Hola from Bolivia! This place has been unreal. Such a big culture difference from Argentina – Bolivia has villages with mud brick houses and beautiful native people. All of the women have these massive slings on that are either stuffed full with goods or babies. Most of the women here wear a unique outfit which consists of a top hat (a “proper” top hat as our English friends call them) and long black braids coming out from beneath. They also wear colorful knit sweaters and full pleated skirts that hit them just below their knees. Then they almost all wear thick wool tights and finally (and who knows why), they wear these cute little wedge heal sandals. I’ll have to bring back a post card of them because I feel really weird taking their picture, especially when I can’t even talk to them.
Since we crossed the border into Bolivia it’s been like stepping back in time. We got on a bus right away that was so rickety I could hardly believe it could make it over the intense bumpy road we commensed to drive on for the next 9 hours. The landscape in the southwest of Bolivia is really similar to central Utah. Kind of reminds me of the farm towns around Price. You might think that made it boring, but no, I love it. So wild and open. We swerved up sketchy dirt roads, sometimes along sketchy cliffs, and then when you thought you were really in the middle of nowhere the bus would pull over and pick someone up that came from who knows where. We finally arrived in a dusty little town where we started our salt flats adventure. Yes, we came all of the way to Bolivia to go to the salt flats It’s the biggest in the world and one of the most striking landscapes I have ever been too.
Now we’re in La Paz, the highest capitol city in the world. We’re at about 12,000 feet elevation here. I don’t even know what to say about it, but that I love it. So completely speechless when I saw it for the first time from the bus window this morning. Can’t wait to check it out some more.

I had a wicked combo of time and internet this morning so I was able to finally upload a few pictures!
We're in Salta now, but we just came from Iguazu. Iguazu is this massive water fall that is on the border of Argentina, Brasil, and Paraguay. It's enormous, beautiful, and kind of a tourist trap, but well well worth it. We got there via bus and our friend in Buenos Aires booked it and it was luxurious, probably the last luxurious bus we'll take in a while. The seats laid completely out AND there was a food service included. I made them book us the front seats on the second floor so we had the coolest view as we wizzed through small towns too small to have giant buses wiz through them, felt bad about that.






Someone told us about a moon light tour the first night which was a really cool way to see the falls for the first time. They only do it a few nights a month, and we got there the night of the full moon so it was PERFECT. It was unreal walking up to it for the first time. The falls kick up so much mist that it blends with the low lying clouds.


The water's really high this year, so they had to close this platform. Just the wind alone made by the falls could through you off of that thing.



Next we got on another giant bus and headed to Salta. It's in the North West of Argentina and totally different from Iguazu. Yesterday we went with some friends that we met back in Patagonia and ran into here on a horse back riding excursion. Ya, I know, why did I come to Argentina to ride horses when I do it back home, but it was really cool to see how they did things on this ranch. It's an old convent that was converted into a home 75 years ago or something crazy. It's super green there, but arid too. There were giant cactus's (?) everywhere, but there were also green parrots flying around. Very strange.

These are their saddles and I was obsessed. They are so comfy. They are a series of blankets and leather under and on top of this saddle frame that had sturrups attached. I wanted one so bad! The guys on the ranch make all of them themselves.

Group photo - yes, we had to wear fancy helmets

Then they cooked us lunch on their grill and in these ovens. Mark my words I will build one of these when I get home. I don't know where, but the food that they cook in them is sooo good.

Finally our cute little hostel in Salta. It's one of my favorites. Salt is the oldest city in Argentina and the architecture reflects that. The beds in this place are not the nicest, but it's definitely my favorite ambiance. It's so sweet.

Next we're on to Bolivia. We leave on a bus tonight and midnight and should arrive at the border by 8 a.m., just in time for the border to open. We hear they give Americans a hard time - we pay more than anyone else to cross borders and/or go to national parks etc. This is because apparently the US charges everyone else a lot to come to the US, but still, Teri and I should not be paying the consequences! We'll see though, maybe they'll believe we're Canadians?

Is it just me or does it look like I'm missing a tooth in this photo?



Hiking on an island in the Beagle Channel



View from our hostel window in Ushuaia



So here’s the story about the long blog posts and lack of photos. We have been taking some pretty wicked long bus rides lately – hense the long blog posts because typing is one of the three or so activities I have to do while on a bus. The lack of photos is because internet is something we detest here, photos upload soooo slow and it ends up just driving us crazey, so usually I just copy and paste my writing and then add a photo or two. Anyway, that is my excuse, if you’re still interested do stick around.

