Worn the same two changes of clothes over and over again

Sniffed my clothes to see if I can wear them again. More often than not, I ended up with a plaque clearing, head shaking “woah.”

Eaten dinner alone. ( I wonder if it’s related to wearing the same clothes over and over again. )

Watched bad, mindless TV in my hotel room. I knew it was time to go when I came across a Fran Drescher (The Beautician and the Beast) movie, and I WATCHED IT!!

Solitaire

Peru

Chicken with french fries. Everybody eats chicken with french fries outside of Brazil and Argentina. And when you can find something else, you almost always get french fries.

Bad coffee.

Things I haven’t done enough of -

Learned enough Spanish or Portuguese

Seen enough of the world, specifically, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Lan Peru

Seen enough Brazilian beaches, specifically bikinis.

Started a revolution in Bolivia, becoming El Presidente. I was sick the entire time I was there, restricting my political goals.

Law and Order and CSI – Las Vegas. I’ve gotten kind of addicted to these shows, I’m hate to admit. I haven’t watched hour long TV shows since “Hill Street Blues.” Then again, the other option was well, staring at the walls.

Taken enough pictures.

Brazilian steak houses.

Argentinean steak houses.

Things I’ve learned…

Seattle is the greatest city I’ve come across. Buenos Aires was pretty nice, and I could probably have been talked into living there. But Seattle has it all – geeks, different cultures, art, music, fast and free internet access, mountains, CSI and Law and Order, pasty women (wait – strike that.) and gadgets.

America leads the world in bathroom technology. Granted the Japanese have a pretty good lock on the toilets, but they can’t compete with our whole package – shower and toilet. I start my showers now with a rousing “Star Spangled Banner”, a salute, and occasionally a tear.

I’m tired of being single. I’ve seen a lot of really cool stuff, but I want someone to share it with. I have this to refer too, but it’s not the same. The times spent with Louis were some of the best time of my trip, and a large part of it was there was someone to talk to. I don’t think I’m going to take a trip alone again.

I like my country more now than I did before. I mean I liked it before, but now, I think it’s even cooler. Especially the showers, and the soft, soft toilet paper that you flush away.

People in the US are horrible drivers. I didn’t see bad drivers anywhere in Latin America. The only wreck I saw was in Buenos Aires, where, incidentally, they are the most polite (no horns, respected pedestrians, etc.)

I’ll go back to Argentina.

I still can’t grow a beard.

Once I get back into Buenos Aires, I decide to splurge a _little_ bit on my hotel, thinking I would get a much nicer place. The place I chose is close to the main pedestrian thoroughfare – Florida, and close to many other things, including the presidential palace (the other hotel was near congress.) I walked into the hotel before leaving for Ushuaia to see if it was a nice place, and to make a reservation and the guy behind the counter told me I had to use the telephone to make the reservation. I said I’m not doing it, and left. When I came back to check in, they tried to tell me to use the phone to see if there were rooms. My exact response was “No way.” I’ve never been in a hotel where they couldn’t book you in at the front desk, and I’ve been in a lot of hotels in the last eight months. So they did it for me, after talking to bosses, and finding numbers, etc.

The room was OK, but not quite worth what I paid (140 pesos a night, or about $46/us.) It was much nicer than my last B.A. hotel, and it had a 20″ TV with cable. The shower was nice and hot, but small. The shower was a small porcelain tub in that also contained a bidet. When you were facing the shower, the bidet was directly behind you – I guess that’s where it’s supposed to go. OK, so far, this is normal. The bidet had only cold water in it, not the hot and cold mixture coming from the showerhead. There wasn’t any way to turn the bidet off that I could find – there were two knobs in the bathroom that weren’t marked for anything, but neither one affected the bidet pressure or temperature. So while I’m trying to take a shower, the bidet fountain is shooting cold water where bidets do. At one point I took a water glass and covered the bidet stream, but I figured that having glass in the shower was more dangerous than my bidet dance. My showers were quick and circular while I was there.

After my first water dance, I went out to get a late lunch. There was a place across the street from my hotel that served a very good chunk of meat, and I decided to go there. In Mexico, I have a theory that they take a complete cow, pound it until it’s about 1/4 of an inch thick, then serve it for every meat dish made (taco, steak, etc.) In Argentina, I think they take the cow and quarter it, and that’s your meal. The first time I ate at this place, I got a chunk of steak substantially larger than my two fist side by side. Today I went with pork. And it was magical – it was like the cow was hand raised by Muslim virgins, massaged by Thai prostitutes and fed a steady diet of French butter and Argentinean wine. Each of the two steaks I got were as large as the plate (they bring them on a separate serving dish), and I ate them both. I had a half bottle of wine and the total was about $7/US. It was glorious, simply glorious. I walked around the rest of the day, having a cup of coffee to wake me up, and wandering the town.

