South America

I have spent the best part of a week here in El Bolson and have had an inspirational time. I have discovered more things about myself in the last 6 days than in all the time that I spent travelling before. And my Spanish is improving a little!

I arrived here from Puerto Madryn which is a small town on the coast about 20 hours by coach from Buenos Aires. This was my first stop from Ushuaia and the continuation of my travels alone after my tour through Patagonia. This welcome start to my independant travels again began well. I met a nice guy from Austria, Groij, while waiting for the bus to Rio Gallegos from Ushuia at 6am and discovered that we were both headed for Puerto Madryn (19hrs from Rio Gallegos), and so could rush around together in Rio Gallegos hoping to make a fast connection. First though we had to get through a 12 hour bus journey, 2 boarder crossings, and another 3 stamps in my passport. Luckily I was sat next to a really nice Dutch guy. I think that we were both suprised by how much we told each other about our lives and ideas on life. I love this about travelling. I can sit next to a guy on the bus and because we are both in a country other than our own we start talking, and can have really intense and interesting conversations. This one really helped me to clarify some of the thoughts about life that has been simmering at the back of my mind for a while. I wish that we could have spent more time together as I think that we could have been good friends.

Puerto Madryn was a nice (but dusty!) little town, and was HOT so a very welcome change from the 8oC cold of Ushuaia, but not the blasted wind! I took 2 excursions there to see the local wildlife reserves of Peninsula Valdes and Punto Tombo, and saw Maguellanic Penguins (second largest penguin colony in the world!) and sea lions, elephant seals and numerous sea birds, and the most exciting of all; some live and wild armadillos!! These are amazingly cute and curious creatures and were very willing to wonder around the car park of the sanctuary while tourists clustered round taking photos. One of these trips also took in the delights of a 'traditional' Welsh teahouse in Gaiman. The Welsh settled here in the mid 1800s and this heritage is still visible today in some of the buildings and in the people. Although the 'traditional tea' would probabaly not be readily recognised in any welsh town and the teahouse itself looked more like a roman villa!

I stayed in a hostel in Puerto Madryn with Groij, and we came to a mutually helpful exchange of spanish lessons for debates about the finer points of the english language. I'm finding myself thinking more about the structure of English than I have ever before! However I seem to be forgetting an English word for every new spanish word I learn! Apparently this is rather like Homer Simpson's experience of learning how to make wine and so forgetting how to drive...

It was sad to say goodbye to my new friend, but I was looking forward to going on to El Bolson, which I had heard only good things about. I arrived there after a 13 hour night bus and took a taxi my hostel El Pueblito. It is 4 km outside of the town and has beautiful vistas of the Andes with a river running past outside the front door. The atmosphere is amost hippy with the staff greating every guest with an argentinian kiss on one cheek and friendly laidback attitude towards running a hostel! All the guests are Argentinian on holiday (and all seem to be from Buenos Aires!) and are very friendly too. It is a very interesting experience to be staying in a place full of Argentinians rather than international tourists, and has given me a wonderful insight into the Argentine ways, with the sharing of maté and rhythms of life.

A typical day here for me is getting up at about 9.30, eating breakfast on the back door step looking at the mountains and marveling that it is so hot here, but still there is snow on the mountain tops. I will then get the bus into the town and wander around for a bit, have an icecream, go to the supermarket, chat to a mate from the hostel. Then in the afternoon return for a siesta, then go to the river, or a walk and then have a shower before hanging around chatting to Lilen, who cooks a delicious meal for us in the evenings. (She has shown me how to make the very South American empanada I will then eat supper at about 10.30 with some wine shared with Lilen and a few of the other guests and the guys that run the hostel and then go outside to watch the stars. The milkyway is increadibly clear here, as well as the southern cross which is like seeing a friend again after I looked for it every night in Australia and NZ. I have seen so many shooting stars that I have almost lost count, but I have not lost my childish sense of excitement everytime I see one more!

My first day here I went to the supermarket to get food for the night and stood infront of the meat section. The choice was between some huge and obviously modified chicken breasts or very fresh steak, and for the first time in my life I decided on the red meat; it just looked so much tastier and more healthy! And it was delicious. This, as anyone who knows me will agree, is a massive change for me. I feel like I am a different person! And this sums up the feeling that I have about this place. I have found a second home. I think that I would be very happy to stay here and run my own hostel and live a life that could not be more different to the life that is in London. This feeling has become stronger after talking to Lilen and one of the guys staying here, Sebastian, about life in Argentina. I just identify so much with the Argentinian outlook on life here. It will be hard to leave, but also a welcome chance to see if the thoughts that I am having here are real, because they are so different but so welcome. My whole perspective on life seems to be changing, and I am finding it hard to work out what feelings are for real and what thoughts will seem silly after I am back in London.

So the next stop is Mendoza, and the continuation of my journey north. I will spend a few days there, tasting the famous wine from the region, before going on to Buenos Aires and probably staying with Sebastian and his family. I am very excited about this oportunity to experience real Argentinian life in the capital. But first a taste of the wine of central Argentina