El Bolson, photos (Hippie Paradise)

(This one is for Maggie. Her inspiration for my commission, hehe.)



El Bolson is hops capital of Patagonia... yummy!

A REALLY delicious Belgium waffle.

A view from my backyard. No, really, a view from my backyard.



Some kind of freaky sculpture dedicated to the crazy free-spirited hippies that founded this beautiful town. My gratitude to them. Remind me to tell you the story about the "energy mountain" one day when I have a better internet connection...

Mendoza

When I first glimpsed Mendoza, it was a hazy dawn and from the window of the bus the sierras (mountains featured above) appeared weightless floating mid air... all you could see were snow-capped peaks jutting into the sky. For a split second (mind you I´d hardly slept even an hour on the 13 hour overnight bus ride, so my mind´s perception might have been a bit skewed, who´s to say) I thought I was looking out onto the Hallelujah Mountains of Pandora.

Ok, maybe not Pandora but still. I fell hard into some kind of love-entanglement with this city/province. Perhaps I´ve just been seduced by the wine bodegas and unadulterated country side, but I was meant to live here in another life... or perhaps just later down the road in this one.

Potable water from the Aconcagua River. I´ve never tasted such delicious water in my life. It feeds from the snow melting off the Aconcagua Mountain and surrounding peaks as well.


Apparently this is supposed to resemble the figure of a pregnant mummy. There were lots of shapes to sight in the mountains (Frankenstein, a woman´s face, panthers...) apparently but this was the only one I could make out.

Puente del Inca, once a spa retreate with sulfuric hot springs but since abandoned after a devastating earthquake compromised its stability. Visitors are still allowed to view the ruins. I wish the colors had turned out a bit better in this photo... some of the most brilliantly putrid looking yellows and organges you could ever see.

Volcano Tupungato in the distance. Still active and rising every year due to the tectonic activity in the region.

Aconcagua National Park. Left just a sliver of my heart here I think...

The Aconcagua Mountain covered by clouds. After the Himalayan mountain range, this is the tallest mountain in the WORLD, yet it gets little to no acknowledgement I feel. 21 days trek to reach the highest peak if you are an experienced mountain climber.






Not only does Mendoza claim the tallest mountain in all of South America in the Andean mountain range but it´s also wine country. Over 1000 bodegas surrounding the city but only about 90 are open to public tours and tastings. Also of interest to note, Mendoza is quite essentially a desert not to mention subject to horrendous hail storms annually (which destroys about 15% the yearly crop). Irrigation has transformed this entire region (for the better wine lovers must concur) into a new terrain able to support hectres of vinyards. Pretty incredible.

Once upon a time when fermentation vats were constructed from brick and morter, they sealed the inside with beeswax. Modern day vats, however, are metallic and do not require this, of course.

Profile of a vinyard and an idea of what I meant by the Hallelujah Mountains... though not quite the same.


We drank ALL this wine... did we? Hmph. Wish we could have tasted it all at least.

Not something you see everyday lying around in the States.

Homemade liquer made by a local Mendocino family. (What a cool family business!!!)

Full moon rafting and bonfire dance party, our last night in Mendoza.



Poi dancer to entertain.
Plaza Independencia, town center.

Last days in Buenos Aires

So Andrea and I are finally moving on from la Capital Federal. It´s been a fantastic adventure and especially enjoyable having visitors stay with us. I don´t think I will loose my way in this city if I ever have the chance to return; surely by now we can be considered honorary Porteñas. We´ve cheered at soccer matches, know the markets of Recoleta and San Telmo backwards and forwards, devoured more than our fair share of chocolate mousse torte, mastered the bus system, found our favorite bars, danced the drum circles to shame, and acquired decent enough porteño accents. Time to try something new? Yes.

Now we are off to explore wine country (Mendoza), the glaciers (Calafate and Ushuaia), and the lake district (Bariloche) before crossing into Chile to begin farming again... yeah remember that´s why we set off on this adventure to begin with? I hardly do at this point.

Also, just fyi, I have updated 3 new posts including new photos of Iguazu Falls. You should check all of them out. It´s been quite a trip.

Some freaky kind of creature we found in the park. I thought it was cool.

Delicious provoleta cheese at Restaurante Norte.

A pretty good steak in Buenos Aires, also at Restaurante Norte. My favorite was actually from this rinky-dink, no-name, hole-in-the-wall place, though. (Thanks to Tio Coco for that lunch!)
Argentino Juniors stadium in Paternal where we lived with Tio Coco. This was where we watched Argentino Juniors kick Hucucan´s sorry butts. 5-1 Eat your hearts out Hurucan!!!

Rosario, the "hidden jewel of Argentina" -Claire Weaver

We passed through this sweet little town, Rosario, five hours between Córdoba and Buenos Aires each respectively. It´s known as the cleanest city in Argentina... or at least fast becoming the cleanest city. It´s a beautiful town and you can easily take a ferry to river-island-beaches. I wish we had staid longer actually but we only had one rainy afternoon to see the town. Also, Ernesto "Che" Guevara lived here (though he was born in Córdoba I believe?). We tried knocking on his door but no one answered.

This is the train station at 6 AM.

A monument to the national flag of Argentina. We eventually took refuge here from the rain while we waited to leave for Buenos Aires on the night bus.

A VERY wide river...

Maybe it´s hard to tell?

Knocking on Che´s door. No response.

Downtown Rosario in a hurry, trying to not be run over.