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Not in any particular order...as there are too many good experiences to remember.

Best experiences:
- trip from San Pedro to Bolivia: breathtaking scenery
- horse riding with the gaucho in Cochamo: Indiana Jones, get lost!
- trekking in Torres del Paine with Jonathan: testing our limits and opting for margaritas at the beach next time!
- a day at the estancia with Ben: stepping back in time and galloping full speed through cow fields
- climbing the Villarica volcano with Charlotte: testing our limits (again!) and sliding down on our butts!
- bus rides, even the night ones: watching the scenery, learning Spanish from stupid movies, and talking to random neighbors
- people watching while sipping coffee at a plaza...especially in Argentina, since you get real coffee there!
- breakfast: sitting down at the communal tables and never knowing who you are going to meet
- New Year's eve and being 'adopted' by a Chilean family...fake champagne with egg-white froth
- goofing with Jonathan: so easy to laugh and be stupid...brings the kid out of you
- horse trip at la Cumbre and dinner with the old couple
- meeting people from all over, bumping into them days and weeks later 1,000km away

Best food moments:
- Asado in Cafayate, La Cumbre, and while horse riding in Cochamo
- Empanadas in Cafayate and La Cumbre
- real lomo steak in Bariloche with Charlotte
- Soup and rice with Jonathan while camping
- ice cream in Mendoza
- 1/2 a fanta with Jonathan at the last leg of our trek
- cafe in Salta
- pastries in Bariloche
- pisco in Valparaiso
- plato unico in Putre: one choice meal- rice, egg, hot dog... amazing when stuck at 4,000m
- mate and terrere with Dani and Esteban in Cafayate
- tiramisu in Bariloche with Charlotte
- raspberries in Pucon
- dinner in the mountains of La Cumbre and breakfast with homemade dulche de leche
- dinner in Mendoza with Ben, yummy wine! yummy desert!
- sandwiches with avocado in Chile...the best avocados ever!

Unique moments (so many really, practically one per day, which makes you feel so alive, but here are a few):
- playing with kids in Bolivia
- old woman on the bus to Chiloe
- old woman at the embassy
- playing scrabble on the harbor in Coquimbo
- landing in Arica in the middle of the desert
- flying over the glaciers, wao
- repelling the 30m cascade in Puerto Varas, why?
- snoring guy in Mendoza, that Charlotte almost through out his bed
- playing cards with Argentinians in El Chaten, with Jonathan
- couple at the hostal in Valdivia: funky house, welcoming hosts, learned a lot about the culture
- opening the door to the hotel San Francisco in Mendoza: finally a real towel and shower
- racing through Ushuaia to get a bus...funny now, but almost belongs to the section below
- 3 am at the bus station with Jonathan...almost belongs below as well
- speaking with Argentinians all night and realizing I'm doing it in Spanish!
- walking in the desert and feeling like it's the end of the world
- walking on the salt lake and feeling like it's the end of the world
- walking in the cochamo valley (so green) and thinking it's the end of the world!

What I won't miss:
- sharing dorm rooms with 7 strangers, especially the ones that snore
- the WC at the bus terminals
- the taxi ride from outside Mendoza back to the shopping center: noooooooo!
- the police station and hospital in Valparaiso
- completos: those nasty hot dogs in Chile...not that I've eaten one, just the sight is gross!
- regeton: annoying music that all the Chilean kids listen to...same beat, no rhythm
- Nescafe....people of Chile, you need to drink real coffee!!!

All in all, the trip was just a fantastic experience...the positives far outweigh the negatives, which anyways become something to laugh about later....except sleep deprivation which is never a laughing matter...especially when you see how I look (picture of me in Bariloche at the coffee house) without sleep.

I can't say it enough to anyone considering a backpacking trip: go for it! It's so much fun, so enriching, so enlightening, and so re-energizing: makes you feel so alive and appreciative of what you have but most importantly it brings you back to earth and puts so many things into perspective. Just priceless! (hmm, sounds like a commercial).

So that's it!!! I'm back in the States!!! Hard to believe, I know. I wonder sometimes who that girl was who went traveling for 5 months. Was that me?? Now that I'm back, it feels like I never left, although I know that deep down so many things have changed.

For the little story....I landed in NYC and eventually had to take a bus from the city to the Cape. Well, guess what! We had not even left the city....actually we were crossing the Bronx...when the bus door flung open right when we're going 55mph on the highway!!! the door opened perpendicularly if you can picture it, not along the side of the bus....so you can imagine the big scare!!! thankfully, there was no car in the lane next to us, or it couldn't been a disaster. We had to pull over and sit on the side of the highway for an hour for another bus to come and take us to Providence. So of course I missed my connection and had to wait there over an hour, and worse the family friend picking me up in Hyannis had to also wait an extra 2 hours. What a day! In the end it took me 10hrs to get to my grandparents! After all the bus riding I did in South America, it had to be my bus from NY to the Cape that breaks down!!!

