"Today was... incredible! We woke way too early to wait for our pickup, and our lethargic selves plopped onto the van and set off towards the towering Andes. These mountains... my God. Looking at the postcard images alive and in front of my own eyes, with the snow and the shadows and the blue sky and the bright sun was so HERMOSA I almost felt like it was beyond pointless, more defiling almost to try and capture their timeless majesty in a 2-D frame.
We stopped at this tiny village Potrerillos and mounted up our caballos. I got this spicy little ginger chiquita, and I asked the boy "Ella es rapida?" and he goes "SI!" "Bueno! Como se llama?" Are you ready for this?? "Ella se llama LOLITA!" It was a match hecho en el cielo. She trots like I drive, always tailgating, has to be at the front of the pack, zero tolerance for slowpokes, but still an appetite that would make her stop and munch at any given moment! She was so good too! She responded to every little tug and nudge, and made me seriously look good in the cowgirl department! I was one of the few that got to run! But this trail wasn't so much a trail as it was a trek. The sights we saw and were a part of were so breathtaking its hard to even think back on the and realize they weren't a dream!
It was a great group of 7 people and 2 guides, we all tag teamed for photo op moments, but even when we got spread out from each other the careful walking through the snow was anything but unentertaining. Sometimes after a healthy trot away from the line, the horses hooves would meet a drift of snow and be completely muffled. During thoe moments, the silence of the mountains really came to life. Other than the soft trudging and rare but occasional flock of birds, there was nothing.
It made me think about how old the mountains are. These overwhelming firgures have stood there from seasom to season for 1000's of years. I can go home and say "I spent a day on the Andes," but for the Andes it was a brief fleeting encounter amongst the multitude of days in their ancient existence. There was so much tranquility. The earth doesn't need to make any sound to make itself known... not out here away from the noise of a busy self absorbed human population. Its like she was just calmly napping in the morning sun under a blanket of snow, undisturbed by the 9 sets of hooves tickling her wise old belly. Her wisdom is just so ancient and so profound it doesn't need proclaiming.
The cold was something else though! Only after we got off the horses did I realize I couldn't feel my feet and couple girls' had blue fingers! I was then very proud of my purchase of Argentine leather gloves. We stopped at a little fruteria/kiosko on the way home and bought ingredients for a veggie chili dinner tonight which we will cook all ourselves in the hostel! So nerdy... but I'm really excited to cook once again!"
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