Friday, 13 March 2009
So I think last time we spoke I was about to tell you about the longest bus journey ever. Having had the opportunity to spend the day re-organising and planning we realised that our time management had not been so great and having spent so much time in Argentina we now needed to re-arrange our plans and get ourselves heading north ready for the Inca trail in just less than a month. So we boarded our midnight bus our of El Chalten, following Ruta 40 (the tourist route) all the way to Bariloche. Despite the long, rough and bumpy road things were going well until we got to Perito Moreno (the town, not the Glacier) and as we all sat there waiting to go again, we began to realise that our bags were actually being taken off the bus - a not so subtle way of telling us that we needed to change buses. Unfortunately no-one really seemed to know when the next bus would arrive but thought it might either be in 5 or 6 hours or at 5 or 6 o'clock. As we were near pretty much nothing we all sat down for the long wait. All was not so bad though, we managed to spend most the time chatting with an American / Polish couple (Brian and Aga) and the time passed quite quickly. The bus finally arrived about 6 hours later and so the journey continued. Our plan at this point was to get to Bariloche and get an another bus as soon as possible to cross the border back into Chile and work our way up to Santiago before going across to San Pedro de Atacama. As with all the best plans, this one went quickly awry once we arrived in Bariloche. Whilst trawling all the bus companies we soon found out that the next bus vacancy was in four days. So with the help of another new friend (Rafael) we managed to all get on a bus to Mendoza, where we hoped to be able to cross the boarder into Chile and directly to Santiago. So, after a four hour stop over in Barlioche we continued on our way to Mendoza. Whilst on that journey we were seated next to another American couple who were also going to Santiago and had a bus booked out of Mendoza 1 hour after our bus arrived. At some point during the night the bus stopped at some station so we quickly booked some onwards tickets and continued on our way. The trip between Mendoza and Santiago was broken up only by the border crossing, which took some time and one of the customs officer´s there seemed very concerned that Tim and I were transporting fruit and vegetable products across the border and so went to great pains explaining the consequences of such actions - most of which we didn´t understand but the general point being if they did find such contraband in our bags we would be fined 120 000 Chilean Peso´s. Anyone who has ever flown into Brisbane airport will be well aware of the penalties for transporting such illegal items and so we were probably the only ones he didn´t have to explain to!! After having made it through customs our kamikaze bus driver got us down the race track mountain road in record time, overtaking buses, cars, trucks and pretty much everything else in his way - I think we descended about 1500ms in about 5 minutes! Still, it made for some incredible views and the photo´s are pretty cool. So, after nearly 40 hours, we made it to Santiago - I think this may have been my favourite city so far. Having encountered one really rude hostel employee where there no vacancies (thank goodness - the American couple we met on the way stayed there and said the staff continued to be really rude) we found a nice hotel, close to restaurants etc, had a long and hot shower and headed out to find dinner before a good night´s sleep so we could make the most of our short time in Santiago. We really just a couple of lazy city days in Santiago. We did a Lonely Planet walking tour of the city, had lunch at the fish markets, caught up on some internet stuff and finished the day with a dinner of cheeses, salamis and biscuits at a little pub that we found (not much is open in Santiago on Sunday nights). Monday we finished off the sites that we hadn´t managed to catch the day before and got an afternoon bus to San Pedro de Atacama. Once I leave this continent if I never have to catch another bus, I will not be unhappy!! Next San Pedro, the desert, the beach and some incredible national parks and really cool animals... Take care Tim and Tracey
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Having thoroughly enjoyed our time in Torres del Paine and Puerto Natales in general, we actually headed back over the border into Argentina and El Calafate for the experience of the Perito Merino glacier. I think that the uniqueness of this glacier is that it is the only one that is continuing to grow which is really quite astounding in the days of global warming and the loss of other glaciers around the world.
El Calafate itself was a pretty enough town, teaming with tourists all heading to Perito Moreno and taking advantage of the apparently fabulous climbing opportunities. Our only goal was to visit the glacier and do a mini ice trek before moving on. This we achieved the next day. There is no doubt that the glacier is impressive. It´s size, the calving, the noises it makes are all incredible; the fact that it is there at all makes the visit worthwhile. I think though, that Tim and I were spoiled by having seen Glacier Grey first. Perhaps it´s just that there is something infinitely more rewarding about the physical effort it took us to get to Glacier Grey or maybe it was that there were less people at Glacier Grey, whatever the reason Glacier Grey remains our favourite of the two.