Maybe it's a sign...and I should just keep traveling...tbd....

Loved Buenos Aires! Found a cute hostal in San Telmo, the old section of town where Tango was born. Walked all around town the first day...mostly to situate myself. I've been here a few times for work so the streets look familiar...just needed to get the lay of the land again.

On Saturday, Ben arrived around midday. What a treat to spend a week with him. We're both starting new chapters in our lives> he just quit his job the day before flying over and will moving to Paris too in about a month. So a week to relax in Argentina was exactly was the dr. ordered! Although 'relax' might not be the right word...we packed so many things in a week, I think we both need another whole week to recover!

Day 1, we had lunch in San Telmo and then toured BA from the main square (with the casa rosa, the pink house = the white house, first pic) to Recoleta (that's where the famous cemetery is, but also the best ice cream spot) to Puerto Madero (the converted hangars on the harbor where fancy restaurants have taken over) to dinner in Palermo, the chic residential area where boutique stores, bars and restaurants have popped up in the last few years (=soho-like).

Day 2, we went for a day trip to Tigre up in the delta, where the city people hang out on the weekends to escape the heat and pollution (see pics 2 and 3). The delta is a maze of rivers lined with houses and country clubs, from modest to rich complexes. The water is brown so no swimming, thank you very much, although it didn't stop some people from jumping in. Instead we took one of the numerous taxi boats, like the ones in Venice almost!, to ride around the delta. We stopped for coffee to people watch and then headed back to the harbor. There's a famous puerto de frutos, so we were excited to go explore. Unfortunately the name has nothing to do with the real thing....we were expecting mountains of pineapples, mangos, strawberries, and the like, but instead found ourselves in the middle of arts and crafts from China and popcorn machines everywhere....yuk!! Needless to say we turned around and headed back to the city for a steak dinner. With the current farmers' strikes though, the lomo steak is hard to find. Milk, meat and veggies are not getting in the cities...so we settled for a flank steak instead. After dinner, we headed over to Bar Sur for a tango show. We negotiated our way in (prices tend to be an aberration...for tourists) and ended up with only 10 other people in this tiny bar with a 4 person band and 2 tango couples dancing. Such an intimate setting...great show. Late night.

Day 3, we went to El Ombu estancia 2hrs north of the city, in the pampa. Two german girls from the hostal joined us...good fun. A day at the estancia consists of chilling around the garden and pool, eating a delicious asado served under the trees in the garden, and going horseriding as much as you want or can! The setting was spectacular...an old colonial house surrounded by huge trees with hanging branches to provide shade...and stables not even 100yards from the house. Ben and I chilled around the pool for a bit, overlooking the pampa, enjoyed lunch and the house Malbec, and then went riding for a couple hours. My first horse was a treat...listened to me...padded saddle...great fun... Ben's horse was a bit temperamental so we switched for the second ride. Yikes that horse was dynamite. We went galloping full speed across the fields with those black angus cows looking at us, probably laughing, except being cows they just gave us blank stares...meanwhile I"m holding tight for my life...the horse wouldn't stop until it got to the next gate...plus 2 french guys riding with us who thought they were new-born cowboys kept inciting the horses to gallop further along. My legs hurt for 3 days. Ben's too. In the bus, we sat like 2 cowboys, very sad sight!
That night, we spent in San Antonio de Areco, the gaucho capital, a small village really...known for its silver carvings and souvenirs. We ended up chilling in that town for day 4 as there were no buses out until the pm.

Day 4, we got a bus to Mendoza at around 6pm...supposed to be a 12hr bus ride, but due to the farmers on strike blocking the roads, it took us 20hrs. Poor Ben!! He got a bad sore throat from the AC on top of it. The movies were ok, but the screen kept jumping so even the little entertainment we had gave us a headache! At 11pm, we stopped in the middle of nowhere at this tiny terminal for some food. Probably they weren't able to get the usual dinner boxes to the bus, so they improvised dinner at the bus stop in this little cafeteria....ravioli....of who knows what. Probably should've passed.

Day 5, we arrived in Mendoza around 1pm...dropped our bags at the hostal...and headed to Alta Vista bodega in Chacras, 20min south of the city. Great tour. It's the same bodega I went to with Charlotte, except then we had missed the last tour and only had done the tasting. This time I did both. The place was in full action, with the harvest just ending. Perfect timing. That evening, Ben and I went to a tango show near our hostal. A little over the top...too showy...and obnoxious english tourist who laughed too loud and too often. But other than that, it was good to see the difference with the Bar Sur experience in BA.