One of the previous post, I said that I didn’t bring my laptop because the places didn’t look safe from a security standpoint – well I meant computer security, not personal safety. There wasn’t any place I visited where I even thought twice about the people around me. As far as I can tell, Argentina is as safe as any city in South America, or even America.

Buenos Aires was amazing. the more I saw, the more amazed I was. I spent my next full day (the 23rd) walking around the city. Louis coined the phrase “Death March” to describe these incredibly long walks, and I saw a ton of very cool stuff. Every time I turned around, it was another beautiful old building, or a beautiful street, or a park or statue. It was great time, and I ended up in parts of town remarkable far from where I started. I walked for something close to six hours, largely nonstop. Every neighborhood was pleasant, with wide streets, pleasant sidewalks, and trees – lots of trees. I visited the cemetery where Eva Peron was buried and got a ton of great pictures. I haven’t been able to process them, since my laptop is out of disk space. Perfect timing on that. As I packed, I watched the nightly dose of crime dramas and thought about what I’m doing next. I have a long road ahead of me, and many, many things to do. I had a hard time sleeping. Damn you CSI!!

I can’t recommend Buenos Aires, and Argentina enough. I think that if I ever get married, I’d like to go there for a honeymoon. There was much to see and do, and a lot of it wasn’t as much. A perfect example of this would be tango dancing, going out to a bar at night, or even dinner. And this is a very romantic city – much more so than even Dallas.

My flight was at 7 a.m. on the 24th. I had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to finish packing, shower, check out, and catch a cab to the airport (about 45 minutes away.) As you can imagine I was pretty tired, and a little grumpy. When I checked in, the immigration woman gave me a nice compliment, which was a good way to start the day, but it didn’t get me out of my bad/tired mood. When I got to the airport, my ticket was seat 7L. Not knowing what kind of plane it was, I had hoped it was a window seat, but it wasn’t. I was right between two other medium sized men and behind a chubby little lady who reclined her seat all the way back as soon as she sat down. It was hell. I managed to sleep quickly and soundly, if not long as soon as we took off. For some reason I can always sleep like a baby when the plane is taking off, regardless of time, caffeine or airline.

When we landed, I was immediately reminded that I was back in Peru when I paid $7 for two small bottles of water and a candy bar. My next flight was on Lan Peru. My flight, booked almost three months ago had me assigned seat 32a, which was about as far back in the plane as you can go. I mentioned this to the woman behind the counter, and after a few minutes of talking amongst her friends, and without any display of emotion, I was given an upgrade to 5L. At the time I didn’t know what that meant, or what kind of plane it was, but come to find out it was business class on a 767-300, and it was very, very nice. Once again, and as usual, Lan Peru has exceeded my expectations. Please don’t confuse Peru with Lan Peru. The seats are great and wide, there is a TV screen over the middle of business class that is constantly showing our route, and statistics on our journey. Right now, we are half way between Bogata and Mexico City. I’m watching The Motorcycle Diaries on my person flat screen TV. One of the other shows I watched was a PBS series of people traveling over the world. The first of those shows had a woman traveling through Argentina, and going to many of the places I went in Buenos Aires and Ushuaia. It was nice to see. For Lunch I had a starter of raw salmon with caviar on top, and a side selection of cheeses. The main course was Chilean Sea Bass with squash, and a glass of red wine. It was very good. I have all the leg, shoulder and elbow room I need. Considering it’s an nine hour flight, I consider myself very, very lucky. My plan was to originally try to upgrade on Alaska in Los Angeles, cause I’m gonna be very tired by then, but I’ll take this any day. It’s flying like it used to be.

While in Lima, I bought a book called “Bringing Down the House: The inside story of six M.I.T. students who took Vegas for millions.” I read it before I was halfway to Los Angeles. It was a pretty good story, and the first time I’d read a book in one sitting in a long time. I didn’t finish the other book I got in Ushuaia – “Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ.” The way things are going, I should be able to finish this before I get back to Seattle. Bringing down the house is about guys and girls that found a system to beat blackjack in Vegas. It followed them through their rise and fall as card sharks – it was very interesting. The other book, on emotional intelligence, basically is telling me I don’t have any, which I knew. I don’t know why I’m reading it – maybe to figure out how to fix many of these flaws I have (Don’t laugh – you’ve got some too.) That, and it was in English, and one of the few books that looked interesting. I also picked up a book called “The Tipping Point” in Sao Paulo. It was a worthwhile, if light, read. Not a bunch of books to go through in 10 days. Reading them hasn’t ever been the problem, it’s been finding them.

