Hola Everyone,
This really is my last blog written in England .........
Before I returned to England I just loved every minute of my last month in Buenos Aires. It felt like coming home, happy and confident after all my travelling and the lovely encounters with so many people that I met along the way. I knew the city and how the milongas worked, I had friends round the corner, Madeline and Gary and Merry. Others I had met through different contacts, Edda, Stephen and Bernd and so it spun out into other groups and friends in my hostel.
I went to two fantastic concerts during this time - both utterly different and both quite wonderful. One was given by 2 guys amazingly talented guys who call themselves 'El Farabute' - James a young German on violin and Pablo a young Argentinian on piano. They played with deep passion, with humour and huge sensitivity, their instruments talking to each other in an extraordinary dialogue that was breathtaking to hear. Some of the pieces were accompanied by singers and some by a raunchy pair of tango dancers. Luckily for me the Placido Domingo concert was cancelled because of rain so I could go to both. This concert at La Plata holds a special place in my heart.
Placido Domingo and Soprano Virginia Tola gave an amazing concert attended by 120,000 people in the open air under the Obelisco. For me opera has to send shivers down my back and this happened time and time again on that evening. I did not know Virginia but when she finished one piece I just longed for her to sing another one - I never wanted it to end. Marta, Zeik and I felt we were the luckiest people in the world to be in Buenos that night - and we were. When Domingo wooed the crowd with encores of tango songs you could feel the palpable energy of the crowd loving him. I had a senora standing next to me singing her heart out, as were many others, but it was like a duet between her and Domingo, except he was unaware of this very special relationship.
It was all completely free ........ how wonderful was that!
Yes I did go to Uruguay. My two lovely Uruguayan friends I met in Bolivia had told me about 2 magical fishing villages so I decided to visit one and have some time out before I returned home.
So I took the boat from BA to Montevideo and then caught a bus up the coastline. It was a surprisingly long journey and I ended up being dropped in the dark at the top of a track to Cabo Polonio. 'Where is the village?' I ask. I had to buy a ticket and board a large open backed lorry along with about 6 others. We trundle off into the night, along sandy tracks through scrub and bush. I am amazed by the brilliance and multitude of stars in the firmament above my head - I have never seen such a display. We arrive at the beach and the lorry turns right and heads towards the village. I can see the gentle waves lapping up on the sand. What a fabulous sound. My spirits soar and I know this village is going to be just what I need. The lorry circles around 'the centre of the village' - a small piece of scrubby grass - and I realize that we have arrived. Most of the village is in darkness. I make my way to a little cafe that is lit by candles and ask where the nearest hotel/hostel is. One of the Argentinians volunteers agrees to show me where to go so I follow him in the dark. The hotel is small and friendly and I am taken to a little double room with an ensuite shower room - an unknown luxury in most hostels - I open the french windows onto a terrace and beyond that is the sea. I breathe a sigh of contentment, snuggle into bed and wait for the morning to explore - the generator light goes off!
Village is on a point with a lighthouse. This is the only place that is allowed mains electricity the rest of the houses are on generators. The houses themselves are completely random, from small wooden huts to the arab style white washed buildings. Lots of colour, flags and varying little terraces added on to each one. Some making up the main village and some at a distance nestling in the sanddunes. It is an utter delight with beautiful sandy beaches either side of the point leading to huge sand dunes in the distance. What heaven! There are 2 or 3 quirky little cafes and one restaurant that you enter through a huge painted mouth, taking off your shoes as you go, entering something resembling a bedouin tent. In 2 shops I have a lovely time buying several things and end up paying by Barclay Card which all feels very incongruous. Everyone is friendly. This is out of season so people have time to chat and pass the time of day with you. It is a National Park so there are no cars and no camping - and no electricity! There is a seal colony on an island off the point.
My last evening I just sit in a hammock watching the sun set and the colours changing as ripple upon ripple seeks the shoreline - peacefully and gently. The wet sand glistens and basks in a silver beauty. This is the natural world at its best
Interesting tango dancing, horseriding Polish guy and his partner are now in the room next door to me. He and I danced tango on the terrace rather badly but it was fun. The sound of the sea was our music!
The next day I leave. My alarm goes off but I turned over and go back to sleep. A near disaster, but I wake again with 10 minutes to spare until I have to meet the Lorry. No light as the generator isn't on yet. I fly round the room, dress at lightening speed, grab my bag and I am out the door. No lorry in sight but I realize that I have left all my bracelets and rings on a shelf in the room. I am not going without them so I leave my rucksack on the grass and run back to the hotel. Still no light so I scoop everything, hopefully, off the shelf and hightail it back to the pick up point to just see the lorry coming down the track - what a relief. I do my teeth and wash my face on the lorry!
Cabo Polonio has been so relaxing - swimming, walking, chatting, writing, collecting shells, watching, enjoying being in such magical surroundings - feeling restored by the natural world around me. 10 days of stomach problems have vanished and I am ready to go home.
My last 2 days in BA were hectic - fabulous last lesson with Fabian. His individual attention to my dance has fine tuned and freed me - softened my dance and made me listen. May I hold onto it. I went to Nuevo Chique on my last night and met up with Jas who I met during my first time in BA. We ended up in a street cafe chatting for hours - about her marriage and my adventures!
On the last morning Sandrine ( a french friend from the hostel) myself, and the Pink Elephant (my enormous suitcase) bundled into a taxi and headed for the airport. The Pink Elephant was extremely heavy. It took 2 people to carry it down the stairs from our dormitory and the taxi driver nearly had a hernia getting it in the boot. So I was amazed when I didn't have to pay any extra and greatly relieved when it was checked in and on the plane.
It was wonderful being met at Gatwick by Bess and Jake and Sean. We headed for a great pub for lunch plus Christian who is a long standing friend of Jake's. They then all took me to Liverpool Street Station by which time one of the wheels and the handle had fallen off the Pink Elephant. My worry was that I was going to have to change at Ipswich which involved crossing over a bridge to the other side and there was no way I could do this on my own. But as is the way someone came to my rescue.... 2 guards were seen heaving the Pink Elephant up the balustrade rail and down the otherside whereupon they put her in an invalid wheelchair and pusheded her along the platform to the waiting train and me! I was impressed by their initiative. A lovely friend from the village, Sue, was at the station to meet me and we managed to lever the PE into the kitchen. I unpacked her from there!!
There were endless reunions with family and friends,Tango friends, friends from the village and far flung places. I felt very loved when I left Buenos Aires and I now feel very loved coming home. Also nothing like returning to this amazing Sprintime that has been happening here. It has been truly wonderful and made my homecoming easy. People keep asking what I am going to do next and have I another big trip planned. The answer is that I don't know. Time will tell but at the moment I am happy being back in England and just seeing what comes up and where my life takes me in a more organic way. If there is another big trip I shall certainly write a blog again. I have loved it and have also taken great pleasure in revisiting it and remembering things that I had forgotten, little details that had slipped my mind, that luckily I had captured for ever in these words.
Thank you for coming with me and taking the time to read this blog - it made all the difference!
Muchos abrazos fuertes y besos
Sal xxx
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Monday, 21 March 2011
Back in BA for the last time 21st March 2011
Hola Everyone,
Sorry I have deserted you for the last week or two but it feels like I am on the homeward straight and life has just filled up. I did spend a few days in Rosario where Mabel was born. Lovely squares and islands. Very hot so took the boat across the river and sat on a beach for two of the days. Got bitten by a fish which was a novel experience - not a pirana! Chatted to two lovely women on the beach - all very friendly.
