Thoughts on Argentina
I think I´m experiencing culture shock since coming to Argentina. I´ve met some great people -- some new and some that I´ve met again from other places -- and eaten some great food and wine, but I´m still not used to the more European vibe there is here compared to Bolivia especially, but also Ecuador and Peru. It´s a lot more expensive here too -- for the price of a room with a private bathroom in Bolivia I´m staying in 6 to 9 bed dorms with a shared bathroom down the hall. I´m not used to the dorm scene -- that I can say with certainty. Having lived by myself for six years and now having travelled alone for the last three months, having nothing approximating privacy is definitely a change of pace. Interesting.
Also, while it is nice in many ways to be out of the poverty that is Bolivia, I miss the culture. I miss the women in their traditional dress, I miss the markets, I miss the sense of timelessness that the high Andes still seem to have. Argentina so far is still beautiful, but it is in a very different social and temporal space than the other South American countries I´ve visited so far. Probably it is just a function of getting back into the swing of ¨backpacking¨ instead of just travelling and I´ll be back on board...
In any case, I really enjoyed Tilcara -- the first town I stopped in last week. I met a great couple from Canada and we shared some good regional wine, lots of laughs and some good road stories. Fun. Salta is a lovely almost tropical city -- I had to dig my summer clothes out from the bottom of my backpack! I met back up with some women I´d met in Tupiza at the hostal and it was nice to see some familiar faces, though I only stayed there a day. The town was hopping though, and the patio culture of late night dinners was obvious in the packed town square on Friday night. I walked around for a while and found a place for dinner (unfashionably early at 8pm -- the restaurant was largely deserted), and then just soaked up the ambience for a while before heading back to my hostal and bed.
The bus ride to Cafayate the next morning was an adventure. I was in a minibus in seat three, which afforded me an uninterrupted view of the road. This was a mixed blessing! The driver was clearly very familiar with the route, but I really don´t think the bus was designed to corner at 100km/h -- I noted that we were on two wheels on more than one occasion... The Quebrada de Cafayate was stunningly beautiful though. The rock formations come in multiple colours because of the different minerals present in the sedimentary layers and the resulting yellow, green, red, purple and white striations, with the erosion patterns, made for gorgeous scenery. We were lucky to have a lovely sunny day too, which never hurts. It was all going quite well despite the crazy driver until this poor girl´s stomach made abrupt and violent protest about the curvy road and the speed at which we were travelling (I should probably point out that the speed limit on most of this road was 40kph...). I so didn´t need that much information about what she ate for lunch... *shudder*
Cafayate was a nice place to spend a couple of days -- quite a few local vineyards (I tried the local specialty, a white wine called Torrontes, which was quite nice. No room to carry a bottle around though, sadly.), a pleasant square, and lots of amenities for tourists. My LP recommended hostal was not all that, though I met some nice people there. The real kicker wasn´t obvious until after 10pm though -- we were located within thumping distance of a popular nightclub, which stayed open and loud until 5am each night. Yikes. My roommates got in on the action the first night, but having already had a few nights short of sleep I opted to stay in, not knowing about the noise factor. Probably I should have given in and just gone out to join them, but well... Alas!
I came to Tafí del Valle today on the way down to Tucumán, but I think it may have been an error in judgement. It is cold, rainy, mostly closed and I am the only tourist in sight. The upside is that I have the nine-bed dorm to myself (which might mean the first good sleep in a week), the downside is that there is nothing to do here and it´s too cold to enjoy the parks. I´ll be glad to head out tomorrow, assuming I can get a ticket on the bus out (the woman at the bus station refused to sell me a ticket today -- I have to go back tomorrow half an hour before the bus is scheduled to leave). Cordobá is next on the list, and hopefully I´ll be able to get there in one day. We´ll see, I guess. On the upside, I did buy a nice round of cheese here today?
