What story would be complete without the threat of jail time?

So, I can’t help but to squeeze in one last post.

The last few nights in Buenos Aires was better than I could have asked for.  The Opera was the best I have ever seen.  The theater was incredible and the stage was bigger than my last apartment!  Aside from cosmetically wonderful, the singing and performance was amazing.  I have never heard people singing like that in my life. 

The last night in Buenos Aires was spent talking with a friend made in Bolivia and drinking mate (traditional Argentinean tea). At the airport I was slightly early but thankful for it because the lines through security were so long!  I was surprised that it was so easy to pass through.  Unlike the States where you need to remove belts, hats, shoes, laptops, and anything in your pockets, Argentina just needed you to place your bag on the xray belt and walk on through, old school style!

Checking in my luggage/backpack they asked the normal questions: did you pack you bag? Are you a drug dealer? Normal :) When the agent asked if I had been with my luggage the entire time from when I packed to now I thought of the hours in-between that it was unattended with plenty of others while I was no where around, I said yes. I hesitated and flashes of drugs being hidden in my bag flashed through my mind. BrokeDown Palace anyone??  Shrugged it off and continued.

Went through a quick pat down as a secondary inspection and walked to an open area to sit and wait for my flight to board. Time passed and with a half hour to spare, I decided to walk towards my gate.  Checking the departure boards I noted that they had already begun to board.  Quick walk. Nobody was waiting at the gate, as everyone had already entered the plane.  There were two more check points I wasn’t used to.  First was just to look at my passport and the second they wanted to look through my carryon bag. They took my jar of jam.  A woman came up and asked me if I had any explosives with me.  I laughed (what normal person would carry that!) and said no. She waited for them to finish looking through my bag and asked me again.  I said no and felt a little uneasy now, why was she here and standing so close to me? She told me to follow her. We passed the gate and then I asked what was going on.  Another agent joined us on the walk. She told me I had a combustible in my check-in backpack.  We walked further and faster and I was getting really nervous as to where we were going.  I asked again what was going on but this time to please answer in English. She told me again. I started to think and then understood. I was going to prison!

No : ) Actually I was an idiot not thinking that carrying a gas can used for camping, intended as a gift to my father, was a very dangerous thing to pack on a plane! Even in check-in baggage. I told her I knew what she was talking about and that I had forgotten about it. She was unfazed by my plea of ignorance and stupidity.

We passed through customs and she asked for my ticket and passport.  She gave them to one of the agents and told me to follow her.  Without my passport? Yes, she said, and to come quickly.  As I was giving my passport up I tried to explain again that I was so sorry that I forgot something so simple.  I felt like this was one of those points as to if something bad were to happen, the point when I gave up my passport would be a regrettable moment.  She told me to come again and I looked behind me as I walked away from my passport. I told here I didn't want to leave without my papers and she assured me it was going to be quick and easy and ultimately there was no other option.  We walked to the baggage claim area and there was another agent with my backpack sitting there.  The three agents around me told me that I needed to open my bag and get the combustible. I dropped everything I was carrying and ripped open that bag pretty quick.  I thought that since I was not in a small box like room, that it was a good sign. Finally, deep in the middle of my bag, I found the large canister of gas I got from my Patagonia camping and gave it to one of the agents. I packed up the rest of my things and they told me that was it. She had me follow her once more back the way we came.  I got one more escort and we went back to the plane gate. I breathed. Sighed.  They let me one the plane, as one of the last passengers and super happy BrokeDown Palace didn’t happen!

As with every experience this large there is always the good, bad and the ugly.  There have been countless events of all of all types of situations but this was an amazing trip.  No where near ready to return home but, as always, returning and ready for a new adventure again :) Until next time folks :)

San Diego, I will see you in a few weeks!

Wow.  Internet is so much faster here!!!! More pictures than normal this time and in half the time. Priceless.

This is at Ricoletta Cemetery.  It was so much more beautiful than I expected.  This is also where Eva Peron was buried.

 Also at the cemetery.  This is where the rich and famous are buried.  Quite a few Generals. I tried to follow an English tour but the guide caught on and ditched me.  I did catch a story of a woman buried here who was still alive.  Creepy. 

