Bolivia, Uyuni and the High Andes

Last I wrote, I believe I was on my way to Bolivia. Well, lets just say that it's been quite a ride from then till now.
I'll start with getting to Bolivia. I caught the bus in Salta around 10pm. The bus, which was supposed to be 7 hours, was in fact 9. This ended up being a good thing because it allowed me extra time to sleep, which I needed because they played Preditors (in Spanish) at full volume starting at about 11pm. For those unfamiliar with the movie, it is the most recent shitty installment and 60% of the movie is yelling and gunfire. So, you may be able to imagine the difficulty a light sleeper may have had, even with earplugs. We did finally make it by 6:30 ish and it was a good thing I wore my warmest clothes cause it was freezing and drizzling.
I opted to walk to the border hoping to cross paths with a ATM on the way to pay for the Bolivian visa. Nope. Fortunately, every Argentine (including border officials) I asked said that there is no cost, which is incorrect by the way. I arrived exactly at opening of the border 6AM. I know, timing seems wrong, but Bolivia and the border are 1 hour behind. The wait was 1 hour to get stamped out of Argentina. I found out that yes, you need to pay for the visa from a border agent, so I headed into town with directions to a cajero de cambio (ATM). That's right, I just walked into Bolivia without any hasle of getting stamped in, similar to what the border was like between Costa Rica and Panama. Naturally, these directions were way off. So, I asked around. Some people had no idea what a bank or cash machine was??? A very helpful bus official pointed me to the nearest one that of course didn't know what an ATM card was. So, I wandered some more. Finally, at the second hotel I stopped by, the manager gave me directions to the only working one in town. Turns out there aren't any banks in Villazon, just a couple ATMs and a million casa de cambios (cash exchanges). By this time I had burned about 2 hours and having heard stories about train tickets, decided it was in my best interest to buy a ticket before attempting the visa back at the border.

Last Day in Argentina

Hey everybody,
Today is unfortunately my last day in Argentina - well, officially I take the bus in the evening so I guess tomorrow is. Details. Tomorrow I take the bus up to La Quiaca at the border to Bolivia. I was considering taking a bus to San Pedro, Chile, based on a suggestion that it is less of a pain to get into Bolivia, that I could do the salt flat tour from there to Uyuni, Bolivia, and that it was only about $50 more. Well, as luck would have it, the buses were full till Monday and I´m not sitting around in Salta for the weekend. Especially, after seeing a dead dog with its spine and ribs showing (I think it got hit by a bus) and getting harassed by tranny hookers. Not that Salta is all bad. The central plaza area is nice and there are a lot of tours that you can do.

Argentina Update and Quarterly Review 1

Hello from Cafayate,
I´ve been in this little wine town for 2 days, which have been quite nice. However, with deadlines looming on making it to Machu Pichu before I leave South America, I am going to leave tomorrow, possibly spending one day in Salta, then heading to Bolivia. This is a cool "little town". It seems smaller than it really is, and has made it´s mark on the map because it can grow wine. It has seen an influx of wineries (most within walking distance) over the last few decades - most wineries here are under 30 years old, which also means that the wine they are producing is simpler (not as complex as the older grapes). It seems touristy here, but I think it is because of the time of year. January being Argentina´s month off. There are Argentines everywhere on vacation, so every place that I go seems a bit touristy. That being said, this town has a lot of charm and a lot going for it. Wine, obviously being the big draw, but it is nestled in what I think is a canyon. I say think, because I wasn´t paying too much attention on the bus ride. I´m pretty sure we decended. Anyway, there are rock formations and rich red hills that jet out. The scenery from the bus ride itself, makes it worth coming here. There is trekking and day hikes, some which you´ll see pre-Inca remnants like cave paintings and weird holes in rocks, which were apperently used for both grinding corn and something with interpreting stars. Or, whaterfalls, or ATVs, or whatever. I haven´t enjoyed it as much as Mendoza, but I made some pretty good friends in Mendoza.

Patagonia Part 2, El Bolson to Mendoza Plus Book Review

I am currently in Mendoza. I arrived at about 10 AM. My first impression is that it´s OK. The town itself looks like it wants to be like BA, but can´t quite pull itself together to do so. That´s not to say that it is a dump or anything, it just feels like it has been at a bodega all day and was a little tipsy when it came time to put in some effort. I am likely going to their massive city park today. Tomorrow, is a winery tour by bike.

I Need Snow

NOTE: I don´t know why the video only worked for a couple days. Problem is, I deleted it from my phone so I can´t attempt a recovery of it on here. I hope that this isn´t going to happen every time I try to post a video. Anyway, here´s the original post:

Patagonia Part One

The title says part one cause I´ll probably do a few posts from here because it is badass. This one´s short too.

AR Update, Iguazu to Bariloche

Wow, I just realized how long it's been since my last update post. Sorry about that yall. So last I wrote I was on the Brazilian side of Iguazu falls. On Christmas I took a tour to the Argentina (AR) side with the intention that they'd drop me off at my hostel on the way back. Doing this, I not only got to see the AR side, but I avoided the dangerous for robberies middle ground between boarders. Oh, and it isn't just a bridge, there's about 3km, which would have been really though with the 20 kilos I am carrying in 35 degree heat. So, because the tour was missing a guide and because the hostel dude was being nice, he took $5 off and the tour cost almost the exact amount it would have if I tried to do it all by myself and with none of the hassle. I just wish I wasn't having stomach issues on the 24 and 25. Both days they'd go away about 1pm, but on the 25th I didn't have the option of staying in the hostel till they went away. No, I was Iguazu falls and I was going to see them come hell or high watermelon. I powered through and a tip of the hat to the AR Parks system for they're excellent selection of restrooms. The only thing that I couldn't do was a small waterfall a ways away from the falls. Well, and the middle island cause it was closed for a while.