Day 6, we headed to Maipu for some bike and wine tour. Again, same as I had done before...this time we hit different bodegas...which thus made it fun for me! In any case, it was good chilling time with Ben, my priority of course!...we got to tour a small family run bodega and a huge industrial one....what a contrast...and how interesting to compare quality control and wine level expectation. I don't even understand why a bodega would be ok to produce medium quality wines. Why wouldn't you only want to produce the best wine. Why bother drink the so/so stuff is what i'm really asking!!! That night, we treated ourselves to a delicious dinner.. steak for Ben and steak tartare for me. It's still impossible to find a real lomo steak, the kind that melts in your mouth so I guess it means Ben will have to come back to visit another time. BTW, we did fit in an ice cream from my favorite shop before dinner. Yet it didn't stop us from trying some deserts, including a coco tart with dulce de leche. I know, i know. I said i would never eat that thing again...but i did...and i truly enjoyed it!!

Day 7, we got on a short bus ride to Upsallata, at the foot of the Andes. The idea was to hike around the parks there, but they all closed last weekend. We did end up going for a nice hike in a gorge near our hostal, but it wasn't the big hike to Aconcagua (highest peak in south america). That's ok though, 2 hrs hiking plus 1 hour walk to town was plenty of exercise. The town was the equivalent of those deserted run down towns in the middle of Alabama or Texas somewhere, like you see in movies. Except this is Argentina at the bottom of the mountains. Not sure of the analogy is working...but hopefully you get the feeling we got when we walked into town. Had a beer, yes a novelty for me....like I said, i'm trying new things for my 30th year... and grabbed a bite in this desolate restaurant. We were the only ones there (at first) and the only ones staying at the hostal too. It's like they opened it up just for us. The fridge in the kitchen was defrosting...the place is about to shut down for the season. So for once it was quiet!!! hehe. We had the room for ourselves...2 triple bunk beds...yes, 3 beds on top of each other, a first!!! not sure how you get to the top one. No fun sleeping up there, nor on the floor one...so we picked the middle ones! I guess you had to be there.

Day 8, we got a 10am bus to Santiago. The ride through the Andes is spectacular...great rock formations and incredible colors all over. The sky was clear which made for an even more impressive contrast. Our driver was a bit of a Schumacher and we got to Santiago 1 hr early! Actually, the border crossing was probably faster than expected, only 1hr, so the trip ended up being shorter. That left us with a full afternoon in Santiago, which I toured with Ben, for the 4th time!

That evening we ended up bumping into 2 dutch friends I had made in La Cumbre. We caught up over pisco sours and empanadas...and celebrated Ben's last night!

Day 9, Ben and I had just enough time to grab a fruit juice on the main square and a few last minute sunrays, before he had to leave. So sad!!! I ended up chilling at the hostal, the infamous Casa Roja (hostal where I started my trip 5 months ago), which has grown on me and that I actually enjoy now (my room is on the 2nd floor, far from the bar...so that helps!). I also bumped into a german friend from Valparaiso, so we hung out together and went to an improv show....very cool....good laughs...even if I didn't understand everything.

So there you have it....Ben's 8 days in South America...good he has a week to recover when he gets back!! hehe. Now it's time for me to prep my return!!! yikes!!!

On Friday, I made may way to La Cumbre, a small town 2hrs north of Cordoba to this cute little hostal (see first pic). The town is a weekend-holiday destination for wealthy families in Cordoba or BA. But it remains quaint and very ´villagy´if that makes sense (not flashy, not commercial, just simple and unpretentious). The hostal is some old english-style house reconverted into a hostal....no more than 25 beds...a perfect number so you can get to know everyone...a big dining room that felt like someone´s house, not a hostal...a garden with BBQ patio...and a pool.... all that will a treelined entrance to the house....does it sound perfect or what... i ended up staying until Wednesday!!!

Lucked out and got to meet some great people too, which makes all the difference. The owner was super welcoming and organized asados for us and an empanadas bday party for one of the guests (see pic of all the different kind of empanadas...they are folded a different way according to the filling: meat, chicken, veggies, etc). You felt you were visiting him (and his 4 retrievers) instead of backpacking. Awesome feeling.

On Sunday, I went on a 2 day horse ride across the Sierras, the rolling hills of Cordoba....more like flat mountains...not much vegetation...just grass and those feathery plants again (like in front of our house). But great scenery...like the end of the world...very peaceful. Two irish couples had signed up so I tagged along, but soon after another Irish girl and an American girl caught up with us for the ride. Fun crowd! Only 3 of us knew how to ride, but all the first timers did a great job. The horses have this funny trot so you stay seated instead of lifting yourself each time. At first it was comfortable, but after 2 days, my back was killing...i prefer the standing trot. Maybe carrying a backpack didn´t help...or sleeping in a bed the shape of a hammock.

The highlight of the trip, other than the riding itself, was the host family in the mountains who welcomed us to their little camping site. They have a tiny house...more like a 2 room construction...one is the kitchen, the other the pantry/bedroom. The hosts (2 sisters, 1 brother) were such characters.... looked like they were 90, but only in their 70´s... true Argentinian hospitality...we couldn´t get up to clear the table or help with dishes... we tried over and over but if we had anymore it would´ve been insulting. Such lively and friendly people...very caring...and also curious about our lives.

