Tim_Day 37-39 (Uyuni - Getting there)

Day 37 (Continued)
We hit the bus station later that night and the bus ride sucked as usual. They stopped every ten feet till about 3 in the morning. Turning on the lights about half an hour before we got to the station. So by the time we arrived at the town of Viason right on the border of Bolivia I got about 2 hours max of sleep.



Day 38
We were pretty tired when we got off the bus and had to wait at the station for a couple hours till the border opened up. The poeple and the environment was changing in the blink of an eye. The people in Bolivia are much more indian looking, worn features and bodies, and are much poorer then the people in Argentina. They also much more simple and crude with there maners compared to Americans. In fact I was shoving old ladies and kicking the peg leg out from the old man in no time. It´s the way they do things down here and I´m adjusting pretty quickly. Ana´s getting the hang of it but still feels bad "cloths lining" the older people. I told her if the old ladies don´t stop nut checking me I´m gonna start DDTing the old ladies from the top of the bus.

Anyway we were sitting at the bus station that morning for a couple hours. It was cold and we had our sleeping bags drapped over us. It was dark and it was interesting to see the people. The older people wear allot of the traditional cloths which consist of a large skirt that must be stuffed with something becasue it is so puffy. They wear stockings and black sandles. Then they have a somewhat normal shirt or sweater with a stripped colorful blanket made into a backpack. They carry food, plants, kids, and whatever they can in there blanket backpacks. They also have jet black hair which they braid into to long pony tails going down there back. Average length goes down to about there butt. They also wear these black hats that remind me of the smaller rimmed hats the American cowboys used to wear. All the bolivians are pretty small as well averaging around 5 feet. Both the men and the women. Very interesting people to look at. They make me feel like I´m in disneyland.

We made it to the border via taxi. Which was a good chioce since we were thinking we could walk it but it was dark, the road was far and pretty bad. I was glad we caughed up the 1 dollar for the ride. I´m trying to keep us a little safer. Crossing the border was easy and we made it just as the sun was comming up. Was really magical walking down the street with the morning lighting.

We saw allot of older poeple sweeping the streets. Was funny to watch this one old lady sweeping in her local cloths. She had to be around 50 or older. She was working very hard sweeping the trash into a pile. Her little feet would make little fast steps from under her huge puffy dress. She was moving at a pace that seemed so quick. It was sad to see someone so old working so hard for something I bet she got paid almost nothing to do. But she worked with vigor and I only could watch and take in what was something that was so foreign to me. I really enjoy experiencing things like that. It´s what I travel for. Experiences that can never be understood or created. You just find them eveyday right in front of you.

We exchanged money and decided to take the bus that was leaving right then to Uyuni. We were lucky to catch a bus so quickly. The train was the other option but it didn´t leave till later and got into Uyuni at 12:00pm. The bus ride turned out to be very interesting indead.

We were pushed onto a really old beat up bus full of local poeple. It was dirty and smelled like people. We were lucky to find to seat sitting apart from each other. We took off and bouched our way all the way down the dirt road to the next city 2 hours away where we were hoping to get another bus that would take us all the way to Uyuni. The first bus wasn´t too bad. It was crowded and there was poeple and things all over the place. Funny thing was that we were going threw harsh desert all the way. But then we would stop all the sudden and people would get off. I would look out the windows and there were no mud structures in side? I don´t know where the hell they were going? It was like we were leaving them in the middle of the desert to die. So weird. We were also pícking up people in the middle of nowhere. Weird stuff.

We made it to the first little city and I had to go to the bathroom bad. Right as we got off they said the bus to Uyuni is leaving. So we got our packs from under the bus (which we were suprised to see) and ran to the other bus. We put our packs under the bus and hoped they would be there when we got to Uyuni. In fact every stop we would try to see if our packs were being taken off. But there is no real way to see. So we just hoped.

When we got on the second bus the people were even more poor and local. They seemed like allot of farmers or something like that since I didn´t actually see many farms. I don´t know what they did for a living since they seemed extreamly poor. Anyway we stepped over bags of extire corn stalks, and random shit. Pushed people out of the way and made it to our seats in the back of the bus where we sat for one of the top interesting bus rides I´ve had. I think what also made it so interesting was the fact that we were getting used to the nice buses in Argentina.

We started out of the town and drove the next 9 hours on some pretty bad dirt roads. Certain times it was a little hairy going on a one way road up the dirt mountains. The wheels seemed to hang over the cliff as we turned rough pitted corners. Was interesting to say the least. The bus driver was a good driver though and was doing well with what he had. The roads were dirty and dusty the whole way. In fact I had a coat of dirt on my watch so thick I had to whip it off to see the time.

If the roads and the old ass bus that bearly ran wasn´t enough the poeple were. The people are much more crude than I expected. Crude compared to what I expected. In fact when we stopped for the first time after about 1 hour I had to pee bad since I didn´t get to at the last stop. In fact I was getting close to just filling up the empty coke bottle I had and throwing it out the window. I could have and no one would have cared. But luckily the bus stopped and there were bathrooms all over the place just outside the door. In fact about 6 feet from where you exit the bus the was a kid pooping right on the dirt floor in front of everyone. There was another guy peeing right on the wall a little furthur away. I joined him and Ana when she asked a proper bathroom they pointed at the area we were all doing our business. Luckily Ana found a little wall and her and the Swiss girl we met took turns looking out for each other. I was real glad I didn´t need to do number 2. That would have been interesting. It was interestnig to be in a group that acted that way. It was gross but at the same time very free. Were so scared to do anything in America while here it´s fine just to pick your nose right in public or poop right on the road in front of everyone.

I saw some little barbeques with carne asada on them. It looked like the locals were cooking but it was actually a little store. I bought some carne asada and rice to go. It was only 1 dollar american. I got it to go and they put the rice, a couple small potatoes, and the meat in a small plastic bag. No fork. So I sat there and ate rice, meat and potatoes with my hands. The meat was great and I got my hands all dirty and dropped food all over the ground in the process. It felt really prehistoric but at the same time it was really cool. If they didn´t have a trash can (which I was suprised to see) I would have just threw the bag on the ground and left when the bus started up. That experience was really cool. I never want to live like that but here in the middle of nowhere, in a small 6 mud house community in Bolivia it was how they lived.

We proceeded all the way to Uyuni with old guys picking there nose and a young girl pucking in a trash bag. Me and Ana were really tired and the bus right was beating us up. We had been running all day and hard since San Martin and we were feeling it. We were upset, emotional, and picking at each other. We got to Uyuni around 7:00 (about 3 hours later than we though which also sucked) and we got a nice room. Luckily this city has 14,000 people and was much more nicer than we ever expected. I was thinking we were going to be sleeping in a mud house with dirt floor and no shower. But we got a room with a decent bed and a hot shower. We didn´t know that we had to tell the guy to turn on the hot water so we took a cold shower. So cold you couldn´t breath. Ana took the fastest shower I´ve ever seen. Honestly about 30 seconds which after she was having trouble catching her breath. Pretty funny.

We went out to the city to get dinner. The city is celebrating Carnival which would be fun but we were tired and not in the mood. Ana got sprayed by a local high school kid in the face with some shaving cream. The cream got in her eye and I was about to go kick his ass. I was so pissed. Ana felt like crying. Man we were worn to the end. I said let´s just relax. Were in there city and it´s part of all of it. But that really showed how physically and emotionally beat we were. It didn´t help that we had eaten really bad the last few days and almost nothing really that day.

We walked down the dark streets and avoided the idiots as best we could. We found a little pizza place and ate dinner there. The pizza was good and was cooked by an old lady with a little gas oven. It was so weird. Her little cosutume and oven. She looked like a little irish lepracon. So funny that these are real everyday cloths. So old school. The younger kids wear more modern cloths but the older traditional people don´t.

We sleep good that night despite the drums and partying all night outside our hotel.



Day 39
Woke up today very rested. It was really nice to feel rested. I feel like we are back on track and not so emotional. At times the day before we both just wanted to go home. But were better now.

Were going to schedule our 3 day tour of the area. 60 american dollars and it includes the ride, food, and lodging. The lodging sounds pretty simple but should be fine. I hope it doesn´t get to cold. The guy said it might over the next few days. We´ll need all our warm gear for the trip.

We had a great lunch at the plaza. Omlette with vegitables. They also had pancakes! I didn´t get them but I was suprised to see them. I think I´m going to like the diet down here much more. They seem to have tortillas and more basic food like vegitables and fruit. If I have to eat another sandwhich with cheese and ham I´m going to go postal.

More to come.
t*

Ana_(Getting to Bolivia)

What an interesting ride. I must say it was very drastic the changes from Argentina to Bolivia.

We took a bus from Salta to La Quiaca,which is the border town to Bolivia. We took an overnight bus and arrived in La Quiaca about 5am. We had wait in the station for about an hour until the immigration office in the Argentina side opened. Then we only had to cross a bridge and we were in Villazon, Bolivia. We had to wait about 30 minutes for the Bolivian immigration office opened. We got our passport stamped and off we were to Uyuni.

Uyuni is the town were you have access to the salt flats which suppose to be the largest in the world. To get to Uyuni was quite an adventure. Initially we wanted to take the train which was supposed to be a smooth ride. The thing was it didn't leave until 3:30pm and we were in Villazon at 6am. Our other choice was to take a bus to Tupiza (nearby city) and Tupiza to Uyuni. So we did. What a ride!