The mini ice trek was quite cool though. You got to walk along the glacier and hear up close the noises it made as it calved and you could get a real sense of the immense size of the glacier. You could peer into the crevices and see the depth of ice and see the pure ice water in the pools that gathered under the ice. You could also taste the pure and untouched water from small waterfalls so it was definitely an experience we were glad to have had the opportunity to have. I guess it just didn´t take our breath away the way that Glacier Grey did - or perhaps we are just getting to spoiled by all the natural beauty we are surrounded by??
Having achieved our one ´thing to do´in El Calafate we got the early morning bus out and headed to El Chalten for some more awe inspiring scenery and a wee bit more walking and climbing.
El Chalten is essentially famous for the Fitx Roy mountain range which offers inumerable opportunities for walking, trekking and hard core climbing. Tim and I stuck to the walking and just a bit of climbing because there was simply no other way to reach the top and having already walked for 3 hours we weren´t going to be beaten by a sheer cliff face that stretched further than the eye could see! Our first day in El Chalten was a bit lazy really, gathering information, taking a short walk to a nearby waterfall and generally just resting and trying to stay out of the wind that blew constantly. Despite the winds we bravely decided to camp and so spent a relatively uncomfortable night wondering if the tent was going to blow away leaving us completely exposed to the driving rain. Luckily we survived the night and so set off the next morning to see what all the fuss was about with this Fitz Roy mountain. The first three hours of the trek was pretty tough and I was so glad that we had decided to leave our packs and campsite in El Chalten rather than carry it all with us and camp closer to the mountain.
By the time we reached the last part of the trek I was just about ready to give up. It was cold, windy, rainy and I was exhausted and nearly moved to tears when I saw just how difficult the next section was. Still, keeping in mind that it would surely be worth it, off we went. For about 1 hour we zigzagged up the mountain, completely exposed to the elements, at times having to stop and lean into the wind just to stop getting blown off the mountain. The path was wet, slippery and stony and full of people coming down as we were going up. But we made it. We made it to the top and we greeted by an absolutely pristine glacial lake, seemingly unpolluted and untouched by human habitation. Over the next small rise was an even more remote lake, so peaceful, so serene. It was worth it. By this point the wind had increased so much that the only escape was to hide behind the huge rocks until it died down long enough for us to make it to the next rock to hide behind. We finally made it down the mountain and I could only feel sorry for the people who were still on their way up the mountain as the wind continued to increase, the rain came down and visibility was reduced. Although my feelings of sympathy were somewhat tempered by the fact that you have to be slightly mad to start such a climb at 5:00 in the evening!
Anyway, we returned to camp and took refuge in our tent for the remainder of the evening as the wind and rain continued. Our last day in El Chalten the weather was just so bad that we barely left the tent and spent most of the day making onward plans. Late that night we boarded a bus for Bariloche, via the ´Tourist Route´, Ruta 40, hoping to be able to cross back into Chile from Bariloche.
And here begins the most exhausting of our journey´s so far .... But more about that next time.
Until then, I hope all is well with you all
Take care
Tim and Tracey
Thursday, 19 February 2009
We arrived in Puerto Natales at about 11:30pm on a Saturday night and made our way to Nikos II, our hostel for the next couple of nights. This was a good hostel, great information, good rooms and an egg and freshly squeezed juice for breakfast every day!
Day 1 in Puerto Natales was spent booking tickets for Torres del Paine and shopping for the necessary supplies for our four day walk / camping expedition. We were then able to join the landlady for a trip out to a local rodeo where we got to watch children riding sheep and chasing pigs (hearing the pig squeal was a bit disconcerting but the kids seemed to enjoy it) and the finals of the saddle bronc (for those of you who aren´t familiar with this kind of activity it involves grown men sitting on madly bucking horses for as long as possible - although no longer than 8 seconds). Only one person got taken off in the ambulance but there were quite a few who probably would have rathered a ride in the ambulance to the grimace of pride they displayed as their friends helped them to a safer place!
