Greetings from the Gringa Gaucha

There is nothing in the world quite like the feel of a horse galloping at full speed. With adrenaline pumping, one soon overcomes the feeling of absolute, terrifying fear, and allows their body to give in to the movement of the animal. This feeling is without a doubt the highlight of the two day horse riding trip that I just took in the area surrounding the town of Tupiza in the south of Bolivia. Being relatively new to horses (I´ve been on one three times previously for a combined total of 5 hours), the decision to sign up for two full days on one was not taken lightly. Nonetheless, it had been strongly recommended to me by a good traveling buddy of mine. I am elated that I chose to take his advice. The area surrounding the town of Tupiza is reminiscent of some parts of the American Southwest, with colourful desert, cactus, red mountains, and impressive rock formations dotting the landscape. In fact, it is rumored that somewhere near here, in this same landscape, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid finally met their demise. Myself, my horse Jepeto, three other gringos, and our guide Eduardo, explored this phenominal landscape, spending somewhere in the range of 6-7 hours on horseback per day (total 12-13 hours). It goes without saying that today, safely back in Tupiza, I am painfully reminded of muscles in my body that I didn´t before know existed. For the night separating our two days, we slept in basic accomodations in the town of Espicaya, a small town home to only 120 families. The town is settled at the base of impressive cliffs and overlooks beautuful red mountains. The highlight was a nighttime campfire where we chatted, and sang songs in the courtyard of abandoned mud-brick buildings at the base of a cliff. Very impressive place to be.

So much has happened since my last blog. Again I apologize for not taking the time to sit down and write. I will try to summarize some of the highlights.... After treating myself to a much needed massage in the otherwise boring town of Corrientes, I was off on an overnight bus to the northern Argentinian town of Salta. Salta is a wonderful place for it´s natural environment and it´s folkloric tradition. It is here and in the outlying regions, that one can see the traditional Gauchos, the Argentinian cowboy. Hence, the title of this post...After spending two days on horseback, I can now call myself a Gringa Gaucha, or a white/foreign cowgirl. My first day in Salta was an adventurous one as I finally decided to go paragliding (after many years of bumbling over the idea). It turns out that paragliding is much more tranquilo (or gentle) than I had previously thought. Simply put, I was strapped to a paragliding pilot, and took some steps with him, while the parachute caught the wind, then ran off the edge of the mountain. Once in the air, depending of course on the wind conditions, one literally glides around smoothly. The view was lovely and the experience of floating above the ground is surreal. I was suprised to learn that one lands in the exact place from where they take off...Nonetheless, a good experience as in addition to the flight, we (myself and a Danish guy I met), got to hang out with the pilots and their kids for a bit. That night, we were off to a nice dinner, followed by a folkloric show, where I was grabbed by one of the gauchos in traditional dress and made to dance a traditional dance. I was very happy for the tango class I had taken in BsAs where the teacher taught us some basics of folkloric dance. While I was by no means good, I, at very least had seen the dance before.

The next day was mostly a tranquil one, highlighted by another folkloric show and the meeting of some friends with whom to rent a car and explore the surrounding regions of Salta. Hence, the next day, myself and three men (a German, a Dane and an Israeli) embarked on a three day roadtrip first south, then north of Salta. The trip was pleasant with much driving through beautiful landscapes, ranging from dry desert, to a variety of mountainous ranges, to lush cloud forest. The first day we drove the charming town of Cachi, then spent the night in the fairly touristy town of Cafayate. The next day we drove north through mountains, dirt roads, and dangerous curves to the seemingly deserted town of San Antonio de los Cobres. I don´t think I have ever been in a place like San Antonio as we arrived there after dark and seemed to be the first foreigners who had ever been there. This, of course, isn´t true, as there is both a hostel and a pricey (relative) hotel in town. However, now is the low season as we are inwinter, and aside from one Chilean, we found the hostel to be deserted. Lucky for us, the Chilean works in tourism and conducts night tours of the stars (Chile is a global leader in astrology). He took us on a short walk where I was lucky enough to see the southern cross, the scopion, Mars and Jupiter. The next day was likely the highlight of the three days as we visited some salt flats. It is here that the boys taught me to drive! Well, to drive the way that they do in the rest of the world, ie: manual. The salt flats are incredible as all you can see is a field of white. All perspective is lost as this almost hallucinogenic landscape (as described by the ´bible´, The Lonely Planet South America), speads out as far as the eye can see. In the safety of this salty wasteland, the boys corageously let me take control of the car, and showed me what exactly it is that one does with a clutch. And, I was surprisingly good at it! Yup, that´s right. So good in fact that they let me keep driving. So, on my first day manning a manual gear shift, I drove about 50km, up a curvy mountain (labeled frequently with exclamation points marking the sharpness of the turns) to a hight of almost 4000m. Wonderful! After visiting the touristy town of Purmamarca, we were back in Salta for the night.
The next day was again tranquilo, awaiting a midnight bus. The highlight came when we (me and the Dane) realized that there was a small football match on that afternoon, and rushed to the cancha (field). The game was super-fun as we were in the standing only popular section and hung out with locals who were all to happy to shower us with paper confetti. I was still finding paper all over for much of the next day.
Then an overnight bus to the border. We walked across a bridge to the Bolivian town of Villazon. Mostly a transfer point, locals here clearly do not like their gringo friends, and although it was the towns anniversary and the streets were filled with festivities, I did not receive a particularly friendly response from those I tried to engage in conversation. ´Nonetheless, it was fun to happen upon a party... That afternoon we were off to Tupiza where you find me now.

Tomorrow, provided I can find a tour that has space for one more, I will be off on a four day trip to the Salar of Uyuni, the world´s largest salt flat. It is meant to be a phenominal experience. I can´t wait... With a little over 3 weeks left in Bolivia, I am embarking now on the gringo trail. Full steam ahead....

Lots and lots and lots and lots of love from Tupiza, and a thank you for joining me on this voyage,
Amy

p.s. I will try to bring my USB and upload some pics soon.