I was used to riding a bus with ac, movie, meals and bathrooms. Not the case here so far. No ac, no meals, no bathroom, no movie. The buses are older and more simple.
We were in the bus for about 11 hrs on pure dirt roads. The only backpackers in the bus were a Swiss girl, Tim and me and the rest were Bolivian farmers. Very humble people. It was a shock to see. It was interesting to see the way they interact and dressed. The ladies were wearing a puffy skirt with stockings and sandals. Most of them had two braids and rounded hat. There is no order whatsoever. You had to shove your way in an out of the bus. We were a little more skeptical with our bags since there is no order and they just stack them and there are tons of stop along the way.

But we made it to Uyuni in one piece. I was so tired and just drained from the ride. We found a decent hostel with a private room and bath for just $3 USD. At the reception there was a little girl maybe around 2 years old. So precious! She kept giggling and laughing. It always seemed that at the end of a long journey I always find a little angel like that. She represented peace and that everything was going to be ok. She made my day for sure. SO CUTE! She followed us to our room and kept laughing and smiling until I said "Chao."


=)Ana

Tim_Day 34-37 (Salta)

Day 34
We woke up a little tired and a little run over. I wanted to get up and start doing erronds early since it seems to take so much time to get anything done. We ran pretty much the entire day doing erronds. About 10 hours worth. You would´nt think you could spend that much time but you can and I can´t figure out anyway to cut the time down. All we end up doing is circles.

But after a really hard day we had a rental car parked at our place, food for 2 days, our reservations on a bus leaving in a couple days, and a couple cigars for the road the next day.

We decided to rent a car for 2 days to see some of the country around Salta. The guy who sold us our bus tickets in San Martin said that the trip we were about to take was the best trip of his life. That sold us on it and we put up the cash to get the car.

We sleep ok that night. Not to good overall and we only got about 6 hours total since we wanted to walk up early to get out of town. The bad nights of sleeping were really starting to wear on us and we were overall getting ¨catty¨with each other.



Day 35
Woke up bright and early in the morning. In fact it wasn´t bright it was actually dark but by 7:00 when we headed out it was bright. I backed the little FIAT that we rented out of the small gateway and off the curb. Damn city. I was really worried having such nice car in a country of crazy people. When I say nice car that´s nice car for down here. Not nice car in America. I mean it had four wheels and only a couple small dents.

Anyway we hit the road and I was shifting through gears and running red lights like a crazy Argentine driver in no time flat. We found our way to the road they suggested. The pavement lasted for about the first 30 minutes and the next 10 hours were spent off roading on old ass backcountry dirt roads. It was so much fun. We were crossing rivers and scrapping the bottom of the car all over the place. It was great. Ana wasn´t so excited since she had never been off road before in a car.

The landscapse was magaical as we started there were thick mountains with a the road following the river all the way up. We never got going to fast because the second you thought the road was good there would be a little river in front of you that you needed to cross. We say some really small communities in the outback. Little towns in the middle of nowhere. Houses were made of mud bricks and even the ceiling was covered with mud. Cactuses were all over the place and the landscape just keep unfolding infront of us as we drove through it. It seemed like every new turn and valley was a new and amazing mountain range with brialliant red, greens, yellows, oranges, and browns.

After about 5 hours we stopped in a little town for lunch. The people are starting to look more indian and more Bolivian. What I expected to see since were not to far from the border. It´s nice to see the change in people and cultures. I love Argentina but I want to explore some new people and we were starting to do that. The people in this little town were very poor. They didn´t have much at all and it´s what I´m sure were going to see a ton of in Bolivia. There faces show the hard lives they live. There leather dark skin shows how hot the summers must get in the area.

It was funny to see them stare at you. Ana experienced the same thing. They would stare at you for an uncomfortable amount of time with a face that seemed to have no expression. It wasn´t doesn´t seem like they are judging you or thinking bad or good thoughts about you. It´s like they were mezmorized for a moment and information only seemed to be being captured in their heads not processed. It a stare you see in kids all the way to adults. It was a funny feeling to feel that way again. I want to run from it but at the same time it´s not threatening just different.

We got back on the road after I ate my triple decker peanut butter sandwich. Which was great. I bought 2 jars of peanut butter in Pucon. They had a little section of exotic food and I paid an arm and a leg for those two jars. Well worth it though.

The roads after lunch got progressivly worse. People told us they were unpassable a couple days before but we should be able to make it now. That´s always reasuring to hear. I told Ana don´t worry but inside I was a little worried we would be stuck for a while somewhere. I don´t think it would be that bad just would have sucked.

Lucikly though we made it the next 5 hours to the town of Cafayate where we were assurred paved roads for the rest of the journey. We did pass a couple of people that said we should bring water for the car not to over heat. But it wasn´t that bad and it just made Ana more worried.

The landscape was amazing on the last part of the route. It was like driving through what I thought Mars would look like. Huge bolders in all directions with brialliant colors all over. What made it even more cool was there were only a few cars we saw on the whole road. Being out there by ourselves made it even that much more amazing.

We got into town in Cafayate and got a room. We were beat and we were getting cranky at each other. I was tired of driving and we were in the car for about 12 hours total. Long time. We ate at a local resturant and had some great pizza and another liter of wine. There was an amazing thunderstorm in the distance that created an unbelievable cloudscape on the horizon. Right at sunset it was really magical and I think if you had the right camera and the right shot it could have been an award winning shot.

We ate and drank. And drank. Then drank some more. We found out later that a liter is about 1.5 bottles of wine. We didn´t know that since the wine came in a metal container. That city is know for it´s wine and has massive feilds of vineyards. About 10 times the size of Temecula. I don´t know if it was the wine of the fatigue but me and Ana got pretty drunk. We stumbled to the square and watched a local group of preformers preform for the kids. Blowing fire and stuff. We then bought some small candies and headed home.

Right before we got to our place we saw some foozball tables outside and decided to play one game. We ended up getting in a game with a couple local kids. Was fun. They were having a great time playing with the funny drunk Americans.

We had a blast and finally crashed at the place. Was a very huge day full of adventure and fun. It seemed like that morning was a few days ago there was so much that happened. The funny thing was as tired as we were we both slept really bad that night. First it was too hot. Then we had to get up to put on repellant for the misquitos. Then we woke up and I was cold. I pulled the curtains off the wall and had to repair them in the middle of the night. The dogs were barking all frecking night and I imagined having a 22 and gunning them down. People and music peppered in the mix also to keep us up.

Bottom line was we didn´t get much sleep. It´s was too many nights like that and I think it was the malaria pills were taking. The side effects of the pills are having sleeping problems and bad really vivid dreams. We haven´t had the dreams so much but we did have trouble sleeping and both of us were really restless in general. Oh well.


Day 36
Woke up around 9:00 and ate some breckfast. Headed south to see the city that was hidden in the mist. It ended up being a really cool drive on nice paved roads. Only thing that sucked was the river crossing every .5 miles or so. You can never really rest driving. You always are shifting and breaking. After about 2 hours we made it to the mist valley. Was really cool the mist was so bad I had to have my windsheild wippers on. We found the little city and had some empanadas. They were good and a nice rest. The town was fun and we headed out just after lunch.

We spent the rest of the day going through amazing landscape. Stopping on the side of the road and taking picuters. I´m sure the photos wont´t be that impressive but the feeling when your out there is. The quiet wind and the openess of the space really are impressive.

We made it back to town in the evening right at the perfect time to fight the city traffic. There is no rules on the road and you can never really tell if the street your on is a 2 or one lane road. People do whatever they want. I didn´t like it since I didn´t want to pay for the car if someone else scrached it. Luckily we made it and turned the car in right before they closed at 9:00. It felt like a 1,000 pounds had been lifted from me when I turned in the car.

We cooked some really bad pasta for dinner. It´s always nice to have a crappy meal after a long hard day. But luckily the wine was good we had with it. At only one dollar a bottle I think we´ll be drinking allot more.

We both slept better that night. I took a sleeping pill to insure that since the next day we would be sleeping on a bus again.


Day 37
Woke up and started running erronds again. We found out that money is going to be a pain in the ass on the first part of our trip so were working that out. Also send some cd´s of images home since the mail in Bolivia won´t be as nice as it is here in Argentina.

Were now sitting in a little cafe paying the cheapest price since for internet access. Only 33 cents a minute. It´s nice because we can both catch up on things. Make out VOIP calls and just relax a little. We head out in a couple of hours for the bus station for another fabulous overnight bus ride. We´ll see since we end up at the new city at 5:30 tomorrow morning. Should be another fun filled day.

Were off to Bolivia. Man I hope they have meximelts in Bolvia? At least a Chulupa. So far none of these idiot Argentinian´s understand me when I say I want a number 7 combo with a meximelt on the side. What´s up with this country?

t*

Tim_Day 29-33 (Getting to Salta)

Day 29 Continued
Pretty much hung out all that day. Met some really cool guys from England and Ireland. They were pretty funny and we drank beers till late in the night and told jokes and old funny stories from our past. They were talking about the mine were headed to and it sounds really cool. They bought 5 sticks on dynamite and used 3 of them to blow up a watermelon. Really cool. It was raining a little that night and it was nice to sleep in a warm bed in cold country.