You should´ve seen the kitchen... two old stoves, that you put wood in... from the last century... and messy...the whole place was messy ...when we first got there, I thought in what dump did we end up in...the yard is full of debris, old toilet, metal pieces, just stuff (see pic with the 2 horses tied up).... and the kitchen was just as messy... just random things stuffed under the stoves, on the shelves, etc... but it didn´t bother any of us....the charisma of our hosts was just too charming and inviting. For dinner, the hostess made fresh pasta and some delicious chicken dish... and of course empanadas to start...so tasty....afterwards we drank mate with the host...a great honor!

Then at around midnight, the hosts took us up to our cabin on top of the hill...a cute litte house in the middle of nowhere (see picture of house with cactus)... no electricity, but running water... the hostess insisted on making the beds herself, but we did lend her a hand... they practically tucked us in, they were so sweet.

After a ´grace mat´ (ie: sleeping in), we headed down to the ´main´house for breakfast... eggs and bacon....how perfect for St Patty´s day! After much kissing and hugging, we got back on the horses for the 4 hr trip home. The second day of riding was just awesome...going through fields instead of following paths...not too sunny, just enough without burning (unlike the first day)...crossing rivers and climbing hills... so adventurous!

Back in La Cumbre, we headed to town for dinner to celebrate our trip...and St Patty...but to be honest most of us were tired and happy to head to bed not too late.

Tuesday...another chill day...another asado...Wednesday, the last chill day....and bus to Cordoba.

Now it´s Thursday....went to Carlos Paz (the 'it' place for Cordobans who want to chill by the water during the day and go clubbing at night), but it´s too hot to walk around...will go read the paper on a terrace...then make my way back to the city to catch my night bus to Buenos Aires.

Tango city, here I come (not that I can dance to save my life...but I´ll enjoy the street performances!).

Got to Cordoba Wednesday am (the 11th) and thankfully my bed at the hostal was free so I could sleep a few hours! Big hostal...a little too travelers-factory for me...and plus I heard later on they had bed bugs problems (I escaped!)...so glad i only had 2 nights there.

Toured Cordoba in the afternoon...a lot of churches... this city was the home of Jesuits for many years...they build a lot of schools in the city and estancias (ie: farms) in the country side to provide for the schools. Still to this day, Cordoba is know for being the city of academia.

Such a contrast to Mendoza. Cordoba is afterall the 2nd biggest city of the country. Very commercial....stores everywhere...a good few blocks of pietonal streets in the center....but just too crowded for me... you don´t really enjoy sitting on the terraces there....although if you walk away a little bit, you can find some neat cafe overlooking little plazas...just have to look for them.

By chance, I ended up bumping into Lilian, a fellow french traveler that Charlotte and I had met in Pucon. How random!! It´s happened to me quite a few times now that I have to wonder how many other travelers I could´ve bumped into...all the missed connections. Anyways, how lucky to cross path with someone you know! We ended up checking out the bar scene with some other travelers, including a french guy who does magic shows in the street to earn enough money to keep traveling around. The poeple you meet...always interesting!

The next day, Lilian and I took a bus ride to Alta Gracia to check out the Che museum and a Jesuit estancia. Some cultural stuff...and a good meal.

Finally on Friday, I headed up to the Sierras (the mountains) of Cordoba. Per the hostal´s recommendation, I went to La Cumbre. And what a gem!!! See next entry!

So in the end, I went to the Vendimia Acto Central on Saturday night. I had a ticket for Sunday since Sat was sold out, plus I was told the first night was a bit boring with the whole election of the Queen. Anyways, I ended up going to the outdoor theater where the event was taking place thinking there would be other activities outside...zip...after walking 1 hr to get there, I figured I might as well buy a scalper ticket and get in...not wanting to walk all the way back there again on Sunday. So that´s what I did....found a decently priced ticket...and got in just in time...and what a great show it was!!! Sort of like an Olympic production....300 dancers or more...taking you through the history of the Vendimia...a la ¨here´s the earth, and the sun, and water, and the pilgrims, and the Spanish, and the vineyards, and tango dancing¨...you see what I mean? a huge dance for each theme... all set in this outdoor greek theater with a 4 level stage with white panels in the back for some colorful projections.... I thought the show was extremely well done...some dances were a little amateurish, not everyone in queue, but it made it all even more special and authentic. The theater was packed...no assigned seating, except your section...so I ended up standing the whole time since I came late...people must have come at 6pm for the 10pm show!.
After the dancing, the special vendimia committee reads outloud the votes for the Queens...all 17 of them stand on stage in a row...and when their name is called out, they wave to the crowd. Mind you there were over 150 votes, so it took a good half hour to get through the election. The crowds were going wild...some Queens had big time fans with banners, noise makers, ever fireworks like in soccer games. Finally the Queen is elected and gives a small speech. And to clore the night: a huge firework display...at least 30min if not 40min. Insane! Great show, but i couldn´t help thinking how much it must have cost and how the city could´ve use the money in other ways....hmmmm. Walked home (no buses available.... hmmm, maybe $2K from the fireworks could´ve gone to a bus service to take people back to town??!!!)...back at the hostal around 2am.

