Blogs from San Agustín del Valle Fértil, San Juan, Argentina, South America

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Pirmu autobusu iš Mendozos keliauju iki San Juan, ten netrukus persėdu į kitą autobusą kuris mane nugabena iki miestelio San Augustin iš kurio jau galima būtų pasiekti "Mėnulio slėnį". Šita paprasta kelionė trunka apie 8 valandas. Apie 6 vakaro jau būnu miestelyje, autobusų stotyje iškart man siūlo hostelį, kuris čia greičiausiai vienintelis. Vos atėjus iki hostelio mane pradeda įkalbinėti kelionei į vieną iš dviejų čia esančių parkų. Vienas iš variantų jau šinakt, o tiksliau už valandos, važiuoti pažiūrėti "Menulio slėnį". Mat naktinės ekskursijos organizuojamos tik naktimis kai yra pilnatis, o šiandien kaiptik paskutinė naktis su pilnu mėnuliu. Kitas variantas 7 ryto važiuoti į "Talampaya" parką. Ir trečias variantas ryt 3 dienos važiuoti į tą patį "Mėnulio slėnį", tik ekskursija vyktų dieną. Pats parkas yra už beveik 100 km, o jokie vietiniai autobusai ten nevažiuoja, tad savarankiška ... read more
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ok, after an overnight hostel in San Juan ( a place that has some streets ,a cathedral, a tower and a supermarket ) we headed towards San Agustin, being a central point for trips to the parks of Talampaya and Ischigualasto. The hostel booked here advertised itself as being perfect for our needs. The only thing it failed to mention was that it was not exactly clean. It is difficult not t be rude, for the atmosphere and the staff were fantastic. At night we would all sit in the kitchen, drinking wine, beer and fernet, while listening to music and laughing and chatting with each other. That part was excellent. The major downfall was that it was not exactly clean. Squalid and filthy are probably too strong words to use, so I will settle for ... read more
"into the valley" sang the skids
250,000 years old
a quarter of a million years old


There is no direct bus from Mendoza to San Augustine de Valle Fertil so connected in San Juan. San Juan was a pleasant stop over and gave us a taste of a smaller Argentinean city. We are starting to look more and more like foreigners as we go north. In the main square, a guy asked to take a picture of our blue eyes. It actually came out really nice! Right after that, a group of school children rushed us handing us little pins with Argentina's colors on it in honor of their independence day (25 de Mayo). From San Juan we continued north to Valle Fertil. This is small town of 5000 people. There are two main excursions from the city, we did the one to Valle de la Luna in the Parque Provincial Ischigualasto. ... read more
The Valley
The Rocks (with fossils)
The Valley


After dozing for three quarters of the journey to San Agustin, I woke up to find a landscape of rocky hills with a light covering of trees, and a welcome appearance of cacti. There was an unexpected selection of accommodation touts at the bus station in San Agustin, but I was soon in a pleasant pension that was half the price of anywhere else I've stayed in the country. San Agustin definitely warrants the use of the adjective "sleepy", its spacious main square tranquil and dotted with bird crap-peppered benches. The squawking of bright green parrots filled the quiet in between the infrequent passage of cars whose silencers had long since ceased to function. The nearby reservoir reflected the cloud-smeared blue sky and surrounding hills, and the temperature was back in the T-shirt range. The point ... read more
Cactus close-up
Dique San Agustin
Fossilised leaf at the Worm


What I first took for broken glass buried in the dusty road, turned out to be mica, loads of it. In the unrelenting midday sun, in this small, town, the dirt streets sparkle as though littered with jem stones. Its sunday, and many kids are outside. I can hear them now while sitting in this room, which lets out into the street, typing at the computer. When I went for a walk earliers, I saw girls playing field hockey next to the church, boys playing soccer in the street, and teenagers playing pool in the only place open at this time of day. Today truely feels restful, and at the same time, extrodinarily fun and active. They way leisure time ought always to be. I stayed in this small town because I didnt want to have ... read more
Cemetary
The hostel
See...


Oh my god theres a knock at the door! It´s only 7am, but today we are going to Talampaya Park north of Valle de la Luna. We have been told it is equally as good but totally different with regards to scenery. After our long and bumpy bus ride we arrived at our destination in the scorching desert heat. We were told that the best and cheapest way to see the park was by mountain bike!(15 pesos,3 quid) We got our bikes and helmets and off we went through the soft and bumpy terrain. This place is a lot smaller version of the grand canyon, 125 million years ago it was a big river surrounded by farmland we later found this out by some Petroglifs (ancient drawings on the rocks of farmers herding their Llamas) The ... read more
The echo chamber 2
Cathedral


Everyone has left the hostel! We are all alone! Yesterday we just relaxed and chilled by the lake and of course went for a walk. This place is red hot, it´s not rained for 7 years, hence it´s the desert. This is beginning to be a problem for the locals, the river is dry yet they still hose their little bit of grass and paths! We are still here because we are waiting for more people to come so we can go on 2 trips. You see the more people the cheaper the taxi to the parks as no tours in south america provide transport, very odd. Well today we went for a walk to find a museum, 9km away. Half way along a van pulled up and asked us if we wanted to go to ... read more
The submarine
The mushroom
BBQ


San Augustin is in the middle of no where (again). It´s landscape is very dry, desert with mountains. We like it it´s very friendly. On the coach we went through all the little mountain villages and they live very poorly, here the houses ae not much more than huts. We woke up nice and refreshed so we hired 2 bikes from the hostel, Campo Base. We were told to go to a little village called La Madajita in the mountains(searching again, oh dear), so we set off. First we found a nice lake surrounded by cactus and palm trees. Our ride through the mountains was lovely if not hard going! We rode through streams, thick sand, rocky tracks all while the sun was beating down on us. After hours we came to a fork in the ... read more
San Augustin Lake
Me myself and cacti


Hi! Still in Buenos Aires, on 3.10.05 we just went to the shopping mall on the search for jeans! (for some mad reason we didn´t bring any!) After a full day looking we got some. Mine were 8 pounds and Andy´s were 9 pounds from C&A (don´t tell anyone) but they do look good. We decided to get away from the city, although we have enjoyed our stay, with the thousands of cars always beeping at each other. Did you know it has the widest avenue in the world? It is 11 lanes of traffic in both directions! And yes we have crosed it more than once. So 4.10.05 we left to go to San Juan (change of plan again, Mel saw a leaflet for Valle de la luna, valley of the moon). 17 hours later ... read more
Sunrise on bus to San Juan 2




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