So now I am back in Buenos Aires and loving it. I feel very relaxed and have no desire to dash off and do everything. Especially as I did most of the tourist spots last time. It is lovely having Madeline and Gary in the next street. We hang out together and go to Milongas together and also do our own thing seperately. It works really well. I also have other friends through a contact of Penny who live in San Telmo too. The hostel is cavernous and wacky themed on La Boca the immigrant area of BA where life first began. Our dormitory has 5 people in it and there are 3 hard core. Me, Alex from Austria who is huge fun and Marta from Spain who may or may not be in love with the singer of a tango band called El Afronte. The other 2 beds had two lovely girls in them, one from Brasil, and 'the Little Sister' from Paris. When they were in the dorm too we just felt like this little family. But people come and go as is the way of hostels..........
I have been having some more spanish lessons - God I am hopeless - and have now given up in preference for tango lessons. I can't milonga till the early hours and then be coherent at a spanish lesson. Especially as it is a one to one. So have given up. I found Fabian, my tango teacher, through Merry, Gary and Madeline and took a chance on him. He is so exactly what I need at the moment. I am one lucky lass! He has huge integrity and focus.
I have already written this blog once and then stupidly managed to delete it - grrr!! This may be a slightly shorter version. I have enjoyed tangoing in BA this time - just more confident and relaxed and people ask me to dance - I am also not backward in cabaceoing guys which I think is great fun. I have spent time with Maite and her family which is always a delight. Ruth of Mango fame met her in BA and then I met her at the Mango and she invited me to stay with her. The whole family is a delight. I have also been to a football match in the Boca Stadium. Never been to a football match before so this seemed as good an opportunity as any. I have never heard so many insults thrown at the opposing team - especially when they won! They also have a live group playing throughout the match with accompanying singing by the fans. It wasn't a very spectacular match so I am still not a great fan of football!
Well Buenos Aires you have meant a lot of things to me ...........
Tango, fantastic lessons with Fabian, art galleries, wall paintings and graffitti, broken pavements, demonstrations, heat, the poor and the rubbish, colectivos and the subte, parks, shopping, the guys who sell the bracelets and jewellry on the streets, dogs and dog crap, street music, 9 de julio 14 track avenida and the obelisk, milongas and early mornings, delicious dances and not so delicious dances, wonderful people along the way, cafes, restaurants, squares, the hostel and my friends and so much more ...................
I intend to go to Uruguay for a few days next week as a half way house home. To catch up on some writing and think about my last few months and then it will be home to you all landing on 2nd April.
Thank you all for reading my blog - it has been great writing it for you.
Hasta luego con muchissimos abrazos fuerte y besos
Sal x
Sorry I have deserted you for the last week or two but it feels like I am on the homeward straight and life has just filled up. I did spend a few days in Rosario where Mabel was born. Lovely squares and islands. Very hot so took the boat across the river and sat on a beach for two of the days. Got bitten by a fish which was a novel experience - not a pirana! Chatted to two lovely women on the beach - all very friendly.
So now I am back in Buenos Aires and loving it. I feel very relaxed and have no desire to dash off and do everything. Especially as I did most of the tourist spots last time. It is lovely having Madeline and Gary in the next street. We hang out together and go to Milongas together and also do our own thing seperately. It works really well. I also have other friends through a contact of Penny who live in San Telmo too. The hostel is cavernous and wacky themed on La Boca the immigrant area of BA where life first began. Our dormitory has 5 people in it and there are 3 hard core. Me, Alex from Austria who is huge fun and Marta from Spain who may or may not be in love with the singer of a tango band called El Afronte. The other 2 beds had two lovely girls in them, one from Brasil, and 'the Little Sister' from Paris. When they were in the dorm too we just felt like this little family. But people come and go as is the way of hostels..........
I have been having some more spanish lessons - God I am hopeless - and have now given up in preference for tango lessons. I can't milonga till the early hours and then be coherent at a spanish lesson. Especially as it is a one to one. So have given up. I found Fabian, my tango teacher, through Merry, Gary and Madeline and took a chance on him. He is so exactly what I need at the moment. I am one lucky lass! He has huge integrity and focus.
I have already written this blog once and then stupidly managed to delete it - grrr!! This may be a slightly shorter version. I have enjoyed tangoing in BA this time - just more confident and relaxed and people ask me to dance - I am also not backward in cabaceoing guys which I think is great fun. I have spent time with Maite and her family which is always a delight. Ruth of Mango fame met her in BA and then I met her at the Mango and she invited me to stay with her. The whole family is a delight. I have also been to a football match in the Boca Stadium. Never been to a football match before so this seemed as good an opportunity as any. I have never heard so many insults thrown at the opposing team - especially when they won! They also have a live group playing throughout the match with accompanying singing by the fans. It wasn't a very spectacular match so I am still not a great fan of football!
Well Buenos Aires you have meant a lot of things to me ...........
Tango, fantastic lessons with Fabian, art galleries, wall paintings and graffitti, broken pavements, demonstrations, heat, the poor and the rubbish, colectivos and the subte, parks, shopping, the guys who sell the bracelets and jewellry on the streets, dogs and dog crap, street music, 9 de julio 14 track avenida and the obelisk, milongas and early mornings, delicious dances and not so delicious dances, wonderful people along the way, cafes, restaurants, squares, the hostel and my friends and so much more ...................
I intend to go to Uruguay for a few days next week as a half way house home. To catch up on some writing and think about my last few months and then it will be home to you all landing on 2nd April.
Thank you all for reading my blog - it has been great writing it for you.
Hasta luego con muchissimos abrazos fuerte y besos
Sal x
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Tucuman and earthquakes! 23rd February 2011
Hi Everyone,
I have come here to hole up for a few days with Karina and Eduardo before I head for Rosario and Buenas Aires. The weather has been grey and overcast with occasional torrential rain - not what I expected in Argentina but apparently I have stayed in the north while the rainy season is in progress. Hey ho you can´t get it right all of the time. K and E took me by bus to the top of the Cerro which is a rain forest hill just outside the town. Precipitous drive with hair pin bends and the ground dropping away beside the road. Just the sort of drive I hate! However spectacular views to be seen if we weren´t in deep drizzle. At the top is an enormous statue of Jesus with hankerchiefs tied to the surrounding fence plus socks, pictures, bottles and anything else you can think of. We retreated from the rain to find empenadas (bit like danish pastries) and a warm drink. We ended up in a strange barn of a place with drunken men playing snooker! The empenadas were delicious!
No we didn´t walk home as planned as visibility stopped play.
The other evening we were all heading for bed at about 4 a.m. I was in the bathroom when suddenly the floor started moving beneath my feet and walls shook and in the end the whole building felt as if it was swaying. "What the fuck is going on?" was my response. Karina was so frightening she couldn´t move and Eduardo was trying to calm her down. It turned out we had experienced a minor earthquake - 6 on the Richter scale. It was just OK because it stopped but there was a point while it was happening that I thought how long can this building stand up to this treatment - bearing in mind that we live on the 8th floor. If it happens again I am certainly heading for the exit!
It´s a working city Tucuman and has few frills - the galleries I want to visit seem to always be shut when I turn up. Lots of shopping and browsing and generally hanging out together and visiting friends. We spend lovely evenings together chatting, eating and drinking on their balcony watching the city lights and listening to the mad guy who lives across the road to them. Definitely delusional and will rant and rage from his house or up and down the street. Sad but also sometimes weirdly funny.
