Lauren's Walk About

A good friend has this crazy ability to find songs that are fitting for any situation...it doesn't matter what is going on, she can find the right song. I think its a special gift. When I first found out that my sabbatical was approved, Sharon sent me this song and I thought it was great so it is my official "Sabbatical Song". Thanks Shar!

We got up early to catch a 6 am bus to Chile. Our guide, Jose, had sat us down the night before and warned us about the unpredictable bus journey. He said it could be anywhere from 8 to 12 hours and getting into the country can be difficult. The roads would be very windy up and over several mountain passes as this picture shows...

All of us were a little bit on edge because of all the rules we had to remember (pretend we didn't know Jose because they can give him a hard time getting into the country, you are not allowed to take ANY food into the country without declaring it even if its as small as a candy). Our first stop was the Argentinean border. We had to go exit Argentina before we could enter Chile but the weird thing was it took three hours to get from the exit of Argentina to the place where we entered Chile. It almost seemed like no mans land. After all the fear Jose put into us, crossing into Chile was easy and there were no problems.

From the customs building, our hostel was a 10 minute walk down a dirt road. San Pedro De Atacama was a really small town with a population of 1800, 1 main square and 1 main street. We dumped our bags at the hostel and decided to explore the town and discovered a beautiful church...

The next day we were in for a big day! On the agenda was sandboarding and mountain biking! We planned to head out into the dunes around 9 am but in true South American style, we were biking out of town by 10:30. We biked about 4 km out to the sand dunes. Here we are ready for the day...

We had to carry the boards under our backpacks while riding the bikes. It took a little while to get used to it but we got the hang of it as evidenced by the bruises on our backs.

The roads started off paved but quickly turned into a very bumpy dirt road. From there, they turned into sand which was next to impossible to bike in. We finally got to the dunes and were almost too exhausted to climb them but after some water and rest, we headed up.

It took some practice, but we started to get the hang of it...

We biked back to town for a much needed rest and hydration. We had arranged with Raz and Penny, a couple from Australia to bike out to the Valley of the Moon to watch the sunset so met them at the hostel at 4:30. I was a bit weary of the estimated 14 km bike ride but was determined to give it a try. We started the bike ride and Raz and Susie took the lead with Penny and I bringing up the rear. We got to the park entrance thinking we were half way there but slowly discovered that we were not! The crappy thing about being the slow one in the group is, the people out in front wait for you to catch up and then when you catch up, are rested and ready to go again but you never get a rest! Just as I thought I we had FINALLY gotten to the viewing spot, there was a giant hill that we had to bike (read: walk) up. I was complaining the whole way and when Penny and I reached our breaking point, we just stopped and waited for Raz and Susie to come back to us. Lets just say, the bike ride turned out to be more like 18 km one way and I was not a very happy camper. Here we are at the top of the Valley of the Moon...

I guess the sunset was worth it (or so everyone tried to tell me)...

After watching the sunset, we had the daunting task of riding back in the dark. We had some moon light and headlamps to help guide us but the tour buses zooming past us on a on a one lane, downhill dirt road made it a little bit more difficult (read: terrifying). Good thing we had "Safety Susie" leading the way...

From Buenos Aires, we took a short two hour flight to a small town near the Chilean border called Salta. The town really didn't have a whole lot of attractions so we decided to try to see everything we could. First, we headed to San Bernardo Hill, where we could get a view of the city. We decided to take the cable car up to the top and then walk down. Having been on lots of gondola's at ski resorts in North America, I thought I was prepared for the ride to the top but for some reason it seemed a little bit more sketchy than the ones I had ridden before. I guess thats part of traveling in South America.

View from the top...

After walking down the 1000 stairs to the bottom, we headed into the center of town to check out the main square. The square was surrounded by cobble stone streets, a beautiful church, monastery and church. One thing I really like about South American cities is they all seem to be based around a main square where all the action happens. They just seem to be a very warm and active place where you could people watch for hours.