So glad I ended up going the first night.... can´t always rely on ´information´ from fellow travelers. Sunday, I ended up going to the horse track. It was supposed to be the big opening day of the season. Well, the track is quite a site... very sad sight....the bleachers are concrete benches 10rows up, falling apart...don´t think safety is a major concern here....the betting booths are these tiny wooden huts...and the grounds are just dirt paths and parked cars all over. People come here to have their asado between cars...probably go bet once and a while...but just chill, eat, & drink mate. There was a big Vendimia race at 16hr or so...and for that, the crowds went wild...good race...a lot of shouting of course...fun to people watch...some gauchos, some families (somehow the kids always want the parents to buy them stuff...unreal!!... all the kids were running around with these blow up pink panthers and hammers... weird!), but no ´fancy crowds´like you would find in Chantilly or Saratoga.

That night, ended up hanging out with some french girls I had met on my first visit to Mendoza...they are working in wine and spending a few months here. They cooked dinner: liver! now is that french or what! Then they told me that the kilo only cost 1 euro, I almost wanted to faint on the spot...what did i end up eating???

Monday was a chill day...and for everyone´s last night at the hostal, we went to Azafran, the restaurant I had been to with Charlotte for the last night. Great food...great wine... long night!

But yet another circle completed.... now off to Cordoba! a short night bus...only 10hrs!

Bus ride from Tucuman to Mendoza wasn´t that much fun afterall....stopped all the time....so not too great to sleep....plus had some guy snoaring 2 rows ahead of me....and a kid throwing up behind me (kids are always throwing up on buses here, not surprising with all junk food they eat!). Ok, on that note, to something positive:

The Harvest in Mendoza!! It´s a week long celebration to elect the Vendimia Queen 2008 amongst about 20 or so regional queens....sort of like a Miss America pagent! All the stores have pics of their favorite queens in their windows....it´s funny to see how everyone gets into it. Every day there´s a special event of some sort, from folklore dancing to Cuban music to Tango on the street to kids´ puppet shows, etc. On Thursday, I went to the Italian square where Italian-decent Mendozans were celebrating the vendimia, with food stands, singing and dancing. Super fun, but so late. Events don´t start until 10pm. I don´t know how people function the next day...at least I can sleep in. No wonder there´s siesta from 1 to 5pm. Also, quite surprised to see so many elderly people in the audience...probably to reminisce the good old times.

Last night (Friday) was the first show of the Vendimia parade (well a short version of it, ie: only the floats with the queens)....so it´s more like the presentation of the contestants. I ended up going to this restaurant -with fellow travelers from the hostal- which happen to overlook the parade 10 floors up... fun!...people were cheering on and clapping for their favorite queens. Pretty roudy crowd. Afterwards, everyone meets up at the Independence square for some live music. We ended up grabbing a drink at a cafe on the square and meeting some young Mendozans eager to find out about where we came from and tell us about their trips (it´s funny, most people you meet will immediately tell you about how they went to this or that country in Europe or tell you about a distant cousin living in France or Spain). Anyways, good times... unfortunately quite late again since the music in the square kicked off at midnight! (do i sound like I´m 90 and can´t stay up past 1am...hmm... i´ll stop making comments then on the late nights...it´s just part of the culture here, so now you get the point).

Ok I lied, one more comment about sleep: after the late night to watch the 1st parade, you have to get up by 10am to go watch the Real Parade. It actually passes right in front of the hostal...how convenient! I was walking around at 9:30 as people were finding a viewing spot on the side of the street, buying coffee from the ´coffee guys on their bikes´ and reading the paper....so peaceful...like the calm before the storm... within 30min, it´s like the flood gates opened and hundred and hundreds of people took over the sidewalks. I don´t know what´s in those thermos, but the energy level was crazy!

So for the real parade, each float is preceeded by gauchos from the area where the queen is from. So many horses...with cowboys in their festive outfits...really cool to watch... i´ll post pics of the close-ups so you can see the intricate costumes, the boots, the stirrups and the knifes in their back...and the kids dressed up as gauchos too riding with their dads...so cute!

The floats are themed around the vendima: big bottle of wine, corkscrews, even a live asado (BBQ), vineyards, wine jugs, etc. The queen has a ´court´riding with her who are responsible for throwing goodies to the crowds....mostly grapes and candy and pictures of the queen, but also apples, pears and melons! so you gotta watch out! Kids are running around ecstatic trying to catch everything that´s thrown to the crowd, but believe it or not parents and the elderly viewers are fighting just as much to catch something! Some kids come prepared with sticks with a basket at the end, so the queens can just deposit the fruit and candy. It´s practically a sport...better off watching from the sidelines!

