Fat Backpack: South America

Check out my photos/videos from Mendoza here →

Mendoza. Mendoza is the ultimate. I loved it here. The city itself is beautiful. Perhaps not as picturesque as Sucre, Bolivia, or even Cusco, but beautiful in it’s own right. Plus there is a ton to do here.

I got in early and walked to my hostel. It was about a mile and in the heat and humidity I was drenched. Ya, I could have taken a cab but after 12 hours or whatever on a bus it was nice to hoof it.

Normally I get hostels based on recommendations from other backpackers in prior cities who are headed the opposite direction as me. This time however I just found one online and got really, really lucky. By far Hostel Lagareshad the nicest, most helpful staff I have ever encountered. Evah. I had to get my visa for Brazil when in town and was told that it takes at least 3-5 business days. So that was the first thing I had to do just after checking in. I had an address for the consulate that I found online but I just wanted to check to make sure so I asked Sebastian at the front desk. Not only did he confirm the address, but he called to make sure it was correct AND to ask what I needed to bring with me so I only had to make one trip. This alone would have given me reason to love the staff here but they were amazing the whole time I was there.

The next day I had booked a paragliding tour. I figured why not cause everything is cheaper down here and Mendoza and it’s countryside are beautiful. I have been skydiving before so I reckoned that it would be similar to the parachute ride down. Really though it was quite different, and amazingly peaceful. All I could hear was the wind. Definitely one of the coolest things I have done. I documented it with my iPhone which was probably a bit stupid of me but oh well. I had to get pics and video.

That night I met up with a Swiss friend of mine, Karin, who I had met in La Paz. We decided the next day to go white water rafting the next day. The next morning on the bus ride out we started some conversation with some of the other people in the van and it turns out one of them was the current Miss Vermont! Ha, kinda random, but kinda cool. She was studying out there for a few weeks before her Miss USA competition in Vegas in April. We also met a couple who were living out there but were originally from LA. On top of that the night before I met a couple girls, who were going to/and graduated from UCSB! It was sooo nice to talk with someone who knows about the glories of Freebirds (for those not blessed with knowing this place, it is by far the best burrito place, ever…like really evah). Anyway we got to the river, got our hour long safety instructions and then finally got to play. It was pretty wild, not as wild as I would have hoped maybe, but very, very fun. Got some good pics out of it too. Unfortunately we didn’t flip the boat, which, even if I sound crazy, I wanted to do, ha! Afterwards a Brazilian guy who was with us was going canopying and asked us to come with him. It was only like an extra $20 so Miss Vermont and I decided to go with. For, at least, it was like a little boy’s dream come true. Giant zip lines and two of them were huge, like a football field long huge and they went over the river. Amazing.

The next day was a day off. Karin, an Australian couple, Liz and Dane, and I decided to go to the local swimming hole. Now I have been to a public swimming pool before and have never, ever, had to go through the rigmarole that we did here. First of all, and not really related, I got attacked by a dog outside. Nearly bit my leg off. Next we bought our tickets to go in, and headed to the pool. We were stopped and told that we couldn’t have backpacks or shoes (flip flops were ok) so we had to go rent a locker. Then, we tried to get back in and were told that we had to have a stamp from the doctor before we went in. Doctor? Yes, doctor. So we went to the local pool doctor and he checked between our fingers and toes for fungus and our hair for lice. This time we were allowed in. So after setting our stuff down we jumped in and were immediately pulled out of the pool for not having swimming caps. Yes, swimming caps. We were told they were only a few pesos in the pool store but the store was closed. A few, sweet locals had pity on us and let us borrow theirs (I guessed they felt comfortable because everyone was checked by the doctor, ha). So after a bit of a swim we were going to relax by the pool. A few of us started to put on sun cream and were immediately stopped by the lifeguards. Apparently using any cream wasn’t allowed either. Yes, bizarre, I know. We were then told that since we had already put some on we had to leave. At this point we were so fed up that things got hilarious. It really was the most bizarre experience ever, but makes for a good story, I guess!

