Argentina: Organic Farm Work

People make the experience for me. Colombia has been my favorite country, not for the sights, but for the people and the same holds true for the organic farm. The wonderful Hare Krishnas on the farm welcomed me into their community, taught me about their religion, and embraced me as one of their own. If I had not been so impulsive to buy a ticket to Ecuador, I would have stayed so much longer.

My cabin accommodation included a bunkbed, which I eventually shared with another American girl, and a shared bathroom.


Besides the religious ceremonies and yoga I attended, I also did farm work. The farm has been around for 12 years and they grow mainly vegetables and have started to grow fruit trees. I worked from around 8am to 1pm each day tending to their vegetables and working on their garden.


Their main garden for some reason needed a complete revamp. I pulled out the old stuff, removed the weeds and planted new flowers. This took up most of my time. Below are some pics of it in the process.




I also worked on a side garden out front removing all the dead stuff and old roots.


In terms of the vegetables, I cleaned green onions that we had just picked; they sell in these in town. In another patch of the farm, I removed the old roots getting my hands dirty in the process while trying not to kill any of the worms in the way.

I also planted broccoli. I can't say that I have a green thumb and I do hope that all those little guys survive.

Overall, my 4 short days on the farm easily could have been a month. Being one with the earth is such an incredible experience and to eat healthy every day was such a nice change of pace from the fried food I grab on the streets. The relaxing environment was great for internal reflection, something I need to do more of as my year off is coming to an end.

Argentina: Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare

Hare krishna, hare krishna, krishna krishna, hare hare, hare rama, hare rama, rama rama, hare hare. These 16 words represent the core mantra to give praise to the god, Lord Krishna who stems from Indian religion. These 16 words also were the background sounds while working on the eco yoga organic farm out in the boonies outside of Buenos Aires city.

I had planned to work for a month on an organic farm while in Argentina, but one day, the costs started to get to me, and I just bought a ticket to Ecuador to get out here. Before leaving for Ecuador, I decided to spend at least a few days working on a farm. After those few days, I wish my ticket was exchangeable so that I could have spent more time there.

When I chose to work on this particular farm because it had yoga, I had no idea that it was run by Hare Krishnas. In fact, in my ignorance, I wasn't quite sure what was a Hare krishna even though I've been to India a couple times. I thought for sure that I had joined a cult with everyone walking around in robes chanting the mantra while holding a cloth sack in their hand. But once I tried their food, I didn't care if I had joined a cult or not: I had entered food nirvana.

They subscribe to a special vegetarian diet and can only eat certain meals as listed in some Krishna recipe book. The food is all blessed before being served which might add to the special flavors of holiness. Before serving the food, they wash their hands and rinse out their mouth to prevent any contamination. And all washing of hands or dishes must be done outside of the kitchen since the kitchen is considered holy with the presence of a shrine on one side.

The best food is served to Lord Krishna in his temple and cooked by those who have been initiated and trained properly and cooked in a separate kitchen. One must bathe within an hour prior to entering into the kitchen and certain rituals apply. After Krishna eats, we all receive bits of his food, which are always the tastiest.

Every morning at 5am, I joined them in their worship of Krishna which encompasses singing the manthra while playing various musical instruments. Dancing is sometimes involved and I made the mistake of dancing in the men's circle and not the women's, which is a no no. After about an hour of singing the mantra and other songs in Hindu or Spanish, we would then have a discussion/lecture about a scripture from their book. They made the mistake of asking me questions about the lecture in Spanish, to which I just nodded since I couldn't follow much of the lecture anyway.

In the afternoons, I practiced hatha yoga and often went in search of internet to follow up on my upcoming job interviews. Unfortunately, out of a lack of understanding of the bus system as well as patience, I hitchhiked to town. On my first hitchhike, I immediately regretted it. I ended up sitting in between 2 rather large men in their truck, each blocking a door. I eyed a screwdriver on the mantle and figured that would be my escape route. I kept them both talking so that they wouldn't feel obliged to hurt me and in the process I learned how many kids they have, what they do, where they live, etc. I felt comfortable hanging out with them and they warned me of hitching on the roads. Unfortunately, on the way back, I took the wrong bus and found myself stranded along a highway. I had to hitchhike back to the farm and met another nice man along the way. On one last time, another nice man took me to town and I learned about his life as well. I enjoy meeting the locals while hitchhiking, but I hate the fear of something going wrong.