Day 30
Woke up and farted around most of the morning. Around 11:00 we decided to go on a bus to one of the local lakes. The lake was nice and very relaxing. We spread out or sheet and layed there for about 3 hours sleeping and lazing around. We finished writting the postcards to the kids back home and ate lunch. I bought some peanut butter in the large supermarket downtown and it makes the best sandwiches. Man I miss American food and it was nice to have the good bread down here with peanut butter.

After the lake we decided to walk to the "two eyes" in the river just a few kilometers down the road. It started as a nice walk but turned into a journey. My feet were sore from the volcano hike and I was getting frustrated with how far we walked. We ended up walking total for about 3.5 hours. About 2 hours of it was on dusty roads where I must have consumed about a pound of Chiliean dirt. Maybe that will help settle my stomach?

Our mistake was not to add the 2 hours to the time they said it would take. They said .5 hours and it took about 2.5 hours from the lake. Now we know the rule not only applies to the time the bus says it will get to a destination but also to hiking trails. The good thing was at the end the "two eyes" in the river really sucked. Man I was glad Ana had the brilliant idea to walk the whole thing.

After getting back we cooked some pasta for dinner and hung out. We had the room to ourselves which is always nice. The guy who crashed in our room the night before snored like a elephant. Good times.



Day 31
Woke up and headed out to catch our bus in the morning. It was an interesting bus stop. It basically looked like you were standing in someone´s front yard. There was a logo of the bus company we wanted to take on a small shack. Looking in the window you could see one desk and chair strategically placed in the open room to take up space. The little printed paper in the window said buses come on Mon, Tues, and Wed. Interesting since we were there on a Sat. morning with no one else in site and the place was closed. Luckily the bus was only a half hour late and picked us and a few more poeple up. I would have been pretty pissed if we missed our connection to Salta the next day.

The bus ride was the usual. Passing borders again. Waiting in line while 4 guys do nothing and one guy is doing all the work of typing the passport number in the computer. Sometimes the borders are really smart and they have one guy type the passport number in the computer and the other guy stamp the passport. Good old goverment workers. I guess there the same in every part of the world. DMV´s are the same in America.

Anyway we made it to San Martin and checked in to our old place. We went and had a really expensive dinner at the local resturaunt. We wanted to have some really good beef before we left the country. Ended up being ok. I wasn´t so impressed. The wine was good though and helped smooth out the evening.

Sleep good in our dorm room. Sleep in a room with another cute couple from Canada. This stop in the city was nice. We knew where everything was and I haven´t felt comfort like that in a while. Takes allot of stress out of the day and my mind.



Day 32
We woke up in the morning and cooked a really large breckfast for brunch. Had potatoes and eggs with lots of butter. Was great. Potatoes are one of the foods were really enjoying. The large meal was going to be our last till we got off our 36 hour ride to Salta. Oh joy another bus ride.

We boarded the bus around noon and headed to Salta. The trip pretty much sucked. Were getting more used to being in buses so it wasn´t that bad. But spending valuable vacation time on a bus isn´t where I want to be. I did get allot of time to read my spanish books. Damn language is hard to get. I feel like I´ve spent a good amount of time trying to learn it but I still feel like I don´t know anything. I guess when you think about it there are a ton of words in a language. To try and memorize them all is going to take more than a couple weeks. I´ve made it my goal over the next year to get enough of a grasp of the language so I can communicate with people poorly. If I can get that much of a knowledge base I think the rest will come with time. We´ll see.

We got a really nice meal for dinner. Little peice of hot meat with mash potatoes. Was suprising. Just like airplane food. We transfered buses in the evening right before a large lightning storm was bearing down on the city. We had the top front seats on the bus and could see everything. I was like a little kid saying to Ana ¨Did you see that?¨ About 6,000 times. She replied ¨Yes, I saw that¨ in her annoyed voice. The storm didn´t get us very wet since we were driving away from it but it was beautiful to see and was right at sunset so the colors and the smell in the air were amazing. I loved it.

Spent that night sleeping on the bus. Wasn´t bad. Moved around all night but somehow managed to sleep and feel rested in the morning.



Day 33
Woke up that great bus engine noise and that crusty dry ass taste in my mouth. Luckily I woke up just in time for the big breckfast they were serving. 2 cookies in a wrapper with some crackers. Damn that was filling. Overall though we were pretty rested and ready for another whole fun filled day of sitting on the bus.

We passed through some nice country as we wound our way up north. The double decker buses seem to rock allot on top since they are so top heavy. The roads are pretty curvy as well so pretty much the whole time I had a little sea sick feeling in my stomach. Ana did to later that day because she read to long with her head down.

We drove all day and into the night. The environment was changing and getting hotter and dryer. More desert like. We had a good lunch though. They feed us some chicken with rice. The bad things was they didn´t give us any dinner so we were pretty hungry when we arrived in the little city 30 minutes outside of Salta at 1:00am. Not the time you want to arrive into a new city but the only option we had.

We got off the bus and found that the only way to get to the city at that time was to take a taxi. Ana found an old guy with a regular car that called himself a taxi. He said it was 8 pesos per person to go to the city. Interesting. Was he a murderer or a nice guy trying to make a buck late at night? We decided to role the dice and said ok.

He walked us to his car just across the street and we threw our bags into trunck. It was on hardcore performance car let me tell you with 3 gauges that didn´t work mounted on the left side of the driver like a funny car. I was suprised when he turned over the key and the car actually started. Sounded like a lawn mower with no exaust. He dropped the clutch and we were off. Shacking and rattleing down the road. I could have swore I heard some large parts falling off as we drove the 30 minutes to downtown Salta.

As scary as that ride was it was also very magical. The night was pitch black and we were headed to a city we knew nothing about. The moon was half full and bright on the horizon. The driver and the drunk guy in the front talked to each other in Spanish. The car and the conditions were very normal and they were quiet confortable while me and Ana and the other girl seemed a little uptight and uneasy. They both had the front windows down and were blowing smoke in our faces in the back. The hum of the engine was mesmorizing and was putting me to sleep. I didn´t want to touch my head against the roof of the car since it seemed so dirty but after a little while I gave in and leaded against it. I wanted to rest my neck and my eyes. The guy up front ate a pack of candy I think and threw the wrapper and any trash he had out the window. No one gave a second thought to the fact that he was polluting. Just as natural and thoughtless as breathing.

We arrived in Salta a little while longer. We were tired and luckily the guy drove both me and Ana right to our hostel. After a litlte negotiating and figuring out we got our own room with a queen bed. This was the first night we had sleep side by side since the trip started. All the other places have been on different beds. Was nice feeling to collapse on the crooked bed and fall alseep next to each other. Athought we were both very tired we didn´t sleep that good. We woke up several times in the night and overall were pretty tired the next morning.

t*

Tim & Ana Pictures 5 (Salta)

Here are several photos of our adventure in Salta. The first photo is in downtown Salta, Plaza 9 de Julio. The rest are from our trip down south of Salta. =)

Tim & Ana





















-------ADULTS ONLY--------

XXX HOT ARGENTIAN ASSES

THE TRUTH

Ana_Salta (Northern Argentina)

Here we are in northern Argentina in the city of Salta, BEAUTIFUL town. So far it´s my favorite town. Colonial, quaint and very homey. I love the architecture, lots of old structure. The churches are very beautiful too. The people are super friendly. Now I understand why people we´ve met along the way insisted we come and visit.

The guy who sold us the bus tickets to go to Pucon told us that we should rent a car when we came to Salta. He took his time to map out the route for us to do. He claimed it was the best trip of his life. We did listen to him and we can see why he said that.

We rented the car for two days. We drove down to the surrounding areas of Salta. We took the route through the valleys south of Salta like the guy said. It was out of this world. The landscape was absolutely breathtaking. The scenery kept changing every minute it seemed like from huge mountains to lush desert. We saw tons of animals-cows, bulls, donkeys, birds, sheeps, goats, horses and llamas. It was so cool to see them hanging out on the side of the road. We had to be careful sometimes they´d cross the road right in front of you.

I can´t find the words to describe the scenery. Photos won´t do justice. We kept taking pictures. We´ve got a few quicktimes as well that capture a little more of the experience. Nature it´s so amazing.

The drive was an adventure of it´s own. We drove on dirt roads for 10 hours. Well, I should say Tim drove but I was so tense that I felt I was driving too. There were poddles and sketchy areas we had to go through in a small, red car, like a Geo Metro. Tim was so cute to calm me down like saying "we got it knuckle, no worries." We pretty much had the road to ourselves. I was afraid of getting stranded in the middle of no where. But Tim had faith that it would be no problem to get help. Still I was so nervous at times. We went through a lot of tiny towns where the houses were made of mud. Interesting to see, middle of no where.

We left Salta 7 am and we got to the city of Cafayate around 8pm. I was so thankful we made it in one piece. The town was small and quaint as well. It´s surrounded by tons of vineyards. It´s said to produce a big percentage of Argentina´s wine.

We found a hostal with a private room and cheap too. It was only $40 pesos for both. That is about $14 USD. Then we went to a local restaurant of course to have more pasta. This time we had pizza. It tasted so yummy. The pepperoni here is a little different, it´s more like salami. We had a liter of wine. It was a lot. It seemed like it never ended.

Before heading back we played some fusbol. At first it was Tim and me, but then two local kids joined the game, Luciana and Jairo. The girl was about 8 years old and she´d get soooooooooooooooooooooooo excited when she scored. She´d scream every time GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAL. So cute. I was so buzzed all I did was laugh. I sucked a fusbol. But I managed to block few times to avoid more goals. We rotated players. At the end it was the girls against the boys. The boys won. I had so much fun.