Next day we did what most people come to Mendoza for – riding bikes through wine country and doing some wine tasting. Along the way all of us had heard that Mr. Hugo was the person to rent the bikes from. Mr. Hugo was an awesome old Argentinian guy who quickly set us up on bikes and got us going. Our first stop was the Wine Museum. It was cool to take a tour and hear all about the wine making process and the process specific to that area. Malbec grapes are what Mendoza is known for so we got to try, after the tour, a good Malbec wine only made and sold at the Wine Museum there in Mendoza. Next up, after a 5 or 6 km ride, was Bodega Carinae which was an abandoned winery purchased and run by a French couple. We got to taste 3 different wines there, comprised of all or part Malbec. After that was Laur, an Olive Oil factory, whatever you call it, where we got to taste some great olive oil, olives, and sun-dried tomatoes. After that was lunch and more wine tasting at two more wineries in the area – Bodega Familia di Tomaso and my favorite Bodega Tempus Alba. It was amazing. After we finally got back to Mr. Hugo’s I realized why he was so popular amongst the backpacking crowd. The minute we got back he handed us another glass of wine and wouldn’t let it get beyond half empty while we waited the hour or so for our taxi. Oh boy. So yeah, Mr. Hugo was amazing, the tour was amazing, and Mendoza was amazing.

The next, and last day I had in Mendoza was great. Just relaxed. A few of us from the hostel took a stroll to the park (which is huge by the way, like Central Park huge) in town. Mendoza is really a nice relaxed town. It is on my list of places to come back to and study Spanish. On that note, Argentinian Spanish is pretty hard to understand but in my opinion sounds the coolest. It is like a hybrid between Italian and Spanish. They talk a lot with their hands. That is when they are not walking around with their thermoses, matè cups, and bombillas drinking matè which EVERYONE does – I mean everybody. Stereotype or not, it is true.
Well, next it was off the Buenos Aires. My trip is coming to an end which is sad, but I am glad to get home and see my family and friends. I have a visa now for Bolivia and Brazil, both of which last 5 years so I have a good excuse for coming back.

Adios!

Check out my photos/videos from Mendoza here →

Check out my photos/videos from Cordoba here →

After leaving Salta, I got to Cordoba and headed straight to my hostel. I still wasn’t 100% capacity and wanted to get some rest. Which I did. I took like a 3 hour nap. Although the buses are nice down here you don’t always get a good night’s rest. After a good power nap, I took a look around the city. I ran into a tour bus (the open top touristy trap kind) and it was cheap so I said why not – don’t mind if I don’t mind. After the hour tour I realized one thing. There isn’t a lot to see in Cordoba. It is a city of half a million – most of which are university students – but because it is summer holiday down here, the city was almost half as full as it usually is.

In the hostel I met a couple of cool Irish girls. We ended up hanging out most of my time here in Cordoba. Really the only adventurous thing we did was head out of the city one day to Carlos Paz to spend a day at the river out there. It was nice again to relax. I didn’t want to make my sickness any worse especially cause I was going to Mendoza after this and I know that there is a lot I want to do there – a lot that requires energy. I wish there was more to write about Cordoba. It is generally a nice city, but kinda of an odd one to be a tourist in, I think.

Anyway, off to wine/adventure country: Mendoza…feeling better I hope!

Check out my photos/videos from Cordoba here →

Check out my photos/videos from Saltahere →

Tupiza was the last frontier for me in Bolivia. After that it was off to Argentina. My first stop was a larger town in the north – Salta.

Salta was my first touch back into any semblance of modern life. For instance, toilet paper was in all the bathrooms – i.e. not like the Bolivia/Peru “bring your own” style. There were malls, movie theaters, VW and Audi cars everywhere. Although I had just crossed the border, it felt like a different part of the world – much more European.

I checked into my hostel, Los Cadrones, which was very nice by the way, and went straight to bed. Luckily I can usually sleep anywhere but when customs comes and wakes you up at 3 in the morning to see if you have brought any contraband back from Bolivia, well, you don’t get as much sleep as you’d like.

The next few days, I can honestly say I didn’t do much. I got kinda sick in Uyuni and my chest cold, or whatever it was, had carried over to Salta. So I mostly hung around the city, chilled out, did a couple walks/hikes, and ate a lot, A LOT, of steak. The legends are all true. Argentinian steak is amazing, especially for the price. I went to one place recommended in the Lonely Planet called Jack’s. I ordered a Jack’s Junior Plate thinking it would be good for one person. Um, no. One thing I learned quickly about Argentina is that their portions here are out of control. Super Size Me just doesn’t seem to fit the mass amounts of food you get. So when my Jack’s “Junior” came I got funny looks from everyone in the restaurant. Now mind you, I can eat a lot, but this should have been split between 3 people. Just look at the pics. But, it was amazing. Really. The meat down here is very, very good.