Day 1 in the park began with an early morning bus ride into the parque to start the ´W´trail, which is a 4 / 5 day trek that takes in the most striking aspects of the park. There are two longer circuits - the circuit which is about 9 / 10 days and the ´Q´which is 11 / 12 days. Having arrived at the park we pitched the tent and, inspired by the lack of rain and wind and presence of blue skies we headed straight up to the ´Towers´ which took three hours up and three hours back. To put that in some kind of perspective, the first hour is a long uphill walk with the second hour lulling you into a false sense of security, taking you through forest and along mostly flat paths. The final hour is simply a mad scramble over granite boulders to the mirador. The view however, makes it all worthwhile. It really was incredible, towering spires of bare rock reaching up into the clouds. (Yes, I know photo´s would give a better picture and we really are trying!). Having spent an hour at the top we scrambled down and set off back to camp, stopping briefly for a celebratory wine and beer at the lower refugio.
Day 2 we were up early for the next leg of the journey. The day´s walk started out quite easily, along a flat path with some of the most amazing lake and mountain views. We arrived at the campsite at about 3:00pm, set up camp and again, owing to the fabulous weather we were having we decided to head straight up the mountain, through the ´Valle de Francis´. This part of the walk started off by following the river and so again we were climbing and scrambling over rocks and boulders before heading into the trees and then across bare landscape that offered no protection from the wind. We stopped at the first mirador and were greeted by the most amazing views of snow and rock and the cracking sounds of avalanches. We continued on with climb and finally reached the end of the trail which was more of the same views except even more awe inspiring. It´s difficult to put into words just how breathtaking the views of mountains can be but all around us we were surrounded by towering peaks, snow covered mountains and below was forest. As we got there quite late in the day there weren´t many people there so it was quite peaceful as well. Anyway, as the wind picked up we decided it was time to head down and so we returned to camp and collapsed for the evening.
Day 3 had us again heading off early for the final part of the trek. It was a relatively short and not to difficult walk to the final campsite, Pehoe. We filled ourselves with a huge but not very tasty breakfast at the hotel there (the thought of more than a muesli bar for breakfast was just to tempting), set up camp and headed up Glacier Grey. This was perhaps the most spectacular of the views for us. As you followed the path you eventually reached a huge rock that was the first mirador and it simply took our breath away. Clear lakes stretching for miles, small ice bergs dotting the lake and in the distance the snow covered peaks and our first view of the Glacier. We continued on and were constantly surprised by the beauty of what we were seeing. We finally reached the Glacier and just sat and stared for about 45 minutes before it got to cold to sit any longer! We then headed back to camp for our last night in Torres del Paine.
All in all we both concluded that this was an amazing part of the world and we were certainly glad that we had made the effort to spend the time there.
In addition to Torres del Paine, Puerto Natales offered us one of our best meals yet (2 really because we went back twice). It was an Afro-Patagonian restaurant with a Kenyan chef and the food was absolutely incredible. The prawns were fresh and garlicky, the king crab salad had lots of fresh, tasty crab, the steak was cooked to perfection and simply melted in your mouth ... You get the picture!
Anyway, now it´s time to continue our journey north and see what else Chile has to offer.
Bye for now, take care
Tim and Tracey
Having arrived in Ushuaia 4 hours later than the advertised time (apparently they don´t take into account the border crossing times) we got the first taxi we could find and went directly to the hostel. Fortunately, the owner´s son was there and awake as the owner had gone to bed, having completely given up on us arriving! Still, it was a lovely hostel, more a b&b really, with a very motherly landlord who was very concerned to tell us what trips we should and shouldn´t do for maximum benefit and minimum cost.
Having been caught many times before, the very first thing we did was book our bus tickets out of Ushuaia and then headed off to visit the various museums as it was raining and windy (not unusual for the world´s most southern city). Ushuaia has a few museums but perhaps the most powerful one is the old prison which tells some interesting stories about its inhabitants. I recall one about a young boy who killed a few people (mainly children) and eventually they blamed his deviant behaviour on the fact that his ears were very big and stuck out. They did operate to fix this problem but this appeared to have little effect on his overall behaviour.