 This is the theater where I saw the Opera La Forza del Destino, Force of Destiny. Amazing. Just amazing.  I understood maybe 7 words of the whole thing but I did research on it before so I got the jest of it :)

In El Chalten. It was a beautiful hike for a beautiful day.

La Boca in Buenos Aires. It was beautifully colored but also waaaay too touristic to be somewhere that I would want to stay for long.

Help! Being eaten by a dinosaur!!!

Also at the cemetery.

What a weekend it has been!

 Best part of Trelew is the dino museum.  It was well worth the wait!

 A bit of Buenos Aires. Lots of beautiful buildings.

 Rather than show a million photos of the neighborhood of La Boca, I think this dog house sums it up.  Lots of color and amazing :)

Can anyone find what is in the salad bar???  Excuse me, you are out of pig head...do you have any more in the back for my lunch?     Today I saw cow brains in the market. That is a first.

Last bus taken.

Last hitch hike survived.

Last load of laundry hand washed...YES!!!!!

Now in Buenos Aires and it is everything people have told me about.  Dirty, big and beautiful.

Professional dog walkers, cobble stone streets, horse drawn carriages, colonial 10 foot wooden doors. Bookstores galore (on book 15 now), giant cathedral churches, museums, boutiques and sidewalk shops aboud. Famed as one of the worlds greatest theatres, I bought a ticket to the opera that will show tonight in Teatro Colon.  I will be attending in my best clothing which includes sneakers, jeans and a maybe unwrinkled shirt.

I have, sadly, lost the companionship of street dogs.  The ones around here seem to always belong to someone or some shop.  There are, however, plenty of cats.  I don´t know why but they seem to be dirtier than dogs.  They hang out in the zoo, parks, botanical gardens, everywhere. Yesterday I stumbled across a park with dozens of sculptures dotting the grass.  Wondering around I was attracted to a large crowd and found a stunt car show going on.  It was awesome!  Lots of donuts, shredded tires, smoke, some sparks and squealing. There was even a ramp that the cars would power over and crush to the bottom.  It was great :)  Today is Evita´s grave site and bits and ends of things I need to do.  This whole trip has seemed to be like a long weekend.  I don´t feel like I have been gone at all. My bank account knows better but who cares about ´the man´and his numbers! :)  I may just become a street preformer here and juggle needles for change.  It could work! 

Aside from all that, this city is beautiful.  I was wary of staying here for so long but now that the end is near, it is no where near long enought!  I will see you all soon enough in tattered clothing and a giant backpack! :)

Hitching Glory!

As a treat for hitchhiking down south, I decided to treat myself for a bus up north.  Fate, however, had a different plan.

 
 Both of these pictures were from day hikes out of El Chalten.  Beautiful and worth it!

I met a younger American/Israeli woman who asked if I wanted to hitchhike with her North a bit. I think she was a little nervous and she, as I later realized, knew very little Spanish.  I decided a bit more hitching would be nice and we got up early the next morning to hit the road.  Leaving at 8 am and stopping in a few stores for some supplies we waited on the outskirts of town to get a ride. 

I have always been warned by other travelers not to hitch or a specific route was harder than the last.  Time and time again I´ve heard, going from South to North on Route 40 (which is like our Route 66) is difficult. I´ve heard of a woman taking up to 2 weeks to get up North. So, stopping at the store we built up our supplies....like cookies and a chocolate I ate almost immediately.

Knowing that it was Sunday and Easter did not help our chances of being picked up.  Neither did the realization that were were actually on the wrong side of town and going the wrong way.  Good grief.  Not a bright moment!!! J  An hour and a half after ready to hitch we finally were in the right spot!  We got picked up within 20 min by this couple who spoke English. First time I had been picked up by English speakers!  The brought us about an hour East to where we would pick up Route 40.  We said goodbye to the very nice couple as they went South.  The new view was.... desolate.  There was nothing in an hour each direction you looked, literally.  The intersection was the only change in the straight roads and we joked that we were going to walk back into town.  The wind picked up and I was wearing every piece of warm clothing I could find J

 

Everytime we looked to the South for a potential ride our eyes would water.  Stumbling around trying to find good footing, Ella and I got a ride.  YES!  It is so exciting when a car stops!  The man who helped us out told us that we were not allowed to speak English in the car, for the sake of his young son not understanding.  