The next morning we drove south some more before heading back to Salta. We went to a place called Tafi del Valle, were over looks to misty mountains. It was incredible to see the environment to change from sunny and cool to misty and overcast. Nice little town. Eveyone had their rain gear. It wasn´t raining but the constant mist was enough to get your cloth a little wet. We had lunch there, some empanadas and tamales. The tamale was pretty good. It was very similar to Nicaraguan tamales, similar taste.

The drive back was just as beautiful. We saw more gorgeous mountains and rock formations of different shades of colors. There were some that had formations of things. Among the ones we saw were "el sapo" (the frog), "el anfiteatro"(the anphitheater) and the "garganta del diablo" (devil´s throat).

What an amazing two days. Today is our last day in Argentina. We´ve been here about a month. We´re headed to Bolivia. I´m sad to leave but excited to see a new country. Other travelers say it´s really different from Argentina.

We only have one more month in South America. I can believe it. =)
Ana

Tim_Day 28-29 (Volcano)

Day 28
Yesterday we woke up early in the morning and headed for the volcano. I was a little excited but not really. I was expecting the volcano to be ok and for me to be a little upset that we had done so much to get here. Luckily that wasn´t the case the entire experince was amazing.

We geared up at the place we bought the tickets. They said they supplied the gear but I was thinking they gave us some old gloves or something. But we ended up getting really massive boots, gaters, heavy duty pants and jacket, a backpack, helmet and ice pick. I was thinking are we climbing Everest or something. Seemed like over kill on the gear. But we ended up needing every peice of gear.

We got to the base of the mountan by little bus. Then we got on the first chair lift. Taking the lift saved us an hour of hiking and well worth the money. We got off the lift and headed straight up the hill. The first few feet was across some icy snow and Ana was already starting to freak out. We had a minimum of 3 hours ahead of us and I was getting a little worried Ana would only make it a few feet up the trail and stop. Good thing she´s a vary couragious girl. She toughed it out all the way to the top of the hill. The trail was tough and very steep. I must say I was a little scared as well because I wasn´t sure I knew how to stop myself if I slipped using the ice axe. I had an idea but I didn´t know. I don´t have much experience on ice and snow and that was what worried me.

We finally made it to the top by following the snow steps made by the people in front of us. It was a total of 3,000 feet of climbing and we did it in 3 hours with only 2 stops! They pushed the shit ot of the group. Crazy guys. I couldn´t believe the pace they were holding. The group was strong and they just keep hiking. Ana was beat when we reached the top and instantly sat down with her breath lost. I could hear the volcano breathing and raoring just over the small hill in front of us. I asked Ana if she was ok and she waved me to go away. So I left her and ran like a little kid with a smile on my face to see something I´ve always wanted to experience in person - Red hot lava.

Sure enough when I looked over the roaring peek there it was the lava speawing up in the air. It took my breath away. My heart was pounding and the ground would shake a little right before a huge amount of lava would shoot out. I asked the guide if it´s always like that and he said it wasn´t usually this active. I sat there for about 15 minutes watching the power of the earth unfold infront of me. It was amazing.

I took a bunch of pictures and then remembered I left Ana back there. I was going to go get here and there she was right behind me afraid to walk to the edge to view the volcano. We watched the volcano for a while when all the sudden a huge chuck of the crust around the volcano collapased into the hole. The guide started yelling for everyone to run and get off the edge of the volcano. It was a little scary and we all started to run. Later he said that the large peice of rock can sometimes act like a cork on a bottle and build up pressure then explode. Because we were about as close as you ever would want to be to the hole I was more than glad to run away.

That event made me scared to even be on the top of that volcano. When the guide who climbs that same mountain 5-6 times a weeks is scared and running that makes me scared. We did get a chance to go one more time to the edge. By that time I was ready to run if someone farted to loud. But nothing did happen. In the end there is no real way you could run from that volcano. The lava and rocks would just take you down.

The experience on the volcano was amazing and I am so glad we traveled as far as we did to see it. Made all the hardships disappear. We started the hike or should I say slide down the mountain. I was a little worried about this as well since the one young guy I talked to before I did this said the climbing wasn´t bad it was the slidding down the mountain that scared him. So we took our first hill and it wasn´t too bad. I was going pretty fast and wasn´t able to stop myself that well with the ice axe. But after a few huge slides I was becoming an expert. Was good times. The slides ended up being the best part of the trip. By the end I was able to control myself pretty well with the ice axe and it was like we were slidding down the best snow slides in the world. There ended up being about 4-5 long slides to get down the mountain. Was so fun twords the end. One slide was so long my butt starting freezing and buring.

We made it about 95% of the way to the bottom of the hill on our butts sliding. I would say something like 2,500 ft of sliding. Was great. Ana looked like she was having fun most of the time. Little scared but doing great. Ana was very excited to see the bottom of the mountain. She said she needed a beer after all the stress. I must say the entire hike was filled with mental and physicall stress.

Later that evening we treated ourselfes to a good meal of beef and french fries and a beer. Was great and good talking with Ana about the trip and just joking around. We did our best to stay up till 10:00 that night so we could not have to wake up early in the morning. We could have easily fell asleep at around 6:00. Slept great.

Day 29
We haven´t done much today. Laying around. We moved into our new place and we like it much better. We need to figure out what to do to keep us busy. I think we plan on renting motercycles tomorrow and going to a near by lake. That should be fun. We´ll see.

Stay tuned.

t*

Tim & Ana_Pictures4 (Volcano)

Here are several pictures of our crazy adventure to the volcano Villarrica in Pucon.
CHEERS!
Tim & Ana

Ana_Volcan Villarica, Pucon

Valentines Day and we were hiking up the volcano. How romantic! We woke around 6am to get ready for the hike. We arrived at the agency 10 minutes before 7am. They told us to be there at that time. Of course they were a little late.
We got our gear which consisted of snow shoes, gloves, bookbags, pants for sliding, a windbreaker and helmet. We were ready. It only took 30 minutes to get to the park.
We had to get on a chair lift to get to starting point of the hike. I´m glad we did. It looked very steep. The ground was soft, meaning for every step we'd slide back few steps.

We had three guides. The group was around 22 people. The guides introduced themselves and said OK let´s go. I soon realized it was going to be challenging adventure. The hike was pretty much all snow. I was so scared, my legs were shaking and my heart was beating 100 mph. We barely started the trail and I told Tim "I don´t know if I can do this.¨" I felt like crying. I managed to take a deep breath and get the courage I needed to keep going. I told to go in front me. It was better for me to see his footsteps. We had an ice axe to helps us climb and in case we slit we can´t stop ourselves. SCARY! The total hike up was about 4 hours. We only took two breaks. We had a fast group. I wouldn't´t speak. Tim kept asking "Are you OK!" I kept telling him not to ask. It would make me more nervous. One of the guides stayed behind me pretty much the whole time. Mauricio, very nice man. He´d to converse with me distract me. He was my cheerleader. Few times I missed my steps and slid a little bit. Not too bad. I always had Tim in front and the guide behind me. I took my time up. Towards the end I was slowing down. The last leg of the hike was rocks which was nice. No snow. My legs were shaking and it took tons of effort to lift my man boots(snow shows).

Finally we made it. I just wanted to sit down and catch my breath. Tim was so excited to be at the top. He was so cute and politely ask "Vida, do you mind if go see the volcano." Of course I didn´t´t mind. It was one of his dream to see an active volcano. After few minutes of rest. I went over the spot to see the volcano. WOW. Amazing. Breathtaking to see nature spit fire from the earth. We were able to see the volcano spit some lava. It was so cool and scary. My heart was pumping. Didn't´t want to get too close to the edge. We saw some of the top layer of rocks collapse into the volcano. One of the guides said OK let´s go. He was afraid it could splash some more lava soon. I was scared then. If the guide was running, I better run soon. I think he was being cautious. After we stayed nearby to eat something. I wasn´t hungry. I barely ate a cookie. I was too excited and scared at the same time. Talk about adrenaline. After being on the top for 40 minutes it was time to slide down the snow. The first slide wasn´t that bad. It was more fun than I thought. They told us how to use the ice axe to break. FUN. I felt like a kid. The second to last slide was the scariest. It was really steep. We pretty much had to break from the top to the bottom. I almost flipped. But I didn't´t. One of the guides was nearby for rescue.

There were a total of 4 slides. Nice. I´m so glad. Walking down would of been pretty scary.

Glad to have made it in one piece. By far it was the most adventurous thing I´ve ever done. Even more than sky diving. Sky diving was scary but the fear was over after 5 minutes. Here was about 4 hours of fear and adrenaline rush. I´m glad I did it. INCREDIBLE! But don´t think I want to do it again. I´m done hiking volcanoes. I can say it was my first and last time. =) I don´t regret it.

Now we´re just relaxing. We´ll stay here until Saturday and then head back to Argentina to the north in Salta. Another long bus ride. FUN. =)
Ana

Day 28 - 29_(Pucon Volcano)

Day 28
Yesterday we woke up early in the morning and headed for the volcano. I was a little excited but not really. I was expecting the volcano to be ok and for me to be a little upset that we had done so much to get here. Luckily that wasn´t the case the entire experince was amazing.

