant had its doors wide open and everyone was eating with all of their layers of clothes on, hats and all. We couldn´t figure it out.

Tamara

Day 2, our hostel was still full, so we found a new hostel with a private room. To maximize our two days we planned on spending in town, we got a package deal of three tours to see the sights. Our first was to Laguna Cejar, which is 40% more salty than the ocean and saltier than the Dead Sea. On a warm day you can swim in it and feel the intense buoyancy. For us, it was an overcast and breezy day. Some crazies did jump in, but obviously Dan and I were way too smart for that. We were supposed to visit two more lakes, but instead our tour company just hung out at that lake for two hours, and later told us that the road to the other lakes were closed. Later, talking to other travellers, we learned that a lot of tour companies do this, but no, the road was not closed. Tamara is still angry.

Pretty!

What is this?

Money Shot

Day 3 we took two tours that were, by far, superior to our first day.  In the morning we were picked up at 4am to go see the local geysers and hot springs.  The geysers are above 14,000 ft. in elevation, making them the highest geysers in the world.
The guides told us that the geysers are most active between 6 - 8 am (we´re still not sure if this is true). After a very cold 1.5 hour micro bus ride we saw some geysers that were nice, but having been to

Hard boiled eggs and Hot Chocolate Breakfast

Yellowstone we were a little unimpressed. The scenery, however was amazing. The bus then drove us to a hot spring which didn´t look so hot at the time. There were people swimming but it was right around 32 degrees  F outside, and there was nowhere to change.

Some of the many Coca products for sale

Day 4 we planned to leave but as it turns out there was a bit of snow on the pass back to Argentina so they closed the pass, so as we are writing this we are currently stuck in Chile.  We plan on visiting a couple more places in Argentina before we fly back to the states on July 18th, but now we are just worried about making it to Buenos Aires before that date.  We might have to resort to taking a flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires directly.  The lady at the counter for the bus company scared us when she said, "I hope it isnt like last year.  We couldn´t run one bus in the whole month of July." Looks like our weather luck from Patagonia has followed us. We are in the driest desert in the world, with an average of one overcast day per month, and now we have had three overcast days (and cold!) in a row. But travelling teaches you a lot of life lessons. You can plan and plan all you want, but sometimes unexpected things come up and you just have to deal with them. So think dry thoughts for us, and hopefully the pass will open soon!

Sopaipillas (Fry Bread)

Me like desert!

Mountain of Salt

Valle De La Luna

Coyote Rock

Me llamo llama

Purmamarca

View from Tilcara ruins

16th century church

Dirt road and adobe homes

Tall cacti

Sand dunes and salt hills

The Last Dance

Pizza Party

It is 6:30am and we justgot back from the club with Kelsey, Ruben, Kate, and Rodrigo and though we areexcited to continue on our adventure and return to the US we are sad to beleaving the incredible friends we have made while we were here.  We are sad that we did not get to know themsooner so we could have had more time together.

Cathy (left), Kelsie (top), Tamara (bottom), Maia (right)

Maia:  Thank you so much for chauffeuring us around,taking us on our only wilderness adventure in Mendoza, drinking Mate with us inthe park, seeing a Johnny Depp vampire movie with us, making Dan speak Spanish,and just being a great person. Thank you for taking us under your wing asstrangers in a new place, and I hope you are able to study in the US so we canbe mejor amigas! If not, we will meet at Burning Man someday.

Cathy and sombrero

Cathy:  I don’t know what you are saying most of thetime but I still love you.  Thank you for taking us dancing for the first time in Mendoza and introducing us the Irish pub.  Thank you for being your crazy, loveable self.  If you come visit us inthe US I will make you more pizza.

Kelsie:  It was nice having a fellow nerd around to identify with (estadounidense!). We wish you the best of luck with your med school applications, and hope that you keep traveling and experiencing life.

Kelsie and sombrero

Angela:  Your going away party was a great time but from what we hear the real fun started after we left.  Sorry we missed it.

Magali (left), Maia (center), Tamara (right)

Magali: It was great meeting your family and getting to know you, and I am sorry that I won’t be able to take up your fathers offer to teach me all about an Argentine asado.  It is first on my to-do list for when I return to Mendoza. We hope you have a great time in New York seeing crazy things like yellow school buses, and naked cowboys (ask the locals).

Dan (left), Ruben (right)

Ruben:  Thanks for making that incredible asado.  We would not have been able to do it withoutyou.  We enjoyed our discussions about relationships/politics/ect.,and you always kept the party going. I will be in touch about the graphic design for the website that we talked about.

