Snap decision


So I made a snap decision by weighing up the distances by eye, looking at the map of the continent, in the hostel in Buenos Aires, it seemed pretty much equal from where I was to get to the northern coast of this huge landmass. So I decided to go up the other side. The reasoning behind this was that there would be more variation, I can speak Spanish, I can't speak Portuguese, and Brazil is beautiful but very expensive whereas Bolivia and Peru should be cheaper. I admit the final leg of the journey still needs working out since I have no idea how I'm going to get from Colombia to Martinique. I would love to go to Venezuela, it is supposed to be stunning, but it doesn't sounds particularly backpacker friendly right now. This is the only (big) flaw in the new plan, going from French Guyana should have been relatively easy but I have no idea how I'm going to get from Colombia to Martinique without spending a fortune or making friends with someone with a large yacht. It's going to be challenging.


With all this in mind, I made my move for the bus station. I was sad to leave, I could happily have moved to Buenos Aires and tried to set myself up there for a few months or longer. I really liked the city but I'd seen all that I thought I could see as a passer through so it was time to move on. I miss-timed this move most spectacularly. I decided to journey a few days before a bank holiday weekend, the bus terminal was carnage, it was flooded with passengers and luggage. All buses were delayed, it was a case of waiting, eyes glued to a monitor for a departure time and parking bay to be announced. The only saving grace of the whole exercise was that I got a deal on my ticket. When the bus did finally arrive we were stuck in the grid-lock to get away from the city. It turned out to be a long and torturous journey.


I decided to go straight up to a town called Jujuy, right in the north, not far from the Bolivian border. This meant cutting out basically ALL of Argentina but I felt like I had so much distance to cover and I'd just contacted a long lost lover in Martinique to warn him of my eminent arrival. I was anxious to move fast. Argentina will have to be re-visited properly at a later date - I'm desperate to go to Patagonia, see some mountains and glaciers.


I got to Jujuy and went straight to a hostel to rest, kind of feeling like a shadow of my former self. It's really hard when you are stuck on a bus alone for so long not to start thinking and dwelling on all kinds of strange things. Mine goes back in time and drags up all sorts of strange things. As I watch ever-changing scenery I'm also having a session with Freud. I'm not yet sure if all this thinking time is productive or a product of bordem. Fortunately, when the journey ended and I got to move around again and operate like a normal human being, the shift to being actively involved with the world again seems to untangle me from my own strange thoughts.


I feel alone and like I'm about to embark on a pretty strange quest. Unclear journey (there are so many options), unclear destination (what will happen when I re-visit a place and people I knew five years ago, it may be completely different).


Cup of tea, shower, sleep. I'll worry about it more tomorrow.


Here are some photos of Jujuy.

This man was wearing a very long and quite stylish poncho