We geared up at the place we bought the tickets. They said they supplied the gear but I was thinking they gave us some old gloves or something. But we ended up getting really massive boots, gaters, heavy duty pants and jacket, a backpack, helmet and ice pick. I was thinking are we climbing Everest or something. Seemed like over kill on the gear. But we ended up needing every peice of gear.

We got to the base of the mountan by little bus. Then we got on the first chair lift. Taking the lift saved us an hour of hiking and well worth the money. We got off the lift and headed straight up the hill. The first few feet was across some icy snow and Ana was already starting to freak out. We had a minimum of 3 hours ahead of us and I was getting a little worried Ana would only make it a few feet up the trail and stop. Good thing she´s a vary couragious girl. She toughed it out all the way to the top of the hill. The trail was tough and very steep. I must say I was a little scared as well because I wasn´t sure I knew how to stop myself if I slipped using the ice axe. I had an idea but I didn´t know. I don´t have much experience on ice and snow and that was what worried me.

We finally made it to the top by following the snow steps made by the people in front of us. It was a total of 3,000 feet of climbing and we did it in 3 hours with only 2 stops! They pushed the shit ot of the group. Crazy guys. I couldn´t believe the pace they were holding. The group was strong and they just keep hiking. Ana was beat when we reached the top and instantly sat down with her breath lost. I could hear the volcano breathing and raoring just over the small hill in front of us. I asked Ana if she was ok and she waved me to go away. So I left her and ran like a little kid with a smile on my face to see something I´ve always wanted to experience in person - Red hot lava.

Sure enough when I looked over the roaring peek there it was the lava speawing up in the air. It took my breath away. My heart was pounding and the ground would shake a little right before a huge amount of lava would shoot out. I asked the guide if it´s always like that and he said it wasn´t usually this active. I sat there for about 15 minutes watching the power of the earth unfold infront of me. It was amazing.

I took a bunch of pictures and then remembered I left Ana back there. I was going to go get here and there she was right behind me afraid to walk to the edge to view the volcano. We watched the volcano for a while when all the sudden a huge chuck of the crust around the volcano collapased into the hole. The guide started yelling for everyone to run and get off the edge of the volcano. It was a little scary and we all started to run. Later he said that the large peice of rock can sometimes act like a cork on a bottle and build up pressure then explode. Because we were about as close as you ever would want to be to the hole I was more than glad to run away.

That event made me scared to even be on the top of that volcano. When the guide who climbs that same mountain 5-6 times a weeks is scared and running that makes me scared. We did get a chance to go one more time to the edge. By that time I was ready to run if someone farted to loud. But nothing did happen. In the end there is no real way you could run from that volcano. The lava and rocks would just take you down.

The experience on the volcano was amazing and I am so glad we traveled as far as we did to see it. Made all the hardships disappear. We started the hike or should I say slide down the mountain. I was a little worried about this as well since the one young guy I talked to before I did this said the climbing wasn´t bad it was the slidding down the mountain that scared him. So we took our first hill and it wasn´t too bad. I was going pretty fast and wasn´t able to stop myself that well with the ice axe. But after a few huge slides I was becoming an expert. Was good times. The slides ended up being the best part of the trip. By the end I was able to control myself pretty well with the ice axe and it was like we were slidding down the best snow slides in the world. There ended up being about 4-5 long slides to get down the mountain. Was so fun twords the end. One slide was so long my butt starting freezing and buring.

We made it about 95% of the way to the bottom of the hill on our butts sliding. I would say something like 2,500 ft of sliding. Was great. Ana looked like she was having fun most of the time. Little scared but doing great. Ana was very excited to see the bottom of the mountain. She said she needed a beer after all the stress. I must say the entire hike was filled with mental and physicall stress.

Later that evening we treated ourselfes to a good meal of beef and french fries and a beer. Was great and good talking with Ana about the trip and just joking around. We did our best to stay up till 10:00 that night so we could not have to wake up early in the morning. We could have easily fell asleep at around 6:00. Slept great.

Day 29
We haven´t done much today. Laying around. We moved into our new place and we like it much better. We need to figure out what to do to keep us busy. I think we plan on renting motercycles tomorrow and going to a near by lake. That should be fun. We´ll see.

Stay tuned.

t*

Ana_Pucon, Chile

We made it. After a week in transit. From El Calafate to Bariloche to San Martin to finally cross to Pucon in Chile.

We got here Sunday night. Arriving to our hostel was interesting. It wasn´t a hostel it was a house with some rooms for tourist like us. It was called Hospedaje Juan Torres. We came through the back door. We saw a lady that said "Buenas Noches." She looked surprised to see us. I looked at Tim with my big eyes like we´re in trouble. The lady proceeded to takes us to our room, which was in front of the owners room. We soon learned we´re the only tourist staying there. I just started laughing. We put our bags down and an older lady peaks in our door and said that she was going to sleep and not to make noise. Later, we found out she had Alzheimer. It was sad and weird at the same time to be around her. I felt like we were invading her space. She thought I was her niece. She had a crush on Tim. She said he was handsome and that I was trying to steal him from her. Whenever she´d see him walk by, she had biggest smile. It was cute to see her laugh. =)

The next day we walked around the city. Hot day. We'd walked few steps and then stop for rest in the shade. We paid for the excursion to hike the volcano Villarica. We asked again how difficult it was and Tim's biggest concern CAN YOU SEE THE LAVA. They assured us that it was easy and YES you can see lava. Tim was happy to hear that. I was a little more hesitant about the hike up and sliding down the snow. Not sure. But they made sound easy. So I went for it. we were all set for the hike.

We continued walking around. I got so cranky and all I wanted was ice cream. It was one of those days. I kept telling Tim he could ship me home.

At night we cooked some pasta with salami. Yumm. We´ve a system going Tim chops the vegetables and I marinate and cook the stuff. He helps with the dishes too. The older lady, Ali, was there watching us cook. She kept talking to me. I felt bad. A lot of times I couldn´t understand what she was saying and others she didn´t make sense.

At one point she started talking to Tim in Spanish. I told her he didn´t speak Spanish. Her response was it doesn´t matter, he is cute to look at. She had the biggest smile. She was so adorable. She sat down at the dinner table the whole time we were cooking and eating. The lady helping out around the house asked her to go in the living to watch TV and she said no, she rather stay and watch Tim. Too cute.

*Ana

Day 26 - 27 (Pucon)

Day 26
We waited around all morning to get the bus at 3:00. Great more wasted time. I hope Pucon is worth it. I´m starting to think the whole idea of going to see the volcano was a bad one and we should have just headed up to northern Chili.

We finally got on the bus and headed to Pucon. We knew that the bus would arrive into the next town 2 hours late. That seems to be how it works down here. They say you´ll be in the next town at 6:00 you can bet you´ll be there around 8:00. It is so amazing that these guys will tell you that they should be on time when in reality they never are. Punks.

Anyway the ride was actually really beautiful. The bus ride sucked but the view was really nice. We say a large volcano in the distance and it was beautiful to see. The driver and the guy helping him were about as smart as a rock. Nothing was organized and always a mess. The bus just stops and they tell you nothing. Then expect you to know what to do. You have to ask where you are if you should get off and what we should do. While crossing onto Chili they even took all our bags off the bus without asking us and threw them on the floor in the room to be scanned. Even our personal bags that were on the bus. We had allot of money in them and then we look and there´s our bags with crowds of people passing and standing around them. People had expensive and fragile cameras in their bags as well. Luckily nothing was taken. Little punks. They could have told us to take them off the bus but there too dumb to figure things out like that.

We made it to the town and they dropped us off the bus in the middle of a residential area. Luckily Ana speaks spanish. Would be a pain in the ass trying to figure everything out. They just stop the bus throw our shit out and say good luck here you are in Pucon. Can you tell I´m getting a little tired of dealing with unorganized dumb people. Can tell I´m a month into the trip.

We did find our way and our hosteria which was someone´s house that rents out the extra rooms. Let me tell you it was like walking into a funny farm. The place was pretty shabby and the lived with an older lady that was sick. I think she had Parkensins. Either way she continued to act crazy around the house. Talking to herself and seeing things that were´nt there. Luckily she spoke spanish so I ddin´t understand what she was saying. Made it easier for me to ignore here. The places we end up? Part of the adventure. The good things was the place was quiet and I enjoyed the fact that we had our own room. Come to find out we were the only people staying there. That might say something about the place.

I sleep good that night.

Day 27
Woke up and spent the day doing details. We paid for the volcano hike and tried on some heavy duty shoes. Ana´s shoes looked like they could fit me. They were HUGE. I don´t think you could push her over in those shoe if your tried. Looked funny those thin chicken legs with HUGE man boots.

We ran to the store and ate lunch. The heat is really strong and is making me and Ana fight a little bit. I think it´s because we haven´t seen much in the last week or so getting to Pucon and were finally here and the city is hot and full of tourist. The crowds and being a foreign place are starting to wear me down and Ana is just tired of the heat. We spend most of the evening arguing and fussing at each other. The volcano better be good. I´ll be pissed if it isn´t.

Another funny thing was that that sick lady at the place we are staying thinks I´m her boy friend. I guess she like the tall big strapper? Was pretty funny cause she stares at me when I come in the room and smiles. The lady taking care of her said let´s go to watch tv and she said she didn´t want to she would rather stay and watch me. Was pretty funny.