Amongst the floats and gauchos, there´s also folklore dancers from the Andean culture...some with big scary masks, others with colorful hats and costumes... and of course tons of music! A really good show!

So now everyone is resting, because tonight is the big election (starts at 10pm of course and will last super late). The show is so popular that it´s on again tomorrow and monday as well. I have a ticket for tomorrow ...so I end up skipping the whole election process which I was told was pretty boring anyways...but I´ll still go to the park and witness all the dancing & co.

So that´s the latest on the Vendimia. Earlier in the week I went on a bike tour of the Maipu vineyards. Ended up hanging out with some English travelers who were on the bus with me to the bike rental. Fun times...these English, really on a mission to get pissed (as they say)...heard so many crazy stories in a few hours...could write a booK! So much laughing! Unfortunately, they had to head back early, so I continued on to another vineyard by myself... and by luck I was the only visitor so had the whole terrace for myself, overlooking the vineyards and the Andes mountains in the background...such a pretty terrace, with white Tuscan-type umbrellas, so peaceful.... rested there an hour and then girls from my hostal walked in...so I ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night (ie: cooking pasta to soak up all the wine! hehe). I love how you get to meet new people all the time... you make ´friends´ in a few hours, share some fun travel stories and your ´previous´life....and then move on...before you get on people´s nerves and viceversa...so it´s like everyone is always in a good mood and friendly. The best is when you get up for breakfast...you never know who you are going to meet, but for sure you´ll end up talking to someone and possibly making a friend for the day.

Finally, the next day, the girls from the hostal who bumped into me at the vineyard, had planned a day trip to some thermal pools, so I joined along. Popular place for the locals... tons of hot water pools set in this Arizona-canyon type environment, red rocks and cactus all around. Great spot to relax & get some sun. Plus, there was a lazy river, so I got some exercise swimming around a few times! (no sulphur smells, as the water was treated for the pools....not like the natural thermal pools in Bolivia or northern Chile).

So now you´ve caught up on my week in Mendoza, chilling away. Got to fit a movie too, tons of reading, an asado at the hostal, and sangria drinks with Basque travelers, a first!!

Off to nap before the big election of the Vendimia queen!

After a couple days of chill time in Salta (reading the paper on the plaza over a coffee, pressed OJ, & little pastries as well as going to a few movies...only 3 or 4 of us in the room each time...big huge comfy theater...$4 a seat... too expensive though for locals and probably not fun since not dubbed for them), I made it back to Cafayate....is that a run-on sentence or what!?

Cafayate is that cute little town I had visited for a night last week....the one in the middle of the vineyards at the foot of the pre-Andes mountains. The town is based around this huge square with cafes and artisanal shops all around. At first sight, it might look like a tourist trap of a town, but actually the tourists are mostly Argentinians! After a few days there, I was already making friends either from the empanada house (the best in town...with goat cheese even....such creative recipes...it's like crepes, you can make them with whatever filling inspires you!) or from walking through the canyon (beautiful hike to hidden cascades...felt like canyons in a Western movie...the cactus, the red rocks, and tons of those feather plants, like the one if front of my house...in France) or from the hostal. On Tuesday, the Argentinians staying at the hostal decided to cook an asado....mind you it was 9pm and I was having wine and cheese (ie: my dinner), but for them eating at 11pm is totally normal...so I essentially had 2 dinners that night. So much fun though... I'll post the pics soon...the 2 guys from the hostal prepared everything...heating the coal in a ' brouette' (can't remembre the word in english) and then cooking all this meat... filet mignon is famous of course but really mostly eaten in restaurants...at home Argentinians cook all sorts of cuts, some favorites being boudin and sausages. Tons of wine too needless to say. Went dancing in this abandonned building turned disco...no roof...so felt like dancing outdoors- fun! And in bed around 7am or so. It's still dark then, so you feel like it's a decent hour to go to sleep....except your roommates are getting up in an hour or two....so very short night!

One of the reasons I went back to Cafayate was to take part in the Serenadas festival, 3 days of folklore music concerts. On Mon, Tues, Wed, the town hosted little concerts on the main square...for the local bands to play...quite cute to see some of the younger ones sing...others really need to keep their day jobs... And then, on Thurs, Fri, Sat, it's the official festival. People from all over the region show up...most of them end up camping...although not like Woodstock or anything...it's a pretty well organized event...campsites & co. A few blocks from my hostal, this empty lot got turned into concert venue...the real deal with a big stage, lights, good sono & co. There were about 100 chairs set up in front of the stage, but most locals get the 'popu' tickets ($5)..which is more fun if you ask me... you can walk around, dance, get some food or drinks (asados everywhere of course!). Outside the concert venue, the streets are closed off with vendors and food stands all over. Also all the empty walls are covered by Serenadas and drawings (not graffitis, but well written poems with pics to illustrate the theme). Great atmosphere!

