Hustling and Bus-iling

After two trips, four midterms and 67 hours spent on a bus it is time for a long update!

Two weekends ago, I went with my study abroad program to Rosario, Argentina. Rosario is 4 hours away from Buenos Aires and one of the second most important cities in terms of population and the economy. Rosario was great! It is significantly smaller than Buenos Aires and has a much more approachable feel. We spent two days exploring the waterfront, visiting where the first Argentine flag was made and going on a boat ride. All in all it was a very relaxing trip. My friend Hannah and I decided that if we lived in Argentina we would want to live in Rosario so we could enjoy the benefits of a city while also having the beautiful water and slower pace. Rosario reenforced one of my favorite Argentine customs: when the weather is nice everyone, and i mean everyone, is outside! All the green space is filled with people having picnics or just sitting and talking with their friends. I think the US would benefit a lot if everyone just slowed down a little and enjoyed more time outside with friends and family.

The Monument to the flag:

Last Wednesday, Hannah and I embarked on our biggest trip yet to the provinces of Jujuy and Salta in the extreme northwest of Argentina, near Bolivia and Chile. Nineteen hours later, we were in Salta, the capital of the provinces. The next day got off to a little too exciting start when we realized at 6:15 am that the key to our lock had been locked in with all of our stuff (fine, i admit it, i locked it in). Don't worry, we apparently have the skills necessary to be burglars and broke open the cabinet, grabbing our stuff and arriving at the bus station at 6:56, perfect timing for a 7am bus.

Five hours later we disembarked in Humahuca, a tiny town in Jujuy and definitely the most remote place I have ever been. We instantly fell in love with this precious area. Its is a very small town, centered on a plaza with beautiful architecture, surrounded by breathtaking scenery, very colorful rock formations. We spent the day wandering between sites (never more than two blocks), making friends with local children (they loved the sillybandz we gave them) and enjoying traditional food before heading back to Salta to meet up with more of our friends.

The next day we took a tour that led us to many amazing places. First stop, Tren de las Nubes. This train is extremely important to the region because it connected Salta with Chile and the coast, across the Andes. It is the third highest rail system in the world and goes through some pretty tough terrain. Now it is primarily used for tourism, but is still responsible for bringing in a significant amount of revenue.

After spotting the train we headed to some old ruins, of a tribe that was conquered by the Incas. The ruins were expansive and it was very impressive how they were set up. Agricultural areas were carved into the sides of hills so that the water could be directed to them. After enjoying the view we continued on to a small anthropological museum where we literally came face to face with a mummy. Next, we stopped in San Antonio de los Cobres for lunch. At this point we had gained a lot of altitude and were given coca leaves and a special soup to help our bodies adjust. With our stomaches filled we headed off to the most anticipated stop of our journey: Las Salinas, the salt flats.

Indigenous Ruins:

San Antonio de Los Cobres: 12 people live in each house!

After two and a half hours on an unpaved road we were there! They were unreal! Las Salinas is where a lake used to be but after drying up all that is left is an expansive salt crust, you can see the mountains in the distance. Here we were in awe but got over it in order to taste the ground (how often do you get a chance to eat what you are walking on?) and take cool, optical illusion pictures. Las salinas is definitely one of the top coolest things I have ever seen.

We then began the long trip back to Salta. We stopped at the highest altitude of our trip, 4170 meters before starting the descent. We made one more stop in the small town of Pumamarca to view a typical northwest town. The scenery on the drive was amazing, the rocks looked like they were painted because they had so many colors, it almost made me glad that I took geology last semester, almost.

Our last day was spent exploring Salta. The town is known for its beautiful and distinct styles of architecture. The coolest thing we saw was the Anthropology museum. Recently, mountain climbers found the bodies of three Incan children, perfectly preserved, and i mean perfectly, there clothes had not lost any colors and food was still in their stomaches even though they had died 500 years ago! They were probably part of a human sacrifice. Learning about the history and culture was fascinating and seeing one of the children up close was unreal! We couldn't take pictures but here is a cool article from the New York Times.

We then took a cable car up a mountain to get the full panoramic view of Salta before starting the 22 hour trip back to Buenos Aires. 59 hours on a bus was a lot for one weekend but definitely worth every second because the things we saw were incredible and the fact that they are so far removed from the busy, modern world makes them even cooler.

Hasta Luego,

Miriam