Right now we’re riding a massive bus from Buenos Aires to Iguazu. Iguazu (which I’m sure I am spelling wrong) is a giant water fall that kind of sounds like a tourist trap to me, but EVERYONE insists that we need to see it. I’m sure it will be beautimous and it is pretty cool to be heading into the jungle. Because we’re American (oh, excuse me, United States of American – it’s a sensitive subject around here) we can’t go to the Brasilian side unless we want to pay some big bucks. As it turns out Americans charge tons of fees to foreign visitors and right now Teri and I are paying the consequences. Everything we want to do costs us more, just because we’re from the US. Anyway, back to the water fall – should be pretty cool.
Before leaving Patagonia (my favorite place to date) we went even farther south down to Tierra del Fueggo – the very farthest south peninsula or Argentina. There we stayed in the sweetest little port town called Ushuaia (which I am also sure I’m spelling wrong). It’s the farthest southern city in the world and it sits on Beagle Bay which is surrounded by the farthest southern peaks of the Andes. It was so peaceful and nice down there, and really not all that cold despite a million warnings we received. We went to a national park outside of the city called Tierra del Fueggo and it was pure magic. I could have just stayed there and been completely content. Both Teri’s and my camera ran out of batteries almost the moment we got into the park, so we took it as a sign to just soak it in and not worry about photos. While hiking there we ran into this kid who dropped out of highschool and now just travels and busks everywhere he goes to make money. He sang us a few songs that then we left him there in the forest, he said he would spend the night. It was so random. I told him to call his mom and tell her he was alright when he got a chance. I felt old.
From Ushuaia we flew back to Buenos Aires where we had a just a few days to get some business done (exchange money, ship some stuff home, etc.). That city really takes it out of you. The extra effort of always being on guard gets old quick. If we ever had time to sit in the park or go to markets we loved it, but most of the time we were there we were always running around trying to get everything done, so I can’t say I’m too sorry to be leaving it. We did squeeze in one more night of Tango where both Teri and I were owned again by some old men tango dancers. My partner kept trying to get me to do these fancy moves that I’m pretty sure I would be incapable of even if I could understand what he was saying. I looked so ridiculous I could tell. Teri on the other hand really got the hang of it. I think she’s going to go pro.

Break My Heart

This is what I'm missing out on back home right now and it kills me!

Teri the Amazing Hand Stander

Patagonia

I found my future home. It’s called Chalten and it’s in the South West of Patagonia tucked up against the Fitz Roy Range. It’s perfect. A small quaint town with few year round residence, packs of dogs roaming the streets (but not the nasty ones you see in ciites, the tough mountain kind), and mountains and beauty EVERYWHERE. We were only there two days, but in the time we were there we were able to hike up to the base of Fitz Roy. We went up with a group of kids that we met a few towns back in Calafate and happened to be traveling in the same direction for a few days. There were 8 of us total. 1 girl from Ireland and 1 from Whales traveling together. They had been out about a month and had made their way down from Brazil. 1 guy from Philidelphia who had been traveling all around South America and had been out 8 or so months, he plans to be out a whole year. 1 girl from London who was a photographer and had been living in Buenos Aires for 4 months off and on while traveling in between. 1 guy from London who had met the photographer in Brasil and they had traveled together ever since. Lastly there was 1 girl from California who had only been out a few days. All of this to say there are soooo many people out here traveling the world. 3 months sounded like a long time while I was still at home and after talking to these people it doesn’t seem like nearly enough time. They all have amazing stories about where they have been and where they are going. It’s been nice to get out into the travelers circuit to get the first hand advice because we have been in BA for so long trying to figure it all out, and now we realize just how much there is to do and just where we want to go.
Anyway, back to the mountains. They’re beyond words. Vast and seemingly untouched compared to the bustling National Parks we have back home. The other noteable strangeness is there are very few animals out here. Aparently there aren’t many because of the harsh conditions (yes, it’s freezing and the wind usually blows all of the time), but still it feels strange for all of this open wilderness to feel so empty. When I come down next time (and there will be a next time, mark my words) I’d like to go with a group of friends, buy a beater car, take camping gear and go everywhere. One of our friends in BA asked “What are you going to do in Patagonia for a whole week?” Which seems even funnier now because I feel like I could be here for months and not see enough.

Tango

We did it. We tangoed last night and it was pretty fantastic. Rose and her uncle suggsted this spot where you pay $20 pesos (around $5 US) where you spend the first hour in a class, the next hour tearing up the dance floor with your new moves, and then eventually they put on a show where they show how the pros do it. So we arrived an hour late, missing the initial class. One other detail they semi explained in broken english is that most people go to this sort of thing with a dance partner. When we first got there I was determined that we would still dance so I started studying the guys and tried to force Teri to dance with me, but luckily some tango efficiantos rescued us. Mine was a middle aged argentine pop musician metro sexual who knew a little bit of english. Enough to get me to follow his footsteps anyway. Teri’s was an older, slightly fatter tango man who taught her a thing or too as well. We both loved it. The focus on learning this dance is trusting your partner. It’s a pretty slow dance and the steps are relatively easy, yet there are a lot of different ways to put the steps together so you really just follow what ever the guy wants you to do. It might sound lame, but the coolest part of this dance was when you could really relax, lean into your partner and just go with it. Sounds weired, but once I was able to do that it was soooo cool. We want to Tango more. I also danced with this old guy who spoke NO english, but one of his lady friends explained to me that the group they were with (6 or 7 old folks) are a part of a senior center (over 60) that get together every Saturday to take Tango lessons. They were my idles. Out at 2 in the morning with all of their compadres drinking, eating and dancing. Loved it.
Lastly I danced with an Argentine closer to my age. He was an unlikely find at a Tango Bar (or so I thought)because he was hippyesque, young, and a hip hop/pop musician (I have yet to look up his band, but I feel like this could either mean something really interesting, or really no bueno). In his broken english and my next to nothing Spanglish we talked about how Argentines and most of the hispanic world partner dance from such a young age. He first started dancing with his mom when he was a kid and next with girls he knew at dance party/get togethers that start when he was around 12. It’s really natural for them to dance with a girl, whether they’re attracted to them or not. He asked me something like “How do you know how to socialize with boys without being able to dance with one?” I like the idea of this question/statement. Men here are so confident and natural about talking to you, makes me wonder if this has something to do with it. Here Americans are known for being stiff. They put their hand out to greet rather than the traditional cheeck kiss greating they all do here. When dancing it’s really natural for me to want to pull away a bit and look at my feet instead of rest up against a stranger and relax. It’s one thing to think “ya. I want to relax more and be more open”, and it’s been another to actually do it, especially in Tango. I’m giving it a try.