My last night in Salta, I ran into a Canadian girl named Laura who I had met in Potosi, Bolivia. I was feeling a bit better so decided to go out with her and her friend and a super sweet Argentinian couple we had met along the way. Now in Salta, they actually have a street deemed “Club Row”. Upon arriving I realized this was no exaggeration. They close down a half mile of street to cars. And this half mile is littered with bars and clubs, almost exclusively. I think there is a liquor store or something tucked in between, ha. It was almost like a little Vegas, minus the casinos. It was really fun to go out, but I must say I am really, really sick of Reggaeton. It is everywhere, EVERYWHERE, down here and call me ignorant or something but I swear every song is exactly the same! But whatever, when in Rome.

Anywho, so yeah, Salta wasn’t very eventful. But maybe that is a good thing. I am feeling a bit more worn out everyday, so it was a welcomed break. Maybe I will continue it in my next city, Cordoba. Until then!

Check out my photos/videos from Saltahere →

Check out my photos/videos from Tupiza here →

After I said my goodbyes to my Swiss friends it was off to Tupiza – my last city in Bolivia. When we got back to Uyuni from the Salt Flats tour, I quickly found out that there was only one night bus and it would get you to Tupiza (a very small town where absolutely nothing is open through the night) at around 3:00 am. Not acceptable, ha. So, I decided I would take the next bus in the morning at 6:00 am. Blah. So as I went to look for a room, I ran into Damiano (the Italian living in Dallas from our Salt Flats tour), and he had the same problem. So we started looking for a place to stay. Little did we know that at that current time there were more Argentinians in town than Bolivians, and ALL the hotels/hostels were booked or full. After walking around for a good hour, it seemed hopeless. There was one more hostel we hadn’t checked but it was listed in the Lonely Planet guide so we figured we were out of luck – on the street for a night – but we checked anyway. They had one room left. Thank you, God! We were both pretty knackered from the tour so we just went straight to bed. I had to be on a bus at 6:00 am anyway.

The ride to Tupiza was long. The bus made an unexpected stop/layover in town so small that we doubled the population when we arrived. Two hours there is an eternity.

Anyway, we got to Tupiza, and I found a hostel and checked in. Tupiza is like an old Cowboy town. Literally, almost right out of the movies. There were just now cowboys which, I guess, is an integral part of a cowboy town, ha. Although Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid died right near there. So it has some bonafides. Anywho, I was only going to spend a day there and take a night bus to Salta, Argentina the next day. But, nothin’ doing. There are no night buses and the train doesn’t run everyday. There are only buses at 4:00 am (what is with these people) and 2:00pm. I didn’t want to spend too much time here, and I didn’t want to get up at 3:00 am so I decided I was going to head out at 2:00 the next day. It gave me sort of an awkward amount of time there. All I really wanted to do anyway was check the town out (which you could do in 10 minutes) and ride a horse. Luckily my hostel had a travel agency built in and they had a horse tour starting in the next hour. Bingo.

When I met up with our guide, there were 2 other people who joined me – 2 retired Canadians, ha! It was actually quite rad. They were traveling South America for a year or so, staying in hostels and whatnot. My goal is to be like them. Rad. Not Canadian, heh heh.

The tour itself was really cool The rocks and canyons are all painted (not literally) red and with the sunset they almost glow. I could easily see cowboys chasing each other and duels and train heists and whatnot out there. The setting is perfect. The only thing that would have made it better is if Clint Eastwood was our guide, ha. Well, luckily and unluckily for us it started to POUR on our way back about 5 minutes aways from the stalls. I mean POUR! I have never, evah, seen rain like this. The horses wouldn’t move and mine almost started freaking out, so we had to walk them back. We quickly hailed a cab, who took us about half way. When he saw the rivers, and I mean rivers, flowing through the streets he said no more and made us get out, ha ha! The weather was truly insane.

Next morning apparently the train to the border of Bolivia and Argentina was supposed to be running but because of the downpour the night before, it was out of commission. Which was lucky for me. Because it was non-operational they had supplemented buses (who would have known Bolivians can plan ahead, ha). There were buses almost every hour. Since I had done what I wanted to do, I decided to get the heck out of Dodge and took the next bus out.

Argentina! Finally, here I come. Bolivia has been good, absolutely beautiful, at times quite irrational, but most importantly (at least for a backpacker) dirt cheap! Next stop, Salta, and lot’s of red meat!