Ella had a quiet ride.  He took us until nightfall though to Perito Moreno. During our ride we saw two motorcycles blown over on the gravel road by the wind.  Crazy glad that we were not hitching still!!  We stopped and helped out, riders fine but it was going to be a long day for them.

That night we found a diamond in the rough cabin to sleep in for cheap and set off early the next morning in two different directions.  We both took buses this day J  The next day I decided to hitch again, mainly cause I forgot how expensive buses were!  I got to Esquel around 1:30 am and found a hostel nearby.  Next morning I showered and left early for the main gas station in town.  It was cold.  Frosty cold!  After 40 min or so I tried to run my fingers through my wet hair and found it frozen.  Sweet.  I got a ride from a very nice family of 3 men who in the end bought me coffee and pastries after our hour long ride.  They left me at a gas station where I asked the attendant if it was a good day to hitch.  She said no and pointed me to the bus terminal.  The next bus was at 9pm.  I figured I could put in 4 hours of trying before giving up.  

Not too long after, I was picked up by 2 very old men who were incredibly jovial.  One was obviously drunk...in the morning? But not driving so i didn´t care : )  They said they were going to Campos and I said that was fine as long as it was one the same road.  They didn´t answer as to weather it was near a small town.  When dropped off it was so much more desolate than I could have ever imagined.  After waiting till their dust cleared I went to a ditch for a bathroom break.  Once in a very uncompromising position I heard a car.  Damn it!  Rather than run to the road trying to button my pants, I let it go.  That was going to be one of less than a dozen cars to pass over the next hour.  I did notice that in my ditch there were quite a few bones.  No idea from what... a rat, a bird, a rhino...I´m not too good at being a physical anthropologist :)

I played a rock throwing game with myself.  My right arm won.

I tried to make friends with a lizard who I just chased for 15 meters.

I groomed myself.

I stretched.

I sang.

I danced.

Whistled.

Tanned.

Cleaned my boots.

Ate most of my food.

Noticed giant holes in the ground and wondered how big those spiders would look in the night when I was probably going to end up camping.  Or how long it would take for me to convince myself they were going to eat me.

At least no wind!

And then a car stopped.  Sigh...relief!  Such sweet relief!  Plenty of space for my things. Mate (traditional tea) to drink and he even offered the rest of his cookies : ) He was going to exact direction I needed and we got into town just after sunset.  Perfect.  He is also going up north the day I want as well and we are meeting again for a last free ride.  Sweet!!!

I finally checked the numbers and I have hitched 12,300 miles in Argentina.  AWESOME.  Someone told me that that was a savings of just under $1000 usd.  Again, awesome.   As always, belly full and good memories!

Where to begin??

Well, first things first...i ended up in Chile.  Wanted to see the glaciers and heard it was cheaper and way more beautiful so hopped on over and here it starts! 

I wanted to take my first picture in the National Park Torres del Paine in Southern Chile, Patagonia, and found it missing.  First I shrugged it off, then I thought about it and started to cry :)  While sleeping on the bus it fell out of my pocket and I hadn´t realized until a half hour into the hike, bus gone. We had 5 hours to hike that day and it was already 11:30. Time was wasting. 

I decided to head back to the ranger station and ask what I could do.  Sweetheart Sarah from France decided to drop her bag and come with me.  Her bf, Adrian and Spanish Pegoñia decided to stay with our bags until we came back.  South African Toms and Elsh ( I adopted using their nick names) trucked on and would guard campsites for us. 

