Northwestern Argentina

After a 15 hour bus ride from Mendoza, four hours of waiting at a bus terminal and then five more hours on a bus, we have arrived to Cafayate, Argentina. It is a very small town up in the hills of the northwestern part of the country, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. After much time looking out the window, the best word I can think of to describe Argentina (at least the stretch I saw) is land. Because that´s mostly what I saw. Few houses, few people, few animals, few signs of civilization. Just lots and lots of land. Some of it hilly, some very dry peppered with cacti, other parts filled with wild bushes and short trees that remind me of something one might see in parts of Africa. The land just seems to go on forever. This morning I was lucky enough be awake (at least half awake) to see the sunrise. At that point we were passing hills so the deep oranges and light pinks of the rising sun rested in the nooks of the hills. It was so lovely. I would close my eyes for a minute and each time I opened them the shade was slightly different.

The ride up to Cafayate from the city we stopped in (the name of which I had forgotten, it was nothing special) was slow because it was mostly going up in very sharp curves. But this driver was cautious so I was able to relax for the most part and marvel at the trees, the small rivers, the waterfalls. One of my friends saw some llamas, I missed them but I did see a few goats climbing up very steep rocks, impressive.

It is nice to be in a small town after so many cities, and this one feels very typical of a small town in South America. The hostel and it´s staff are very nice, tonight we are taking part in an asado, and they are kind enough to make some vegetarian options for me. Let me tell you, it is definitely not easy being a vegetarian in Argentina. Much more difficult than Chile. I have definitely had to do some improvising making meals out of things like bread or crackers and avocados. They love their meat here. Funny story about meat: last night the bus stopped at a terminal for us to eat at the family run resturaunt there. The people spoke very fast in a dialect and were clearly not used to foreigners. So one of my friends was a bit confused when his food was brought out after ordering what he thought was a pizza. Turned out it was a big chunk of some kind of meat (vilanesa I think, although I´m not sure what that is, I know nothing about meat) topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and a few pieces of ham. So essentially it was a meat pizza with meat for the crust. It´s always interesting when you have no idea what you are ordering.

Tomorrow we are planning on hiking to a waterfall, so I will bring my camera to that and try to post some pictures soon. I hope everyone and is doing well and enjoying the holiday season. I can´t believe it´s almost Christmas, it sure doesn´t feel like it as I am sitting here sweating.
Love to all!

Greetings from an Internet Cafe in Argentina

So the traveling adventure has begun. I stayed one night in Viña del Mar and explored Valparaiso again, then last night took a bus to Mendoza, Argentina. Technically I haven´t been anywhere new yet, but Mendoza feels like a totally different city during the week. A whole lot more life to it than what I saw during my previous brief visit. Tomorrow we will be doing a bike tour of wineries in the area so that should be nice. The day after tomorrow I think we are planning on heading to a town up north in Argentina (the name of which I can´t remember) where apparently you can hike to a waterfall and swim in it.

I have to say I think that the backpacker´s lifestyle suits me quite well. The only thing that´s not so fun is caring my huge pack around when walking to hostels to save money instead of taking cabs. But, I´ve noticed that each time I carry it, it feels a little bit lighter. Either I´m getting stronger or probably just adjusting. Other than that, I quite enjoy living this way. It´s so liberating to only have what I can carry, and I love not having to worry about what I look like, what I´m wearing, or if I smell bad. There are just more important things to worry about, like where to go, what to see, what to do, what to eat. No one expects a backpacker to look pretty. Plus today I had one of the best showers of my life, I really felt that I deserved it. I´m operating on not very much sleep, but so far that hasn´t been a problem. And the best part is the all people you get to meet; at hostels, on the street, everywhere. Travel time is much more accelerated than regular time, so after spending a day with someone you are travling with, you feel like you have known for more like a month. It´s a cool feeling, and as a result I feel more comfortable and relaxed with myself and with others than I have in a long time. And even though I am spending most of my time with English speakers, I am still getting plenty of chances to practice my Spanish.

It´s safe to say that so far I am loving every moment of this. What I really cherish about this experience so far is that it is forcing me to focus on the present, to just be in the moment and not worry about my past or what I´m going to do in the future. Because if I don´t maintain a constant focus on the now and simply cherish the moment for what it is, I will miss it all together and then regret that later. I feel like this is an important life lesson I am already learning, at the very least it´s something I´ve always wanted to work on. Hopefully I will be able to translate this calm, positive, enjoy the moment outlook into my life when I return back to reality, however, there is really no point in worrying about that now.

New Plan

As is typical of me, I have once again changed my plan. Starting on Monday I am embarking upon a backpacking travel adventure around South America. While in Pucon, I met a group of guys traveling together who have met one another along the road, and I made the decision to join them as they head north. I was planning on traveling anyways and I thought, well it might be a lot more fun traveling with other people. So I decided not to rent my apartment for one more month, I bought a good backpack and a sleeping bag, and I'm getting ready to go.