Check out my photos/videos from Tupiza here →

Check out my photos/videos from Uyuni and the Salt Flats here →

After leaving Sucre we were to arrive in Uyuni at midnight, which in Bolivian time means 2:00 am. And in Bolivian time we did arrive! It was God-awfully early, but thanks to “do anything for a buck mentality” in most parts of South America, there were hostel owners waiting patiently at the “bus terminal” – read “street where the buses decide to stop”. We checked into some random hostel grabbed about 6 hours of sleep. We got up at about 8:00 an and booked our 3 day tour of the Salt Flats for that day. Fairly efficient, no? On a side note, and somewhat relating to “Bolivian time” thing, there a certain few things which I will, I presume, never understand. For instance, one person uses their horn here more in one hour than I can ever hope to in my whole life. If a car is forced to slow at all, for anything, even red lights, they lay on the horn. Not a second can be lost! Yet, YET, when ever there is a time to be anywhere, whether it be the departure time for a bus, or people meeting for dinner, you can bet on it being at least 30-45 minutes late – minimum. And when we wanted to book our tour we found out that on Sundays Uyuni always runs out of gasoline and has to charge more for the tours. About $20 more, which in Bolivia is a lot. There are some things here that are so front-to-back that I will just never understand. Oh well, chalk it up to culture differences or whatever the politically correct term is these days.

Anyhow, a couples hours later we were on the road – so to speak – with our crew (Damiano, Italian; Katsu & Koutarou, Japanese; and my two Swiss friends, Philipp and Karin). The road lasted about 15 minutes then we were driving on the blindingly white Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats). It really was stunning. Over 4,500 square miles of just dried up lake. It seems like it goes on forever, so far that you start to lose all depth perception. Mid-day we broke for lunch on what used to be an island, which was now a piece of mass jutting up from a white plain of nothingness. A pleasant surprise on the island were the presence of viscachas. They are pretty much a hybrid between a chinchilla and rabbit. Unfortunately they were to fast to be able to sneak a picture with one. That night will go down in my personal history as a night that featured one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen. Seriously stunning – like Thomas Kinkade status (this is an inside joke for my non-art background friends). What made even more interesting is on the way back we found these rock structures (sort of like mini caves) with human skeletons in them. A sort of above ground grave. It added a very creepy tone to the night as it was nearly pitch-black when we discoverd them. It was actually quite funny really, we were all walking back calm and relaxed after such an amazing sunset when I heard my Swiss friend, Philipp, calmy state, “Oh…okay.”

Day 2 was mostly lagunes and wildlife. There are a few left over “ponds” or lagunes throughout the 4,500 square miles, and incidentally they almost all came up a different color. Some red, some blue, some green, some brown. There were also a TON of flamingos. Really strange to see these creatures in such a barren, desert-like setting. At the end of the day we had to pay an extra 150 Bolivianos to get into, what I imagine, is something like a State Park back home in California. It was kinda like a border crossing and there were a ton, a ton, of Argentians (as it is their summer right now). And nearly all of them were pissed. Like steam coming out of the ears pissed. Apparently, up until recently, the fee used to be 30 Bolivianos and they somehow saw it fit to raise it to 150 Bolivianos claiming it was for the construction of roads or something lame. It was quite a scene and I was tempted to join the protest, needing to pinch the pennies myself, but in the end I think too many people paid so it was just a matter of waiting until everybody did. It did leave a bad taste in my mouth and smelled quite distinctly of explotation, but whatever.

Day three, we got up far to early for this to be called a holiday/vacation – 4:00am. The only other time this happened was for Machu Picchu, but I knew I was in for something awesome. With this I had know idea. It turned out to be pretty cool. We went to the “Mouth of the Dragon” which is a geiser type thing that is constantly going. Except there is no water, just a bit of steam. Imagine letting the air out of a tire, but like 100 times bigger and louder. It was strange to see the Earth just spewing out excess pressure. There were also a ton of other geisers nearby. Later we went to some natural hot springs, saw some more lagunes and more wild life. At the end of the day my Swiss travel buddies, Philipp and Karin, broke from the group to head to Chile. I was headed to Argentina after the tour so this was goodbye. It was only the Italian, Damiano (who actually currently lives in Dallas, TX right now teaching Italian), and myself for the 9 hour ride back. We made some various stops along the way, but I slept most of the way anyway.

When we arrived back to Uyuni we found that nearly every hostel was full. We got the last room in what appeared, and most likely was, the last hostel in town that we hadn’t checked. We got very lucky. The next morning I had a bus at 6:00 am, blah, to Tupiza – a cowboy like town on the Southern edge of Bolivia.

Until then pahtna! (Oh man, I just made one of those jokes…like my mother would! Love ya, mom!)

Check out my photos/videos from Uyuni and the Salt Flats here →