The flight to Los Angeles is long – 9 hours, but I’m pampered. As soon as I arrive in L.A., and scramble to get to my flight on Alaska Airline, I come crashing back to airline reality. I show up 20 minutes before the flight is to leave and am told that I can’t make the flight. They’ve oversold the flight, and basically, I’m screwed. What does this mean to me? It means that I hate Alaskan Airline. I’ve flown with other carriers that people love to hate – United, and have been pleased as punch. However, Alaska always does me wrong. So right now I’m sitting in LAX, on the floor of a hot terminal, hoping that 9 of the remaining 48 people yet to check in don’t. If I don’t make this flight, then my next option is a 6 a.m. flight the next morning, and I’ll have to pay for my own hotel, if I get one. If I make it, I’ve been up since 2 a.m. Seattle time at this point, and everything was smooth. Until now. Needless to say I’m rather upset, I guess it evens out with the pampered goodness that I got on Lan Peru. Maybe that should be my mantra from now on – “It all evens out.” Right now I’m sitting in the flow writing this, hoping, and feeling very, very sleepy. Sleeping in a airport is always a bad idea if you’ve got stuff you’re attached to. What do I do – check my bags? Only time will tell.

I Made It!!

My long – 3:40 hour – flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia started at 6 a.m., so I was up and out of bed at 4 a.m., taxi at 4:30 and checkin at 5. On my flight from Lima to Cusco, I had some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, looking at the mountain which were oh so close. On this flight, mainly I got clouds. But landing in Ushuaia was beautiful, if a little bit turbulent. The sky was clear and you could see the mountains in the distance. Very nice. I get a taxi into the city, and the first hotel I picked is full. I notice they had wifi access, so I asked if I could check my e-mail and they obliged. I walked to another hotel, which ended up being rather nice. However they only have rooms for two nights, but it’s good for now.

It is a lovely city – very prosperous, and pretty touristy. Not as bad as Paratai in Brazil, but touristy. Even though it is on the opposite ends of the earth, it reminds me of Alaska. The weather is similar, the people are similar (if better looking and better dressed) and the infrastructure is approximately the same (which I would expect, given the similar weather.) It’s a small town, but with most of the things you would want – electronics (cheaper than Brazil), internet access, banking, good restaurants, plenty of hotels, etc.

My first day I didn’t do too much – I was operating on about four hours of sleep. One of the first things I did see was a couple of guys on Dual Sport bikes, including the manliest of motorcycles – the 1150 GS. They were doing exactly what I had hoped to do – but then again they had Argentinean plates, so it’s a lot easier. Bastards. I resisted my urge to start a fight (not speaking spanish finally came in handy.) I found a tourist office, and mapped out the things I want to do while I am here – see the National Park, go on a boat and see some seals, find an angry management class, etc. I had a late lunch at an Argentinean steak house and then back to the hotel for a short nap. For dinner I went to the restaurant next door to the hotel with wifi, and was able to get online. I had a small, not very good salad, a great half bottle of wine (they generally don’t sell wine by the glass anywhere I have been, but instead sell half bottles of wine – 375ml) and a great slice of chocolate cake. This was a frilly, pink restaurant with lots of salads and fish on the menu, and I was the only guy there.

The next day I got up and went hiking. The national park is close – 12 KM, so I took a taxi to the entrance. It was expensive at 39 Pesos, but I got there quick, and didn’t have to figure out where to get a bus. The trail was quite nice, and very well marked. Luckily I didn’t run into any other people while I was on the trail, but when I got to the top, there were two german girls talking loudly. German is such a beautiful language, at least compared to Klingon. The views were great, but I hate to say it, but it reminded me of Alaska, but without the constant threat of being eaten by a bear.

On my way down, away from the Germans, I saw a really cool beaver dam. I have seem beavers try and make a dam next to my office in Bothell, but the city always removed the trees. This time the beavers had full run of the place. There were dams that were five or six fee high, holding up a lot of water. It was very very interesting, at least to me. Regretfully I’ve actually never seen a beaver in the wild, but I’m getting closer. I went back to the main road, and waited for a bus to pick me up. It was substantially cheaper at 8 pesos to get back.

