Lunapads

It’s crazy to think that I live so intimately with someone else and – most of the time – really enjoy it. It’s quite amazing to find someone that you can get to know so well and still find charming as all heck. Dave and I have been together for almost 5 years and we finally managed to save up and get the time off to travel to Argentina – which besides just immersing ourselves in a new place; also ends up being a personal journey, and a good look in to our relationship. We discovered we can travel for 50 days – seeing and being with each other 24 hours a day – and have a blast!
(This photo is us at Talampaya, the great red wall!)

Our travels began in Vancouver’s airport, and almost 20 hours later plonked us down in Buenos Aires - the tenth largest city in the world. It was so overwhelming, we were very new to Spanish and suddenly there was no English and we had a huge city to navigate. We struggled through those first few days and then finally took the next step and began our movement in to the rest of Argentina. We traveled by bus, which I have heard horror stories about in other parts of South America, but the buses in Argentina are First Class - with seats that lean waaay back, snacks and beverages, pillows, blankets and movies (often in English with Spanish subtitles, yay!) - Greyhound could learn a thing or two!
We did a big circle around the central region of Argentina dipping in to Patagonia in the south and the Andean Northwest; staying in hostels at night and walking the streets by day. We managed to do a lot in seven weeks, but here are a few of our favorite memories. Renting bikes and taking them to bodegas (wineries) along tree-lined roads with barely any traffic – heaven! Riding horses through cacti-studded hills with condors soaring above, catching glimpses of ancient petroglyphs. We visited Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) in Ischigualasto National Park and then Talampaya National Park, both UNESCO world heritage sites due to the ancient dinosaur skeletons they have discovered and the incredible formations that Earth has created there over time. We took a stroll through Ernesto Che Guevara’s childhood home which is now a museum. We saw ancient Jesuit ruins, intricately adorned architecture, one of the largest above-ground cemeteries in the world (and Eva Peron’s final resting place.) We drank good beer – Quilmes litros! - and tasted some of the world’s best wines. Argentina is one of the few places that can successfully grow Malbec grapes and they are only just beginning to export their wines (up until recently they kept all the good stuff for themselves, with good reason!)
We hopped over in to Chile for a week to stay with a wonderful family that welcomed us in to their homes. While in this country we went to the beach, saw some huge pelicans and ate delicious paltas (avocados) but the best part of Chile were our experiences with the Ruiz family – with whom we managed to have great conversations and lots of laughs regardless of the fact that we only knew pieces of each other’s language.
We met many amazing folks along the way - mostly other travelers from all over the world; fast friends who help to share your experiences and can give you the welcome relief of being able to converse in your own language. But Argentina’s people are some of the friendliest, most helpful folk we’ve ever met. They make family, friends and community a priority in their lives and it felt so good to be surrounded by that all the time – it really makes a difference in the happiness of life.
Its strange being back home, everything is pretty much the same and all the old routines just slip back in to place and you just want to head off in to the unknown again. We may not look any different (besides a few tan lines) but we sure feel different and we’re trying to infuse our newfound traveling spirit in to our daily lives. Dave and I definitely caught the infamous “traveling bug” and we are already planning our next adventure together.
Muchas Gracias Argentina! We’ll see you again someday!
If you want to read more about our journey, check out our travel blog.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 28th, 2007 at 5:22 pm by Sandra and is filed under Inside Lunapads, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.