Having managed to avoid writing for the previous three installments, it's now the contador's turn to update the captivated audience on our exploits. The last two weeks have absolutely flown by and it"s hard to believe we are approaching halfway through our trip. After 7 weeks on the road boundaries in the group are becoming a little blurred. Since the last post I have managed to call Claire "Jon" and he in turn has called Gill "Andy"...not quite time for hostel keys in the middle....
Having finished the epic hiking in Puerto Natales we jumped on a minibus that took us to El Calafate via the Perito Mereno glacier. The glacier was pretty awe inspiring at 30 kms long, 5 kms wide and with a terminal face upto 60 metres high. We just about managed to get some 'carving' shots where big chunks of ice fall from the face. Calafate is a chilled out holiday town for the Argentinians and we discovered the president owns big chunks of land and real estate there, including the local casino. As a result the services to and from Calafate are pretty good compared to the surrounding area and a lot of money is being spent on improving the facilities at the glacier... no conflict of interests there.
In Calafate we also managed to have our first serious Argentian bbq buffet which involved huge amounts of food. We were leaving the following morning on a 3am bus so decided to really go for the free food. I think all of us lay in bed that night with that post xmas dinner feeling!
The bus trip to Bariloche turned out to be the longest of the trip so far lasting a mamouth 36 hours. It made the flight from Australia home seem pretty easy. The buses are pretty good here though and dont compare to the ones in the UK, so could have been a lot worse.
We arrived in Bariloche at about midday and set about trying to find a hostel. First place was was on the 10th floor of a pretty run down building and is how I imagine the apartment blocks in Moscow to look like. We did read that this was the worst looking building in town though and the rest of the place was very picturesque, along the lines of a Swiss/German town. Finally found a place run by an old lady with a lot of chintz and doilies... seemed perfect and we, the two couples, got a double room each with en suite bathrooms. Bariloche is famous for its chocolate and it was therefore obligatory for us to overload with hot chocolate, chocolate cake and various tarts... Claire also discovered Submarinos here, hot milk with a stick of chocolate to do with as you wish
After a night of living with grandma we decided to go for something more along the wacky traveller lines and moved to a place called Periko's which importantly had a bbq (more later). That day we treated ourselves to a hire car, as it seemed cheaper than any tours, and visited the area around Bariloche. Beautiful countryside with the Swiss chalet theme really coming through. We hadn't climbed a hill for a while so Gill demanded we find the steepest slope once again and climbed about 300 metres in 20 minutes, with views at the top well worth the effort. That night we had a bbq at the hostel. A lack of firelighters meant a clandestine search for cardboard, old crates and other bits of wood from the street. And then...man make fire. Very impressed with our towering inferno we sat back and downed a few cervezas to celebrate. We all loved Bariloche with its ski resort feel and were very sad to move on.
Next morning saw us on another bus heading back across the chilean border...we just love those border crossings. This time we were headed for Pucon, a chilean holiday resort famous for its lakes and volcanos. We transited through a backwater chilean town called Osorno...not much to write about it except that Jonny managed to get himself chatted up by a 14 year old local who wanted to practice her english and show him her g string...much to the amusment of her giggling friends. We finally arrived at our destination in the dark, bored of buses and very grateful to be met by our host...a long haired, exceptionally friendly hostel owner called Herman.
Hostel Donde German proved to be a five star establishment...double rooms all round with the girls revelling in the nice linen, towels and pillows. Guess its the little things that count. It was a great place with a lovely garden for supping beer while watching the sunset over the volcano...and more opportunity for bbqs. Hermans day job was running his own adventure company and so next morning we signed up for the volcano climb...what an experience.
After getting all the gear from Herman we left for the volcano early doors, the girls getting very excited about the fireman look Jon and I managed to pull off pretty well. Climbed start off nice and slow, partly due to some unfit Brasilians but mainly due to the steep altitude climb (about 1,000 metres overall up to 2,800m) and the very dry air. The second half was on a small glacier and ice so we were required to put on crampons and carry an ice pick... bit of a scuffle as to who was going to walk behind Claire and avoid her spikes, but other than that no real issues! Top of the volcano was amazing and depsite there being no magma as it's been dry for the last couple of years, there was plenty of sulphur being pumped out, which was pretty savage if you ended up down wind. Best bit of the day was coming down though and involved putting on a giant nappy and, without getting technical, sliding down on your backside. Brilliant fun, although I did manage to bruise my coccyx pretty badly after hitting a few ice bumps just to make sure I was faster than Jon!
