One Week Update

A lot happens in a week...

Mendoza: ohhhh, Mendoza. I was so exicted about Mendoza and although it wasn't my favorite weekend, it was the most eventful. I did my first couchsurfing experience, which I was so excited about! My host was nice, but they didn't have an extra key, which meant I couldn't leave or come home without someone being there. I got locked out of that apartment so many times, there was one point where I checked into a hostel at 2am because I was so frustrated not being able to get in and just felt very unwelcomed. Of course, they thought I was crazy and overreacting, but there were various other incidencts that made me feel like I wasn't wanted or maybe I should have just gotten a hostel. I didn't save any money because I paid the equivalent of a hostel in chocolate (not for me, I don't even really like chocolate... long story).

Otherwise, the weekend was alright. I went rafting, which was ok. The rapids were small and for whatever reason, everytime we would come to a rapid, the guide would make me run to the front of the boat and stick my head out the front so I went through the rapids head first. Hah, it was funny, but really odd. After rafting, some locals invited me to join them for an asado, which was a lot of fun and I got to practice my spanish and eat delicious food and drink wine.

The next day, all I wanted to do was go to the vineyards but when I woke up at 11, I had to wait until my hoste woke up to leave the house and they didn't get up 1! So it was too late to do the biking vineyard tour then since I had a bus at 5, so I cried. hah. He said there was one vineyard we could go to, so we went there, had a tasting and then I left. I did get to go out on Saturday night with this guy from there, which was fun again, but overall, the weekend was very stressful.

And I had a bunch of pictures from Mendoza, but unfortunately they are gone now. Gary came in on Wednesday, which was awesome! It was so good to see him. On Thursday (Christmas), we went exploring around the city. We went to this part of town known as La Boca, which is known to be a little rough, but I underestimated the situation. We were walking around and we took a turn off the tourist street where a little kid told us to be careful. I said thanks and kept walking. Not even a half a block later, three men come running down the street behind us and surround us. At first we were just caught off guard but when they showed their guns and reaching for our stuff we realized we should cooperate. I had my pepper spray in my hand as the guy was rifling through my purse and debated what would happen if I used it... I decided not to. Guns are scary. Three big men with guns is even scarier. So they had a very Merry Christmas and walked off with two cameras, $200 US, and a watch. fuckers.

It took us a while to shake it off, the whole day we kept replaying what had happened in our heads and if we could have done something different, and obviously, the only thing we could have done was not stray from the tourist path. Lesson learned. So now all of my pictures from my past month in Argentina are gone. We bought a new camera the next day which I am guarding with my life.

We left on Friday for Uruguay. We spent one night in Montevideo, which was ok. Nothing special. Apparently most people head to the beaches on the weekends during the summer, so it was a little dead.

On Saturday we went out in Punta del Este. Punta del Este was a cute little yacht town with a lot of money and boats and tourists. We went to this beach on the club until 7 in the morning. I don't know how the hell people do it here.

Lunch time by the water and some delicious Sangria.

Jumping off the hand in the sand.

6:30 am

Since we rented a car, we had a little freedom with what we wanted to do to and we decided to come to Punta del Diablo... where I want to stay. Forever. And ever.

Bariloche

After El Bolson, I took a two hour bus ride to Bariloche. Although the lady we stayed with in El Bolson was nice, she could not wait for us to leave! At 9:55, she was like, ¨Is your friend almost done, are you almost leaving.¨ Sheesh.

So we got to Bariloche and I made Ben participate in my very Sarah way to find a hostel. I have to see a few hostels before I choose because I want to choose the best one. As you all know, I have a hard time making a decision when I don´t know my other options. So, we walked around and found a beautiful one at the top of an apartment complex that had an awesome view of the lake and city. They had some silly rules, like you couldn´t be in the common room past 2, but it had a very laid back and hippie feel... and an awesome kitchen!

View from our hostel at 1004

Our second day, Ben from France and myself rented bikes to bike around this area, which was a total of 26K or something. It was really beautiful, but by the end we were pretty pooped.

View from bike ride

Ben got sleepy

There are dinosaurs in Bariloche!!

