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Archive for August, 2005

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al fin

Tuesday, August 30th, 2005

Attacked by 3 dogs (non ferocious, don´t worry) and got rid of an annoying Israeli guy who wouldn´t stop following me and Nathalie around…

well, it´s close to the end of my journey. I´m signing off this journal until I get home. Too many stories, not enough time while I´m here. I´ve become a Tilcareña. The locals know me here, too.

Tonight, there´ll be an asado in my honor (my going away party) thrown by a few locals and Nathalie as well. Will try to hit up El Nuevo Progreso to say my goodbyes to Cachamay, who is there every night, and Tupaq if he is there.

Yup, the end has come. I am completely content with this journey. I have had some of the most amazing experiences ever.

I´ll continue this blog post Sept 3..check back then. Chau.

Posted in Tilcara, Travel | 2 Comments »

crazy days

Saturday, August 27th, 2005

briefly, my ass hurts and I was accosted by 3 large voracious dogs that could have killed me…

hehe..well, having too much fun here! Went on a horeseback riding trip yesterday to a place called Juellas. We left around 3:30, got to las juellas (about 9km?), hiked up to a spot on top of the cerro, picniced, left as the sun was going down, then rode into the night under a star filled sky. We could see the silhouettes of the mountains, cacti, and rode towars the lights of Tilcara. It was so beautiful.

Today, Nathalie and I caught a remis to a place where there are supposed to be some thermal waters. We were going to hike back to town. When we got to the area, there was no pueblo. But we asked someone and they said it´s about a 6 hour ida y vuelta hike to the aguas. We didn´t have time to do it today, so we hiked back to town instead.

It was pretty wild and adventurous. We wanted to go on trails away from the ruta. We walked across tree bridges over the river, and towards an older lady. We talked to her, and she said that we can go down the trail through her fields (she grows lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, and garlic), then encounter the trail that goes along the canal. But she warned us to take sticks, as there are some mean dogs down the way. She warned us about one dog, a white dog about 2 houses down that is mean.

Long story short, we carried our tree branches along the hike. Ascended up a hill, with no real path to go down back to the canal, traversed someone´s fields (no one was home), and as we were almost out of the fields and to the river, 3 big dogs barking and snarling their teeth at us came. I´ve never been so scared in my entire life!!! We pointed our sticks at them, I tried picking up another stick but it ended up to be a tree root (doh), I tripped over another tree root, Nathalie held her calm the entire time, then we got to the river and they stopped at the property line. My heart was beating so fast. It was crazy!

To cross the river, we had to take our shoes off and hike our pants up. It wasn´t too deep. We continued on along the river and onto the canal trail, encountered a few more dogs, then later encountered a fence which we could not go beyond (dogs). We went down the mountain and met with a 9 year old boy named Sergio, who was so sweet. We talked with him for a while, he offered us more than a handfull of a snack (corn like snack). And when we left, he reached into his pockets and gave us both lollipops. Just like that. As we walked away, we searched for something to give him in exchange, and found some caramelos to give to him.

After hours of walking, we finally made it to the hostel and rested for a while.

People like Sergio, I will remember. Last year, it was a piece of bread a lady shared with me in Ecuador, this year it´s a lollipop that was given to me by a boy with a huge grin on his face. I feel like I have learned a lot on this trip, and have a lot more to learn. Compassion, sharing, and being a good person. It´s as simple as that.

Posted in Tilcara, Travel | 1 Comment »

Me encanta, Tilcara

Thursday, August 25th, 2005
More brief stories...enjoying my time here so much, that I´m doing less Internetting...haven´t even written in my diary, either..ack, so far behind! Let´s see...I´ve been here for about a week already, but it seems like I´ve packed in so much already. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Tilcara, Travel | No Comments »

Paradise…

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005
Damn, I´ve been out of touch. I´ll just keep this breif, but I´ve written 20 pages in my diary for 2 days worth of events. I´m not going to repeat it here, but probably when I get home, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Tilcara, Travel | No Comments »

Heaven part II

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005
Aug 20, 2005 Yesterday, I just took it easy. I went to the Archaeological Museum which featured displays from around the indigenous regions of Bolivia, northern Chile, northwest and northeast Argentina, and of Peru. The inidenous cultures here seem ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Tilcara, Travel | No Comments »

Heaven

Friday, August 19th, 2005
I made it to Tilcara this morning after 15 hours of being in transit. Wow, this area is beautiful. I´m in the dry Andes, where the mountains are green mixed with brown and red. I´ve only been ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Tilcara, Travel | 1 Comment »

Sàenz Peña Zoo and Ecological Gardens

Thursday, August 18th, 2005
I went to the Zoo and ecological gardens today. It was a nice day for it, full sun and about 70 degrees out. Better enjoy the warm weather while I can, because it´ll get colder from now on! ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña, Travel | No Comments »

A Sierra La Vigilancia pic

Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
Sierra la Vigilancia Here I am sitting on a rock admiring the view of the surrounding pampas and the sierra across the road.

Posted in Escalada/Climbing, Sierra La Vigilancia, Travel | No Comments »

They keep strange hours here

Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
I was trying to find stuff to do around town, and nothing was opened. The feriados was yesterday, but it happens that they´re still celebrating it here. I walked down one of the main roads to the plaza ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña, Travel | 2 Comments »

Is it steamy in here or what?

Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
The people at my hotel are so nice. This morning, I met a guy named Carlos who works there and served me breakfast. More medialunas...He was really nice, and told me about the things to do in Sáenz ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña, Travel | 1 Comment »

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