For dinner, our group went to a traditional Argentinean folk show. When your traveling, some of these thinks can be pretty touristy and dare I say it lame, but I think your obligated to take part every now and then. We got to the restaurant and it was empty which was a little concerning but by about 10 pm, it had filled up with the Argentinean crowd, which seemed to have an average age of about 60. That was probably the first warning sign. The show started with a 5 person band singing traditional Argentinean folk songs. The violin player in the band was hilarious. He kept checking his phone and texting during songs. This was followed by hours (and I mean hours!) of flag dancers, salsa dance routines and an Argentinean girl band (a la old school TLC style) that had a lead singer that lover her microphone way too much. Here's a sampling of the nights entertainment...

Needless to say, we needed a couple of these to make it through the night. While it was interesting, after 4 straight hours of it, Susie and I were angling to get out of there!

The next day, we spent exploring around Salta. We went to a winery, explored some deep canyons and caves and a small Argentinean town. Here are a sampling of some pictures...

Exploring the canyons...

Winery...

Susie sizing up the local alpaca...

We started off the trip right in Toronto with airport beers...over priced but worth every cent!

After a stop over in Dallas/Fort Worth and a 10 hour flight, we landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina early on a very cold and rainy Sunday. We couldn't check into our hotel so we decided to brave the rain and wander around the city. We wandered down the main pedestrian street, Ave Florida, which was completely deserted (which we would later learn was a complete anomaly) to Plaza Libertad and Plaza de Mayo, one of the main squares in the city. Like all the guidebooks say, Buenos Aires seem to have a very European feel. Having been to South America in the past, I thought I knew what to expect but Buenos Aires seemed completely out of place on the continent. The streets had architecture that reminded me of Paris, the phone booths looked like those in London and the government buildings were modeled after those in Washington, DC.

After a drying out in the hotel, we headed to the Recoleta Cemetery, a very famous cemetery in the city. Wealthy people buy tombs that seem to be more like houses. We wondered the streets of tombs and it felt like were were in a city of the dead. The cemetery was largely deserted and coupled with the gray and drizzly weather, the place had a really eery feeling.

By the time we made it back to Ave Florida, the city had apparently woken up and was much more lively. We decided to partake in some of Buenos Aires famous cafe culture and had dinner in a small cafe as we watched people go by. Great way to end our first day in Argentina.

Our second day in Buenos Aires was spent walking to all the different neighborhoods. We started by walking down Ave de Mayo to Plaza del Congresso. The street was lined with beautiful European inspired row homes and cafes. Plaza del Congresso looked like it could have been in Washington, DC. From there we headed to a beautiful, old area of the city called San Palermo, which is famous for its antiques, old homes and tango! The modern streets of the city just seemed to turn into cobble stone in a second and were were suddenly in what seemed like a Buenos Aires of a hundred years ago. We chose the wrong time to go visit it, however, because while we did see the beautiful old architecture, we saw none of the tango dancers we were promised. Darn!

After meeting our group, we went for a traditional Argentinean dinner which meant one thing...STEAK! This country was definitely made for me! We got a 8 oz stake for the equivalent of $6 CAD. Its pretty crazy that you could get a piece of beef tenderloin for the same price as a 6 piece McNugget meal back home.

I don't like pickles, or at least I thought I didn't. Your probably wondering what the heck do pickles have to do with travelling but I promise, there is a point to this! I went out for dinner a few weeks ago with my best friend and she suggested we share some deep fried pickles as an appetizer. I said "sure" doubting I would try any but just trying to humour her. When they came, I thought I would throw caution to the wind and decided to give pickles one last shot. The fact that they were fried in a vat of grease may have been the tipping point, or maybe it was the dipping sauce, but either way, I tried them and they were good! It made me think about how important a good appetizer is to a good meal.

So...as an appetizer to my sabbatical, I am heading to Argentina and Bolivia for two weeks with my best friend Susie! I'm looking forward to this trip as the start of an amazing, life changing journey. I can't wait to learn to tango in Buenos Aires, drive across the Salt Flats in Bolivia and bike down the "worlds most dangerous road" outside La Paz, but I think most of all I'm looking forward to sharing this experience with my best friend. I know it will be something we will talk and laugh about for years to come! 3 days...

Here are the places we are planning to hit in the next two weeks...