As we headed further and further north on the map, my excitement grew. The whole area was already starting to be uncharted territory for me, so I was very curious to see what things were like in that part of my country. We were already very close to achieving our improvised goal of reaching Bolivia, but along the way we were also seeing some very curious places. One obligatory stop was La Quiaca, the northernmost city in Argentina in the province of Jujuy, where we took two nights to rest and also to sort out our paperwork before crossing the border .

After driving more than 180 km in the small Suzuki 4x4, we left Iruya in the province of Salta to head to La Quiaca, in the province of Jujuy. That would be our last stop in Argentina before heading to the neighboring country. It was impossible to go any further, because we were literally about to cross to the other side. However, despite being so close, we needed some time to be able to go to the ATM to withdraw cash so we could get a good exchange rate in Bolivia, try to get the yellow fever vaccine and be able to fill up with gas before crossing. For this we stayed two nights in a small hostel for which we paid $25 per night for two people

As for money, we were able to get a good amount from ATMs and this was the most convenient thing, since due to the high taxes Argentina imposes on using debit and credit cards abroad, the best option was to pay for everything with cash. Regarding the yellow fever vaccine, we had read that it was necessary but I went to the hospital and couldn't get it because it wasn't the day they were doing the vaccination campaign. I risked going to Bolivia anyway, hoping not to get sick from anything (spoiler: I didn't get sick from anything). Third, we were able to fill a jerry can with extra gasoline, which was what we wanted, since we were afraid of not getting it easily in Bolivia, since there was a rumor that they didn't sell it to foreigners .

All of these things took up the time we decided to stay in La Quiaca. As for the city, like any border city, it is not as touristy or elegant, but it is still full of signs that highlight what distinguishes it: being the northernmost city in Argentina. There are signs everywhere for photos, and many stickers of people who wanted to leave their mark on this place. In addition, everything was quite cheap here, just like what we saw in our previous days in other northern cities .

The city of La Quiaca in Jujuy represents the northern end of the famous journey that crosses my country from end to end along Route 40, parallel to the Andes Mountains and ending in the city of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego province. This route covers 5,194 km and visits 11 of the 23 provinces we have in Argentina. This trip is one of the most desired by nomadic travelers, who choose to do it in different vehicles, from cars, trucks, motorcycles and motorhomes to bicycles. Being at either end of this route, whether in La Quiaca or Ushuaia, is exciting, and that is how I felt after finally getting to know this city, because I already knew Ushuaia .

I think that throughout this whole traveling phase of my life, which began almost a year and a half ago, I did a lot of great things and being in the northernmost and southernmost extremes of my country was one of them. When I decided that I wanted to travel a bit around the north of Argentina, I didn't think that I would literally get to La Quiaca, the furthest north we have. I really enjoyed getting to know this place, which despite being simple has a very special value for travelers and for all of us who love Argentina and love Route 40. Once again, I was able to get to know a new corner of the many we have here .

❤️ Hope you liked this post! Thanks for reading. ❤️

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Personally, I consider myself a person who prefers the mountains a thousand times over the beach. Going to visit mountainous places is magical: no place is the same as the other, there are a variety of shapes and colors, depending on the vegetation of the place, each landscape changes color throughout the year ... Wonderful simplicity. But this does not prevent you from enjoying a good day at the beach, listening to the sea and eating food with sand . Something that was completely outside of our initial plan within the trip to Sierra de la Ventana was to finish on the beach, but that's how it was ❤️.

With this trip we literally finished crossing the entire province of Buenos Aires from end to end. Whenever I am traveling I like to check the map to see my location and at that time I did not believe that I was so far from home but still being in my own province._{Screenshot from Google maps}

The decision to go to the beach was unanimous. It was already Monday, the third day of our car trip. By then we had already toured several interesting places but we still wanted to see more. We left early from Sierra de La Ventana and after two hours we reached the beach of Monte Hermoso. The day was gray and somewhat cold at the time, it was not very pleasant to tell the truth.

We take the opportunity to take a short walk along the shore. There weren't many people then, it was around 1 PM and with the day like this, who would want to be in that place apart from us tourists who were more than 500 km from home .

Of course after a while we started to get very hungry. We went for a walk around the center of Monte Hermoso but to our surprise all the businesses were closed. Perhaps as the season was low, nobody wanted to open their business due to the lack of people. The good thing was that when we returned to the beach after a long time looking for something to eat, the sun had come out ❤️.

The only thing we found open was a local empanadas so that's what we had for lunch . I'm not complaining, they were delicious despite the sand that flew over them .

This Monte Hermoso beach is a great tourist destination in the summer. I didn't know her, but when I came here she reminded me a lot of Mar del Plata, the most important coastal city in Buenos Aires. It has a lot of accommodation facing the sea and the beach is really wide, for sure in hot weather this place is extremely crowded.

On the other hand, I have proposed to myself that I would get my feet wet in any place I visit that has a body of water (my immune system does not like this). Let's review, it was August, it was cold, the sun was shining but barely warmed up ... all that resulted in frozen water that made my bones ache but at least I had the experience of getting into the sea in Monte Hermoso (even significantly ) .

Whenever we go to the beach with my aunt Olga (the one with the hat) we take a picture with the name of the place written in the sand. Surely we must have many photos like these, it is already a classic for us. This time, my aunt Alicia has joined the postcard ❤️.

And once again, I am happy to have arrived with my friend Sofía in a new place ❤️ (I would not have been there if we had traveled alone ).

The funny thing is that before going to Sierra I had several trips in mind and one of them was to go to the beach. Thanks to the twists and turns of life (and my cousin Gastón, the driver) we ended up visiting the mountain and the beach in the same walk. I was really happy in those days, I was receiving much more than I had imagined and that is something that I will always be grateful for ❤️.

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As an habitant of the city of Buenos Aires, sometimes I forget that there are beautiful places to go for a walk and interesting activities to be part of. This is in such a way that I was not able to know the Japanese Garden until 2018, when, attracted by an advertisement, I found out that this "Fire Festival" would take place there.

Getting there took us two hours by public transport: train, subway and a bus. A bit long trip but it was worth it because the garden was beautiful. Admission cost us 120 ARS, although there are specific days you can enter for free. Since a special activity was taking place that day, there were many more people than usual.

Through informational brochures they explained to us that this festival aims to burn the bad things of the past to give way to new and better things. That is why each entrant was given a small piece of wood like this one on which we had to write down the bad things we wanted the fire to destroy.

At the end of the afternoon, all the small woods were deposited in a boat and burned in the middle of the lake. It was a very exciting moment for everyone .

In the garden there was a museum where you could see elements of Japanese culture. At the entrance of the museum there were trees where you could hang a small card with all the good wishes you had. I really loved this whole thing about bringing in the good energy and getting rid of the bad .

I always liked these lucky kittens and that day I learned that they are called Manekineko .

Undoubtedly, this walk was very enriching, besides that it was a very pleasant day to be outdoors. I would like to return to this garden one day when there are not so many people as it can be a great place to go to rest and relax admiring how beautiful it is ❤.

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