I slept pretty good at the funny farm but Ana doesn´t like it. We made reservations to get out of there after the volcano hike. One

t*

Tim_ Day 20 - 25 (Bariloche & San Martin)

Day 20 Continued

We bumbed around the whole day till 900 when we left for the bus. Was a good time. We had to kill the whole day and had absoulutly nothing to do. So we ended up doing allot of the things I used to do as a kid like play tic tac toe, and card games like go fish. Was pretty cool to have so much time we were bored. Felt like childhood summers when you did dumb things because you couldn't think of anything cooler to do.

We walked up the bus stop. Little did we know the adventure ahead. We knew it would be 36 hours but it actually turned into a 44 hour bus ride with only 2 stops during the entire thing.

Let me just say that the bus was late and when it finally got there the mechanics were trying to fix it. Not a good way to start the trip. We took off 2 hours late and drove all night on dirt roads. Was a bad night. Sleeping on and off all night in those damn bus seats. Bounching your stomach and intentines around. Would almost hurt it vibrated so much. Made my stomach upset. Then to top it off it was about 1 degree in the bus. I luckily brought my big jacket onboard and my sleeping bag which I was totally inside of. Sucked but I managed to get some sleep and actually felt a little rested in the morning. I think me and Ana getting pretty tough.

Day 21
The good thing about the night was we were in the middle of nowhere and the skies were beautiful when the rain clouds opened up. The bad things was it was raining and we were on dirt roads for the first half of the trip. Let me tell you back dirt roads, a bus, and rain don't mix.

Around 10 o'clock we came upon a stuck bus full of people that had lost a trailer off the back and skidded into the mud off the road. We tried to get around him and sure enough we got stuck. I knew it was bad when the driver came back and put a movie on. Sure sign were shit out of luck. Also heard the S.O.S going out from the front. I'll skip the next 9 hours to say that a tracker finally came and pulled us out. We were on our way slidding down the roads.

We got lucky a smaller bus full of about 15 people went of the road and tipped over right around the corner from where we were. It was an interesting feeling slidding all over down the mud road into the night. We had to stop a couple times to inspect the road to see if we could floor the bus and make it through. Was a fun and crazy experience.

We also stopped at what looked like someone's home out in the middle of nowhere. The whole bus got off and the guy at the counter had some soda and some old dusty snackes. Yum. He showed the whole group a small bag of bread and a meat package and said that was all he had available to eat. We ate it since we were surviving on snack foods the whole day and that was the only stop they made all that day for food. Lucky we brought a bunch of chips and snacks.

Day 22
Sleep better the previous night because we had finally made it to paved roads and some sign of civilizatoin. Spent the whole day sitting on the bus. Just sat and waited. Sat and waited. Farted. Just sat and waited. Sat and waited. Then I wondered how the universe was created. That hurt my head so I stopped that. Then I sat and waited. Then all the sudden I sat and waited. Then without realizing it I fell asleep thinking about buses jumping over fences.

I woke up and we were there. We had made it to Bariloche I couldn´t believe it. I keep rubbing my eyes. I small tear ran from the corner of my eye. I wipped it away quickly so no one would see it and think I was a puss. Was great to get there and we took a taxi to the hostel. Luckily the hostel was really nice and was like a little log cabin. We showered for the first time in 2 days and I lost the nice dirt tan I was getting. Felt great to shower. Man the simple things in life are so great now like a large shower with strong running water or a fork that isn´t bend or weird shapped to eat with. I love how we now appreciate so many of the things we take for granted everyday in America. Wish I could always experience life that way but it takes not having those things to make them so great. Deep man. Deep.

Later that night we walked down the dusty dark roads to the main road to eat. Ana was freaking out about the dogs that were barking and fighting. She was even terrified of the little puppy they had at the lodge. Between the dogs and the long bus ride she was at her last whit. I got her and myself to bed right after that and we sleep really well in a horizontal position. Soooooo nice just to lay down horizontally.

Day 23
Woke up and had a great free breckfast from the hostel. Great place and I love the hostels where you can tell the owners care about the people staying there. Some are just money makers for the people and you can tell. They suck and are usually pretty dirty with unhelpful staff.

We spend most of the day lounging around the city waiting for our next bus ride the following day. In the end it is going to take us 7 days to bus ride from Califatei to our next destination Pucon. Could probably fly it in about 3 hours. But we didn´t realize how bad the scheduling transportation would be. We ended up having 2 complete days wasted on not being able to buy tickets ahead of ourselves. Basically they tell you that you can´t buy tickets till you get to the next city. They don´t know what is available. You would think with all the computers and shit they could figure things out but they don´t know there ass from a hole in the ground sometimes. I just need to be patient and be happy with what I have and enjoy the experinence. When I get to focused on getting somewhere I start getting angry and frustrated that I can´t do what I want. I´ll get to the destination I´m going when it was meant for me to be there.

Anyway we did find a nice local shore on the lake where people were sun bathing and hanging out. We sat for a few hours and soaked up the sun and tossed rocks into the lake. Was very relaxing and the water in the lake was crystal clear and unpollutted which was nice to see. The environment in this area reminds me of Colorado. Lots of lakes and mountains filled with trees. Beatiful.

We cooked dinner in the evening and met up with some french people we had met in Ushuia later that evening. They were really great and hanging out with them felt like home. Nice to experience someone you feel connected with. I miss that about home. At times I get pretty homesick but I know I will see them soon and I try to focus more on that.

Day 24
Woke up the previous night with really bad stomach ach. Actually it was more like the top part of my stomach. Kind of weird pain to have. Didn´t really feel like my stomach but more like the top part of it. Anyway it keep me up most of the night. The pain was pretty sharp and it actually hurt to touch that part right below my rib cage. Not sure what the hell it was. Didn´t have any real problems with the plumbing but it felt like it had to be part of my stomach since that´s all I think is in that area. Anyway I woke up and wasn´t looking forward to traveling all day to the next city San Martin. We paked and I didn´t eat till later that night in case my stomach started going crazy. Didn´t want that on the bus with no bathroom. Could be interesting and is one of my great fears.

We got on a crowded local bus and my stomach was killing me and we bumbed down the roads. Transfered to another bus and about 5 hours or so later we made it to San Martin. The trip was on mostly dirt roads through some amazing country. Lakes and mountains all over the place. I wish I could get off the bus and go fishing. I´m sure they had huge fish in these untouched lakes.

Once we got to San Martin we had to figure out our accomidations which took about an hour of walking around in the heat with my stupid stomach. When we finally reached the hostel I layed down for a while and rested. I fell asleep early that evening and was very tired. We got some medicine from the local pharmacy that I think was helping. Man I´m writting allot about my little sickness. If Ana was reading this she would play her little violin for me.

Day 25
Because we got to the bus station so late we had to wait one lay over day in this little town again to get our 5 hour bus ride to Pucon in Chili. Damn another day wasted. Oh well it´s a nice city and allows us to chill for a day.

We spent till about 3 in the afternoon doing erronds. We were though able to book the most we´ve been able to since the trip started. We have the tickets to Pucon, lodging while were there for 5 days, the bus ticket back to San Martin, lodging her for a night, the bus ride (36 hours) to Salta, and the accomidations there all settled. Were really happy about that and hopefully all with go smooth. I think having that much planned in advance will allow us to chill more in the upcomming week. It´s stressful sometimes figuring things out and not knowing where you are going to be.

My stomach is feeling better and I´m glad to have that. That really sucked and the pain was pretty intense when it hit. I was actually getting a little worried but all seems well and the big gringo seems to be back in business.

We in a little cafe right now. Were going to go to a little local concert across the street and try and get in some trouble. Maybe we´ll hit a bar later to see if we can get in a fight. Me and Ana haven´t kicked some but in a while and my fist and starting to get soft. Man I´m like Clint Eastwood and Chuck Norris combined but with a little less hair in the front. Damn I´m sexy.

Later Skaters.

t*

Tim & Ana_ Pictures 3 (El Calafate & Bariloche)

Here are some pictures from Ushuia and El Calafate. The first two are in Ushuaia. Believe it or not you can eat churros in Argentina.
The glaciar image you´ll see is Perito Moreno. And of course the bus and tractor was in our way to Bariloche. The bottom two are in Bariloche.

Tim & Ana =)

Tim & Ana_Pictures 2

Sorry these photos are so late. It´s been interesting to try and upload photos. Very interesting. Trust me we´ve been trying. The photos below are from Buenos Aires, and Ushuia.

Ana_Bariloche

I can see why Bariloche is a vacation spot for many Argentinians. The it´s in the middle of beautiful mountains and sorrounded by a huge lake. From here you have access to the Lake district.It's a great place to camp. Tons of campgrounds. The only thing if you don´t have a car you´re limited to be in the center of the town which there is not much to do other than shop or eat, or take tours around the national park.

We stayed there two nights. We had one full day to walk around and figure out our trip to Pucon. We found out we had to go to another city north of Bariloche, San Martin de Los Andes. We booked our bus ride to the city for Thursday. It was only a 4 hour ride, which was nothing, piece of cake.

We walked by the lake. Through rocks for hours and then when for lunch. Of the sudden I had an allergic attack. My eyes started itching and watery. I was crying like crazy. Tim insisted of going to the pharmacy. I kept saying "I´m fine, I´m fine." It got worse so I agreed. I love the pharmacies here you tell them what you have and the prescribe with something in two seconds. I bought some drops. Felt better with 30 minutes.

I`ve had allergies on and off for three weeks now. It´s getting annoying. But there are getting better. I know have medicine. So it's all good in the hood.