Day 2 was again a bit grey, very windy and threatening rain but we bravely headed off to Cerro Martial and Glaciar Martial. We were a bit lazy really and got a taxi to the beginning of the chairlift (it was a 7km uphill walk and it was very windy!) but did manage the 15 minute walk to the beginning of the walk up to the Glaciar. The views over Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel were amazing and the walk up to the Glaciar was a bit tough - straight up a stony, slippery mountainside. Having made it to the top, sadly we weren´t that impressed by the Glaciar and as the clouds moved in and the wind picked up we set off back down the mountain. Having reached the bottom of the start of the walk, we decided to walk back into town, following a well marked, lovely, peaceful path through the forest for about two hours.
As a bit of an aside, we were both hugely impressed with this young Japanese guy who seemed to literally run up the mountain and then back down. As we were walking up we could see him in the far off distance and yet he managed to get to the top about 5 minutes after us. We both left to go down at the same time and by the time we were barely halfway down he was very nearly at the bottom!
Having had our fill of exercise for the day, we spent the rest of the afternoon taking a boat ride on the Beagle Channel, taking in some small rocky islands which are the home to seals and sea lions as well as cormorants. I know I´ve said it before but those sea lions really do smell!
Having spent so much time in Bariloche we really had to keep ourselves moving now and so spent only 2 days in Ushuaia before boarding a bus north to Puerto Natales, which is the starting point for Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. It was a bit of a shame really, we did enjoy Ushuaia and could have happily spent another couple of days there exploring the area. Still, we boarded our early morning bus to Puerto Natales feeling quite excited about seeing one of Chile´s most popular parks.
Because Torres del Paine was so amazing it deserves an entry all of its own so, bye for now.
take care
Tim and Tracey
Having been caught many times before, the very first thing we did was book our bus tickets out of Ushuaia and then headed off to visit the various museums as it was raining and windy (not unusual for the world´s most southern city). Ushuaia has a few museums but perhaps the most powerful one is the old prison which tells some interesting stories about its inhabitants. I recall one about a young boy who killed a few people (mainly children) and eventually they blamed his deviant behaviour on the fact that his ears were very big and stuck out. They did operate to fix this problem but this appeared to have little effect on his overall behaviour.
Day 2 was again a bit grey, very windy and threatening rain but we bravely headed off to Cerro Martial and Glaciar Martial. We were a bit lazy really and got a taxi to the beginning of the chairlift (it was a 7km uphill walk and it was very windy!) but did manage the 15 minute walk to the beginning of the walk up to the Glaciar. The views over Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel were amazing and the walk up to the Glaciar was a bit tough - straight up a stony, slippery mountainside. Having made it to the top, sadly we weren´t that impressed by the Glaciar and as the clouds moved in and the wind picked up we set off back down the mountain. Having reached the bottom of the start of the walk, we decided to walk back into town, following a well marked, lovely, peaceful path through the forest for about two hours.
As a bit of an aside, we were both hugely impressed with this young Japanese guy who seemed to literally run up the mountain and then back down. As we were walking up we could see him in the far off distance and yet he managed to get to the top about 5 minutes after us. We both left to go down at the same time and by the time we were barely halfway down he was very nearly at the bottom!
Having had our fill of exercise for the day, we spent the rest of the afternoon taking a boat ride on the Beagle Channel, taking in some small rocky islands which are the home to seals and sea lions as well as cormorants. I know I´ve said it before but those sea lions really do smell!
Having spent so much time in Bariloche we really had to keep ourselves moving now and so spent only 2 days in Ushuaia before boarding a bus north to Puerto Natales, which is the starting point for Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. It was a bit of a shame really, we did enjoy Ushuaia and could have happily spent another couple of days there exploring the area. Still, we boarded our early morning bus to Puerto Natales feeling quite excited about seeing one of Chile´s most popular parks.
