April 4-6, 2006
Day 188-190

For the last few days, I've been staying with Julita. It's been nice because I've done a lot of hanging out with her friends. I don't feel like such a tourist when there are no foreigners around besides myself. Together we've gone to some parks, drank mate, played pool, and played TEG a little more.

The main highlight of my stay has been the tour of the city's theater in the center of town to get a look behind the scenes. During the tour, we say people making props, sewing costumes, and checking the lighting. I never realized how much work went into doing a play or an opera, and that's not even taking the acting into consideration. The theater is really nice, so it's too bad I'm not going to get a chance to go back and see a production in the near future.

April 3, 2006
Day 187

Last night I took an overnight bus to La Plata, which is about an hour south of Buenos Aires. I'm staying with Juliana, who I originally met back in Vina del Mar, Chile in December when we were both couchsurfing in the same place. I slept most of the afternoon because I was too tired due to lack of sleep on the overnight bus.

Tonight I hung out with some of Juliana's friends. We played a few games of pool at a pool hall and headed back to the apartment for a game of "TEG," which is like "Risk." My luck with the dice was bad so I failed to take over the world for now. Maybe some other time.

April 2, 2006
Day 186

Leyana, an Argentine I met yesterday, Ben, from Washington DC, and I all wanted to go to the national park near San Luis. It would be very difficult to access with public transportation, so we agreed to go with another Argentine couple in their car and pay them gas money. Once we got to the park, we paid an entrance fee and signed up for a tour, which was required in order to try to keep the new park pristine.

I was amazed at how beautiful the park was. It was like walking along the Grand Canyon. Huge red rocky walls nested in by swooping condors were everywhere. About the only plants growing in the area were cacti, but we saw plenty of other animals like beetles and guanaco as well. The whole place was mind-bogglingly big, with rock formations stretching as far as you could see.

The park is only about 15 years old, so it looks like it has barely been touched by humans. Indeed, not too many tourists visit it, just like the rest of the attractions in the area. That got me thinking: for the last three days, I have had to find city buses, get rides from strangers, and walk long distances to get everywhere around here. I'm willing to put in the time and effort to see the sights, but most tourists probably aren't. I bet with a better transportation infrastructure to places like the national park, tourists would flock to the area in droves. On second thought, maybe I should keep this entry a secret.

April 1, 2006
Day 185

Today I took a bus with Leyana from Buenos Aires to a small town about two hours from San Luis. Our first stop was to a giant cave used by native peoples over 7000 years ago. Next, we drove by some beautiful rocky landscape and stopped at several of the formations for a closer look. Finally, we went to the gold mine.

The mine was used back in the 1800's. The first thing I noticed when I started walking through it was how high the ceilings were. Unlike the mine in Potosi, Bolivia, my head remained completely intact throughout the tour. The mine's tunnel was really long, but it didn't branch off very often. Only when large gold deposits were found did the miners feel the need to dig to the sides. Toward the back of the tunnel, we branched off to the side and decided to turn our headlamps off. Never before have I experienced a darkness as complete as that. Even after five minutes, my eyes didn't adjust because there was no light to adjust to. I couldn't even see my hands when they were an inch from my face.

After the tour, it was time to head back. The only bus to San Luis didn't leave for another two hours, but a couple on our mine tour who happened to be on their honeymoon was nice enough to drive us back. The drive back was scenic, and it was a lot more fun driving around the curvy roads in a car than in a bus. We thanked the newlyweds and headed back to the hostel to end the day.

March 31, 2006
Day 184

This was a long day of walking. First, I took a bus to Potrero de los Funes, a small town near San Luis. My main goal was to see a waterfall that looked impressive in the brochures I saw last night.

I took a path that ran somewhat parallel to the river on which the waterfall was located. Eventually, the path went up a large hill and steered away from the river. Then the path ran out and I was forced to walk through an endless gauntlet of prickly bushes. After awhile, I realized that what I was doing was stupid. I was walking through some really rough terrain wearing sandals, and I was getting cut up. I could still hear the water from the river, though, so I worked my way down the hill and walked along the river instead.