Once we got to the ranger station they said the only option for me was to wait until the bus came back in 2 hours. I told Sarah to go back and hike on; a 3 hour delay was too much.  She was hesitant but went on.  Over the next 2 hours I made friends with everyone in the office, filled up on the traditional tea, mate, and swapped stories.  When the bus arrived I was prepared not to find it but had such a good time with the mounties that it was ok.  With an understanding I had about a 2%chances of finding it, I looked on the bus and found nothing.  The bus driver came on board and asked where I sat then gave a once over again.  Then he called me over. YAY!!!!! Wedged between the seats my camera laid with pictures all the way back from Carnival on it!  I was so happy I gave the bus driver a kiss :)  And then hustled on out of there back to my bag and on for a solo hike until the campsite. When I got to my bag, Sarah, Adrian and Pegoñia had all waited for me :) Yay again!  And so the hiking began, 3 hours late.  The wind started to whip up.  Wind as in it would blow you over if you didn´t lean into it. When we finally got to the campsite it was still light and we were tired and ready to set up camp.  Elsh and Toms saved us some spots and we set up.  I immediately took a nap. 

Originally, I had thought of doing a 3-4 day hike but the two couples were thinking more.  I didn´t want to hike alone and I really liked these people so I decided to do the Circuit hike, rather than the W, for 8 days.  There were warnings of rain, wind (incredible wind), and sun.  Thin ozone so sunscreen a must.  When I went shopping for food I couldn´t believe that I would eat so much for 8 days. I bought a pot to cook in and gas to burn and figured I would be fine bumming a burner from someone else.  My bag packed was the heaviest of the group.  Sweet. On we went.

Cutting to the good part : Day 4 and 5.

You know, all I knew of Patagonia is that it was beautiful and majestic.  Nobody told me that I was going to be battling nature for my life!!! Whatever calender pictures!  You are all evil underneath the colors!
Rain, wind, and sun all took it´s toll.  My feet were well blistered, face burnt and happy as a camper!  Surrounded by beautiful snow topped mountains, drinkable stream water (AMAZING!!!), trees with beautiful fall colors.  Reds, yellows and greens exploded everywhere in fall colors with a white snow background. Endless amounts of waterfalls, moss, big and little trees, bridges and stunning glaciers.  I have never seen a glacier in my life and they are just as wonderful as I would imagine. Iridescent-blue that just seems to draw you in.  We also found out that we were the last people to go through the Circuit route before they close for the season.  I totally want a shirt that says that :)

Day 5 started when I woke up at 6:30 in the morning to get ready for the day and found it snowing.  Um, my tent is barley able to get through rain and now snow? Hmm. No wonder I was so cold the night before!  We packed up and headed out by 8.  It started to snow harder.  And the wind was picking up quite quickly.  About an hour into our hike we could not see the path any more and the storm was just getting worse.  Both my feet were drenched in mud and half of one calf.  The snow was getting to about 5 inches. The group stopped and waited to see if it was going to be better or worse.  I, unprepared for snow, was just soaking up the snow into my clothes and getting a little grumpy from the unrelenting wind. Three of us decided to head back.  Most of the group just stood there and wanted to wait it out.  There was barely any cover and I was getting very, very, cold. Either continue or go back but I couldn´t just stand there.  So, I along with Elsh and Toms, headed back. When we got back to the campsite we stayed by the sheltered campfire and dried out everything that was wet. I was able to score a sweet tent that was left for a Mountie and a sleeping mat.  I was sooooooo

Day 5.  Ready to go at 8 we headed out.  It was not snowing. Awesome.  We saw the sunrise over the mountains and it was mostly clear. Sunny and beautiful!!  Then the wind started. It was 3 hours up to get over the mountain and another 4 down to the second campsite. We wanted the third campsite that was an actual refugio.  It had showers and a place to cook.  22km total for this day.  As the day went on we were all very happy that we waited out the extra day.  It would have been miserable out in the open with all that snow. However, after swapping stories with the other group, we decided our group ended up having it worse. 