The following day we chilled again in Pucon, with temperatures hitting about 32c. That evening, poor Claire almost got chucked out of the supermarket for not respecting the locals and walking around bare foot. Only when she was able to explain her flip flops had broken and she was buying new ones did they let her off. Day done, we caught the 8pm bus to Mendoza, via a short stop in Santiago. All loved Pucon and turned out to be one of the first places we slowed down about.
Mendoza is a pretty decent city in Argentina, well known for its wine and steak. After setting up base at a cheap but average hostel we used the time here to catch up on a few errands we needed to do and of course visit the wineries. Jon and Gill also went horseriding out in the bush where apparently Jon nearly came a cropper whilst doing an impression of Lester Piggot. That night, tipped of by the riding instructor, we went to a posh nosh gaff where Claire, Gill and I had huge lumps of steak. Jon went for a mixed grill which included some lengths of intestine and a variety of other internal organs... rather him than me but was actually pretty tasty!
On the third and last day in Mendoza we took the bus out to the wineries and hired bikes from Mr Hugo. Slightly different experience to other vineyards we've been too, with a busy, bumpy road to navigate down, but a really nice lunch which included a cheese and meat platter certainly made it worth while. Having arrived back at Mr Hugo we were pretty dry and started to hydrate on coke and water. At this point Mr Hugo came out with a carafe of wine and poured us all massive glasses, despite the protests. Last thing we wanted but obviosuly did the gracious thing and drank most of the wine, only to have him return with more. Really nice bloke and made us feel very welcome, despite the language barriers
Mendoza done we jumped on the bus and headed further north to Salta. This turned out to be our favourite city so far, with old streets set round an attractive plaza full of colonial buildings and churches. Once again we decided we needed a break and ended up staying here for a few relaxing days which included a couple of well lubricated afternoons in the square, followed by siestas and late nights.
Cultural highlights included the Archaelogical museum which housed 3 mummified children found on top of a nearby volcano (6000 m up). They'd been sacrificed 500 years ago as part of an Incan ritual and had been preserved by the low oxygen levels, low humidity and extreme temperatures. Very surreal and half expected them to jump up because they had been so well preserved. We also watched the monthly changing of the guard and climbed another mountain. On the penultimate evening we went to an awesome bbq at one of the sister hostels of where we were staying. It was an authentic Argentinian evening with a whole load of marinated meat and a bit of salad... Had some authentic music and dancing too, culminating in the crowd being dragged up one by one to strut their stuff. It was at this point that Claire crawled under the table to avoid having to dance! There was also a guest appearance of a didgeridoo player from Australia who was touring South America.
A personal highlight of the non cultural variety was Jon trying to fix his glasses with superglue in the square. In the process he managed to glu his fingers to his shorts, which in turn were glued to his legs! Richard (Gills dad), I don't think Jon will be taking your DIY crown anytime soon. Smile was wiped off my face not long after when I was dive bombed by a local pigeon... same risks the world over.
From Salta, we hired a car and guide who took us north towards the Bolivian border. Really picturesque drive and saw some old Inca ruins on the way. These were partly highlighted by the increased density of cactus plants around the ruins, apparantly as a result of the Incans feeding the Llamas cactus fruit. Also went through a world heritage area, established as a result of the geological formations, which were pretty stunning. Stayed in Humahuaca that night, which is a pleasant small village, and then headed off to Bolivia the next day.
For those that haven't noted already, we have uploaded a load of photos, found via the link top right of this page. Turned out to be much easier on the slow internet connections
love to all and will update again soon xxx
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Hi all, Gill here with the next nail-biting installment of the blog to end all blogs. I think Jonny left off in NZ with his never ending birthday and from there we flew to Easter Island for the start of our South American adventure.