Because Torres del Paine was so amazing it deserves an entry all of its own so, bye for now.
take care
Tim and Tracey
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
So, having had enough of Bariloche and armed with our new, improved spanish speaking skills, we boarded a bus to a little town called El Bolsen, which is apparently known for its hippy beginnings and being the only town in Argentina to have declared itself anti-nuclear or something similar. We spent only a day there, wandering around the markets and enjoying the small town feel. There really wasn't much going on and it rained most of the day. I guess people who spend longer there, doing lots of walking in the mountains would have a much more impressed view but at this point we really just wanted to move on. And so we did ....
Next stop, following a brief overnight bus ride, was a place called Puerto Madryn, which provides access to Peninsula Valdes and Punto Tombo. The fascination of these two places lies in the sea life. Having arrived early in the morning and hearing the cost of the tours and going on advice from other's we have met along the way, we decided to hire a car and make our own way around, with the idea of allowing ourselves however long we wanted at each spot, rather than the 15 minutes alotted by the tour operator. Having located the only car hire shop opened at 9:00am on a Sunday morning, we soon found ourselves pottering about in a 5 door Fiat Uno - Tim was not very impressed and mumbled for quite some time about having to drive a Fiat ... Anyway, once we got over that we loaded up at the local grocery store and headed off for Punto Tombo.
Punto Tombo was fabulous. It was just a world of penguins that roamed the beach side with signs telling humans to give way to the penguins! We spent about two hours there just walking along the tracks, watching the penguins crawl in and out of their little burrows, listening to the babies calling for their mothers with their lunch and getting as close as possible to take photo's - this led on one occasion to a grown up penguin pecking Tim on the leg and pulling out quite a few hairs and 'spraying' him. I told him not to get so close .... We also got to see the penguins playing in the ocean. It was great fun to see them diving in and watching the waves tumble them back to shore only for them to start the process again.
After Punto Tombo we headed off to the Pensinsula only to be turned back at the gate because it was close to closing and there didn't appear to be any accomodation. We turned back to Puerto Madryn, spent the night camping and headed off early back to the Peninsula. We managed to find a camping spot (it was quite full but I am pretty sure if we had arrived the night before there would have been space even if not the ideal spot) and headed off to check out more penguins, seals and sea lions. Sadly, we had missed the whale season but the sea lions were certainly impressive (if a little smelly) and the seals were super cute. We spent the afternoon lazing on the beach until it started to get a little cool at about 8:30pm.
Next morning we headed off relatively early, congratulating ourselves on not having roled the vehicle or crashed into another car (both of which seem to be quite regular activities) - although Tim seemed to think it impossible that we would have such an encounter (obviously due to his superior driving skills on gravel roads...). Our self congratulations, it seemed, was slightly to early as about 10 minutes prior to arriving back at the hire office a truck went by and showered us with rocks and stones, leaving 3 cracks in the windscreen. What had started out as a relatively inexpensive trip suddenly became a lot more than anticipated. Nevermind, the animals were lovely and I am glad we got to spend the extended time there, particularly when I hear people talk about the tours they went on.
Having got our fill of sea life it was time to keep moving so we boarded yet another bus, this time for Ushuaia arriving about 36 hours later, having been through 4 border crossing to end up in the same country we started in!
That seems long enough for now so the next chapter can have it's very own entry.
Hope all is well
Until next time,
Tim and Tracey
PS - thanks very much to Mhari and Li-Ann for the information on getting photo's onto the blog - now I just need to find a computer with a fast enough connection ...
Next stop, following a brief overnight bus ride, was a place called Puerto Madryn, which provides access to Peninsula Valdes and Punto Tombo. The fascination of these two places lies in the sea life. Having arrived early in the morning and hearing the cost of the tours and going on advice from other's we have met along the way, we decided to hire a car and make our own way around, with the idea of allowing ourselves however long we wanted at each spot, rather than the 15 minutes alotted by the tour operator. Having located the only car hire shop opened at 9:00am on a Sunday morning, we soon found ourselves pottering about in a 5 door Fiat Uno - Tim was not very impressed and mumbled for quite some time about having to drive a Fiat ... Anyway, once we got over that we loaded up at the local grocery store and headed off for Punto Tombo.
