Bored in San Rafael I took a day to check out the area just south of the city. Not more than an hour away is Valle Grande and Cañon del Atuel. Riding alongside the Rio Atuel the road twists and turns then starts to climb in a few switchbacks until you ride through a tunnel and alongside the reservoir. After 600 miles of mostly straight flat roads up from San Martin de Los Andes, I was enjoying the curves of this canyon road. The joy quickly fled in an instant as I rounded a shaded corner and … [Read more...]

San Rafael, San Luis, to Córdoba, Argentina I spoke to early about the weather warming up enough to ride without my winter gloves and jacket liner. Leaving San Rafael it was a cool crisp autumn morning. Most of the day it was only me on the small two lane roads to San Luis. I stopped for the night in the small city of San Luis after hearing from someone that it was worth it. Maybe it was the dreary cloudy weather but I wasn't seeing why this place would be on anyone's list. I … [Read more...]

Arriving in Córdoba, Argentina's second largest city, I rode down busy streets lined with trees beginning to show their autumn colors. The city of 1 million is one of the more well kept that I've seen on this trip. I discovered more and more things to love about this city over the 6 days that I spent there. In Córdoba I stayed with one of the most generous CouchSurfing hosts yet. Martin offered to put me up in his apartment in downtown. Unlike the city I just came from, Martin suggested … [Read more...]

Wanting to leave the city behind, I took a day ride north to see a different area of the state of Córdoba. My host, Martin, mentioned a few places to the north that were worth riding to so I picked one and headed out. I forgot to charge my GPS battery so my exit out of the city was extended by an additional 45 minutes of missing turns and turning around. I eventually found highway 73 and headed into the mountains. Once again, the trees in the area were warming up for their autumn … [Read more...]

Alta Gracia is a small town less than one hour south of Córdoba city. A well paved four lane highway cuts through the flat farm land which makes for a fast yet otherwise forgettable ride. The town was founded by the Jesuits when they built a mission there in the 17th century. The town grew up around the mission and now has about 50,000 people living there.  The mission is now just a museum but the property has been maintained and is the main draw for tourists. Cafes, shops, restaurants, museums, … [Read more...]

I wanted to get to Buenos Aires but knowing that would be the final stop of this adventure, I didn’t want to get there quite yet. I’ve regularly used the standard traveler’s guide Lonely Planet to look up ideas of places to go and that’s how I ended up here, in San Antonio de Areco. I rode into the town after a few hours of passing farm land and estancias. The cobblestone streets of the center of town were quiet as I rode down them towards the park and the tourism office. In small towns like … [Read more...]

My Last Ride into Buenos Aires The cool morning in San Antonio de Areco was a reminder of the changing seasons. Heavy fog and light rain greeted me as I packed up my bike. Winter will be here soon. I only had two hours of riding to reach Buenos Aires, the final city on my journey. How could I already be here? It doesn't seem like seven months have passed since beginning. The two lane road leaving the small rural town soon became a massive 10 lane highway leading me to the capital city. With the … [Read more...]

The days of my motorcycle journey from California would soon be coming to close and now that I didn't have to worry about souvenirs taking up space or breaking, I was in search of something to remember this journey with. A fellow traveler and photographer mentioned that while I was in Buenos Aires, I should visit Studio Fotin, a photography studio in San Telmo using a really unique type of photography. I checked out their website and saw their ambrotype portraits. Instantly I knew I had to find … [Read more...]

On my first day in Buenos Aires my Couchsurfing host, Denise, had the stereo playing in the living room and I couldn't get enough of the band she was playing. It was a local band named Onda Vaga. I listened to their albums nonstop while I was at the apartment. They became the soundtrack while I wrote, edited photos, and cooked. Deni saw how much I was loving their music and mentioned they were playing a show nearby and invited me to go. I would have gone to the concert even if I had never heard … [Read more...]

Three nights a week in different bars around popular neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, about 100 people gather to meet others from around the world and practice or learn new languages. The event is Mundo Lingo. Everyone gets a sticker of their country's flag and then stickers of the languages they know or want to practice. Then you look for other people who match one of your stickers. Some people have just two, like me, and others show off 6 or more. You see flags from all over the world. I … [Read more...]

A grungy warehouse in the heart of Buenos Aires is the last place you'd expect to find a thousand people gathering on a Monday night. But that's what happens every monday night. At the Konex, an old industrial building turned into a hip cultural and events center, a group of 14 percussionists take the stage to perform to masses of enthusiastic fans. For the next two hours La Bomba del Tiempo put on a nonstop show as their beats drive the thousand people packed inside to move every part of their … [Read more...]

Gran Premio Republica Argentina Wandering the streets of Palermo in Buenos Aires one Thursday afternoon I happened upon a horse race taking place at the Hipodromo Argentino de Palermo. After watching from outside the fence I decided to see if I could get in. To my surprise the event was free to the public. And it was not just any regular race. This was the biggest one of them all. Welcome to the races. As I entered, a man was hawking programs for the race. I picked up my copy and … [Read more...]

Among all the other great things Buenos Aires has to offer there’s one that stood out from the rest. Across the city many neighborhoods have weekly festivals or ferias. Each one different than the rest but there was one that was like none other. Feria de Mataderos is held every Sunday from March to December in the the Mataderos neighborhood. Feria de Mataderos is known for having a long history of showcasing it’s gaucho or Argentine cowboy traditions. Blocks of neighborhood streets are … [Read more...]

To the south of the city of Buenos Aires lies one of the most photographed neighborhoods in Argentina, La Boca. It’s brightly colored buildings are so well known that people assume all of Argentina looks that way. But in fact it’s quite unique. La Boca (the mouth) sits alongside the river and gets it’s name as its the opening of the river/harbor. La Boca’s paint scheme isn’t the only thing that makes this area so vibrant. It’s been home to artists and tango dancers for decades. The local … [Read more...]

A couple of months earlier I received a message from a friend that I grew up with. "Dan, where are you going to be in May? I have some flight credits and I could use a little South American adventure right about now" I was a few months and several thousand miles away from Buenos Aires at the time but I knew that I would be wrapping up my journey there in May. Perfect, I hadn't hung out with anyone I've known in 7 months. After two and half weeks Couchsurfing at Deni's in Villa Urquiza I … [Read more...]