After few hours of wondering around we went to the hostel to cook some dinner. The menu - potatoes and scrambled eggs. MMMMMM. And some cheap read wine. I mean $.80. It was pretty darn good. Stronger than I thought. No hangover.

At night we met a French coulple that we first met back in Ushuaia. We saw them in the tourism office the night before. Left without saying goodbye. But I had their email and was able to hook up for icecream. Very nice people - Jerome and Jenny are traveling for 3 months. We´re very close in age and it was great to meet a nice couple and just talk about life and our travels. Jenny speaks more Spanish than English so I spoke with her most of the night and Tim talked with Jerome he speaks both. Wonderful people. I´m glad we met them.

It´s true what they say when you travel you meet wonderful people. And you make this contact for life.

Ana =)

Ana_Ride to Bariloche

What a mission! From El Calafate to Bariloche 44 hours in a bus. Fun I know. We tried flying to Bariloche but there were no flight until March. The only way we found was taking Route 40 to Bariloche. It was suppose to take 36hrs but we were delayed 10 hours. Long story short the bus was late leaving for some mechanical reason so it was about midnight when we took off. Then next morning around 10am the bus stops in the middle of no where. There was another bus on the opposite direction stuck in the mud. Rain the night before and dirt roads not a good combo. So the bus took a chance and tried to get around it and NO LUCK. We were STUCK for 9 hours. At first we watch movies and it wasn´t that bad. Around 5pm we all were getting anxious. I was one of the few that spoke Spanish and English. So they were looking at me for answers. The bus driver, really cool guy just spoke Spanish. I kept asking for information. Thank goodness we got help around 6ish. A trackor got us out. I was SOOOOOOOO HAPPY!

We were on the road again for few hours. We stopped around 10:30pm for a bit to eat. Yeah, literally a bite to eat. We stopped in the middle of no where, it looked like a house. Not really a restaurant just a small market/kiosco. The owner, very nice man, said I only have bread and ham no cheese. Literally he brought the bag of bread out with some ham. At that point we were all really hungry and bread & ham was better than nothing.

In the place we met to bikers from Califronia (San Francisco and LA). They trip started in Alaska and they were riding their motorcycle all the way down to Argentina. Crazy. The briefly told us about their journey so far. The roads were really bad that day for them too so they didn´t get very far. Very nice guys. I was so fascinated by their adventure. The one guy, Sasha has been riding for 8 months. Really cool to see people from Cali.I have to say California is starting to be like home. I know I´ve had few homes and now Cali is my new home.
It felt great to find people from Southern California.

Finally we made it to Bariloche the next day at 8:30pm at night. I was so done with buses. I was cranky and I just wanted to get to the hostel. We wanted to figure out our next leg of the trip which is Pucon in Chile. We went to the tourist office and the lady was not very helpful. So we decided to take a cab to the hostel. The best idea of the day.

It was so nice to see the friendly face at the reception. Christian was so welcoming that it made all better in seconds. We took a nice warm shower. It felt so nice to stand there under the water.

One thing about this trip so far is that I don´t take things for granted. The smallest things make so happy and I appreciate them better. Like warm showers, warm showers.

Ana_Random thoughts on Food

The food here has been good so far. But you get sick of it. What you find here is beef, pasta and more beef. Pizza places are everywhere. We finally had our first pizza the other night. It was really good. The cheese tasted so different and their salami is a little different too. A bit more spicy. They put green olives on their pizza.

It´s so neat to learn what they eat. They put eggs on everything. Not sure if in certain places only. In Ushuaia we noticed they put eggs on sandiwches, steaks, even pizza. Not my cup of tea.

I´m glad every hostel we´ve been so far has a kitchen with everything all the pots and pans. So I´ve cooked often. I haven´t cooked anything especial but it still good. It has that homey feel. I´ve cooked rice and veggies, pasta with some concuction and last night I cooked some potatoes. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

The sweet treats here are delicious. Last night we had the best icecream ever. It was so creamy and rich. I had three flavors in cup - banana, strawberry and lemon pie. Delicioso.

We´ve found a treat that we like called alfajores de maizena. It´s a cookie with dulce de leche filling and coconut around. Yummy too. They´re big fans of dulce de leche. It´s like peanut butter in the US. They even eat it for breakfast as jelly.

Yummy.
Ana

Tim_Day 18-20 (El Calafate)

Day 18
We spent all day just doing erronds. Nothing to exciting. Went to the grocery store 3 times. Seems were still not smart enough to buy all we need in one visit to the market. Oh well. We did some internet stuff and cooked some pasta for dinner. The place had stoves and pots but no silverware or knives. So funny to see that in such a nice place. We ended up finding a butter knife to cut all the vegitables we used and and one spoon and one fork in the back. Good stuff.

We also bought our tickets to see the glaciers. I can´t wait to hear the rifle crack of the ice and the big peices falling into the water. It´s going to be great.

Sleep good dispite our sometimes loud roomates.

Day 19
We took off at 6:30 to go see the glacier. We rode in a little bus. Took about 2-3 hours to get to the park from the city. Once we got there is was amazing to see the enormous glacier. The span of the glacier is massive. It such a strang natural occurance to see. The wall of the glacier rose 150 feet above the water and went for 300 feet below the water to touch the earth on the bottom of the river/lake it was on. Incredible sight to see. The span of the glacier was from one mountain to the other. Must of been around a mile long.

One thing that was really cool to see was how the glacier was feed snow from the mountains above. In my head I couldn´t understand how they get that much snow and ice. But when you looked into the mountains above the glacier you could see what was the most snow I´ve ever experienced on a mountain range. They said some guys mesured the snowpack about 3 miles back in the mountains and it was about 700 feet deep. It was amazing. The snow covered almost all the moutain expect the stong peaks where the snow couldn´t stick. They said the glacier also moved about 3-4 feet a day down the hill in the fastest parts.

We got out of the van and I walked fast like a little kid down the walkways to get a closer view of the glacier. I didn´t want to miss any large peices of ice falling off. Ana was way behind me as I walked as fast as I could without looking like an idiot tourist. Right as we got to one of the closer lookouts we say a massive peice of ice break off in front of use. It was about 150 feet tall and maybe 30 feet wide. It was incredible. There was massive stong and sharp cracking right before the huge peice fell. Then like in slow motion is fell to the water. It was funny but the peices were so big that everything seemed to move in slow motion with a force I´ve never experienced before. Was an amazing site to see. Then after the large peice off ice fell into the water it would make a massive splash and wave that would travel all the way across the lake.

We got lucky and during the whole day say 4 massive chucks of ice fall into the water. The largest one was massive. It hit the water like a large explosion throughing ice balls hundreds of feet into the air. All in slow motion like a balarina but with so much power you could feel it in your neck hairs. Man I wanted to sit there all day and just wait for more to happen but they only let us stay there for 2 hours.

One other thing that was amazing was the constant cracking of the glacier. Every few seconds you would hear massive blocks of ice cracking. Sounded like gun fire from far away and would almost echo from the mountains. It gave you the feeling the glacier was alive and contantly moving and chaning. I never expected to hear those noises.

We after 2 hours of viewing the glacier we went to the boat and across the left side of the lake to walk on the glacier. The boat ride was cool and it was really impressive to see the glacier from the water level. It was a flat light blue color rather than the white color we saw from the lookout. I guess the way the light went through the ice.

We walked a little trail to the where the ice started and they put our ice shoes on. The ones with the claws on the bottom. They strapped them to our shoes and we headed out onto the glacier. That was an amazing expericene as well. The glacier was really all ice. Almost completly hard but you were still able to dig your shoes into it pretty easily. There were a series of small rivers running through the glacier and it created these brilliant blue small pools of water. The closest way I can describe the feeling is it was like walking on a disneyland ride. It was like a little fake world of stricking little peaks and valleys. Walking with the shoes was cool and different. You don´t slide with the shoes and when you go downhill you need to walk facing forward with your knees bent. That feels wrong but when you go sideways you will twist your ankle since the shoe digs in the mountain and doesn´t slide or move. Very cook experience and I´ve always wanted to walk in those cramp on shoes.

We spent about 2 hours going all over the easy side of the glacier. It wasn´t very easy but was much more simple then the middle of the glacier. At the end of the walk they gave us whiskey with ice from the glacier and a chocolate bon bon. Funny they really like those bob bons down here.

I slept the whole ride back to the city. 2-3 hours. Was cool because I felt like a kid when I used to close my eyes and wake up in a destination. Was like magic. One second we were in the park the next we were in the city. I must have been pretty tired. Ana slept the same as me.

I slept good. Ana said our roomate came in at 3:30 and turned on the lights for .5 hours to brush his teeth and do some other shit. Nice guy. I don´t understand how some people can be so disrespectful. Luckily I slept through the whole thing.

Day 20
So far we have done nothing today but bum around and wait for our great bus ride leaving tonight around 9. Man I´m excited for this ride. We were looking into buying airline tickets but they didn´t have any available till March. Nice that´s a month away. Amazing how things can work down here somethimes. So we leave tonight to travel one day and two nights on the bus up to Badelochei. Were headed to try and see some of the volcanos in chile. We´ll see how this ride goes. Gotta do what you gotta do. Wish me and my butt luck.

t*

Ana_Random Thoughts of Trip so Far

So far it has been amazing. Not everyday is dandy and great. There are times that I´ve told Tim to ship me home. Days were we´re in transit figuring out the next destination you bump into annoying things like not finding tickets to the next town, spending 3 hours to buy a bus ticket, having disturbing roomates, can find an ATM that works or has money etc, constantly moving, packing over and over, being homesick etc...