Punto Tombo was fabulous. It was just a world of penguins that roamed the beach side with signs telling humans to give way to the penguins! We spent about two hours there just walking along the tracks, watching the penguins crawl in and out of their little burrows, listening to the babies calling for their mothers with their lunch and getting as close as possible to take photo's - this led on one occasion to a grown up penguin pecking Tim on the leg and pulling out quite a few hairs and 'spraying' him. I told him not to get so close .... We also got to see the penguins playing in the ocean. It was great fun to see them diving in and watching the waves tumble them back to shore only for them to start the process again.
After Punto Tombo we headed off to the Pensinsula only to be turned back at the gate because it was close to closing and there didn't appear to be any accomodation. We turned back to Puerto Madryn, spent the night camping and headed off early back to the Peninsula. We managed to find a camping spot (it was quite full but I am pretty sure if we had arrived the night before there would have been space even if not the ideal spot) and headed off to check out more penguins, seals and sea lions. Sadly, we had missed the whale season but the sea lions were certainly impressive (if a little smelly) and the seals were super cute. We spent the afternoon lazing on the beach until it started to get a little cool at about 8:30pm.
Next morning we headed off relatively early, congratulating ourselves on not having roled the vehicle or crashed into another car (both of which seem to be quite regular activities) - although Tim seemed to think it impossible that we would have such an encounter (obviously due to his superior driving skills on gravel roads...). Our self congratulations, it seemed, was slightly to early as about 10 minutes prior to arriving back at the hire office a truck went by and showered us with rocks and stones, leaving 3 cracks in the windscreen. What had started out as a relatively inexpensive trip suddenly became a lot more than anticipated. Nevermind, the animals were lovely and I am glad we got to spend the extended time there, particularly when I hear people talk about the tours they went on.
Having got our fill of sea life it was time to keep moving so we boarded yet another bus, this time for Ushuaia arriving about 36 hours later, having been through 4 border crossing to end up in the same country we started in!
That seems long enough for now so the next chapter can have it's very own entry.
Hope all is well
Until next time,
Tim and Tracey
PS - thanks very much to Mhari and Li-Ann for the information on getting photo's onto the blog - now I just need to find a computer with a fast enough connection ...
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
As I was waiting for the site to re-direct me to this page I noticed that the last entry date was from 15th January, which seems so long ago now, especially when I think about the amount of ground we have covered. Once again, apologies for the time between blogs but this time it wasn´t completely down to my inability to keep the thing up to date. In that time we have covered hundreds of kilometres on bus, spent many days trekking and camping in places where internet hasn´t yet made it! Also, the obligatory(for me anyway) belly upset and cold kept me down for a few days - but we´re back on track now!
But now it´s time for me to cast my mind back to 15.01 ..... As I recall we had recently arrived in Bariloche and had the bright idea to spend some time studying Spanish to improve the whole travelling experience. Before school started we had a few days to get to know the area and so hired a bicycle to do the ´circuito chico´ which is a bike ride around Bariloche that takes in some fabulous views across the city, allows you to stop at some beautiful lakes and lagoons and certainly tests your fitness, if not your bike riding skills. I was completely exhausted, had to push the bike up more than one hill (mountain) and spent the next day doing pretty much nothing!
Having recovered from the bike ride, it was time to move to our new hostel in Bariloche, booked as part of the spanish school experience. Having done that we took a bus to a nearby lake, which was apparently quite nice for relaxation and swimming - unless of course there are gale force winds and you take shelter in the nearest (and only) restaurant before opting for the short walk to the cascada (waterfall) and mirador (lookout). The cascada wasn´t so spectactular but the views from the mirador were impressive.
Having braved the cyclonic winds we headed back to town and, for the first time of the trip, stopped for a quick drink in a lonely planet recommended Irish pub where we ran into a couple that we had met briefly in Cordoba, Mark and Sheenagh. Given the level of coincidence involved here it was agreed that a quick drink or two were in order. Anyway, we caught up with Mark and Sheenagh a couple more times over the next few days and it was really nice to have someone other than each other to talk with! I guess it´s also one of the rewards of travelling - meeting like minded people who you can have a laugh and chat with. They had been travelling for 7 months and were looking forward to returning home - I know the feeling! Anyway, if you do read this, Hi Mark and Sheenagh. Hope you are settling well back on Oz.