There wasn't much of a path along the river, but I didn't mind because my sandals made it easy to walk through the water. So I guess wearing them today was both a good and bad idea. When I finally reached the waterfall, I was a bit disappointed. It looked a lot better in the tourism information posters than in real life. That probably should not have been such a surprise to me.

Eventually, I walked back to Potrero and began my quest to find a convent. I asked around and found out that it was only 5 KM away, but that it was uphill. They weren't kidding. After walking straight uphill for over an hour, I got to the top. The convent didn't appear to be open to the public at the time because there were several nuns carrying water around and praying. It looked really small anyway, so I went back to the top of the hill. The view of the area was great. It was such a clear day, I could see the curvature of the Earth. I watched a great sunset and walked another 6 KM downhill to La Punta, the city on the other side of the hill, at which point I took a bus back to San Luis. I'm glad I stopped here on the way to Buenos Aires because the area is really nice and there are almost no tourists to be seen.

March 30, 2006
Day 183

It was time to leave town today. Everything I needed to get taken care of for my insurance was done. The waiting game had begun. I said goodbye to Kristian and Wendy and headed to the bus station.

My next stop was San Luis, just a few hours east of Mendoza. At the bus station, I found several companies with buses going to San Luis, but none of them would leave for at least two hours. Finally, I was able to find one that was set to leave in five minutes. I bought my ticket and went to the platform the bus supposed to be at, anxious to get out of town.

Buses are commonly late in Argentina, so for the first half hour, I waited patiently. A lot of other people around me seemed to be in my predicament as well. I started asking around, and everyone else was indeed waiting for the same bus, too.

After an hour, I did some more investigation. The lady who sold me the ticket didn't seem to have much of an explanation other than the bus still hadn't shown. Finally, after about two hours of waiting, the bus showed up. The driver was unapologetic and we took off without another word being said. So much for searching for the bus leaving the soonest.

By the time I got so San Luis, it was already late at night. I found the only hostel in town and got settled in. I hadn't planned on doing much in San Luis, but I got some information from the hostel owner and it looks like there is a lot to do around here. Maybe I'll stay for a few days after all.

March 29, 2006
Day 182

Today I learned about a game of Ultimate that was being played in town. I met up with Kristian, Wendy, and several of their fellow students this afternoon at one of the university's large soccer fields for the game. It wasn't very organized, but it still was a lot of fun. One thing that became apparent right away was that everyone playing was a foreign exchange student. South Americans like kicking balls, not throwing discs. Anyway, it was nice to take a break from robbery-related items for a few hours to play ultimate for the first time in a long time.

March 27-28, 2006
Day 180-181

After getting all of my most valuable possessions stolen from me by thugs with guns, I had to spend a few days sorting everything out. First, I went back to the police station with Kristian. They gave me a final copy of the police report, but it wasn't a complete copy of my statement. Instead, they only gave me a list of the items that were stolen. I hope that's good enough for the insurance company.

I also went to the embassy with Kristian and Wendy to report what had happened. Everyone was concerned for our safety, but they admitted that there wasn't much they could do. At least maybe they'll be able to warn other travelers not to attempt to walk to the top of Cerro Arco.

Most of the rest of my time was spent getting the insurance process going. I had to send out several emails, make a few phone calls, and figure out what I had done with my receipts. I think it's all in order, but now I have to wait for my insurance company to answer some of my questions before I can do anything else. I hope all goes well, but I can see a big battle in my future.

The good news is that everyone I have met has been extra nice to me lately. I have barely told anyone what happened, but it seems that every random person I meet on the street wants to strike up a conversation with me. One person in particular that stuck out in my mind was a lady selling fruit in the city's central market. She noticed that Ines, Kristian, and I were tourists and asked where we were from. When Ines said she was from Germany, they lady started talking to her in German! Ines had never before met someone from South America who spoke German so fluently. Then she started speaking English, and said that she knew Italian, too! She had never even left Argentina, either. I couldn't believe that such a sweet lady who spoke four languages would work in a fruit stand.

I had big plans for Mendoza when I got here. The biggest bodegas in Argentina, the tallest mountain in South America, whitewater rafting, and national parks are all nearby. However, now that I got robbed, I don't really have the ambition to see any of that stuff. I'm just going to chill out for a few more days, work on my insurance claim, and take off for San Luis.