You have pros and cons. But then you experience amazing things that makes the trip totally worth it. I'm experiencing this with Tim is incredible. I've grown even closer to him. We joke around, laugh, share our emotions all the time. I know I'm not alone on this trip. Of course "the tiger" how he calls it comes out once in a while so does his "bull" like I call it. But it's all good in the hood.

We'll have so many stories to share when we get older. I like knowing that.

I want to thank eveyone who is writing comments and emailing me. It totally helps knowing that we have the moral support from family and friends. Love you guys.

=) Ana

Tim_Day 16-17 (Leaving Ushuia)

Day 16
We spent this whole day doing details. The hostel didn´t have room for us so we needed to move to another one. It turned out to be a great move. We got a room for just me and Ana for a night. It was so nice to have the ability to close the door and know that no one was coming in. It´s the first time we´ve had to ourselves since we started. We´ve only been in dorm rooms with other people.

We took a nap and it was great. Rain on the roof. The weather in Ushuia is very harsh. You can tell it´s at the bottom of the planet. The clouds and wind roll in a matter of minutes. Next thing you know the tempature drops and it´s ice cold and raining. Very harsh conditions. Were only about 80 miles from the tip of Antartica which was killing me. I wanted so bad to get on a boat and go. I almost did a couple times. Tickets are about 4-5 thousand dollars. Which I would have paid. Seeing the wind and the seas though made my stomach turn. I´m not sure if I can handle those seas for the 2 days there and 2 days back. At some point I will though try. Just not this trip.

We had dinner with the nice french people we met. Was really good times. I love the way the french enjoy life. From food to friends to traveling. They look at life in a way that seems so romantic. We had a great time and went back to our own room. Was a bit dirty but our own room.

Day 17
Was an interesting morning. We have only a small alarm clock that isn´t very loud. So we´ve been looking for a watch with an alarm as a backup. But when I bought the cheap watch the alarm didn´t work. So we asked the guy at the front desk to wake us up at 4:30 to catch our 19 hour bus to Califatei. I woke several times in night as well as Ana to check the time. We got to bed around 12:30 so we only had a few hours to sleep. Luckily I woke up around 5:00 and we ran to the bus stop. When I went to the front office the lights were off and our guy who was supposed to wake us up was sleeping. Nice. We made the first bus though. I would have been pissed if we missed it because we would have needed to wait a couple more days to get the next bus.

The bus ride was great. Pretty crappy local bus with no leg room for the "big strapper". I was a little tired as well. Made it to the transfer bus. Ate some churros with dulce de leche for breakfast. We´ve been eating those for the last 3 days. Damn there good. Ana seems to alwasy locate the pastery shops with them in it. She´s like a churro K-9.

By the way as I´m typing this blog Ana is getting all pissed off at the computer she´s using. That little tiger. She´s been having the worst luck lately. She keeps losing what she writes. I think it´s funny since the same has been happening to me but she doesn´t find much humor in it. I can see smoke coming from her direction as we speak.

Anyway we sat on the bus all day. We´re getting better at long distances. The 19 hours didn´d seem that bad. I got allot of time to read my spanish book. The only part that sucked was the 5 hours of dirt roads throuh Chile. Bounchin my big belly all over the place. Actually made my stomach upset there was so much bounching. It´s like driving a bus through the dirt roads in Hesperia for 5 hours. I don´t know why it wasn´t paved but I don´t ask to mamy questions in a country like this.

Got into Califatei about 1:30 in the morning. Kind of sucked but we found our way to the hostel. Walking in a new town late a night is always fun. Ana is getting more used to that kind of stuff. I got to admit she has adjusted to allot of shit very well. We´ll see how she does in Africa though. I´m wondering even how well I will do. I´m worried about the diet. I don´t think they make churros over there?

We got another room to ourselves at this hostel. We´ve been scoring lately. Only for one night though since we were coming in so late. We had to move to a 4 bed room today. Slept good on nice beds in a really nice room. Only 10 american dollars a night. Little expensive but was really nice.

t*

Ana_El Calafate

This is our last day in El Calafate.We're headed to Bariloche. We're still in the Patagonia area. We're still pretty south in Argentina.

This town is where you can access the many glaciars in the area. One of the most popular glaciar is Perito Moreno, which we experienced the magnitude yesterday. Breathtaking to see this huge piece of ice. It looks like mountains of ice. First you can walk down a path in the Glaciar Park and view from different points the front of the glaciar where pieces fall off. You can hear the cracking of the ice which is so loud. Louder is when actual pieces of ice fall off. We experienced it like three times. Massive pieces of ice plunging into water. The height of top of the glacier is 50m high. HUGE. After starring at the ice for two hours then we went to get on a boat that will takes us to the other side where we could hike on top of the glaciar. Again I'm so glad we did this too. We put on the ice shoes and walked around for two hours. From far away the ice looked fluffy. Being on it is more slushy ice.

We had three guides walking along with us. It looked like fantasyland, walking on ice and all you saw was ice everywhere. I mean white mountains of ice with beautiful hills and cracks were water travel through down to the lake. Coming down was interesting. It't not like normal hiking, you had to walk with you feet forward with knees bent and back straight. Instead of coming down side ways. Thank goodness the guides helped me down. They kept saying you can smile now. I can only imagine my big eyes looking at the mountain of ice as I walked down. But I made no problem. Right before we finished the hiked at the bottom they had whiskey and chocolate for us. Pretty cool. They used the ice of the glaciar to make the drinks. Although I'm not a fan of whiskey on the rocks. That thing was strong I felt I grew some chest hairs. I didn't finished it.

I'm so glad we're doing some of the tours. Although it's not cheap at times but the experience is priceless. So far after each tour we have no regrets. I've never seen a glaciar of that size, let alone walked on it for two hours. AMAZING! =)

Ana_Ushuaia

This is my third attemp writing about Ushuaia. Not sure why, but everytime I wanted to upload it will quit on me and erase my entire entry. A bit frustrating. What can I say I'm a MAC Bratt!!!!
______________________

Last Monday we went from hot and humid to really cold. Of course for me. From 85F to 40F. I'm so I brought cold weather gear-scarf, gloves, hat, warmers. It seemed silly bringing all that stuff in Rio and Buenos Aires. But in Ushuaia it was very useful.
Right when we stepped out of the airport the view was spectacular huge mountains all around it. Tim was in heaven. He smiled from ear to ear. He kept saying "this is tango for me." So cute. We got to the hostel which was very cozy. It had nice heated rooms. Me like alot. We walked around the town for a while. Cold but nice.

We stayed in Ushuaia a total of four days. The highlights for me in the town were meeting a nice group of French travelers, the tour to the Pinguin Island and the hike with the view to the city.

The tour to the Pinguin Island was amazing. It was hesitant to go in the tour thinking I was only going to see maybe one pinguin. We drove about an hour or so to get to place were we got on a small boat to the island. As we approach the island there were sooooooo many pinguins, around 17,000. I didn't know where to look. Pinguins everywhere. Some were in the water swiming, other sleeping, some just hanging out and other walking. I

Ana_Las Days in Buenos Aires

It seems like ages ago we were in Buenos Aires. It only has been a week. The last day in Bueno Aires was very memorable. First it was hot and we walked around everywhere. We went to the neigborhoods of San Telmo and La Boca. San Telmo had an antique marquet which was fun just to see really old stuff like jewelry, furniture, cameras and so on.

We sat on the side walk and people watch for a while. Specially fascinated to see two small kids playing the accordion for some money. They were so adorable. They were sitting on small plastic chairs, with their hat and one had a vest. So much character. The oldest one was hilarous to watch when people would take a photo he'd pose and ask for more pesos (argentinian currency). CUTISIMO!

After few hours we went to La Boca which is known for its few colorful streets. On the way there we stopped for some Burger King. It was the best meal yet. I tell you some greasy food and the connection to home made it taste soooooooooooo gooooooood.
Food here is good too but after a while you want a miss the food back home. And the closest you can get around here is McDonalds or Burger King.

La Boca was really quaint and colorful. Very lively place. Full with tourist but still had a local flavor. When we first arrived we saw a couple dancing Tango. It was so cool to see. The guy called me over to take a picture with him. So I did. Very smart business. He lend me a hat and boa to wrap around my neck, then he help me pose for the picture. I was laughing so hard he kept saying closer, closer. We were literally face to face. Of course I felt like a giant since I was taller than him. Tim was able to get few pictures from the fun experience. Will share the photo later.

Before heading back to the hostel we sat down in a cafe for a COLD beer. I never sweat and I was sweating alot that day. We sat there to people watch some more. It was great to hear some Tango, see people interact and just appreciate the colorful scenery. Every wall of the places around were in vibrant colors - red, orange, blue, yellow you name it.

Sitting there we were approached by a young boy who was selling his own drawing for some pesos. I thought he was so cute. He had so much personality. Every person he'd approached with a handshake. After seeing him pass by back and forth, we asked him if he'd draw us for some pesos. He happily agreed. He sat down with us and started drawing. He starting drawing me first but made I mistake and decided to start with Tim first. It was so cute. He kept drawing without looking at us. It was so precious. =)We kept the drawing.

Ana