Stop the time please

Dear future me,

They say that time flies when you are having fun. Well, I feel like I’m trying to slow it down as much as I can, because I’m not ready yet to think about the day I have to return to Holland. Or worse, the day I have to say goodbye to my preciouszzzzz. It is too painful right now. Although I still have 2 full months to go, I start to worry about where I will end up. For now it will be somewhere in the area where Brazil meets Paraguay meets Argentina and it will be somewhere in the 4th week of June. Pretty vague huh! It is not the fact that it is vague that unsettles me, but the whole idea that this overwhelming adventure is coming to an end. What doesn’t help me at all, is that I have completely fallen in love with Argentina. Can’t get enough of it! It is beautiful in all its facets, even so much that I get immune for all the Messi images that I see everywhere. The people, the food and the nature….one big WOW! So at least I settled my mind on exploring this gorgeous country to the last inch of it. And I’m taking my time for it.

Heading for Mendoza brought me already through some nice country sites. Coming from German fairytale realms in the east, I passed some imposing mountains to find my way to the national park of Sierra de las Quijadas. This was the first introduction into a theme that will keep me busy for the next weeks as well: color pallets. Some giant painter came to this country a hundred million years ago and started to practice her skills on mother earth. Her brother went to the northern hemisphere (see my blogs about my trip through North America) and both love the colors of red, orange, purple, yellow, green, blue and brown, so these 7 colors will dominate all their natural pinturas. Sometime they stick to only red and orange, but then they also practice their master of sculptures. Like giant pillars for example in the Quijadas. For now it was just an introduction before I arrived in big town Mendoza, together with mister Autumn. Very happily I exchanged my landings beers for landings wines, as the grapes from this area produce my favorite Malbecs. And, very Argentinean style, I didn’t particularly go for wine tasting, but for nice almuerzos with…. wine. Or in the English language: what we call diners, but at lunchtime. Really nice, especially when you only have to take a tram to get out of town to Maipu (valley). But Mendoza is also a beauty to spend time in. The architecture of buildings is pretty impressive and the whole town is set up very widely, to prevent damage from earthquakes. And they love trees here in Argentina, so all the streets are so gentle and peaceful Zen. It took me a while to get myself detached from Mendoza, because I also met some nice people here. The hostel with purely Argentinean people gave me a sense of belonging and as a grape on the cake, I finally reunited with the South African Australian couple that I met in Santiago. Or, half fully met I must say. She, Laetitia, was just out of town when I got to Santiago and left her husband Laurence for me to meet. But we kept in contact using WhatsApp ever since. And it is nice to meet people again on your travels, because it gives you the feeling that you are part of one big family. Even though some people move their travels to other continents.

From this point I took my adventures north. My bikey was also happy to hit the road again, since it is whole again. In Mendoza I got a ‘new’ handguard to fill the empty space on my right site, so I can take my bikey out to a beauty contest. Completely in balance I followed the route to the border of Chili to get acquainted again to the majestic mountains of the Andes. Here time stands still and you can see how millions and millions of years create the wonders of nature: the Puente del Inca, a natural bridge in a thermal infested area that adds colors to the stone. Or the highest mountain of South America: Aconcagua. Feeling like a little kid going on safari, I hear myself repeating on my video’s (censured by the wailing sound of the wind) that everything is just amazing. I also got some taste of the cold again. Exchanging the highest passes for moderate 2000-meter places, I got back to normal room temperatures again. So much better to concentrate on green valleys and 7 color rock formations. And meeting other bikers, because this area attracts a lot of fellow adventure seekers. For some Brazilians Argentina is their backyard and they don’t mind riding for over 2000 km to get here on their big BMWs to spend one week of their vacation. But also fellow KLR riders who love the color of my version. I should have no problem to sell it, they say……sniff.

Meanwhile, I try to keep my focus on the journey and roll over to the eastern side of this part of Argentina. There I see the sierra’s again, desert landscapes but with fertile grounds in the Valle Fértil. It is completely empty there, which makes my heart only beat faster. I know that the most interesting places are in the outback and I found yet another pearl in provincial park Ischigualasto. It sums up everything that I love about this country: following a 40 km off-road sandy circuit (in a caravan of vehicles) through Mad Max territory with weird rock formations, colored valleys, red cliffs and super polished stones due to water, wind and microorganisms. Discovering ancient history in the bones of the tiny ancestors of dinosaurs. Plus very lovely Argentineans that welcome you warmly and give you emotional hugs after the tour is completed. Just strangers, but again…feeling like family. I also notice that in my whole journey so far especially women firmly applaud my riding sola as if it gives them confidence that ladies are capable of amazing stuff. And yes, we can do it!!! Like mother earth who make all these beautiful stuff on her skin with the help of her painting and sculpting kids. And leaves me with this cosmic feeling of belonging.

Back to earth, I continued to move further up north. With a little help of WhatsApp and our Life360 app that shows us where we are, I reunited with Erwin and Josée in Catamarca. They already explored the north and are heading to Cordoba, but their stories of what is to come for me are amazing. But I will need the help of the sun to be able to enjoy it. Leaving Catamarca for my next destination (Cafayate) gave me the taste of riding in the cold rain and the thick mist. And although it makes the scenery very dark and mysterious, I do like to see more than 3 meters in front of me. Thus, I slowed down again to stay a little bit longer here in Cafayate to enjoy the wine and to wait for warmer and sunnier days. It will help me to brave the marvelous but stoney and river crossing covered ruta 40 to meet the gods in the endless high-altitude heavens of color.

See ya later,

Annemieke