Rodrigo (top), Kelsie (left), Cathy (right)

Rodrigo:  We have only known you for a couple of weeksbut you quickly became one of our good friends here.  We love your crazy photo faces, and your eagerness to learn new English words (broth!) and new people.

Nicolas:  Your English is really good and getting better.  I wish my Spanish were as good. Both you and Ezequiel are wise beyond your years.

Ezequiel:  Your dedication to the students in your program is inspiring.  Keep looking into programs abroad and if you have any questions we can help with or you end up in California be sure to give us a call.

It has truly been anincredible experience and we are sad to go. We will miss you all.  Please keep in touch and come visit us in the States if you can.

Manly Men

Philosopher Ruben

"Hell of a Cats"

 Part of our routine here in Mendoza is to go to our weekly “intercambios” (in English, interchange). These events are organized by the school and are advertized throughout the city.  Locals and foreigners alike get together to practice their English and Spanish.  On Mondays the intercambio is structured; they last two hours, and someone rings a bell every half hour to change from Spanish to English and vice versa. The first few of these were uncomfortable with our struggling Spanish. Nothing makes you feel like a bigger idiot than not being able to convey a simple concept. Especially when you know when you can speak better, but for some reason all that comes out of your mouth is gibberish.  But, as we have found out, making mistakes and trying to speak is the absolute best way to learn a language.

Intercambio in Bar

On Tuesday evenings, there is another intercambio, less structured, at a bar.  It’s been a great way to meet some really great people, but I have to say we did dread them in the beginning. Now that we are feeling more comfortable, they are enjoyable and the highlight of our time here.

At an intercambio a few weeks ago, a couple of new people showed up. They had both lived in the US is the past, one in D.C. and another in Utah. They were promoting a community theater play that was all in English, called “Hell of a Cast”. It was an adaptation of a play called “Noises Off” which you have probably never heard of (there was also a movie adaptation from the 80’s).  Tamara was really excited because she loves theater, and her high school had put on this play way back when, and she knew the script very well.

Hell of a Cast!

The play was in English.  All the actors were native Mendocinos, some had thick Spanish accents, and on top of that, many of the characters were supposed to have British accents.  Because of this, some parts were a little difficult to decipher, but overall it was a highly entertaining performance.  There are were several instances from this evening that we wanted to share which, we felt, were particularly “Argentinian”.

The play was supposed to start at 7pm. We went with some people from the intercambio and got there a few minutes before seven.  After we bought our tickets and went to enter the theater, the usher told us they were not opening the doors until 7:10. We all had a good laugh about the perceptions of time around here.  It is something that we always have to compromise on.  Dan always wants to arrive right on time or early, and Tamara always wants to arrive on time or a little late.  With the compromise, we usually end up getting to place on-time/eary-ish.  We now eat dinner around 9pm every night, but it’s still considered early for Argentine standards.

Hell of a Cats

Dan(Top), Maia (Left), Tamara (Middle) and Kate (Right)

While we were waiting for the doors of the play to open, we looked down at our tickets for “Hell of a Cast” (which is a funny title to explain to a native Spanish speaker.  “Hell of a …” is a compliment?) and instead the tickets read “Hell of a Cats”. Meow. You often see signs where something is lost in translation. Our favorite bar name here is "Very people....good things come in."

After the show, we went to our intercambio at the bar, where all the cats, ahem, I mean cast, showed up. They all got a big laugh after we showed them the tickets.  Another typical Argentine moment: When looking over the menu at the bar, I glanced at the vegetarian options. One of the two options was a chicken breast with vegetables on it (ha!).

We have learned many things during our language learning adventure (for a future blog post).  We have had a great time in Mendoza and are sad that we have to leave.  Next up, we have about two weeks where we are going to travel in the far northern part of Argentina to check out some amazing desert landscape. Then we will travel to Buenos Aires for a few days before flying out of July 18^th!

Los padres de Tamara nos visitan en Mendoza.

Bodega Salentein

On May 9th Tamara’s parents came to Mendoza for a two week visit. We did our best to host. Before they arrived, we found them a nice apartment on Pazoletta Ponce (little plaza Ponce). It had a large living area, included a full kitchen and wine glasses (it was perfect). It also featured, across the street, a small café, which, according to them, was a highlight of their stay.

When they first got here we were not sure how tired they would be after the long trip, but as it turned out they had a great flight, “the best plane ride we have ever had” (with LAN airlines if you are interested). The time difference worked out for them as well. California is currently four hours behind Mendoza, but most things happen about 4 hours later in Argentina, such as Dinner at 10pm. So the whole time they were here they did things 4 hours later on the clock but it was still roughly the same time they would do them in California. I doubt they had much trouble acclimating on the return trip either.