Well, after an enjoyable weekend it was off to school for the first time in a really long time (more so for Tim). There were four of us in class (Tim and I, Patrick and Guido) who we had stayed with at the previous hostel.
The next two weeks past quite quickly really with life developing into a routine quite quickly. From 9 - 1 we were at school. After school we had lunch and headed to the beach to enjoy the sunshine and do our homework (!) and then back to the hostel for dinner, more studying and bed. The only additions to this routine we some after school activities including Salsa dancing and ten pin bowling. Both were fun, a good laugh but sadly, neither of us excelled at either.
At the end of the first week of school we moved again, this time to our host family - Marta, Rodolfo and their son, Gaston. This was good. We both really enjoyed the time spent with the family and it was a great way to help improve our spanish. They all spoke english which was helpful (for us) because if we didn´t understand them in spanish they would repeat in english and what we couldn´t say in spanish we could ask in english. Anyway, they were a lovely family.
In our second week we stuck to mostly the same routine but also managed to check out Cerro Catedral which provided views of the city but also looking back towards Chile and, on a good day, views of some volcano´s in Chile and Colonia Suiza to taste a traditional ´curanto´, which is really quite similar to a ´hungi´(sorry for the incorrect spelling). Unfortunately, we were really quite late and so didn´t get to experience the whole thing, we did get to eat though.
Unfortunately, I was ill pretty much for the whole time we in Baroliche, due to some dodgy meat. You would think, given we have eaten in the cheapest places we can find, from stalls on the side of the street, that one of those would be the cause of illness. But no, the time we decide to eat somewhere really nice and relatively expensive, it happens. Anyway, after two weeks of soup, rice with some an occasional fish and sprite, I tried meat again and it happened all over again. Now, I eat salads and vegetables and fish and have now re-introduced red wine to my diet.
The key question, I suppose, to the time spent in Bariloche was whether or not the school was worth the time and money spent. Well, I guess it must have been worthwhile; our vocabulary has increased, we have a much better grasp of grammer and reading, writing and understanding the language has certainly improved. Sadly, our conversational skills are still rather lacking ... hopefully this will improve as we travel further - even if it is just our of necessity!
Anyway, after 2 1/2 weeks in one place it was definately time to move on - more on that in the next entry.
So now we will sign off, wishing you all the best and hoping that the new year has treated you well so far.
take care,
Tim and Tracey
PS - Message for Lesley and Anthony - I now only have Lesleys work email and I guess youre not there right now, so it wold be great if you sent an email to our same old address so we can catch up on whats been going on.
PSS - Sorry for the lack of correct punctuation, I cant work out this keyboard!
But now it´s time for me to cast my mind back to 15.01 ..... As I recall we had recently arrived in Bariloche and had the bright idea to spend some time studying Spanish to improve the whole travelling experience. Before school started we had a few days to get to know the area and so hired a bicycle to do the ´circuito chico´ which is a bike ride around Bariloche that takes in some fabulous views across the city, allows you to stop at some beautiful lakes and lagoons and certainly tests your fitness, if not your bike riding skills. I was completely exhausted, had to push the bike up more than one hill (mountain) and spent the next day doing pretty much nothing!
Having recovered from the bike ride, it was time to move to our new hostel in Bariloche, booked as part of the spanish school experience. Having done that we took a bus to a nearby lake, which was apparently quite nice for relaxation and swimming - unless of course there are gale force winds and you take shelter in the nearest (and only) restaurant before opting for the short walk to the cascada (waterfall) and mirador (lookout). The cascada wasn´t so spectactular but the views from the mirador were impressive.
Having braved the cyclonic winds we headed back to town and, for the first time of the trip, stopped for a quick drink in a lonely planet recommended Irish pub where we ran into a couple that we had met briefly in Cordoba, Mark and Sheenagh. Given the level of coincidence involved here it was agreed that a quick drink or two were in order. Anyway, we caught up with Mark and Sheenagh a couple more times over the next few days and it was really nice to have someone other than each other to talk with! I guess it´s also one of the rewards of travelling - meeting like minded people who you can have a laugh and chat with. They had been travelling for 7 months and were looking forward to returning home - I know the feeling! Anyway, if you do read this, Hi Mark and Sheenagh. Hope you are settling well back on Oz.
