Recently a blog post about a visit to Machu Picchu was Freshly Pressed and it reminded me of the trip my husband (then boyfriend) and I took through South America in 2005. He had been studying in Argentina for a semester. When it was time for him to get back I actually went over there to bring him back to the Netherlands, but not before an almost eight week trip through Argentina, Chile and Peru. We did almost all the traveling by bus (except in Peru), with the longest bus ride being 34 hours. We visited Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn (the weather was bad, so we couldn’t go out on a boat to see the whales), El Calafate (to see the Perito Moreno Glacier), Bariloche (where the Dutch royal family sometimes goes to ski), Santiago de Chile, Mendoza (for the vineyards of course), San Juan (Valle de la Luna and Talampaya National Park), Tucuman, Salta, Arequipa, Puno (Lago Titicaca), Cuzco (Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu), and Lima. It was a trip of a life time!
We hadn’t really planned our trip ahead of time. We just knew we would start out in Buenos Aires and had to be in Lima about eight weeks later. What we’d do in between was totally up to us. We did have a list with ‘hot spots’ we wanted to visit. Most of those we actually visited, but some had to go on a ‘next time list’ (Iguazu, for example).
Surprisingly, the place that stands out the most for me was not on our list. It was Talampaya National Park, which is on the border of the Valle de la Luna (which was on the list). First thing you notice as you drive towards Talampaya are the red rocks surrounding you. Upon arrival you are hit with an enormous red stone surface. You try to capture it on camera, but it’s no use. You’ll never capture that enormity in a picture frame. What you could do, is snap a shot with someone standing against the surface of the rock from a good distance away. There aren’t as many tourists at Talampaya as there were at the Moon Valley, which is always a plus in my book. Nothing can spoil an experience as bus loads of tourists cramping your space.
This can make you feel small and insignificant.
We booked a guided tour on the spot and ended up with only a small family of four in our group. At one point we arrived at a certain spot and the guide asked us to pick a spot to sit down. He told us that since they were having a really dry winter, all the small brooks were dried up and that if we all cooperated we could experience real silence. So, I perched on a small rock, he counted to three and then there was nothing. Never in my life have I had such an earth shattering experience. There was complete and utter silence, and it brought tears to my eyes.
So, if you ever plan to visit Argentina, don’t skip Talampaya National Park in the Rioja province. Just for this experience I would totally recommend it.