As expected Isla de Pascua was fantastic. It was very hot and certainly not cheap (hotdogs for tea 3 nights in a row) but we really enjoyed visiting all the Maoi (big stone heads) which are scattered all over the island. On the first day we scaled the edge of a stunning volcanic crater and watched the sunset behind the maoi (with a few beers of course). The next day we hired scooters and zipped from maoi to maoi only stopping for a siesta and a quick dip at the beach. The museum would have been really interesting if any of us could read about geography and history in Spanish but never mind, we got the general gist....
From there it was back to Santiago for a bit more culture in the form of Andy´s walking tour of the city, where we took in sights like the site of the coup in 1973, the law courts, churches and the national gallery.
We quickly pushed on to Ushuaia which is the last big town before Antarctica and there was a dramatic change in temperature. After much deliberation and a few sums by Andy we decided not to jump on a boat to the Antarctic. Instead we did a beautiful day walk in the Tierra del Fuego National Park. It was a lovely day until about 3pm when the clouds rolled over, the rain came in sideways and we found ourselves cold, wet and stuck up a mountain. Needless to say I wasn´t impressed but luckily we got down without mishap and had a litre of red wine to warm up at the bottom. The next day we caught a boat to see the Beagle channel filled with wildlife including sea lions, cormorants, and some very cute penguins. We then spent the afternoon shopping for trousers as I accidentally put all of my clothes in the wash and was only left with
thermal leggings to wear around town, not a good look!
The next day was our first of many long bus journeys. It took 12 hours to get from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas (approx 4 hours of which was spent at boarder crossings and on the ferry with a truck full of sheep) and then a further 3 hours to Puerto Natales. During this time we were lucky enough to view some of the best quality action movies ever made, "Pistol Whipped" and "Rush Hour 3" were my particular faves. We spent our time in Puerto Natales stocking up on all things waterproof and a mountain of dried food in preparation for the big trek- the infamous "W".
The next day we were dropped off in the Torres del Paine National Park and set off up the mountain to see the jaw dropping 3 towers in bright sunshine. The boys opted not the leave their packs at the refugio at the bottom like the girls, and thought it would be far more macho and "ironman-like" carry 20kg for 22km straight up in 30 deg heat. Silly boys. Andy even bought his goggles, just in case....
That evening after walking for 8 hours Claire and I decided to take a well deserved hot shower. The amenities were a short walk via the living room from our dorm and little did we know that in the time it had taken us to grab our towels a bus load of German men had arrived. We got some unwanted cheers and claps as we emerged in only our towels and one commented that he did not realise entertainment was included!
Overnight I managed to come down with man flu so it was lucky that we only had to walk 11 km over reasonably flat terrain to our next stop. Unfortunately they had no beds left so we had to "rent a tent". The term tent is a bit generous for the soggy piece of plastic we found ourselves sleeping in as the rain poured down outside (and a bit inside). Remarkably the Shorters managed 8 hours sleep compared to our 3. We had a large bowl of porridge in the morning in preperation for the big 28km walk on day 3 up Frenches Valley. Again we were lucky with the weather and the rain held off as we walked up to one of the most increadible 360 degree views any of us had ever seen. There were glaciers and snow covered peaks in all directions. Well worth the effort. Incredibly, on this remote track in the middle of Patagonia we bumped into a guy called Mark and his girlfirend, who Claire and I have worked with in Sydney- small world. After 11 hours of walking, 4 packets of supernoodles, 6 cuppa soups, 3 packets of biscuits and lot of plasters we arrived tired but happy at our last refugio which to our delight had a bar. Unfortunately by the time we showered and ate no one had the energy to raise a glass and it was an early night all round.
Day 4 was a mere 22km walk for views of the Grey Glacier. The wind in our faces was +100km hour so it was tough going but it was amazing to see large icebergs of bright blue ice float past us in the lake. Andy threatened to use the previously mentionned goggles to swim out to the ice but thought the better of it after some gentle persuasion by Claire.
We arrived back in time to catch the last boat and bus back to town last night where we gratefully hung our boots up for a few days. The sock pile was not pleasant.
Today was for R and R and a lie in was much appreciated. Tomorrow we head for El Calafete and the famous Puerto Merino glacier- no rest for the wicked or the unemployed!