In the evenings, I watched music videos with the Hare Krishna mantra. The mantra is even sung to rap and heavy metal music. On another night, I watched a video that explains the origins of all the various Indian gods as they relate to the Ganges River. Watching the video, I had the sudden urge to return to India. On another night, they drove me to Buenos Aires to listen to a guru speak. I don't remember or possibly I never understood what he said in Spanish, but he did talk about why people should not eat meat because every life has a soul and should have the right to live. To kill animals just for our own taste when we can live healthy off other sources doesn't seem fair to him.

My Hare Krishna education expanded greatly as did my Spanish since every night I would ask them questions in Spanish to better understand their religion and culture. As such, I have a real appreciation for their devotion and culture although I am still not a convert.

Argentina: Devil's Throat

Although I have never seen the devil nor do I necessarily believe in him, the Devil's throat of Iguazu could really be just that. With impressive force, rushing suicidal water throws itself off a cliff spraying up as it hits bottom. The kinetic energy from the falls seems osmotic and observers are left in a daze as a result, noses full of mist and eyes full of wonder. I'm not sure how this all ties back to my first sentence, but my stream of consciousness got the better of me and I won't make sense of this paragraph.

The falls and I first met 5 years ago when I visited him in Brazil. We lost touch, and I am glad we had the chance to reunite in Argentina for a closer more intimate conversation. I learned that a god, angered that his potential wife, Naipi, had fled off with her mortal lover, split the river creating the falls and caused the two to crash down.



Before even seeing the falls though, little racoonish creatures greeted me as I wandered around the park. These sometimes vicious coatis seek out food from passing tourists. They can bite too.

The rest of the park has other waterfalls and I sat around witnessing their fall from grace. Unfortunately, the water level was too low to take a boat tour to view the falls from below. So, I just spent the day at the park and took another overnight bus back to Buenos Aires.

Cordoba, Cultural Capital

Cordoba has appropriately been labeled as the cultural capital of Argentina. With its numerous museums, oldest university, grandiose churches and non-stop nightlife, it is great place to settle into or just visit for a few days. My friend, Matt, who I met almost a year ago in Guatemala on my 2nd day of travels is settling down here after 2 years of traveling. Unbelievable that he has been on the road that long. I may just be like him though.

For my 4 days in Cordoba, I toured literally every museum, church, park and historical site around. Sadly, I did not check out the night life in the end. I've been pretty mellow these days and have not felt like really rocking it out on the town. Instead, I chose to listen to a church choir for Good Friday, attend a symphony another night, and cook all my own dinners.

Good red meat is cheap and juicy. Twice a day, I ended up cooking a good piece of steak that only cost $1. My budget is running thin and so I've resorted to grocery stores for most of my meals. Hostels are starting to add up at about $12/night when I was use to paying $4/night in Bolivia. Every $1 counts after a year of travel. Nevertheless, I never cut out good excursions and activities of interest.

Matt and I visited the original Che Guevara House in a nearby town. I didn't have high expectations and was pleasantly surprised at the numerous photos depicting his life from a very young age to his revolution years. Moreover, they had his original motorcycle made famous by the movie "Motorcycle Diaries" as well as personal letters he wrote to his daughter encouraging her to be a good revolutionary and to Fidel Castro and to his family saying his goodbyes should he die.

Near Che's house, we stopped into a nearby Jesuit estancia and church. The Jesuits, coming from Spain, provided Argentina with an abundance of intellectual and religious opportunities as seen in the plentiful churches and universities.

Cycling Through the Vineyards

When I arrived in Mendoza, I landed myself in yet another hostel with some sketch bathrooms. In fact, my hall bathroom that I had to share with 11 others along with anyone passing through the hall took the term "water closet" to a whole new level; I could not turn around in the shower for fear of touching the walls or the shower curtain. I survived in the end and again questioned why I put myself through such torment. Then I remembered that I don't have an income and hostels are the cheapest way to go besides couchsurfing.

In the hostel, I had a chance to meet some cool people and invited them out to go cycling through the vineyards with me while touring the local wineries. I always invite random strangers along to my activities, but this time I really needed someone around to make sure I got home ok since I get drunk after half a glass of wine. Brent from the US, Stefan from Germany and John from Canada all agreed and off we went to take the local bus there. Along the way, we met a couple Chileans who joined us on our tour.