Now for the music.... it's folklore music (could be Bolivian, Peruvian, Chilean...as long as it's rooted with the Andean culture)... there were about 30 bands or so per night... started at 10pm ish and lasted until 7am!! Crazy... some bands got to play at 6am!!! And it's still packed!! For the first few hours, it was mix of the more rock type music and the tradional folklore music, with songs to the Pachamama (mother earth) and to the vendimia or to prosperity (some sounded like American Indian chants... I hope I'm not offending anyone writing this... poems chanted like a lamentation...) or the Cumbre, the local folklore dance where men and women dance in pairs, courting each other by teasing each other with a hanckerchief. The men wear all white, puffy pants and Spanish type jacket with a red & black blanket over their shoulder, as well as these cowboy boots that have an accordeon type of texture to them. During the dance, they perform this elaborate tap dancing routine... it almost felt like Riverdance. As the night goes on though, the bands are more rock-like...so by 3am the audience is totally excited. The young ones sing all the words and jump up and down...like at any concert you might say...but it felt special, because the music definitively felt folkloric, yet people from all ages were enjoying it (tons of families earlier in the night too). Anyways, as you might suspect, I once again ended up going to bed as the sun was coming out. And no, these were not nights of excess!!! just fun entertainment. After 2 nights though, I hit my quota. The town was getting more and more crowded. The first night was actually more fun as you could walk around easily....by friday though you were elbowing everyone and drunk people were bumping into you...so I skipped out on Saturday, the biggest night of all. Instead I headed 5hrs south to Tucuman....decided to get a good night's sleep before my night bus to Mendoza. Unfortunately the AC was blasting on the bus down, so now I have a stupid cold (well, the short nights probably didn't help either!).

Nothing much to report on Tucuman... ugly city...important though because this is were the Independence was signed...but other than that, it's super hot & humid...no mountain air & no relief at night... no cinemas either!!! sniff sniff... but anyways, off tomorrow night...looking forward to the bus ride... the movies & the bingo!!

The Vendimia just started in Mendoza...tons of parades, food fairs, and other events around the Harvest. Should be fun!

A quick entry with some funny things I've noticed. In no way am I stereotyping or making my observations a generality for all Chileans or Argentinians...these are a few things I noticed that are quite different than back home.

- women will breastfeed their kids just about anywhere: on the plaza, in line at the grocery store, practically standing up in the street....but the weirdest thing is, they will breastfeed their kids up until 3 or 4 years old!!! quite shocking when you first see it!

- the cars in Argentina are a mix of rusty old carcasses and new Europeans cars. The old cars are mostly old Renault's and Peugeot's...so weird to see a R12 or R9 driving around...those cars are at least 30yrs old. And it's not like old cars in Cuba that look like collectibles...these cars belong to the dump. A lot of old Fiat's too, the tiny little ones especially. No wonder car accidents is of of the highest cause of mortality in Argentina (and Chile too). The newer cars though are mostly WV. I guess the French weren't able to keep the monopole!

- back to kids: they tend to stay up late, very late. Parents take them all over, including babies that are only a few days old...best way to get immune to the world, I guess.

- stores close from 1-5pm or even 6pm sometimes. It's so hot during the afternoon, it's siesta time. Not in the big cities of course. But anywhere else, forget trying to buy food in the middle of the afternoon. The towns are deserted.

- dogs: they are everywhere... so many stray dogs...so sad...but also a little scary at times. In Valparaiso, before the big parade of independence day, the police goes around killing dogs so they don't walk across the parade (according to my teacher). In San Pedro, I did see the police shoot stray dogs in the middle of the street...yuk...must have been a fight or something, but I missed that part.

- the bottled water in Argentina contains such high levels of sodium...makes you feel bloated all the time....tap water is just fine.

- In Argentina, the most popular drink for young people is Fernet-Coke. Fernet is originally a sort of medicinal drink, like a vermouth, that the Germans brought over. Now it's the biggest hit and of course only the Branca brand. Definitively an acquired taste.

- Argentinians love to dress up, especially in the city, and even the kids. People always ask me the difference between Chilenos and Argentinians...there are so many...i can't begin to list them...but one quick observation is the way they dress...Argentinians definitively keep up with Europe and care about their looks (especially in BA...the other towns resent them...kind of like Parisians and the rest of France). In Chile, sadly because of economic reasons, people dress with what they can mostly, which resembles the left over rack at Marshalls.

- Both Argentinians and Chileans are very hospitable in general...the latin culture. But sometimes, I guess people don't know how to act with tourist/foreigners, so they just ignore you...like you're a ghost. It's so weird when it happens...people will cut in front of you in a line at the grocery store, or in queue for a computer, or to get bags out of the bus. It's not like French or Italians cutting lines...it's an older woman just walking right by you as if you weren't there...or a young guy just talking over you as if you weren't in the middle of a sentence. You have to be there to understand it, I think. Ben and Jonathan both witnessed, so I"m not exaggerating!