I went to mass the other day with E and K. A very beautiful church that was packed with people even standing with children in the isles - a dog slipped in too. Before the service started I saw a bit of cuddling and kissing between couples. People come to mass in shorts and T shirts some in suits and some in jeans - there is no dress code. I cannot say what the motivation is for people to attend these services but there was a great feeling on community and there was also fantastic singing from a small group of people high up above the organ loft. Their singing lifted my spirits - they were inspirational. I had gone with a completely open mind - in fact I nearly didn´t go but curiosity got the better of me. I came away feeling moved in someway - mainly by the music. I feel I have no need to go to church but recognize the power of the senses.
I have done some drawings of Eduardo - it feels good to have charcoal in my hands again.
Happy in Tucuman doing not very much!
Big hugs and lots of love to you all
Sal xxxxxxxx
I have come here to hole up for a few days with Karina and Eduardo before I head for Rosario and Buenas Aires. The weather has been grey and overcast with occasional torrential rain - not what I expected in Argentina but apparently I have stayed in the north while the rainy season is in progress. Hey ho you can´t get it right all of the time. K and E took me by bus to the top of the Cerro which is a rain forest hill just outside the town. Precipitous drive with hair pin bends and the ground dropping away beside the road. Just the sort of drive I hate! However spectacular views to be seen if we weren´t in deep drizzle. At the top is an enormous statue of Jesus with hankerchiefs tied to the surrounding fence plus socks, pictures, bottles and anything else you can think of. We retreated from the rain to find empenadas (bit like danish pastries) and a warm drink. We ended up in a strange barn of a place with drunken men playing snooker! The empenadas were delicious!
No we didn´t walk home as planned as visibility stopped play.
The other evening we were all heading for bed at about 4 a.m. I was in the bathroom when suddenly the floor started moving beneath my feet and walls shook and in the end the whole building felt as if it was swaying. "What the fuck is going on?" was my response. Karina was so frightening she couldn´t move and Eduardo was trying to calm her down. It turned out we had experienced a minor earthquake - 6 on the Richter scale. It was just OK because it stopped but there was a point while it was happening that I thought how long can this building stand up to this treatment - bearing in mind that we live on the 8th floor. If it happens again I am certainly heading for the exit!
It´s a working city Tucuman and has few frills - the galleries I want to visit seem to always be shut when I turn up. Lots of shopping and browsing and generally hanging out together and visiting friends. We spend lovely evenings together chatting, eating and drinking on their balcony watching the city lights and listening to the mad guy who lives across the road to them. Definitely delusional and will rant and rage from his house or up and down the street. Sad but also sometimes weirdly funny.
I went to mass the other day with E and K. A very beautiful church that was packed with people even standing with children in the isles - a dog slipped in too. Before the service started I saw a bit of cuddling and kissing between couples. People come to mass in shorts and T shirts some in suits and some in jeans - there is no dress code. I cannot say what the motivation is for people to attend these services but there was a great feeling on community and there was also fantastic singing from a small group of people high up above the organ loft. Their singing lifted my spirits - they were inspirational. I had gone with a completely open mind - in fact I nearly didn´t go but curiosity got the better of me. I came away feeling moved in someway - mainly by the music. I feel I have no need to go to church but recognize the power of the senses.
I have done some drawings of Eduardo - it feels good to have charcoal in my hands again.
Happy in Tucuman doing not very much!
Big hugs and lots of love to you all
Sal xxxxxxxx
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Bolivia and passports 17th February 2011
Hi Everyone,
Because I had overstayed my welcome in Argentina I had to leave the country and re-enter in order to have another 3 months trouble free time here. Lots of friends had said that Bolivia was amazing with spectacular scenery. Salta is relatively close to the border so this seemed an obvious choice. The coach dropped me at the border town of Chiaca at 6.30 in the morning so I sleepily found a cafe that served my naraja sprimida and media lunas and gradually came too. No idea what I was doing but finally found my way to the border guards on the Argentinian side. Long queue waiting for customs to open at 8.00. As always you end up chatting in these queues and met 2 charming easy going guys from Chile who became my guardian angels. They helped interpret when I lost my way with the officials, helped me find the right coach company for the next leg of the journey and and checked when the bus left. I had the pleasure of giving the Argentinian government $300 for the pleasure of having mucked up on my visa. That´s about 60 pounds but at least it is done and I am now legal again. While we were waiting in the Entry to Bolivia office I was just reading the notices and was quite shocked to see one that basically said that children were not objects for sale. Trafficking across the border is common and later in a conversation with a lass in a tour company office we were talking about contraception and she said that people know about it but they just dont use it so they have 4 options. Keep the child, have it put up for adoption, sell it or chuck it on the rubbish heap for the dogs! I was shocked.
So I am now in Bolivia and have about half a day till my bus leaves. When I am finally on the coach I realize I am in for an interesting ride. It rattles and shakes like a real sharabang and hurtles along the dirt roads at high speed. As the night draws on it is also freezing cold. I fall into conversation with a lovely couple from Uruguay and we commiserate together. By now it is also raining. We arrive in Ayuni at 1.30 in the morning in the pouring rain to find a lot of the town is flooded. Luckily Eliana spotted a hostel so we just get out of the coach and ran for it. We don´t even undress but just fall into bed exhausted. This hostel did have hot showers but the electricity was very dodgy and apart from our bedroom the rest of the place seemed to be a permanent wind tunnel. This was our introduction to freezing cold Bolivia. Next morning Matias moves us to a slightly ungraded hostel at least with an ensuite bathroom.
Bolivia is very colourful. The women wear extraordinary bowler hats and and shawls of red, turquoise, pink, yellow. Skirts are voluminous with warm leggins underneath. However the people on first meeting are far less outgoing and generally seem timid and cautious about making contact. We realized quite quickly that having booked our 3 day excursion that we were going to need some warm clothes. So we bought local woolly hats, warm woolly leggins to go under our jeans, another alpaca jersey for me and a pair of gloves. I no longer cared if I looked like a Michelin man/woman.
Our excursion was in a 4 by 4 with 2 lasses from the Cech Republic, one delicious wild child from Australia, myself and the 2 Uruaguans. What Bolivia does so wonderfully is its natural beauty. The Salt plains were magical. Because there had been quite a lot of rain recently they were all under water. But you then had amazing reflections of snow capped mountains and volcanoes edging the area. People just played with crazy photographs of jumping groups, some having meals with picnic tables and so on .......... it reminded me of Lowry´s paintings. The lagoons we visited were all colours from green to red to turquoise. The red one also had flocks of flamingos feeding on it. We visited geisers that stank of bad eggs and drove through miles of desert. Rocks had landed at random from volcanic explosions making thousands of potential Japanese gardens. Most of the time we were driving off any known tracks, no signs just local knowledge. Our lunch time spot on one day allowed us to try a (very) hot water spring - amazing. The lagoon near by was yellow, green and pale red pastel colours. So strange but hauntingly beautiful. Bolivia also had wonderful areas of rocky outcrops that have been formed into extraordinary shapes by erosion. The only problem I had with this it that everyone wants to climb all over them and I just wanted to photograph rocks without bodies - hey ho the dilemma of successful tourism!
Two strange hostels - in one we froze to death - and the second one we only had 2 hours of light in the evening! I think I would describe Bolivia as much more primitive than Argentina. But I was still glad I went. Not least for meeting some lovely people - the wild child from Australia and Matias and Eliana from Uruguay. We also kept bumping into another excusion with 3 Brits in it who were great fun apart from poor things having ghastly altidude sickness. We were at just under 5,000 feet a lot of the time. Our carload seemed to escape any real effect except most of us had colds.