As expected Isla de Pascua was fantastic. It was very hot and certainly not cheap (hotdogs for tea 3 nights in a row) but we really enjoyed visiting all the Maoi (big stone heads) which are scattered all over the island. On the first day we scaled the edge of a stunning volcanic crater and watched the sunset behind the maoi (with a few beers of course). The next day we hired scooters and zipped from maoi to maoi only stopping for a siesta and a quick dip at the beach. The museum would have been really interesting if any of us could read about geography and history in Spanish but never mind, we got the general gist....
From there it was back to Santiago for a bit more culture in the form of Andy´s walking tour of the city, where we took in sights like the site of the coup in 1973, the law courts, churches and the national gallery.
We quickly pushed on to Ushuaia which is the last big town before Antarctica and there was a dramatic change in temperature. After much deliberation and a few sums by Andy we decided not to jump on a boat to the Antarctic. Instead we did a beautiful day walk in the Tierra del Fuego National Park. It was a lovely day until about 3pm when the clouds rolled over, the rain came in sideways and we found ourselves cold, wet and stuck up a mountain. Needless to say I wasn´t impressed but luckily we got down without mishap and had a litre of red wine to warm up at the bottom. The next day we caught a boat to see the Beagle channel filled with wildlife including sea lions, cormorants, and some very cute penguins. We then spent the afternoon shopping for trousers as I accidentally put all of my clothes in the wash and was only left with
thermal leggings to wear around town, not a good look!
The next day was our first of many long bus journeys. It took 12 hours to get from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas (approx 4 hours of which was spent at boarder crossings and on the ferry with a truck full of sheep) and then a further 3 hours to Puerto Natales. During this time we were lucky enough to view some of the best quality action movies ever made, "Pistol Whipped" and "Rush Hour 3" were my particular faves. We spent our time in Puerto Natales stocking up on all things waterproof and a mountain of dried food in preparation for the big trek- the infamous "W".
The next day we were dropped off in the Torres del Paine National Park and set off up the mountain to see the jaw dropping 3 towers in bright sunshine. The boys opted not the leave their packs at the refugio at the bottom like the girls, and thought it would be far more macho and "ironman-like" carry 20kg for 22km straight up in 30 deg heat. Silly boys. Andy even bought his goggles, just in case....
That evening after walking for 8 hours Claire and I decided to take a well deserved hot shower. The amenities were a short walk via the living room from our dorm and little did we know that in the time it had taken us to grab our towels a bus load of German men had arrived. We got some unwanted cheers and claps as we emerged in only our towels and one commented that he did not realise entertainment was included!
Overnight I managed to come down with man flu so it was lucky that we only had to walk 11 km over reasonably flat terrain to our next stop. Unfortunately they had no beds left so we had to "rent a tent". The term tent is a bit generous for the soggy piece of plastic we found ourselves sleeping in as the rain poured down outside (and a bit inside). Remarkably the Shorters managed 8 hours sleep compared to our 3. We had a large bowl of porridge in the morning in preperation for the big 28km walk on day 3 up Frenches Valley. Again we were lucky with the weather and the rain held off as we walked up to one of the most increadible 360 degree views any of us had ever seen. There were glaciers and snow covered peaks in all directions. Well worth the effort. Incredibly, on this remote track in the middle of Patagonia we bumped into a guy called Mark and his girlfirend, who Claire and I have worked with in Sydney- small world. After 11 hours of walking, 4 packets of supernoodles, 6 cuppa soups, 3 packets of biscuits and lot of plasters we arrived tired but happy at our last refugio which to our delight had a bar. Unfortunately by the time we showered and ate no one had the energy to raise a glass and it was an early night all round.
Day 4 was a mere 22km walk for views of the Grey Glacier. The wind in our faces was +100km hour so it was tough going but it was amazing to see large icebergs of bright blue ice float past us in the lake. Andy threatened to use the previously mentionned goggles to swim out to the ice but thought the better of it after some gentle persuasion by Claire.
We arrived back in time to catch the last boat and bus back to town last night where we gratefully hung our boots up for a few days. The sock pile was not pleasant.
Today was for R and R and a lie in was much appreciated. Tomorrow we head for El Calafete and the famous Puerto Merino glacier- no rest for the wicked or the unemployed!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)