Coffee outside Bodega Andeluna

Night one, we took them to our favorite wine bar, The Vines of Mendoza. Once a week they host a different local wine maker who comes and gives a presentation on their bodega (winery) and their wines. They describe three of their featured wines as you sample them and snack on fine cheeses. It is interesting to hear the winemaking process from the winemakers themselves, who are so invested and passionate about what they do. The winemakers mostly speak Spanish but they have a very talented employee who does an amazing job translating to English.

Just another five course meal in Mendoza wine country.

Winery Visits. There are three main wine areas near Mendoza: Maipu (see previous blog about
riding bikes) which is the most accessible; Chacras De Coria, which is a little further, a little more upscale and probably has the most wineries; and finally Valle De Uco, the “Napa” of Mendoza, with amazing architecture and art museums, view of the Andes, and restaurants that serve you five-course lunches. Our winery visits spanned tours of the facilities from the winemakers themselves, to large scale operations with a designated tourism department. Valle De Uco probably had to be our favorite. It was peaceful, away from the city, with the vines turning red against the backdrop of Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Americas.

Tastings are generous here.

A closed-door restaurant? A “closed-door restaurant,” as we found out, is a private home where the owner entertains as a private chef prepares an eight-course meal. We discovered this establishment through the local wine magazine and were not sure what to expect. When pulling up to the restaurant we had our reservations as we passed by the scantily clad dressed “women” (who were actually men) so we asked our driver to wait until we knew for sure that we were in the right place. When I rang the doorbell, I heard a killer dog bark and then the door opens to a large man named Gonzalo who greeted me in English, “Who is Tamara? I thought you were going to be Argentine from the perfect Spanish in your email” (Tamara was very flattered). The interior of the house was, in sharp contrast to the exterior, tastefully decorated and with three tables set and music playing through a stereo connected to a cell phone. The host sat with us and told us his story about why we were eating in his house, we talked about our travels, politics of his

country and his experiences. His dog Tete (TT in English) was highly entertaining. As we sat in chairs and sofas around a coffee table, we were served wine and the first small (but delicious) courses. As the night progressed, we were invited to sit at the table where we enjoyed the main course, filet mignon (It is always steak here). After we went back to the living area, we enjoyed two courses of dessert and a glass of sparkling wine. Though we had some doubts in the beginning, after leaving we all agreed that this was an incredible experience and we were glad we took the risk.

View of Andes as we passed through them

Valparaiso, Chile. Jim really wanted to visit Chile and Tamara and Dan needed to renew our visas (you need to leave the country after 90 days or you will be fined) so we decided to take a trip to Valparaiso, Chile.  The 1st class bus ride lasted about 7 hours and featured amazing views as you pass up and over the Andes mountain range. We spent three nights and two full days in Valparaiso where we had a great time exploring the city. It is one of the most interesting cities We have ever been to. “Valpo” was a major port city before the Panama Canal was built and there was a large influx of European influence who saw Valpo and thought, “Forget San Francisco, I’m staying here.” In fact it has a lot of similarities to San Francisco, but grittier. When the Panama Canal was built, the money left Valpo and the city was left in shambles. But it’s coming back now. The whole city is built on steep hills, so no matter where you go, you get a spectacular view of the whole city and the ocean below. Throughout the city are funiculars, or elevators, to take you from the seaside flats to the neighborhoods above. Unfortunately, due to the economy these are slowly closing one by one.

Going up?

It appears as though the city was created haphazardly, because every street you go down has a tiny staircase or alleyway that connects to another street. The best way to see the city is just take whichever one appeals to you and get lost. Street art has also become common-place. Every wall that does not have a mural on it just gets graffiti-ed. Some of the graffiti is artistic and impressive, but some are just scribbles. Some of the locals have combated this problem with murals. If there is art on the wall, the taggers leave it alone. If you do not have art on the walls, you are committed to painting your building once a week to keep it all one color. However, you have to be careful looking at and taking pictures of all the art, because street dogs and cats are rampant, and so are their little presents.

View from our hotel

While in Valpo we got to tour the house of the poet Pablo Neruda, which was really impressive. Every piece of furniture, every wall, had significance. Not to mention the great view there. We also toured the Open-air Museum, or Museo Abierto. There were as series of murals hidden amongst the maze of alleys and walkways. To see an impressive event of Valparaiso culture, there is an urban downhill bike race every year, down the small alleyways and stairs, dodging street dogs, for a small money prize.

After crossing back into Argentina, Tamara’s parents packed up to leave for their next adventure: Buenos Aires! 

Stay classy Tamara!

Muchas Uvas!

 Spanish for "a whales back side"

ART

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Tree growing out of wall (Just like in Yosemite)

Street Art

Gato

Street Art

Key board stairs

Different stairs from different times