The next day, we went for a hike, and again, it was beautiful, took about 8 hours roundtrip.

My idea of hiking

On the hike

My last day in Bariloche we went to the chocolate museum, which alright, chocolate doesn´t excite me as much as say, wine, but it was still pretty cool. Bariloche is known for chocolate, which doesn´t make a lot of sense to me since the trees only grow along the equator and they have to import the coco from Brazil, but it good, and it was definitely a chocolate lovers dream!

chocolate

I am now in Mendoza planning my weekend here, which I am sure will be just as awesome as the rest!

Patagonian Adventures

Patagonia is SO amazing. Some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen (I need to come back to do Torres del Pine cause I have heard it is the best, next time).

In Ushuaia, we just hiked a lot. My last day there, we were all feeling pretty lazy, but at around 3pm we decided to hike up to the local, mini glacier. Once we got to the mountain, it was was straight up hill in snow up to our ankles. Our Captain, Lucas, made foot prints for us to step in so we didn´t sink, and we made it to the top and it was totally worth it. We couldnt see the glacier cause it was covered in snow, but the view was spectacular. We made coffee, haha, which was hilarious, took a picture and then started heading down. What took us 2 hours to hike up, took us ten minutes to go down because we sat on our butts and slid all the way down, it was definitely a high light!

Pic from top of glacier

From Ushuaia, Ms. Ines decided to join the 19 hour bus ride to El Calafate. El Calafate is known for the Perito Moreno glacier, which is cool, but thats about all you do there. We however, were lucky enough to make friends with the people from the hostel and spent our 2 days roaming around town and cooking fabulous dinners.

Me, Federico and Ines and our kick ass dinner.

To get to the glacier, you are supposed to take a bus, which is about $25, and then pay an entry fee of about $11, to go stand, and look at a glacier, take a few pics, and leave. Thank God for Israelis and their brilliant ideas, 5 of us decided to rent a car, get to the park before it opened so we didn't have to pay the entry fee and beat the crowds. It was only $15 a person. Bargain.

At the glacier

From El Calafate, I said my good-byes (or see you laters) and headed to El Chalten. El Chalten is a tiny, tiny town that was thrown together is 1985 to claim the land before Chile. It is known for the Fitz Roy range, which again, is stunning. I stayed at the coolest hostel where the guys loved their live concerts on DVD. When we watched Motley Crue, I thought of you Lindsay. Haha.

I was in El Chalten for 3 days, hiked the first day to Laguna de los Tres, which took about 8 hours round trip. At the top, there are glacier lagunas that are so clean and clear you can drink out of them. In fact, you could drink from all the water sources in the park, which was really cool, to stop and fill your water bottle from a creek. I haven´t gotten sick yet, so I think I am ok!

The bluest water!

Fitz Roy in the back at the Laguna



On the hike.

The next day, I decided I should try camping by myself. I rented a tent and headed out to Laguna Torre. At this point, my camera died, so I have no pictures, but I set up camp, hung out, cooked dinner and realized that camping alone is a little boring. It was nice, I got to read, write in my journal, enjoy the scenery, but it is light until 11pm here, so that is a lot of time to kill before bed time. Good experience, but I think next time I want a friend.

I left El Chalten on Thursday night and sat on a bus for 30 some hours to get to where I am now, El Bolson, hippie town Argentina. My ankles are still swollen from sitting so long and I am worried they may never get back to normal size. I have kankles!!! NOOOOO!!!!

Yesterday, we (me, Ben from France, Felix from Germany and Seth from Washington), went to outdoor markets, where I got a hippie shirt and necklace and a bag of cherries, and then we headed to the lake, which was awesome. We are going back today to spend the day walking around and swimming. My first swim since I left!

Tomorrow I will head north to Bariloche, where I will hopefully, have normal sized ankles, do my laundry, eat some chocolate (its known for chocolate), and do some more hiking.

I miss everyone, hope you are doing well! Love you!

Ushuaia

While in Buenos Aires, I decided to make an impulse buy and go to the southern most city in the world, Ushuaia, in Tierre del Fuego, Argentina. I was there for 3 days and it was absolutely worth it.

View from Town

On the boat ride

me on boat

on a little island