Tomorrow I will go to Rengo to see my Tía Maria, then on Monday I will go to Valparaiso to meet up with my new friends. From there, the plan is loose, but is basically as follows: head to Mendoza (I wanted to check it out when things are actually open), continue up north in Argentina a bit, maybe check out some wineries, then cross back into Chile at some point. Then we will continue north up Chile maybe stopping a few places along the way until we get to San Pedro de Atacama where we will check out the salt flats, the moon valley, and all that lovely desert stuff. Then we will probably go to Bolivia to see the salt flats on that side then go up to Peru to go to Machu Pichu. After that, who knows. My plan is pretty much just to travel around until around the end of January/beginning of February when I will probably head back to this part of Chile to see family then in February I am planning to head south to volunteer at Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia. I wouldn't be surprised if my plans end up changing, but I know no matter what it's going to be pretty great. I am feeling really excited about life right now.

Pucon, Chile

The highlight of the trip was definitely climbing the volcano. I know I have already shared my excitement about there, but now here are some logistical details. I went up with a small group, just four of us and two guides. The guides were fantastic, very informative, helpful, and attuned to our needs. Because the volcano is covered in snow and ice, you have to wear crampons and use a pick ax. It definitely would not be possible without those things. Thankfully I never slipped, but some people from my hostel told me someone in their group fell quite a ways down. Luckily she was stopped by another guide who jumped on top of her and used his ax.

We took a lift up a part of the way in the beginning, saving up an hour of walking. It was optional to walk if you wanted, but I figured that like 4 or 5 hours of walking up an incline would be enough. Making it to the top was of course a great feeling and the view was pretty indescribable. Here are some pictures I took.

Beautiful Chile from 2847 meters up.

Just hanging out above the clouds. It was possible to see three different lakes from up there.

This is another volcano, I forget the name of it, but my guide told me it is something like 5000 meters, much higher than Villarrica.

This was right after we made it to the top, notice the smoke in the background coming out of the volcano. I was quite happy to have made it.

This was the best picture I could get of the crater. It was very cold and windy so we couldn't really get any closer for safety purposes. But at least you can see all the smoke. Apparently the last time it erupted was in 1984.

Other things I did while in Pucon: on the first day I visited some thermals. The place I went to had two, one completely outdoors and other with a shelter built on top. I preferred the one outdoors it felt hotter and because it was a cold rainy day it felt really nice to be in there. I stayed in until I was quite wrinkly. Yesterday I went on a bike ride in search of waterfalls with a newfound friend. Didn't make it to the waterfalls, but we rode for a long time and at least saw a river and a lots of lovely land. It was nice to get away from Pucon and breathe the fresh country air. My legs were definitely struggling at points riding up hills, though. Needless to say, after the past few days of physical activity I am more motivated to get back into better shape. Now if I only I could cut back on bread and sweets...

Yes, I climbed a volcano

I can´t write for long because I´m at the hostel in Pucon and there are other people who want to use the computer. But I had to write a quick update. Today I climbed to the top of the Vallarrica Volcano. It is 2847 meters high, and I´m not going to lie, it was not easy. In fact, I had to hold hands with one of the guides for some parts of the way when I was really struggling. But I´m okay with that, I am learning that sometimes it´s okay to ask and receive a little help.

It was for sure one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and right now I am so tired and still coming down from the high of the whole experience so unfortunately I can´t write so elequently right now. When I get home I will post pictures and maybe add some more thoughts.
But the main thing I want to share was just how overwhelming the feeling was when I finally got to the top. I was so happy I almost cried and I was so proud of myself for making it. And then, I looked around and I thought "Oh my God, my country is beautiful." The climb was totally worth it just for the view. You could see the Andes, hills, four lakes, a few different towns, it was incredible. I didn´t see any lava in the volcano, but there was a whole lot of smoke which was pretty cool.

Alright well I promise to right some better thoughts when I get back to Santiago, I just wanted to share some of my excitement. And here´s my advice, if you ever find yourself with the opportunity to climb a volcano in Chile or anywhere, do it!

Viña del Mar, Valparaiso

This weekend I went to the coast with my cousin and some of her friends. I always love a chance to be near the ocean. We stayed the night in Viña del Mar, which is a tourist spot beach town that I've been to a few times as a child with my family. I would say it has changed except I'm not so sure, I can't really remember. But it's pretty much just your typical beach town; lots of hotels, fancy restaurants, a casino. But at night the beach is so nice, calm and peaceful. Plus I was lucky that I had my camera when the sun was setting.

During the day on Sunday we took a bus just next door to Valparaiso, which is a little dirtier than Viña, a bit more bohemian, hillier, and much more colorful. Not surprisingly, I liked Valparaiso better, it's just more interesting. There is art everywhere and because it is built into the hills, it's fun to walk around and you get a nice workout, going up and down the staircases built into alleyways. It's a city I would definitely like to come back to and explore a bit more.

Tonight I leave for Pucon and of course I am bringing my camera. I gotta say, I'm enjoying life as a traveler so far.

A New Chapter

I am about to begin some new adventures. My last day of work was two days ago, I decided not to renew my contract. I figured, well, I'm here in Chile, I have some money left, I might as well do some traveling. So that's exactly what I'm going to do, plus spend more time touristing around Santiago and simply enjoying each day. Today I went to the bus station and bought a ticket to Pucon, a city in the south that I've never been to. I leave on Monday and I booked a hostel for two nights. It will be my first solo trip in Chile, I'm excited! This blog is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Stay tuned...