We all then went our seperate ways. Matias, Eliana and I had a farewell meal together. I feel we shall stay in touch. I don´t feel that about everyone I meet but these two were great. She´s a photographer and he´s an artist and they are very in love!!!
The coach was as bad returning to the border. The only improvement was that it didn´t rain. Someone told me today that 10 years ago most of the bus drivers in Bolivia drank as they drove and that there was a national strike when the government banned drink driving. There were moments on this road were I just shut my eyes as the drop was so precipitous but I am here to tell the tale.
I palled up with two Japanese lads who, like me going into Bolivia hadn´t a clue and spoke no Spanish at all. So my turn to be an angel and help them. Our bus back to Salta saw us changing at least 3 times. One was just on a stretch of road with buses lined up along the side and people sitting in groups all over the road, playing cards and having picnics. Go and Masa (2 Japanese) came back to my lovely hostel and were a huge success. Masa was so funny and had us all in stitches. One thing about travelling you do seem to meet the world without going everywhere.
Tomorrow I go to Tucuman, then on to Rosario where Mabel comes from (for those tango friends) and ending back in Buenos Aires to complete the circle around Argentina. If I can I shall go to Uruguay for a few days on a beach to completely veg out but who knows nothing is ever set in stone.
Loads of love as ever
Sal xxx
Because I had overstayed my welcome in Argentina I had to leave the country and re-enter in order to have another 3 months trouble free time here. Lots of friends had said that Bolivia was amazing with spectacular scenery. Salta is relatively close to the border so this seemed an obvious choice. The coach dropped me at the border town of Chiaca at 6.30 in the morning so I sleepily found a cafe that served my naraja sprimida and media lunas and gradually came too. No idea what I was doing but finally found my way to the border guards on the Argentinian side. Long queue waiting for customs to open at 8.00. As always you end up chatting in these queues and met 2 charming easy going guys from Chile who became my guardian angels. They helped interpret when I lost my way with the officials, helped me find the right coach company for the next leg of the journey and and checked when the bus left. I had the pleasure of giving the Argentinian government $300 for the pleasure of having mucked up on my visa. That´s about 60 pounds but at least it is done and I am now legal again. While we were waiting in the Entry to Bolivia office I was just reading the notices and was quite shocked to see one that basically said that children were not objects for sale. Trafficking across the border is common and later in a conversation with a lass in a tour company office we were talking about contraception and she said that people know about it but they just dont use it so they have 4 options. Keep the child, have it put up for adoption, sell it or chuck it on the rubbish heap for the dogs! I was shocked.
So I am now in Bolivia and have about half a day till my bus leaves. When I am finally on the coach I realize I am in for an interesting ride. It rattles and shakes like a real sharabang and hurtles along the dirt roads at high speed. As the night draws on it is also freezing cold. I fall into conversation with a lovely couple from Uruguay and we commiserate together. By now it is also raining. We arrive in Ayuni at 1.30 in the morning in the pouring rain to find a lot of the town is flooded. Luckily Eliana spotted a hostel so we just get out of the coach and ran for it. We don´t even undress but just fall into bed exhausted. This hostel did have hot showers but the electricity was very dodgy and apart from our bedroom the rest of the place seemed to be a permanent wind tunnel. This was our introduction to freezing cold Bolivia. Next morning Matias moves us to a slightly ungraded hostel at least with an ensuite bathroom.
Bolivia is very colourful. The women wear extraordinary bowler hats and and shawls of red, turquoise, pink, yellow. Skirts are voluminous with warm leggins underneath. However the people on first meeting are far less outgoing and generally seem timid and cautious about making contact. We realized quite quickly that having booked our 3 day excursion that we were going to need some warm clothes. So we bought local woolly hats, warm woolly leggins to go under our jeans, another alpaca jersey for me and a pair of gloves. I no longer cared if I looked like a Michelin man/woman.
Our excursion was in a 4 by 4 with 2 lasses from the Cech Republic, one delicious wild child from Australia, myself and the 2 Uruaguans. What Bolivia does so wonderfully is its natural beauty. The Salt plains were magical. Because there had been quite a lot of rain recently they were all under water. But you then had amazing reflections of snow capped mountains and volcanoes edging the area. People just played with crazy photographs of jumping groups, some having meals with picnic tables and so on .......... it reminded me of Lowry´s paintings. The lagoons we visited were all colours from green to red to turquoise. The red one also had flocks of flamingos feeding on it. We visited geisers that stank of bad eggs and drove through miles of desert. Rocks had landed at random from volcanic explosions making thousands of potential Japanese gardens. Most of the time we were driving off any known tracks, no signs just local knowledge. Our lunch time spot on one day allowed us to try a (very) hot water spring - amazing. The lagoon near by was yellow, green and pale red pastel colours. So strange but hauntingly beautiful. Bolivia also had wonderful areas of rocky outcrops that have been formed into extraordinary shapes by erosion. The only problem I had with this it that everyone wants to climb all over them and I just wanted to photograph rocks without bodies - hey ho the dilemma of successful tourism!
Two strange hostels - in one we froze to death - and the second one we only had 2 hours of light in the evening! I think I would describe Bolivia as much more primitive than Argentina. But I was still glad I went. Not least for meeting some lovely people - the wild child from Australia and Matias and Eliana from Uruguay. We also kept bumping into another excusion with 3 Brits in it who were great fun apart from poor things having ghastly altidude sickness. We were at just under 5,000 feet a lot of the time. Our carload seemed to escape any real effect except most of us had colds.
We all then went our seperate ways. Matias, Eliana and I had a farewell meal together. I feel we shall stay in touch. I don´t feel that about everyone I meet but these two were great. She´s a photographer and he´s an artist and they are very in love!!!
The coach was as bad returning to the border. The only improvement was that it didn´t rain. Someone told me today that 10 years ago most of the bus drivers in Bolivia drank as they drove and that there was a national strike when the government banned drink driving. There were moments on this road were I just shut my eyes as the drop was so precipitous but I am here to tell the tale.
I palled up with two Japanese lads who, like me going into Bolivia hadn´t a clue and spoke no Spanish at all. So my turn to be an angel and help them. Our bus back to Salta saw us changing at least 3 times. One was just on a stretch of road with buses lined up along the side and people sitting in groups all over the road, playing cards and having picnics. Go and Masa (2 Japanese) came back to my lovely hostel and were a huge success. Masa was so funny and had us all in stitches. One thing about travelling you do seem to meet the world without going everywhere.
Tomorrow I go to Tucuman, then on to Rosario where Mabel comes from (for those tango friends) and ending back in Buenos Aires to complete the circle around Argentina. If I can I shall go to Uruguay for a few days on a beach to completely veg out but who knows nothing is ever set in stone.
Loads of love as ever
Sal xxx
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Horses sometimes don´t stand up! 8th February 2011
Hi Everyone,
Just the latest incident in my life .....................