Now, to imagine what kind of wind we were dealing with imagine standing on top of a car going 65 miles an hour.  Then imagine wearing a giant backpack. Then imagine you on a cliff. And the wind rarely stayed blowing the same direction for more than 3 minutes so you can lean all you want into it thinking it will be ok only to have it change direction and you fall. I tried walking slowly, crawling, running (well once, that didn´t work out too well!) and it was all just the same. This hike was terrible!  Toms had dropped his water bottle and when I found it I actually looked for his body down in the canyon. Elsh said she thought nature deserved to be littered on by that point :) I could yell as loud as I could and Elsh, less than 30 feet in front of me could not hear. For over an hour we were out in the open.  Falling, cursing nature, and quickly using all energy we had simply to survive!  It was raining too.  You know, the kind that burns it is falling so hard.
Foot and a half stairs, 2 story ladders held together by shifty rope and lots of mud was the rest of our hike. When we got to the first campsite we barley stopped and went to the second, 2 hours away. By that time we were so tired and hurt that we all went into survival mode. Just walk.  One step in front of the other.  My feet were on fire with the blisters and I was so hungry I could have eaten slugs. By nightfall we made it to the oasis campsite.  We long stopped complaining, and communicating by this point just absolutely drained!  I had already made up my mind that I didn´t care to finish the hike.  Yeah, yeah, I maybe should have.  But, I also maybe should have prepared a bit more for things like snow.  I was tired of either not feeling my feet because they were frozen or they were on fire from the blisters. 
I divided up some of my food so that the others could eat a bit more and said my goodbyes :)  I also paid 30 US $ to sleep in a warm, warm bed that night.  Worth it.  The next morning I hiked 3 hours to the boat dock where my ride awaited.  I went with two other American girls who complained: ¨There were times that we couldn´t even take a step the wind was so strong!¨ Most of the time I bit my tongue but it may have slipped that where I hiked you could not stand up or you would be blown down a few hundred feet.
I must say that my only regret is that I did not finish with the same group of people but a warm bed is hard to beat!  This is by far the most bad ass hike I have EVER been on.  And perhaps it will keep that title for at least a few years :) I head back into Argentina tomorrow and then I am not sure.  I spent so much here I think I need to hitch back up north.  I think I prefer this mode of travel anyways.  Soooo many great, weird people :) Miss you all! 

She´s going down!!

Well folks, you get a very, very long post : )

 Well, I made it to Bariloche finally!  It was a rough start to the city.  The ride here was stunning. I have seen just about every shade of green possible on my trip (one park cited 2000 different shades of green!) and now come the blues.  The lakes I passed over were so magnificent in color that they…well..they just leave me speechless.   And I feel that this is just the begining to the beauty of Patagonia.  Everyone tells me how beautiful it is and I have asked for details but none come forward.  Maybe this is what they are talking about.  One ´indescribable beauty´ coming up!  Where I camped in Junin was an island with wáter crystal clear.  Walking to the campsite I saw trout swiming. I felt like I should´ve gone fishing like Hanks in Cast Away. Lanea and Conor, I expect you to be able to spear a fish by the end of your Mexican boating trip : )

Although camping was beautiful, clean, and wonderful, it rained a little and I wanted some comfort. Bunk-bed comfort but, nevertheless.  I was walking to a hostel that sounded promising over 1km away. I was starving so I started to nibble on a mini bread roll when bam! I have yet to fall (as in just a simple trip on the street) on my trip until now.  Let me tell you, falling with backpacks on is a sight!  I felt like I gained about 100 pounds just in my shoulders and thought I was going to flip on my back and wiggle around like a rollie-pollie until someone gave me a stick I could hold onto! That bag is heavy.  Like 30 kilo heavy.  Needless to say, my bread went flying, my hands scraped and knees hit but only because of the weight! I was on one knee and both hands and having a very difficult time getting up. That bag wanted me on the ground!  Fall wasn´t bad though.  Throughly embarrasing, but not bad. It took me a full 20 seconds to actually get back up. Grunting and cursing, of course.  At least the traffic was a good block away so anyone who saw was done laughing by the time they passed me : ) That is the great thing about me and falling.  When I do, usually, and miraculously, nobody is around!

I found the hostel with a note saying it was closed and there was another about 2km away.  Now those blues in the water were not so pretty.  I walked at least 4km until I reached a hostel in my already bulging budget and had space for me.  All issues melted away once I got to my room and now I can´t wait to explore the city!  There is also, no doubt white water rafting.  Good, hard class 5 rafting!  Bring it on agua!