We rented bikes and because I wasn't sure I would be able to cycle on my own, Brent and I picked up a double seated bike. Brent ended up doing all the cycling while I often put my feet at the top of the bike and enjoyed the scenery. Plus, I think I was slowing him down.

Mendoza is known for their fertile land perfect for grape growing and hence wine making. Along one main road, one can visit numerous wineries. We started late in the afternoon and only visited a couple since we stopped at other places along the road. We stopped in at a little chocolate liquor place and sampled their selection. John and Brent had the absinthe while the Chileans and I tried the chocolate with banana, chocolate with hazelnut, chocolate with coconut. We sampled another table's pepper liquor and almost choked.

At a gourmet restaurant, we had planned to have lunch there, but the prices were beyond our backpacker prices and so instead, we drank wine. Brent so graciously paid for it too since he seems to be the only one of us with a job. So, wine became our lunch.

At our final winery, we arrived just in time to buy 5 steak meals to share amongst the 6 of us. The winery was about to close and only had 5 meals left. Of course, we had wine to accompany our meal and I nearly passed out. Stefan and I took a photo in the vineyards and I was happy to be at our final winery, but also a little tipsy.

Chocolate Lover's Delight

Traveling upward from El Chalten, I stopped off in El Bolson, a little town known for their abundance of hippies. I scoured the streets looking for some, but didn't find any. I think I showed up on an off-peak-hippie day. After a day, I moved upward to Bariloche, a ski resort known also for the numerous chocolate shops and museum.

As a fine lover of chocolates, I visited many of the shops sampling various flavors and types. The size and detail of some of the Easter eggs in the windows impressed me greatly. Unfortunately, my budget and my stomach could not afford any of the chocolate gluttony. Nevertheless, I suffered from a chocolate overdose after a good 3 days resting up there. I caught a cold ice climbing, possibly because I fell into ice cold stream while ice trekking and nearly froze. Therefore, most of my time in Bariloche, I holed up in my hostel with gorgeous views of the Lake and chilled out and caught up on my backlog of blogging while munching on chocolate.

Wildlife Galore

On the East Coast of Argentina, a colony of Magellanic Penguins make their pilgrimage to Punta Tomba to stay between August and April . Here they lay their eggs, nurse their chicks, molt their old feathers for new ones and then migrate north towards the latitude line of Rio de Janeiro.

When I had arrived, they were in the process of molting. They looked quite ugly in their molting phase. To stay cool during this time, they just stood upright as the very violent wind blew away their old feathers. They are not very active during this time, but when they do walk around, they look like bobbleheads balancing their whole weight on each foot as they wobble by. They are much more graceful in the water.




Interestingly, the penguins burrow themselves in the ground in pairs. When armadillos cross their paths, they watch them carefully tilting their head back and forth to see them from each eye. Their eyesight isn't great and they don't seem to have lateral vision.




The other wildlife on the Peninsula include sea lions, elephant seals and whales.


In this photo, an Orca or Killer whale is watching over the sea lion colony for food. During this time of year, the Orcas almost beach themselves during high tide, pick up a sea lion and carry it off to eat it in the water. Unfortunately, I did not see a whale attack, but enjoyed watching four Orcas swimming about.

Trekking for 9.5 hrs

Since I didn't do a whole lot of trekking in Torres del Paine I thought I would venture out in El Chalten. Hiking to the Fitz Roy peak is suppose to take 8 hours round trip, however, I managed to spend 9.5 hours trekking on my own. Thankfully, the path was well marked and I didn't get lost on the way like in Bolivia.


The flora and fauna made the long hike quite enjoyable. Most of my time, I stared upward at the Fitz Roy peak waiting for the clouds to break so that I could take my usual series of endless photos. Thankfully, the weather behaved and Fitz Roy peaked out to greet all the hikers along the way. The last hour of the hike, I scrambled up rocks at an unbearably slow pace. I had to stop many times to allow those faster than me to pass me by. I walked so slow that I ran out of water while trekking up the rocks and had to eat the snow to keep hydrated. At the top, a stunningly greenish-blue lake just below Fitz Roy shimmered and congratulated me on my arrival. I ate lunch and snow on top of the mountain.




The trek back hurt more than the one up. My knees still have not forgiven me for the adventure and I have not hiked since.