Argentina Update

Buenos Aries: The arrival to BA was no sweat, getting into the country was a breeze and when i arrived it was in typical fashion. a long flight, from a cold climate arriving on a hot day, sweating, confused and wanting to just get to my hostel. 1 confusing bus ride took me nearly to the front door of my hostel (lime house) which was located on 9 de Julio street, a good location to be. BA at the time seemed expensive but after traveling the rest of the country i look back and regret not taking advantage of how cheap it really was. food was mostly meat, meat, and more meat, but there was of course variety in there as well. My preconceived notion of south America was that it was a big beach and was hot all year round. as i figured out weeks later that is far from true but my other mental picture was on hot Latin Dance clubs that party till the early morning. As i am not a nigh clue/disco/salsa enthusiast i was not all to excited for this but it was something i had to see. Surprisingly i really enjoyed the 2 clubs i went to, one being a 15 piece percussion (drum) show which consisted of 100s of people on the dance floor, a really fantastic evening which entailed me rocking my baby blue suit, getting overly drunk and getting a greasy hamberger stain on the vest. the other club was less memorable but ended the same way, me passed out in my hostel dorm bed. 9 days disappeared in BA faster than expected, a city that did not have an over whelming South American feel to it, it could have been any city anywhere for that matter but a place i enjoyed and wouldn't mind returning to.

Puerto Madryn: a small 20hr south by bus from BA, this small town caters to a national park on a peninsula which hosts penguins, dolphins, and whale watching, as i arrived on Christmas day the only tour was for a colony of penguins 1hr south which i signed up for since it is a colony of nearly 1million. the city it self was very chill and i would have spent a few days here if i hadn´t already booked my bus ticket out of town from BA which was onward to Ushuaia. the penguins in Puerto Tumbo were great and it may have been expensive but was a great Christmas gift to my self on an otherwise uneventful day.

Ushuaia: the road to the end of the earth was long 32hours on a bus, and you ask was it worth it? this is still a question of mine, but getting there was a journey in it´s self as you watch the landscape change and the excitement builds as you approach the last city on earth. Ushuaia´s claim to fame is that it is the southern most city in the world, sure there are ports in Antarctica but none that can be called a city. the town it´s self caters to tourists as well as to trip to the south pole, i was unbelievably tempted but the 3,000usd for 11days was not so inviting. Instead i took a 2 day trip to the national park and found that to be quite enjoyable despite the rain/snow. 2 nights in a 12 bed bungalow to my self with a wood burning stove was not too bad, walks during the day, wine, fire, and some simple camping food by night. New Years was spent in Ushuaia at the southern most city in the world and really that is the only thing it will be remembered for the evening was quite average and again ended with me in a blue suit sleeping on the hostel couch.... a quick 19hr bus to Puerto Madryn Chile was to follow on Jan 2nd.

El Calafate: After returning from Chile on a 4 day hike i was ready for a nice bed but settled for the cheapest possible since Calafate was well over priced. the main attraction here is the Perito Moreno Glacier which is breath takingly spectacular. 70pesos to get there 75 pesos to get in roughly a 45usd day and that does not include the boat if you wish to float up close to this massive wall of ice (which i didn´t do). it was quite impressive to see one of the worlds only advancing glaciers shed massive chunks of ice as large as a house into the bay which it encroaches on. worth the 5 hours spent there.

El Chalten: 3hrs north of Calafate is a town that sucks you in and drains your wallet but the true beauty is free, the national park which the town is located in. home of the Fitz Roy mountain range, an Iconic Patagonia mountain range which lies just 4 hours (walk) out side town. This i sadly can say i never made it to, it was cloudy, a bit rainy, and windy as hell, so i opted for 2 relaxing days of strolling through the town and chilling in the hostel. bus tickets were already booked in advance as they sell out fast in tourist season and i had to leave 2 days later with out getting to see the mountains. for what it was worth, i kind of had my fill in Torres Del Pines national park in Chile a week earlier so i was quite ok with missing another mt. range. it would have been nice but ya can´t win them all.

Bariloche: set in the mountains, similar to Lake Tahoe or Lake Wanaka (NZ), this quaint but tourist filled town was as you may believe... filled with tourists. I talked to the guest house operators and they explained that i hit a bad year with terrible weather the hiking i had planned was reduced to a bike ride. An 18 kilometer loop weaving in and around a couple of the many lakes in the area i realized where the true beauty of this area lay. where the town occupies the hoards or tourists, it serves its purpose well, keeping the country side beautiful and clean. sure there are a couple of golf courses in the mix and a few hotels which lay in the foot of snow covered mountains but this other wise desolate country side was well worth the time and effort.

Mendoza: The home of some truly beautiful Malbec wines. I met up with two sisters and a great guy from SF and together we took a cab to wine country, rented some bicycles, and hit the tasting road. typically biking and drinking doesn´t mesh so well, but we held it down, visited 3 small wineries, took some tours, did some tastings (and no we didn´t spit), and had a great afternoon in the sun. the city was a bit larger than expected but a great stop to taste some of Argentina's finest.

Cordoba and Salta: A bit of a blur due to the great company I was traveling with, Sara, Vicky, James, and Olie reminded me that i am on vacation and sometimes it means taking a deep breath, having a glass of wine, a beer (or 12), grilling some food, and enjoying a good time. Cordoba being one of the first opportunities i have had on this trip to cook for my self (in a hostel), i took full advantage of the roof top terrace complete with a wood fire Asado (grill). the kitchen was semi equipped and the market down the road had nearly everything i needed.
Fresh and dry chillies ranging in flavors from paprika, to cayenne, and even as sweet as a dyed bell, i had what i needed to make a spicy American style BBQ sauce, and since Argentina is the home of good beef, selecting a familiar cut was all i needed to do. Wood grilled beef, smoked and grilled garlic bread, butter blanched and grilled leaks, cabage- pickeled red onion- poached candied plum- Gorgonzola salad, with a Mendoza malbec sweet wine syrup was what was for dinner the first night and each night was an opportunity to get back in the kitchen and have some more fun. teaming up with these travelers gave me a new breath of travling life. Although Cordoba didn´t really inspire me as a town it was less touristy gave me a new perspective into Argentine culture.

Salta: I quite enjoyed as a city, it was busy with locals going about day to day life, the park in town always had people hanging about, the cafes, and restaurants spilled onto the streets offering the normal Argentine fair of parilla (mixed grill), along with chicken, beef, or cheese filled empanadas. I think i took to this town due to its local busy feel. the bars were fun, the company remained the same, the salta hostel also had a roof top terrace so more bbq was made and beers consumed.

Cabra Corral: the last stop before leaving Argentina was a large set of lakes about 1.5 hours out side of salta. James, Olie, Sarah, Vicky and I rented a car, packed a bit to lightly, forgot bug spray and sun screen and headed out to the lake to camp for a couple of nights. we found a 10ft by 5ft, 6 sided tin shed complete with 4 beds and one on the floor, which sat 20 yards from the lake. three days here was a perfect way to chill before leaving Argentina. i took a few nights off from cooking and the 5 of us enjoyed the lazy days of swimming, getting a bit sun burnt, and chewed up by bugs, while soaking up the scenically beautiful and tranquil rural land scape.