1st Week, 2nd Leg of Trip

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Hello Everyone!
Have had sort of a whirlwind trip so far moving around a ton. Flew into Buenos Aires on the 12th of February. It felt so good to be back there. I really felt like I knew the city and felt super safe and confortable. Stayed there for a couple of days then took a 14 hour bus to a city called Mendoza, which in the western region of Argentina known for its wine making. Got to my hostel and randomly saw my friend Clare who I had met in Buenos Aires over a month ago. That was really nice because her and I and a couple of other people hung out, went wine tasting and horseback riding. Only stayed in Mendoza for two days and then Clare and I took a horendous bus to Santiago, Chile where I am now. We took this small little van stuffed with 16 people with a driver who seemed to have never been behind the wheel before. We weren´t scared, just amazed that this man driving was actually an employee of a bus company. We were flipped off and honked at by so many cars on the road for driving incredibly slow, driving in the middle of the lane or practically driving on top of people. The supposedly 6 hour drive became an 8 hour drive with a super long unorganized stop at customs and driving way below the speed limit for most of the journey. The up side is that we got so much comedy from the situtation and the bus ride had absolutely magnificant scenery.
Off to Pedro de Atacama in the north of Chile tomorrow on at 23 hour bus ride from Santiago. I don´t know much about the city but know that it is sort of a desert oasis with some pretty interesting salt flats. I am going to book a couple nights and then sort of play it by ear. The reason that I am moving so quickly is that I really want to get up to Bolivia to spend a bit of time. I am told that it can take a really long time to get to where you want to go due to poor road conditions and just unreliable tranportation so I want to make sure that I give myself enough room for error. Hope you are all well. I miss home terribly this time around but am having a great time and meeting some really nice people to travel with.
Off to do some exploring on my last afternoon in Santiago...
Love,
Cassandra

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Photos

Mom and Pop Chocolate Shop
Went on a tour of this tiny chocolate, liquor and jam maker´s house. It was so beautiful and we got to try any kind of liquor and chocolate that we wanted. I went for some Absynthe because I think it is illegal in the states and to be honest, I am not bothered by that because I could barely get three sips down!

Tasting Absynthe
This is a shot of this woman Mary from Berkeley and I tasting our horrendous shot of Absynthe.

Me on my horse, Star
A group of ten or so of us went on a sunset horse ride up in the hills of Mendoza. It was so beautiful and there was a nice barbeque after with some wonderful Malbec wine from Mendoza. It was the kind of evening one would expect to have in Argentina-on a horse, through desert like land, beautiful weather and a ton of barbequed meat for dinner.

At the Cancha y Toro Winery, Santiago
Went to this winery with a few folks from the hostel that I am staying with. Had a great time, although navigating seven people not familiar with the bus system here on three different buses was defitely a challenge. It took us some time, but we did finally arrive at our destination and got to try some nice wines.

At the Memorial Madre de Santiago
With Lizzy and Clare. Took a lift up to the top of the hill and looked onto the extremely smoggy city of Santiago.

Comments

[Phoebe]

You rock!
You look great and it sounds like a good crazy adventure! Love you!

[jean-luc]

madre mia!
Me parece que el graffitti es muy artistico, como Picasso o Braque. El paisaje y la topografia parece ser muy desertificado en muchos lugares pero muy bello. Que pasa con la photografia de las uvas? Nunca he vista dos uvas distinctas mezclas y integradas como estas. Seguramente es una creacion humana, algo de hibredo (hybrid?). Aqui en San Francisco, tenemos buen tiempo y bastante lluvia este ano. No tenemos uvas mezclada en la valle de Napa. Son siempre rojas o blancas o verdes cuando no estan listas para comer. En el ayuntamiento de la ciudad te esperamos en la primavera y en la avenida cuatro te esperamos tambien. Hasta la vista bebe!