By the way, I am toatlly a trucker. I have spared the hitching stories in fear of another email from my mother.  Don´t worry mom, I always carry a knife in my pocket.  A dirty one, so that if stabbed the person will be infected too.  Once I no longer want new friends, a full belly, great stories and not to know new little towns I would never see in a bus, I will stop.  Until then I have some great wits, dirty knives and a totally different view of Argentina and traveling. 

I´m showing it all for a ride : )

The Inevitabilities of Traveling

You will...

-Have at least 8 conversations where you have no idea what is being said.  Castallano is so different than Spanish, I don´t know where to begin.  A few hints: find someone who likes to talk, a lot. Nod and smile, frequently. When you don´t know whether to say si or no, just smile. This also may be a bust. If they are fired up, feel it out.  Throw in a ´huh´.  Which is perfect because it is slang and not always known but a small enough word to let pass in Argentina : ) When they laugh, do the same, usually followed by a jovial si.

-Oh, cheap TP.  I bought some the other day for about 25 cents a roll.  It is like a hot dog, your not sure of what part of what paper you get, but it gets the job done.  This is of the last piece of the roll. This is supposed to be the last square of tissue! I think the workers just got lazy and stuck a bunch at the the end!

-At some point(s) you will be eating empenadads and drinking beer or, wine and chips for either dinner or breakfast.  Whatever your fancy. 

What? A glass a day is supposed to be good for you.  Nobody said if the glass was a bottle or not.  I have a valid excuse: I have no cups.

-Sometimes the travel clock will be off for up to two hours and you will not realize for up to 5 days.

-There is no guilt about not working, not exercising, feeding dogs daily from the table, or taking handouts from people who think your life is...weird :  ) Free café? ok. Free home-cooked lunch with your tiny old mother? Ok.

-Most importantly, and a feeling I want to remember for the rest of my life:

forgetting every responsibily you have ever had in exchange for a simple coffee and book overlooking a green and populated central plaza for hours at a time.

Peps, if you didn´t know this by now, I love traveling.  If you haven´t, then I recommend it.  If you can´t long distance then do it in your own city. It is something so important to me I will gladly suffer through 5 bugbites on just my forhead at a anti-government road blockade to enjoy the company of strangers in a foreign land to watch a magnificant and new sunset. It is amazing. Make every day new. Amazing how much you can learn. 

People friends :)  They usually come with instruments and a band performance at the end of the night.  If your lucky, they ask you to join with either an instrument or singing.  If they are lucky, you don´t.

Hitch-Hiking, running, and camping!

Well, not in that order but I really like the title :)
Hitch-hiking story will be to come.
Running, well, it was a run. I did stumble upon a free zoo while in the process.  Free means that people can come close enough to touch the animals if so inclined.  Also means that the monkeys were fed chips and I was spit on my a large horned goat. Is anyone really surprised? Lions that roared, pumas that looked like they wanted to rip me apart, bird that could have eaten my eye for a snack with its giant beak and bigger, fatter, cats.  It was good fun :)
Camping.  Well my friends, I do think that my tent has weathered the worst. In a small town of Sierra de la Ventana the weather was chilly but beautiful. Lots of greenery, trees and abundant in birds! These birds were flying rainbows! Yellow bellies, green tops and blue wings with red tossed in somewhere. The campground was fine, and cheapest option in town. I set up and left to explore the small town.  It poured for about 5 min during the day and when I got back to my tent, it was fine.  Good.  For such a cheap tent, it has held up amazingly well.
 I may have had wine, cheese, and bread for diner and counted seconds from the lightning to the thunder while reading.  Then it started to rain. Then the lightning was so frequent I could have read by it! My tent was holding up ok but I was getting a little worried. Then it started to pour. Drip. Drip. That´s ok, I can use socks to soak up the water. Drip. I´m still ok. Drip. Now I am just getting wet. Then the rain gets harder.  I was under the cover of two massive trees and it was pouring under that cover.  I looked outside and saw rats running from their flooded homes. A river was forming inside my tent. Ok, time to move.  I packed all my things inside and zipped open the tent for a millisecond upon realizing, it was quite wet outside.  Maybe I could use the tent as a giant umbrella? Maybe unzip it, bug my packs on and turn it around and run while wearing it? I did seriously consider that.  Then it rained harder. There was a cafeteria type open building just behind me that I wanted to get my things to so at least all of my belongs would not be wet for the next 2 weeks. Taking two trips I got all my things out of the tent. I, of course, was saturated. Some other campers followed suit soon after and we just waited till the rain stopped. A few hours later and I went to access the damage. Well, I got my own little pool inside!  A few more inches of water and I would need a lifeguard :) I cleaned the tent up, moved my things back inside and laid out my sleeping bag.  I was exhausted and ready for bed. I laid down and the last thing I remember is the massive rock I felt between my shoulder blades as I fell asleep. Thankfully it did not rain that night. I did, however, pack up the next morning and move on.  I have splurged and got a room here in Bahia Blanca.  Mainly because the bus driver told me the campgrounds closed and it was very dangerious but tish-tosh!  My plan to train across to Bariloche has been foiled since the train derailed and-or there was a giant9 storm? Not sure but thumbs are ready and warmed up :)