I went for a Cabalgata with some friends on Sunday. We were all kitted out with hats and delegated our respective horses. This was where we had galloped home my moonlight on the previous occasion. We set off in a sedentary fashion - most of the gang couldn´t ride. Milagro, our gaucho just kept a eye on us all. After a while the track widened out and I asked if I could go on ahead a bit faster. Fine. We were cantering along, if a bit reluctantly on behalf of my steed, when she suddenly stumbled and fell tipping me off over her right shoulder. I was so winded that I couldn´t breethe for what seemed like ages. It hurt - especially my right shoulder which had taken the brunt of the fall. I know have an arm which is black and blue. After a relatively short while I decided to remount and continue the ride with the others but at a walking pace! Milagro was very attentive and just kept me going till the end. I was OK - just sore. The gauchos on returning to the Estancia decided that I should go to hospital to be checked over, which I had also been thinking would be a good move. The medical kit came out and I was cleaned up and iodined. Gonzalo came to the hospital with me and kept on miraculously meeting friends who were doctors which seemed to speed up the process. He also said it was the first time that he´d had to put someone´s earrings in and out! Sweet guy of probably 25! Anyway the long and the short of it was that after being X-rayed they decided that I hadn´t broken anything which is a great relief. On returning to the hostel Pablo who is on the staff cut some Aloe Vera out of the garden and gently rubbed this on to speed up the healing process. This happened several times and the following day. The hospital had given me an injection to numb the pain and help me sleep - which it did. Luckily I had taken my arnica so I have been dosing myself with that on a regular basis too. I have also had 2 massages from a friend of the family so I have tried to attack the pain and bruising from lots of angles -and it is working. I hope that it´s going to like the 8 hour bus trip to Bolivia tonight! It is now 3 days since it happened and I am in good spirits if still a bit sore - yes I know it will take time to heal and I have to be patient hey ho!
Yes I am going to Bolivia to get my passport stamped before Sunday so shall be out of Argentina for a short while. Unless I love it and decide to stay longer. I´ll let you know.
For all of those of you who have sent me messages via Facebook I am sorry that I haven´t replied but I am having difficulty with my password so at the moment prior to Bolivia I have given up but will try again later. It has been lovely that so many of you have written and kept in touch. Email is still good.
Big hug and fondest love to you all
Sal xxxxxxxx
Just the latest incident in my life .....................
I went for a Cabalgata with some friends on Sunday. We were all kitted out with hats and delegated our respective horses. This was where we had galloped home my moonlight on the previous occasion. We set off in a sedentary fashion - most of the gang couldn´t ride. Milagro, our gaucho just kept a eye on us all. After a while the track widened out and I asked if I could go on ahead a bit faster. Fine. We were cantering along, if a bit reluctantly on behalf of my steed, when she suddenly stumbled and fell tipping me off over her right shoulder. I was so winded that I couldn´t breethe for what seemed like ages. It hurt - especially my right shoulder which had taken the brunt of the fall. I know have an arm which is black and blue. After a relatively short while I decided to remount and continue the ride with the others but at a walking pace! Milagro was very attentive and just kept me going till the end. I was OK - just sore. The gauchos on returning to the Estancia decided that I should go to hospital to be checked over, which I had also been thinking would be a good move. The medical kit came out and I was cleaned up and iodined. Gonzalo came to the hospital with me and kept on miraculously meeting friends who were doctors which seemed to speed up the process. He also said it was the first time that he´d had to put someone´s earrings in and out! Sweet guy of probably 25! Anyway the long and the short of it was that after being X-rayed they decided that I hadn´t broken anything which is a great relief. On returning to the hostel Pablo who is on the staff cut some Aloe Vera out of the garden and gently rubbed this on to speed up the healing process. This happened several times and the following day. The hospital had given me an injection to numb the pain and help me sleep - which it did. Luckily I had taken my arnica so I have been dosing myself with that on a regular basis too. I have also had 2 massages from a friend of the family so I have tried to attack the pain and bruising from lots of angles -and it is working. I hope that it´s going to like the 8 hour bus trip to Bolivia tonight! It is now 3 days since it happened and I am in good spirits if still a bit sore - yes I know it will take time to heal and I have to be patient hey ho!
Yes I am going to Bolivia to get my passport stamped before Sunday so shall be out of Argentina for a short while. Unless I love it and decide to stay longer. I´ll let you know.
For all of those of you who have sent me messages via Facebook I am sorry that I haven´t replied but I am having difficulty with my password so at the moment prior to Bolivia I have given up but will try again later. It has been lovely that so many of you have written and kept in touch. Email is still good.
Big hug and fondest love to you all
Sal xxxxxxxx
Friday, 4 February 2011
En Route to Iguazu 4th February 2011
Hi Everyone,
After leaving Salta I visited a town called Resistencia which seems the most unlikely place to find hundreds of scuptures. They have a biennial competition where sculptors have 2 weeks to complete a piece of work and then a selection of the best are posted around the town. Sowhere ever you walk you are bound to come across these works of art. The good, the bad and the ugly - they were all there. It did inspire me to think its an area I´d like to work more in - I thought of you, Kate. I also thought it was such a brilliant idea placing them around the streets and made it all very accesible to everyone. Maybe we could start a new fashion in England?
I had a hilarious evening in the park on the Sunday night joining the crowd watching various bands perform from a stage. I was squeezed into a tiny space with a VERY large enthusiastic señora who clapped and danced to everything, so all I could do was join in. Little children were on their dads shoulders swaying around in time to the music.....and a new phenomena, people were handing up their mobile phones onto the stage with either photos or loving messages to their heartthrobs; lost children were also taken to the front of the stage hoping that their parents would notice them. One child was twice called out over the load speakers - I hope that her parents hadn´t done a runner! There were also some stoney faced women who were not going to enjoy anything even if they tried. So all the world and his wife were out that night.
My hotel in Resistencia definitely got the thumbs down, grubby and my loo got blocked on the first day and nobody did anything about it for 2 days - shan´t be going there again!
Heading up towards Iguazu it definitely felt tropical and very humid. So I was constantly dripping with sweat every moment of the day. At Posadas the next stop I visited the Jesuit Mission - ruins from a time passed. The Jesuits were sent to Missiones to convert the Guarani one of the indigenous people in Argentina. The Guarani were living in the jungle and under constant threat from slave traders and the portuguese, so in some ways this option offered them security, education and the learning of numerous trades - the bitter pill was they had to convert to Christianity and many of their life styles had to change - many of their own rituals. However on the whole it was considered a Utopian dream that worked for a long while. Jealousy over the success of these Missions - there were about 30 of them in Argentina and Paraguay - meant that the priests were recalled to Spain and the Guarani were left open to attack from outsiders. The ruins are what is left of this chapter in history - very evocative of this time. I was left with an amazing sense of organization and purpose in these communities.
Iguazu was fabulous. A lovely hostel called Peter Pan with the rooms built around courtyard and in the middle was a good sized swimming pool. One night at 4 a.m. I was so hot I couldn´t sleep so the obvious solution was a quick dip - or not so quick. The usual ecclectic mix of youngsters - their m usual friendly selves.
The Iguazu Falls were phenominal. Nothing quite prepared me for the size, the volume and the noise of the water falling. Also how many falls there were. I was constantly soaked by spray and what was nice was that although there were a lot of people I never felt overwhelmed by crowds. There is one particular fall called the Devil´s Throat and I was the only one at that view point. To get to it you had to cross from island to island, and there were many, by metal walk ways with the water rushing underneath. I logically knew it was safe but there were moments where I just had to keep going. It was a bit like crossing a large delta. Lovely butterflies and myself and 2 German lads were lucky enough to see 3 Toucans and a crocodile and her baby. Flowers were also stunning but have no idea what they were.