That night I was looking for a place for dinner, and ran into the couple (Mac and Kathleen) I sat next to on the plane. They invited me to sit with them, and we had a very nice conversation, and an average dinner. Apparently Mac has a huge love of statistics, and among his other talents, can name the heights of most larger peaks in the world. He had Mount Rainer pegged at 14,000 ft, which is almost exactly correct. I was impressed, especially since Rainer is pretty far down the list of largest peaks. As I have a lot of useless knowledge too, we had a lot to talk about. The next day they invited me to go sailing with them. Since it was something I had been wanting to do, I said “sure.”

The next day I had to change hotel rooms, so I got up pretty early and packed, and went back to the first hotel I tried to stay in – the one with wifi. I’m glad I didn’t stay there the entire time, since it is somewhat expensive, but it was supposed to be nice. However, it is nowhere near as nice as the cheaper hotel I was staying in. Everything is just a small bit worse. Nothing is horrible, but it’s all just slightly different in a bad way. With internet access, I will forgive them. Oddly enough, as I have gotten further south, the hotels have gotten more expensive. I think the most interesting part is that it’s an almost linear progression.

After getting moved, I was supposed to meet my new friends at 8:50 a.m., and the boat was to leave at 9 a.m. (so I thought, and so the woman selling me the tickets said.) At 9 a.m., they weren’t there, but I wanted to go sailing, so I got a ticket on another boat. Of course, the boats didn’t leave until 9:30, and by then, they showed up, but I had a different boat. Oh well. The cruise was nice, and we saw some pretty cools stuff. We saw two different types of seals, and some cormorants, but no penguins. One of the seal colonies (?) we went to, the seals followed our boat for quite a while, jumping out of the water often. It was beautiful, and luckily I got a video of it. I tried to get pictures, but it’s hard to anticipate when they jump, and there is shutter lag on most non-SLR digital cameras. The view of the city, and of the mountains from the sound was beautiful. The day was clear and just a little bit chilly (I think the weather is approximately the same as it is in Seattle now.) At the cormorant nesting site, we saw one of the baby cormorants being eaten by another, larger bird. It wasn’t pretty, but I did get a picture. We then went to another, more boring, seal colony, walked for a while on an island, and headed back to the city. It was a very nice time, and a bargain at 90 pesos ($34.)

Now that I’m here, at the end of my journey, it dawned on me. I made it – I fucking made it to the end of the world. There was a great satisfaction walking the streets of this town and enjoying the thought I was here. Even now, three days in Ushuaia, I get a smile on my face when I think about it. There are some things I would like to be different (more photos and my SLR), and a lot of stuff I still want to see (Santiago, more of Argentina, more Brazilian Bikinis, and more hiking in Patagonia), but I made it.

The flip side to that is that now I need to start thinking about going back. You know the cliche “this is the first day of the rest of your life.” Well, I guess it’s always true, but never more so than here and now. It’s over – on Thursday I’ll be back in Seattle, looking for a place to live, and a job, and all the other things that I want out of life. It’s a pretty big change over the last year of my life, and even over the last couple of years. I’ve got a lot of work to do. Financially I have set myself back quite a bit (I’m glad that Grandma Redd isn’t here to see it – my spending this much money, and not working for a year might have killed her), and I’m going to have to work really hard to get back to where I was, and even harder to get back to where I want to be. I’ve got relationships to figure out, stomachs to flatten, houses to buy, tenants to deal with, cholesterol to lower, motorcycles to sell, and more. Whew!!

I am currently in lovely, lovely Buenos Aires. I leave Friday morning (tomorrow) at 6 a.m. for a flight to Ushuaia – AKA the end of the earth, and the end of my trip. It was my original goal for my trip, but that was on my motorcycle. Now, it’s just a good place to go for some hiking.

Buenos Aires is a beautiful place. Some call it the Paris of Latin America, but I think that is unfair. I think of Paris as the Buenos Aires of Europe. If you have vacation plans for somewhere else, I recommend you cancel them right now, and come to Buenos Aires. You will thank me. It’s romantic, and beautiful and classy and full of good food and great wine and good weather. It’s not as much fun alone, since much of the interest cry out for romance, but it’s still great.

One area that has been lacking is the internet access. There are a lot of cafes, but no place to get my precious (laptop) online. With time running out, and much of the cafes very scary from a security standpoint, I haven’t been updating like I should. This will probably be my last update until I get back to Seattle, on the 25th.