No pictures today because this blasphemous computer has shut down on me twice already and I don´t have the patience to wait another half hour for pictures that may or may not crash it again.  You will all have to suffer with creative images of me runnig with my backpacks and a tent on my head, and a goat spitting on me. :)
Chow!

Dogs and hookers. What else is new?

 I just can´t get over it.  Traffic and the horse drawn buggy.  It just kills me!

 Tucuman at night.  Beautiful.  I met my friends later on this night.

 Some, but not all, of my friends :)

Another beautiful waterfall in the heat :)

Traveling is fun.  I don´t know how else to break it to all you but this is good fun :)  I swear I have been making plenty of friends in all new towns but these ones deserve a story.

So, making my way into Tucuman, I needed to find a hostel.  I knew there was camping but I really couldn´t (can´t) afford to get any more bug bites, they are driving me insane!  So I started my walk away from the bus terminal at about 8am and noticed two very friendly dogs.  They were just too cute to pass up a coo-ing and that is all it took to stick. 2 turned into 6 and they stayed with me the entire adventure to find a hostel.  It was over an hour and by the time people started to come about on the streets they started to point and giggle.  The girl with her two huge backpacks and pride of 6 dogs.  The dogs listened when I told them to be quiet, lingered when I was behind, and always came back to me when they left to chase a car...or bicyclist. They stayed for over an hour as I wandered around the town.  Two in particular never left my side.  I don´t know how more loyality could be possible. And so quick!
I finally found a hostel and the same two stayed outside, waiting for my return while the rest dispersed.  Broke my heart but I was exhausted and needed time to shower and nap.  They were gone by the time I re-emerged at night. Not knowing anyone in town, I went to scout out somewhere to eat.  I walked around and who did I see but one of my loyal beauties about 20 minutes from my hostel! He did not recognize me and I tapped him on the butt when he sauntered on by.  The dog actually did a double take and came running back to say hello :)  I felt like it was old friends finally seeing each other again :)  Within the next 15 minutes another one of my friends emerged slobbering and running in my direction, almost knocking me down when getting to me.  We laughed, played, drooled and enjoyed the night for about an hour.  When I pet one, the other would nuzzle its way under my hand.  When they play-fought, they tried to get as close as possible so that I may have had as much hair on my back as they.  It was sweet and I almost wanted to get my tent and camp so that we could be together :)  I know, whatever.  I am allergic to dogs but the bug bites are so bad I can handle most other itches now :) We said goodbye again that night and the next morning I was off to Tafi de Valle.  Now, here in Cordoba, I have apparently taken to some style habbits I may need to watch out for. 
Arriving very late to Cordoba by bus I found myself wandering around downtown around midnight, looking for a hostel.  Not seeing very many options and still wide awake I took a break to eat my sandwich and rest.  While chowing down I noticed that there was quite a few people with minimal clothing.  They happened to be female. ´Hmm´, I thought, ´it must be very hot during the day´and I made a mental note to wear ´lighter´clothing the next day in anticipation of the heat.  Well, it turns out that I was making style judgements according to the local hookers.  Great. Next mental note, wear glasses and put some clothes on.