Anyways, just a few things for now, as I'm sitting on a terrace and people watching. Just for the record...

After a couple days in Mendoza resting (and eating ice cream!), I headed north to Salta (another night bus, this time with full service, hot food, blankets and even Bingo!!). The Hispanic architecture stands out in Salta, with its huge main plaza, narrow streets, colonial houses and statues. The center is quite pleasant with cafes and car-free streets, although a little run-down and dirty compared to Mendoza...which gives it a more authentic feel actually! Around Salta are some of the most fertile grounds (tobacco, soja, fruit, vineyards) at the bottom of the pre-Andes mountains- by the way the town is at 1,200m above sea level, which makes it pleasantly warm and dry in the summer. There is a rainy season in Jan-Feb, but so far it´s only been raining at night...and the heaviest rain was last month...big flooding problems.

Although I did experience some flooding on the first day of my expedition to Cachi and Cafayate (to the west and south). It rained all night so in the am, as we left the city, roads were flooded & traffic a total nightmare, while mud slides and rocks blocked the way over the mountains. Nothing unusual for the driver...just need a little patience...and a few spare tires (we had to change one each day). The drive is quite spectacular through valleys and cactus fields to canyons and rock formations that reminded me of Arizona a little. Cachi is a tiny little town (5,000 hab) surrounded by snow-covered mountains with adobe homes painted white. You feel like you step back in time when crossing the plaza and walking towards the church, a classified monument BTW. The people here use a lot of cactus wood for construction (church roof) and decoration (frames, boxes, altar, etc). Cactus are protected so you can only use its wood if the cactus died of natural causes. From Cachi, we drove through more valleys and canyons on this curvy dirt road to Cafayate (12,000 hab), another Spanish-architecture influenced white adobe town, yet more lively and popular...one for its touristic attractions (trekking, etc) and two, for its wine. Cafayate is indeed the center of production for Torrentes wine, a white wine, fruity to the nose, but dry when you drink it...perfect for a hot summer day. On day 2, we toured a few bodegas and then made our way back to Salta through more canyons and desert-like landscapes. I can´t even describe it all in words...as canyons and valleys sound so plain...the pictures will tell all...well, not really, as you only get a taste of it...being there though at the feet of all this beauty was simply magical and impressive...and like i´ve said before ´it makes you feel like an ant on earth´.

Back to Salta and then off to another 2 day expedition to the North to the altiplano parks. On day 1, we stopped by a salar (salt lake), similar to the one I saw in Bolivia, but smaller... still amuzing to take those funny perspective pics. We drove over mountains crossing over 4,700m (a little altitude sickness...dizzy and sleepy mostly) and through gorges and rocky rivers. The region used to be a crossroad for economic and social communication for the Andean populations. Later it also was a caravan road for the Incas. You can actually visit ruins of Inca settlements. The main attraction in the region though is The Quebrada de Humahuaca, a ravine of spectacular colors....a true geology lesson...it´s as if someone took a brush and went from left to right painting these colorful waves on the mountain...green, red, purple, pink, orange, yellow. Not sure if the colors will come out on the pics...I bought postcards just in case....they looked photoshoped but I did see it all with my own eyes! That night we stopped in a local village, mud bricks & co, which reminded me of Northern Chile (Andean kids in dirty jogging pants with runny nose, begging as soon as you step out the car) except the town is more in touch with tourism...more infrastructures and artisanal stores everywhere.

It´s actually mind boggling to think these kids live in poverty just 2 hrs hour away from a big city with asphalt, internet, stores & co. I guess you can say it´s the same in NYC... go from Wall Street where people blow $200 on dinner without blinking an eye and take the C train to Queens where some people live 10 to a 2 BR apartment with barely any heat in the winter and fast food left overs in their fridge. But the difference here is you feel you are stepping back in time....almost 100yrs backwards. On my tour, I had visitors from Buenos Aires...such a contrast! The people living in BA are like Europeans (in looks, culture, modernization, etc). For most, it´s their 1st time visiting Northern Argentina... so like us they take pictures of the llamas, the gauchos, the adobe houses... they don´t relate at all to the Andean culture, if anything they look down upon it.

On day 2, we drove back to Salta through more ravines and valleys. A long day, but full of incredible landscapes.

Foodwise (always an important part of the visits!), goat cheese is popular here...not the soft smelly kind like in France...it´s more like a mountain cheese. People eat it along with cajote, some fruit I have yet to figure out what it looks like. Empanadas are a must-try here... you buy them by the dozen...much smaller than the Chilean versions (and from the ones in BA apparently). Finally, goat meat...cazuelo de cabrata...pretty tasty.

That´s it for now...some resting...before I head back to Cafayate. Finally slept 12hrs last night!!! The black around my eyes is receding!