I wasn´t going to but in the end I did, take the boat trip almost under the waterfalls. The Gauchos of the Rivers drive these large rubber speed boats packed with the likes of me and I am sure lay bets with each other as to how wet they can make us. It was huge fun and I was completely drenched. I have decided I would now like to have a go at rafting, so don´t hold your breath! I teamed up with a lovely Argentinian couple and we walked the paths together and did the boat trip too. He makes fabric for tango shoes and other sorts in Buenos Aires!
On the way back to Salta our bus was stopped for a standard police check. This time they wanted to see our passports. Unfortunately I have overstayed my 3 months visa and should have gone out of the country and re-entered to validate the next 3 months. I have to admit I just hadn´t bothered and thought I would go to Uruguay from BA when I got back there. Anyway no such luck. Very officious and unsmiling police said yes there was a problem. So I was taken off the bus and shown into their office and questioned about my reasons for being here, where had I been etc. etc. Eventually they decided that they would give me a temporary visa for 10 days on condition that I left the country before the end of that time. The guy who painfully slowly typed out my visa was a real honey and we almost had a bit of joke together - that was a relief. What I was almost more worried about though was that the time it was all taking. In the end it was about three quarters of an hour that I held up the bus. I was very proud of myself that I was not phased and panicked by it all. My friends on the bus were very pleased to see me back on board, in one piece and with my newly adjust passport. So it looks like I may be going to Bolivia from Salta. I shall keep you posted.
Big hug and much love to you all
Sal xxx
After leaving Salta I visited a town called Resistencia which seems the most unlikely place to find hundreds of scuptures. They have a biennial competition where sculptors have 2 weeks to complete a piece of work and then a selection of the best are posted around the town. Sowhere ever you walk you are bound to come across these works of art. The good, the bad and the ugly - they were all there. It did inspire me to think its an area I´d like to work more in - I thought of you, Kate. I also thought it was such a brilliant idea placing them around the streets and made it all very accesible to everyone. Maybe we could start a new fashion in England?
I had a hilarious evening in the park on the Sunday night joining the crowd watching various bands perform from a stage. I was squeezed into a tiny space with a VERY large enthusiastic señora who clapped and danced to everything, so all I could do was join in. Little children were on their dads shoulders swaying around in time to the music.....and a new phenomena, people were handing up their mobile phones onto the stage with either photos or loving messages to their heartthrobs; lost children were also taken to the front of the stage hoping that their parents would notice them. One child was twice called out over the load speakers - I hope that her parents hadn´t done a runner! There were also some stoney faced women who were not going to enjoy anything even if they tried. So all the world and his wife were out that night.
My hotel in Resistencia definitely got the thumbs down, grubby and my loo got blocked on the first day and nobody did anything about it for 2 days - shan´t be going there again!
Heading up towards Iguazu it definitely felt tropical and very humid. So I was constantly dripping with sweat every moment of the day. At Posadas the next stop I visited the Jesuit Mission - ruins from a time passed. The Jesuits were sent to Missiones to convert the Guarani one of the indigenous people in Argentina. The Guarani were living in the jungle and under constant threat from slave traders and the portuguese, so in some ways this option offered them security, education and the learning of numerous trades - the bitter pill was they had to convert to Christianity and many of their life styles had to change - many of their own rituals. However on the whole it was considered a Utopian dream that worked for a long while. Jealousy over the success of these Missions - there were about 30 of them in Argentina and Paraguay - meant that the priests were recalled to Spain and the Guarani were left open to attack from outsiders. The ruins are what is left of this chapter in history - very evocative of this time. I was left with an amazing sense of organization and purpose in these communities.
Iguazu was fabulous. A lovely hostel called Peter Pan with the rooms built around courtyard and in the middle was a good sized swimming pool. One night at 4 a.m. I was so hot I couldn´t sleep so the obvious solution was a quick dip - or not so quick. The usual ecclectic mix of youngsters - their m usual friendly selves.
The Iguazu Falls were phenominal. Nothing quite prepared me for the size, the volume and the noise of the water falling. Also how many falls there were. I was constantly soaked by spray and what was nice was that although there were a lot of people I never felt overwhelmed by crowds. There is one particular fall called the Devil´s Throat and I was the only one at that view point. To get to it you had to cross from island to island, and there were many, by metal walk ways with the water rushing underneath. I logically knew it was safe but there were moments where I just had to keep going. It was a bit like crossing a large delta. Lovely butterflies and myself and 2 German lads were lucky enough to see 3 Toucans and a crocodile and her baby. Flowers were also stunning but have no idea what they were.
I wasn´t going to but in the end I did, take the boat trip almost under the waterfalls. The Gauchos of the Rivers drive these large rubber speed boats packed with the likes of me and I am sure lay bets with each other as to how wet they can make us. It was huge fun and I was completely drenched. I have decided I would now like to have a go at rafting, so don´t hold your breath! I teamed up with a lovely Argentinian couple and we walked the paths together and did the boat trip too. He makes fabric for tango shoes and other sorts in Buenos Aires!
On the way back to Salta our bus was stopped for a standard police check. This time they wanted to see our passports. Unfortunately I have overstayed my 3 months visa and should have gone out of the country and re-entered to validate the next 3 months. I have to admit I just hadn´t bothered and thought I would go to Uruguay from BA when I got back there. Anyway no such luck. Very officious and unsmiling police said yes there was a problem. So I was taken off the bus and shown into their office and questioned about my reasons for being here, where had I been etc. etc. Eventually they decided that they would give me a temporary visa for 10 days on condition that I left the country before the end of that time. The guy who painfully slowly typed out my visa was a real honey and we almost had a bit of joke together - that was a relief. What I was almost more worried about though was that the time it was all taking. In the end it was about three quarters of an hour that I held up the bus. I was very proud of myself that I was not phased and panicked by it all. My friends on the bus were very pleased to see me back on board, in one piece and with my newly adjust passport. So it looks like I may be going to Bolivia from Salta. I shall keep you posted.
Big hug and much love to you all
Sal xxx
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Cafajate Tuesday 25th January 2011
Hi Everyone,
I decided to take off for Cafajate for a few days - it is another fascinating town south of Salta. I stayed in a Hostel called Rusty K which is run by friends of the family that own this lovely hostel in Salta. Coincidentally a German lass from this hostel was on the same bus so we joined up with each other for a meal on the main square every evening which was always something to look forward to after our various expeditions.
My first day saw me climbing the hill overlooking Las Ruinas des Quilmes. A vast expanse of excavations that were once an ancient indiginous city - only about 15% has been so far uncovered. The Quilmes survived the Incas but were defeated by the incoming Spanish who deported 5000 people to Buenos Aires. They were forced to walk the distance and many died on the way. As I climbed higher the view became more and more spectacular and I became held by the silence of the mountains around me. It reminded me of Delphi in Greece which has an amazing sense of timelessness and spirituality.
I had then asked the little minibus to drop me at Amaiche del Valle where there is a very unusual museum/gallery/sculpture park to Pachamama. She is Mother Earth and has been central to all the indiginous people´s beliefs since time began. The museum is made up of sculptures, gates, gardens, pools and wonderful walls with designs in and on them. Everything is made out of different stones and shapes and shades of grey, white, black and ranges of natural colours. I wandered around amazed and bemused by it all. Lots of symbols for the elements, shamans and Pachamama. Quite extraordinary and wonderful until I fell into a conversation with a French artist who told me that Hector Cruz who was behind the project is a man who is disliked by everyone. He befriended an artist who did all the plans and completed the work, paying him only in wine. The artist died of alcohol poisoning with no acknowledgement of his enormous contribution to the project. Hector also bought the museum just outside the Quilmes Ruins sold all the contents to a museum in Buenos Aires and then proceeded to build a prestigious hotel on the same spot to make himself some money. This is all so not in spirit of the indiginous people and Pachamama - he is a very unpopular man but he is probably the sort of man that doesn´t give a damn anyway.
