Well! I know it's been quite some time since I last wrote, which in my opinion is a sign that I am having the time of my life! For all those who have been waiting, which I'm sure no one has haha, its been an amazing several weeks. I think I have really fallen in love with this city, but at the same time, have realized if I don't leave soon I am going to want to settle...and we know thats not why I came. I am having strong feelings on possibly moving back here once my travel fix is complete, but I know I have a lot to see, and many more adventures lie ahead.
My roommate and I decided it was time for a little adventure, something more on the nature side. We decided this because we both love the outdoors and this city swallows you with concrete and metal. I was having metaphorical withdrawals from what I love most. So we sat down with a map and a general idea of what we wanted to see in argentina. We decided we had to go to the Northwest because even though its very far, in that region lies a vast number of things to do and see. We took a 26 hour bus (SO NOT FUN) to salta and there we stayed for three days. It had sort of a Boulder/Seattle feel to it. Live music everywhere, people were outdoorsy, and even though it was a city...just outside there is so much beauty. We stayed at a very chill hostel in Salta, and there met a very cool argentine (traveling alone) and spent the next three days exploring the city with him...and a lovely way to practice some more spanish, because my roommate and I had to speak in spanish or else we were leaving him out. Most of that three days consisted of waling around the city, eating, and goin out on the town during the evenings. We also went on a hike tot eh city's highest point and there we could really see what was around us!
Miguel (our new buddy) was only staying three days and so when he left, we had seen enough of salta, and decided to scout out car rental places. It is a very popular thing to do because there is this circuit called (Ruta del Vino), with translates to the wine route. It is south of Salta, and we decided that would be a nice first adventure. We spent three days driving through windy, mountainous dirt roads. My roommate is from England and even though I gave him several shots, after the 3rd or 4th near death incident decided he should not drive anymore! So yes I drove more or less the entire time plus or minus 1400 kilometers, ad didn't mind one bit because these empty dirt roads, with a stick shift was HALF THE FUN. Anyways we stayed in a tiny tiny town (pop: 450), and it was a magical place. We only really slept there, but that was one of the coolest parts of this trip, driving through these tiny towns and seeing how simple life is up there. It is so hard to articulate and narrate this journey because of how beautiful it was. Literally we stopped almost every ten minute to get out and appreciate the beauty, and for those who have seen my pictures on face book, it's the pictures with all the red and green mountains. This three days was literally just views from the car, stopping for lunch, taking pictures, and enjoying the road trip.
When were were driving back down, meaning to stay in Salta another night; we realized it was an extra hour to our next destination and why stop back through salta when we could have more time in a new place, so we drove to Jujuy, which is another providence (salta and Jujuy are the equivalent to states in the US). It had a completely different vibe, and everyone looks more indian, maybe because it's very close to bolivia. We still had the car and went to the most popular hostel in hopes of recruiting people to help pay for gas and the days worth of a car rental. Well, thats was quite a success. The next two days our car was packed and we met some pretty cool people. We used the hostel as our hub, making day trips.
The first of which, was Calilegua, a sub tropical rainforest. It was nice, although, if anybody's been in a rainforest you know its thick and wet, with lots of bugs and humidity. We went on a four hour hike and it was brutal. We all got bit by these bugs that would literally latch onto your skin and suck your blood until they were huge...very gross. The mosquitoes were terrible as well, but luckily I brought the kryptonite of mosquitoes from the states, something like 40% deet. Anyways it was very pretty, but one hike there was enough. When we got back tot he car, we decided to drive up into the cloud forest, which was amazing but very very sketchy driving. It was raining pretty hard and the roads were muddy as hell, and these roads consisted of one lane on cliffs, very steep and indeed interesting. We made it out alive...although on the drive out...I heard something from the tire and realized there was a large jagged stick in our tire...not cool at all. We had to stop in a little, kinda sketchy town...but I managed to change the tire in about 10 min with no complications (minus a 700 peso fee)
The next day we departed again for the famous rainbow mountains, nestled in a beautiful little town called Purmamarca. It was a very beautiful 3 hour drive and when we arrived, took a nice stroll-hike on the loop taking many pictures and just enjoying all of it. It was relatively quick, and so we decided to head further north to Salinas Grandes, which are the famous salt flats at about 13,000 feet. Again a very insane drive, through clouds, wet roads, steep cliff roads...not realizing when we left Purmamarca we had a half tank of gas (ill come back to this later).
When you arrive to a place like this you know straight away, and I can't tell you how in awe we all were. No one could speak...and something we witnessed was a very very rare occasion. The salt flats (usually one of the driest places in south america) were covered in one inch of water. This made for one of the "trippiest" most unbelievably gorgeous sights I have seen in my life. We were all in shock, and spent the next 3 hours just taking thousands of pictures. And I'm sure you can believe that no...the pictures don't come close to doing justice for what this looked like. It was a very beautiful couple of hours, we were so at peace and just calm. It was thousands of miles of just flat, and there was complete silence...and after three days of clouds and rains...the sun was beaming down and at 13,000 feet, you can just feel its intense heat. One of the most beautiful things I've seen, probably because I had never seen this type of ecosystem, or climate...just very different than my colorado mountains. So that was it really. Now on the way back we had a quarter of a tank, we were at 13,000 ft, had to climb up this mountain road, and then drive 4 hours back. And there wasn't a gas station until just before Jujuy...I'm not going to drag this out like a suspense story haha, but I drifted for nearly 3 hours in neutral (because after that climb to the peak t was all back down... very suspenseful and exciting...one of those things that in the moment was scary, but after...just added flavor to the day.
The next day, we took a 32 hour bus (FUCKNG HELL)...to the famous Iguazu Falls in the northeast of Argentina. There we stayed at a very cool, hip and young hostel. We explored the argentinian park for two days. My roommate needed to get his visa renewed and go to the brazil side. For Americans though its 150 US dollars, and I wasn't going to pay that for one day. Anyways, I explored the argentine side again by myself for a day which was very lovely!! and my roommate came back saying he did it all in 2 hours and it was not nearly as good as the Brazil side, so I was happy with my decision. This place is truly magical...and there's not much to say only that you can only go to understand its beauty and amount of jaw dropping sights.
Besides this trip, everything is amazing. I have (supposed to have 5 more weeks in BA) some time left. I have to ramble, as you know if you read this regularly, I love to do. I am seriously in love with This region. Especially Buenos Aires and the places Ive been. I can't say that its because of Buenos Aires's beautiful architecture or cleanliness because its none of those things. It is the culture and the amount of passion for life in the population. Everyone is so friendly and seems so generally happy, which I find is rare these days in the states. And if you are truly happy, then your life is not your work. Your work comes second to your life, and you live before you work. That's what I find here, that makes this place just a lively and exciting place to be. Everyone takes their work seriously and does it, but it is not what makes them. What makes them is their friends, family, passions, music, dance, and it's just a very huge lesson I think people can take from most of Latin America. It something I will remember when entering the rat race int he states. I am not hating on the way things are int he states...I believe in hard work. But like everything else, I hope to be able to balance these two things first, and work as hard as I can while not vacating my life, because int he end life is so, really soooo short. And in the end, all those hours of work, and that slaving away will be forgotten, if you also haven't lived a full and balanced, healthy life. i haven't figured out how to go about this, and I think it remains a great mystery but I know that whatever I do, I will be happy or try, and if I'm not, I will try and change careers until I find happiness because that is what life is all about. LISTO...(done) :) Short and sweet.
Chau for now
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