Time of your life

I have been away from home for more or less seven months, and as i am going to be returning in a few days' time, i am herefore writing a few words that come to mind when i think about this trip.

I have learned a lot of things since Oct. 01, 2009. I have learned a lot of things that have changed my life, and will continue changing my life by influencing my decisions until they lay me down to rest, because these aren't a set of famous last words, they are merely a conclusion after seven months of meeting people, forming theories, learning truths, enjoying the incredible beauty our planet has to offer, being let down by the people who live in it, getting helped out by people who really did not have to at all, spending money on stupid things, remembering childhood memories whilst standing at the same place and thinking "this ain't like i remembered it", learning to drive, feeling the raw coldness of water barely melted from snow, waking up to the sound of rushing water, learning a few chords on guitar, and a few lyrics from some inspiring songs, experiencing in first hand poverty - and the reason why most people here are poor. I am getting off this train a couple of stops early, as i am already late for my arrival, and i have decided i will see what's left to see some other time...when the time is right.

I have come out of this trip a different person, or perhaps the same person with a clearer mind. I have learned that one of the most important things is life is finding out what you want to do, and putting your full heart into it, i am fortunate enough to have realised what i want to do with my life when i get back to England, and i am fortunate enough to have some good friends, a few hobbies that i love, and the willpower to work hard and achieve anything i really want. It is important to not plan ahead too much, because life is full of decisions, and they must be made by judging the situation there and then, not always by sticking to a plan. Just like i started this trips' blogging with a song, i am going to finish it with one. Thank you for reading this for the last few months and stick around because there will be more to come, I am hoping to visit nepal and the himalayas next so that will be blogged on here, and before that, smaller trips around not so distant destinations.

Santiago.

Green Day - Time of Your Life.
Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.
Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.
So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.
It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.
It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.
So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.
Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time.
Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.
It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

Oh!

I was hitching out of Tucuman just outside a big fruit market where some trucks were going to head out of in a few hours, i was waiting for that time so that i could get a ride north. All of a sudden a cross eyed dirty little fucker came up and pretended his bike was running out of petrol and he asked where there was a gas station...i knew he was up to something dodgy but i was alone and there was nothing i could do but play along, especially when he said " i have a gun so just be chilled and don't do anything..go on walk off"...i was wearing my big backpack and in a split second decided to keep my hand in my pocket and not use the knife i was holding, he was only taking my beaten up guitar and a small backpack with nothing important, i figured he most likely didn't even know how to use a gun, but he looked rough as fuck and i didn't want to risk anything, i walked off and let him be. It's not easy getting mugged, the feeling of not being able to do much about it, the feeling that some douchebag that can't be bothered to work like the rest of us has your shit, and of course the feeling when you think "what about your family" if something worse had happened.

All this has totally ruined the vibe of my trip, i no longer feel like heading further north and getting to know more of this beautiful continent, maybe i'll come back another time and do the stuff i havent seen in a better mood. I'm gonna head back south and stay at a mountain shelter for a few days, and just chill before heading to Buenos Aires and getting that early plane outta here.

Hitch hiking is obviously dangerous and getting mugged was a risk that i was always taking, but now that it has happened i don't feel like doing it on this trip anymore, and that's how i want to see the north, by hitch hiking, so i will come back when i'm in a better mood.

Hope all is good back home, looks like this summers gonna be a good one!!

Santiago.

Tucuman

After a few days of hitching, we have been making a move and are now a lot closer to Bolivia, just a couple of more cities and we should be at the border. It was hard to get out of Mendoza and we had to wait over nine hours from eleven in the morning to way past nightfall, but all was made up when a car stopped and we were not only taken to where we wanted to go, but also got some beer and a zamba by the drunk guy in the front. Another ride was from a trucker, we covered a good 500km that day at least, with a stop at a "salvation mountain" style museum in San Juan, something we would not have normally seen traveling by bus. A handful of rides later and we are now in Tucuman where i think we will be staying for a couple of days before resuming our routine...get up, hitch until late, sleep...get up, hitch until late.

That's all for now,
I will try to write a better post sometime soon but things are going very well and we are spending little money, we should be in Bolivia by the end of next week.

Ver mapa más grande
Santiago.

North

I have been in Mendoza for the last week or so, and in this time i reunited with Ben who had made his way up here a little while ago. We have made plans for a trip up to the northern part of South America. We will be leaving in about an hour and hitching north, all the way through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and then taking some kind of raft or boat down the Amazon river to the northern coast of Brazil. I am planning to be back in Buenos Aires in September to catch that flight back to England so i have just over four months to complete this leg of the trip, it will be a lot different to what i've seen already and heading out to Brazil with little Portuguese in the bag will sure be fun! I will let you know what's up as soon as i can update this- another adventure begins!

Santiago.