Houston, we have a problem
Let me tell you how it usually is - We reach a place, an amazing place, where nature is grander than life and so beautifully amazing no camera in the world can possibly capture and express what our eyes are seeing. Usually, I feel extremely lucky, but at the same time saddened I cannot fully share my experience with everybody else; but this time I can honestly say that seeing the pictures is more enjoyable than the actual visit.
Presenting - Talampaya and Ischigualasto, aka Moon Valley. According to some sources, the most photographed landscape in Argentina. We came here only because of raving recommendations we read in our guidebook and, after seeing the photos the tour agent had, we were convinced thta what we were going to see in the next few days will be one of the most amazing things we'd seen in our lives. When I think about it now, I realize he never hid anything from us. He told us his company will provide the transportation to the park where we will have to pay the entrance fee and take the obligatory tour which was the only way to see the park.
Fact - man destroys nature. Moves in, levels the ground no matter what is in his way, and builds over it to his hart's desire. Eventually, man notices what he has done, repents, and designates a chunk of nature to be a reserve or a national park where nature will forcefully be preserved in the most unnatural way possible.
Guess how many tourists you can fit in a bus. Take that number, multiply it by two and then add periodical shove-ins, shove-outs, for five minutes each, to gaze at a rock wall, snap a shot, and back on the bus you go. Step to the left, step to the right, and "no-no-no, only here please," or "no-no-no, there is no time for this," and the guide will point you back to the herd. We did go along with it all, hoping to be dazzled in the end by the Ball Court. A field of naturally formed stone spheres that from the pictures looked like huge canon balls scattered over a sandy desert stretching all the way to the horizon. But when we got there, the place disappointed me almost to tears. These things sure do look good on pictures, but in person they are not even nearly as grand. The "Court" was no bigger then our eight peso hostel room, and the balls themselves were mostly the size of a fist, and only a few were, at most, the size of a head.
Presenting - Talampaya and Ischigualasto, aka Moon Valley. According to some sources, the most photographed landscape in Argentina. We came here only because of raving recommendations we read in our guidebook and, after seeing the photos the tour agent had, we were convinced thta what we were going to see in the next few days will be one of the most amazing things we'd seen in our lives. When I think about it now, I realize he never hid anything from us. He told us his company will provide the transportation to the park where we will have to pay the entrance fee and take the obligatory tour which was the only way to see the park.
Fact - man destroys nature. Moves in, levels the ground no matter what is in his way, and builds over it to his hart's desire. Eventually, man notices what he has done, repents, and designates a chunk of nature to be a reserve or a national park where nature will forcefully be preserved in the most unnatural way possible.
Guess how many tourists you can fit in a bus. Take that number, multiply it by two and then add periodical shove-ins, shove-outs, for five minutes each, to gaze at a rock wall, snap a shot, and back on the bus you go. Step to the left, step to the right, and "no-no-no, only here please," or "no-no-no, there is no time for this," and the guide will point you back to the herd. We did go along with it all, hoping to be dazzled in the end by the Ball Court. A field of naturally formed stone spheres that from the pictures looked like huge canon balls scattered over a sandy desert stretching all the way to the horizon. But when we got there, the place disappointed me almost to tears. These things sure do look good on pictures, but in person they are not even nearly as grand. The "Court" was no bigger then our eight peso hostel room, and the balls themselves were mostly the size of a fist, and only a few were, at most, the size of a head.