The following day I went on a trek into the foothills with a small group and a wonderful guide. We went to find the waterfalls. When we set off I had no idea that this walk would also included some rock climbing. Not huge amounts but enough to be glad that our guide Franco knew exactly what he was doing. His knowledge of every crevice, tree, shrub and rock was phenomenal. He has lived all his life in these mountains and knows them like the back of his hand. We all felt very safe as he asked us to scale areas of rock that at first glance seemed impossible. He took us to places that were sacred and special to him and was so generous in his willingness to share them with us. We drank from water filtered down through a huge rocks, we passed deserted houses where the young no longer wanted to live on the mountains so families had moved into the towns and we swam in freezing cold water in the pools below the waterfalls.
Cactus accompanied us all the way. We all felt that we were in the hands of a caring gentle man whose soul was at peace and in harmony with these surroundings. For me it was very special.
The other thing that I loved about Cafajate was the main square and how it came to life at night... specially on Friday night. Bands played, shifting from one music to another; youngsters careered around on hired bikes; people hired tridems and rode sedately; children had their faces painted; dancers (Dirty Dancing type) lured people from the crowd (me) to dance with them also did jaw dropping routines themselves; 3 phenomenal guys from Tucamen played bombos - drums you hang round your neck and play with 2 sticks on an off the skin using the wooden edge as well. Quite amazing ryhthmns and they also performed fantastic dance routines to the sound of the drum. I was completely transfixed. All around the square were restaurants buzzing with life and many of them had guitarists, singers and folkloric dances performing for the delight of the eaters.....and mingling in amongst all this wonderful entertainment were relaxed people wandering around enjoying the warm evening and the joy of each others company. I liked this place.
So know I am back in Salta with the lovely family at the hostel. I am leaving on Thursday which will be a sad moment. This has felt like home and I love them all but it is time to go.....
Hugs and loads of love to you all
Sal xxxxxxxxxxxxx
I decided to take off for Cafajate for a few days - it is another fascinating town south of Salta. I stayed in a Hostel called Rusty K which is run by friends of the family that own this lovely hostel in Salta. Coincidentally a German lass from this hostel was on the same bus so we joined up with each other for a meal on the main square every evening which was always something to look forward to after our various expeditions.
My first day saw me climbing the hill overlooking Las Ruinas des Quilmes. A vast expanse of excavations that were once an ancient indiginous city - only about 15% has been so far uncovered. The Quilmes survived the Incas but were defeated by the incoming Spanish who deported 5000 people to Buenos Aires. They were forced to walk the distance and many died on the way. As I climbed higher the view became more and more spectacular and I became held by the silence of the mountains around me. It reminded me of Delphi in Greece which has an amazing sense of timelessness and spirituality.
I had then asked the little minibus to drop me at Amaiche del Valle where there is a very unusual museum/gallery/sculpture park to Pachamama. She is Mother Earth and has been central to all the indiginous people´s beliefs since time began. The museum is made up of sculptures, gates, gardens, pools and wonderful walls with designs in and on them. Everything is made out of different stones and shapes and shades of grey, white, black and ranges of natural colours. I wandered around amazed and bemused by it all. Lots of symbols for the elements, shamans and Pachamama. Quite extraordinary and wonderful until I fell into a conversation with a French artist who told me that Hector Cruz who was behind the project is a man who is disliked by everyone. He befriended an artist who did all the plans and completed the work, paying him only in wine. The artist died of alcohol poisoning with no acknowledgement of his enormous contribution to the project. Hector also bought the museum just outside the Quilmes Ruins sold all the contents to a museum in Buenos Aires and then proceeded to build a prestigious hotel on the same spot to make himself some money. This is all so not in spirit of the indiginous people and Pachamama - he is a very unpopular man but he is probably the sort of man that doesn´t give a damn anyway.
The following day I went on a trek into the foothills with a small group and a wonderful guide. We went to find the waterfalls. When we set off I had no idea that this walk would also included some rock climbing. Not huge amounts but enough to be glad that our guide Franco knew exactly what he was doing. His knowledge of every crevice, tree, shrub and rock was phenomenal. He has lived all his life in these mountains and knows them like the back of his hand. We all felt very safe as he asked us to scale areas of rock that at first glance seemed impossible. He took us to places that were sacred and special to him and was so generous in his willingness to share them with us. We drank from water filtered down through a huge rocks, we passed deserted houses where the young no longer wanted to live on the mountains so families had moved into the towns and we swam in freezing cold water in the pools below the waterfalls.
Cactus accompanied us all the way. We all felt that we were in the hands of a caring gentle man whose soul was at peace and in harmony with these surroundings. For me it was very special.
The other thing that I loved about Cafajate was the main square and how it came to life at night... specially on Friday night. Bands played, shifting from one music to another; youngsters careered around on hired bikes; people hired tridems and rode sedately; children had their faces painted; dancers (Dirty Dancing type) lured people from the crowd (me) to dance with them also did jaw dropping routines themselves; 3 phenomenal guys from Tucamen played bombos - drums you hang round your neck and play with 2 sticks on an off the skin using the wooden edge as well. Quite amazing ryhthmns and they also performed fantastic dance routines to the sound of the drum. I was completely transfixed. All around the square were restaurants buzzing with life and many of them had guitarists, singers and folkloric dances performing for the delight of the eaters.....and mingling in amongst all this wonderful entertainment were relaxed people wandering around enjoying the warm evening and the joy of each others company. I liked this place.
So know I am back in Salta with the lovely family at the hostel. I am leaving on Thursday which will be a sad moment. This has felt like home and I love them all but it is time to go.....
Hugs and loads of love to you all
Sal xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Mendoza, Cabalgatas and Salta 18th January 2011
Hi Everyone,
As more seems to happen to me there is less time to write, but this is the moment so I shall just pick out the highlights and bring you all up to date ...........
I loved Mendoza with its beautiful squares, cafes and river channels that ran round the town irrigating the trees - it make me think of Aix en Provence. There is money here and it seems a town that is proud of itself. The hostel was in the middle of clubland with very buzzy restaurants. I arrived at about midnight and just went and sat in a cafe to soak up the atmosphere. Hostel was run by another delightful gang of youngsters who took me to their hearts. I was sleeping in what I can only describe as the laundry cupboard. It had loads of shelves, hangers, shoe wracks and cupboards. It was apparently the dressing room when the house was a more luxurious residence. My little bed was squeezed in the middle. I loved it! The hostel also had a swimming pool which was a big bonus for me.
2 memorable things happened to me in Mendoza. The first was that I had my small rucksack stolen while I was sitting in my favourite cafe. I had placed the bag between my feet and I suddenly realized that it had gone. I swung round in my seat in time to see the man making off with it. I leapt out of my seat and screamed after him yelling at the top of my voice "You´ve got my bloody bag!"or words to that effect. I was furious because in the bag was my second camera that replaced the one that I had had stolen in BA. Either he wasn`t a very experienced thief or it was all too public. Anyway I caught up with him and he meekly gave it back to me. I was very proud of myself!!