Also, while it is nice in many ways to be out of the poverty that is Bolivia, I miss the culture. I miss the women in their traditional dress, I miss the markets, I miss the sense of timelessness that the high Andes still seem to have. Argentina so far is still beautiful, but it is in a very different social and temporal space than the other South American countries I´ve visited so far. Probably it is just a function of getting back into the swing of ¨backpacking¨ instead of just travelling and I´ll be back on board...
In any case, I really enjoyed Tilcara -- the first town I stopped in last week. I met a great couple from Canada and we shared some good regional wine, lots of laughs and some good road stories. Fun. Salta is a lovely almost tropical city -- I had to dig my summer clothes out from the bottom of my backpack! I met back up with some women I´d met in Tupiza at the hostal and it was nice to see some familiar faces, though I only stayed there a day. The town was hopping though, and the patio culture of late night dinners was obvious in the packed town square on Friday night. I walked around for a while and found a place for dinner (unfashionably early at 8pm -- the restaurant was largely deserted), and then just soaked up the ambience for a while before heading back to my hostal and bed.
The bus ride to Cafayate the next morning was an adventure. I was in a minibus in seat three, which afforded me an uninterrupted view of the road. This was a mixed blessing! The driver was clearly very familiar with the route, but I really don´t think the bus was designed to corner at 100km/h -- I noted that we were on two wheels on more than one occasion... The Quebrada de Cafayate was stunningly beautiful though. The rock formations come in multiple colours because of the different minerals present in the sedimentary layers and the resulting yellow, green, red, purple and white striations, with the erosion patterns, made for gorgeous scenery. We were lucky to have a lovely sunny day too, which never hurts. It was all going quite well despite the crazy driver until this poor girl´s stomach made abrupt and violent protest about the curvy road and the speed at which we were travelling (I should probably point out that the speed limit on most of this road was 40kph...). I so didn´t need that much information about what she ate for lunch... *shudder*
Cafayate was a nice place to spend a couple of days -- quite a few local vineyards (I tried the local specialty, a white wine called Torrontes, which was quite nice. No room to carry a bottle around though, sadly.), a pleasant square, and lots of amenities for tourists. My LP recommended hostal was not all that, though I met some nice people there. The real kicker wasn´t obvious until after 10pm though -- we were located within thumping distance of a popular nightclub, which stayed open and loud until 5am each night. Yikes. My roommates got in on the action the first night, but having already had a few nights short of sleep I opted to stay in, not knowing about the noise factor. Probably I should have given in and just gone out to join them, but well... Alas!
I came to Tafí del Valle today on the way down to Tucumán, but I think it may have been an error in judgement. It is cold, rainy, mostly closed and I am the only tourist in sight. The upside is that I have the nine-bed dorm to myself (which might mean the first good sleep in a week), the downside is that there is nothing to do here and it´s too cold to enjoy the parks. I´ll be glad to head out tomorrow, assuming I can get a ticket on the bus out (the woman at the bus station refused to sell me a ticket today -- I have to go back tomorrow half an hour before the bus is scheduled to leave). Cordobá is next on the list, and hopefully I´ll be able to get there in one day. We´ll see, I guess. On the upside, I did buy a nice round of cheese here today?
Comments
You do sound more than a little bit like I remember feeling on my return from Norway. The familiar can be strangely disappointing for a while after a large volume of unfamiliar experiences. I feel for you.
The adventure isn't over yet, though. You are still on the other side of the globe from home; the particular cultural mix of Argentina will probably begin to regain a higher level of fascination in the weeks to come. I don't expect you not to miss the Andes and their people. It sounds from yours and Leela's comments like there is part of your soul that lives there now.
Thank you for the fabulous description of the rock formations on your trip! We won't be lucky enough that you might have some pictures, would we? It sounds amazing!
I love you tonnes, Lady! Hold in there!
Nicola
Transitions are hard, and you certainly don't have to like the process, but you will get to where you want to be and need to be.
Love you!
Leela