The other lovely thing was I booked in to do a 2 day horsetrek (gabalgata) and booking in at the same time was Emilie a delightful Dutch girl. We instantly became huge friends and had the time of our lives fording fast flowing rivers, exploring canyons, finding wild horses,watching condors, riding up ridges and down the other side, camping under the stars with supper cooked for us on a campfire by Diego and Jose our two gauchos. It was very magical.
Emilie was heading for Salta so I decided to go too. Back on the coaches again - an 18 hour trip this time. I love Salta probably more than anywhere else. It has a colonial history and beautiful 18th Century buildings and colonades around the main square. A pink cathedral and some museums that I have really enjoyed, including some interesting contemporary art. Jorge always greets me with a hug at my favourite bar. The villages around Salta are fabulous with loads of tempting things from Peru and Bolivia and other wares all made by local Argentinians. Markets are a haven if you like being tempted! I have done excursions to several villages and they all have their own charm and specialties. Emilie only had a short time in Salta so we did the Salt Plains together which are just that. They stretch for miles with rows of pale turquoise pans where they take off the salt. On the same trip we drove up the gorge where ´The Train in the Clouds´goes. Sadly it is no longer available to tourists as there are many rock falls and is considered too dangerous. So now it just carries gas to Bolivia.
The landscapes are ever changing from precipitous mountain roads, to almost rain forest climate, to plains that are cultivating tobacco. The Mountain heights can be up to 4,000 above sea level and on one excursion we were given coca leaves to chew to help with sickness and headaches and altitude problems. Vast amounts of Coca leaves make cocaine but everyone assured us that this was completely legal!
I am in a delightful, clean (kitchens can be a complete nightmare so this is a real treat) family run hostel called ´Salta por Siempre´. I have been here for about 5 days now and know everyone well. The family invited me to go riding with them. It was mad and magical galloping home by moonlight with fireflies flashing around us. While we were waiting for the horses we all piled into the family truck and went up the hillside to find a cactus for the hostel courtyard. Life is always full of surprises here!
I have just done 2 more days horse riding in a different place. Fabulous food, I had a lovely horse that was responsive and sweet natured called ´Buenamosa´which means Pretty Lady. We all drank far too much wine and consequently the afternoon rides went by in a blur and I am sure helped the sore bum syndrome. Great hammock to snooze in and another lovely family run business - all supervised by Enrique. A larger than life charming Argentinian, father and grandfather who has worked with horses all his life. Gorgeous brother and sister and a little boy called Benjamin. I rode with two funny Swiss guys called Philippe and Tom. Of all races, I have met most Swiss on this trip. I have had very little do with Switzerland so it has been a delight to meet so many people from there.
I am exhausted and need to snooze, so goodnight to you all. Just before I go though, for all those tango friends out there I danced tango in the square the other evening. First time since BA. I was walking passed the bankstand and I heard tango music. So went to have a look. A kind man let me squeeze to the front. After the demo they invited dancers onto the floor. The kind man came and asked me. So with hat in one hand and my small rucksack on my back (not to be stolen again!) we took to the floor. It was good fun and proved to me that I hadn´t forgotten everything.
Sleep well - hugs from me Sal xxxxxxxxx
As more seems to happen to me there is less time to write, but this is the moment so I shall just pick out the highlights and bring you all up to date ...........
I loved Mendoza with its beautiful squares, cafes and river channels that ran round the town irrigating the trees - it make me think of Aix en Provence. There is money here and it seems a town that is proud of itself. The hostel was in the middle of clubland with very buzzy restaurants. I arrived at about midnight and just went and sat in a cafe to soak up the atmosphere. Hostel was run by another delightful gang of youngsters who took me to their hearts. I was sleeping in what I can only describe as the laundry cupboard. It had loads of shelves, hangers, shoe wracks and cupboards. It was apparently the dressing room when the house was a more luxurious residence. My little bed was squeezed in the middle. I loved it! The hostel also had a swimming pool which was a big bonus for me.
2 memorable things happened to me in Mendoza. The first was that I had my small rucksack stolen while I was sitting in my favourite cafe. I had placed the bag between my feet and I suddenly realized that it had gone. I swung round in my seat in time to see the man making off with it. I leapt out of my seat and screamed after him yelling at the top of my voice "You´ve got my bloody bag!"or words to that effect. I was furious because in the bag was my second camera that replaced the one that I had had stolen in BA. Either he wasn`t a very experienced thief or it was all too public. Anyway I caught up with him and he meekly gave it back to me. I was very proud of myself!!
The other lovely thing was I booked in to do a 2 day horsetrek (gabalgata) and booking in at the same time was Emilie a delightful Dutch girl. We instantly became huge friends and had the time of our lives fording fast flowing rivers, exploring canyons, finding wild horses,watching condors, riding up ridges and down the other side, camping under the stars with supper cooked for us on a campfire by Diego and Jose our two gauchos. It was very magical.
Emilie was heading for Salta so I decided to go too. Back on the coaches again - an 18 hour trip this time. I love Salta probably more than anywhere else. It has a colonial history and beautiful 18th Century buildings and colonades around the main square. A pink cathedral and some museums that I have really enjoyed, including some interesting contemporary art. Jorge always greets me with a hug at my favourite bar. The villages around Salta are fabulous with loads of tempting things from Peru and Bolivia and other wares all made by local Argentinians. Markets are a haven if you like being tempted! I have done excursions to several villages and they all have their own charm and specialties. Emilie only had a short time in Salta so we did the Salt Plains together which are just that. They stretch for miles with rows of pale turquoise pans where they take off the salt. On the same trip we drove up the gorge where ´The Train in the Clouds´goes. Sadly it is no longer available to tourists as there are many rock falls and is considered too dangerous. So now it just carries gas to Bolivia.
The landscapes are ever changing from precipitous mountain roads, to almost rain forest climate, to plains that are cultivating tobacco. The Mountain heights can be up to 4,000 above sea level and on one excursion we were given coca leaves to chew to help with sickness and headaches and altitude problems. Vast amounts of Coca leaves make cocaine but everyone assured us that this was completely legal!
I am in a delightful, clean (kitchens can be a complete nightmare so this is a real treat) family run hostel called ´Salta por Siempre´. I have been here for about 5 days now and know everyone well. The family invited me to go riding with them. It was mad and magical galloping home by moonlight with fireflies flashing around us. While we were waiting for the horses we all piled into the family truck and went up the hillside to find a cactus for the hostel courtyard. Life is always full of surprises here!
I have just done 2 more days horse riding in a different place. Fabulous food, I had a lovely horse that was responsive and sweet natured called ´Buenamosa´which means Pretty Lady. We all drank far too much wine and consequently the afternoon rides went by in a blur and I am sure helped the sore bum syndrome. Great hammock to snooze in and another lovely family run business - all supervised by Enrique. A larger than life charming Argentinian, father and grandfather who has worked with horses all his life. Gorgeous brother and sister and a little boy called Benjamin. I rode with two funny Swiss guys called Philippe and Tom. Of all races, I have met most Swiss on this trip. I have had very little do with Switzerland so it has been a delight to meet so many people from there.
I am exhausted and need to snooze, so goodnight to you all. Just before I go though, for all those tango friends out there I danced tango in the square the other evening. First time since BA. I was walking passed the bankstand and I heard tango music. So went to have a look. A kind man let me squeeze to the front. After the demo they invited dancers onto the floor. The kind man came and asked me. So with hat in one hand and my small rucksack on my back (not to be stolen again!) we took to the floor. It was good fun and proved to me that I hadn´t forgotten everything.
Sleep well - hugs from me Sal xxxxxxxxx
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