Well, after an enjoyable weekend it was off to school for the first time in a really long time (more so for Tim). There were four of us in class (Tim and I, Patrick and Guido) who we had stayed with at the previous hostel.
The next two weeks past quite quickly really with life developing into a routine quite quickly. From 9 - 1 we were at school. After school we had lunch and headed to the beach to enjoy the sunshine and do our homework (!) and then back to the hostel for dinner, more studying and bed. The only additions to this routine we some after school activities including Salsa dancing and ten pin bowling. Both were fun, a good laugh but sadly, neither of us excelled at either.
At the end of the first week of school we moved again, this time to our host family - Marta, Rodolfo and their son, Gaston. This was good. We both really enjoyed the time spent with the family and it was a great way to help improve our spanish. They all spoke english which was helpful (for us) because if we didn´t understand them in spanish they would repeat in english and what we couldn´t say in spanish we could ask in english. Anyway, they were a lovely family.
In our second week we stuck to mostly the same routine but also managed to check out Cerro Catedral which provided views of the city but also looking back towards Chile and, on a good day, views of some volcano´s in Chile and Colonia Suiza to taste a traditional ´curanto´, which is really quite similar to a ´hungi´(sorry for the incorrect spelling). Unfortunately, we were really quite late and so didn´t get to experience the whole thing, we did get to eat though.
Unfortunately, I was ill pretty much for the whole time we in Baroliche, due to some dodgy meat. You would think, given we have eaten in the cheapest places we can find, from stalls on the side of the street, that one of those would be the cause of illness. But no, the time we decide to eat somewhere really nice and relatively expensive, it happens. Anyway, after two weeks of soup, rice with some an occasional fish and sprite, I tried meat again and it happened all over again. Now, I eat salads and vegetables and fish and have now re-introduced red wine to my diet.
The key question, I suppose, to the time spent in Bariloche was whether or not the school was worth the time and money spent. Well, I guess it must have been worthwhile; our vocabulary has increased, we have a much better grasp of grammer and reading, writing and understanding the language has certainly improved. Sadly, our conversational skills are still rather lacking ... hopefully this will improve as we travel further - even if it is just our of necessity!
Anyway, after 2 1/2 weeks in one place it was definately time to move on - more on that in the next entry.
So now we will sign off, wishing you all the best and hoping that the new year has treated you well so far.
take care,
Tim and Tracey
PS - Message for Lesley and Anthony - I now only have Lesleys work email and I guess youre not there right now, so it wold be great if you sent an email to our same old address so we can catch up on whats been going on.
PSS - Sorry for the lack of correct punctuation, I cant work out this keyboard!
Thursday, 15 January 2009
This is why I have never kept a diary and am fairly poor at writing letters and emails to people - why I ever thought I would keep this blog up to date is beyond me! Nevermind, I have finally overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed by how long I have left is since last reporting in and will now regale you all with stories of the last 24 days!!!
Let´s see, if I recall correctly, when I last checked in, we were heading to San Juan for Christmas and to check out some of the more interesting aspects of the area. San Juan itself was essentially just another town that was nice enough but didn´t really have much centrally to hold your attention. We checked out the Museo Cientifico Naturales, where they have some dinosour skeletons on display, walked around the local park and decided that the best thing to do was to book a tour of the wineries; which we did. And the less said about that the better. Needless to say, close to Christmas, wineries closed, pretty much a waste of a day and money. Christmas day itself was kind of slow for us - ie. we were the only ones at the hostel and spent the day handwashing all of our dirty clothes. Apparently, this saves money but I can assure you the clothes aren´t as clean and fresh smelling as the washing machine makes them! Still, the sun was out and after our domestic chores, we sat outside and enjoyed some nice cold white wine. Lunch consisted of packet rice, cooked in 15 minutes with water. I know, those of you that sat down for prawns, salad and cold beer are jealous but as it is now a speciality of ours we will share the secret recipes when we get home. Fortunately, we were joined later in the day by a couple from Buenos Aires who were on three weeks vacation, a cyclist from Holand, who had so far ridden about 23 000 kms from Alaska to San Juan (he is heading to Ushauia) and another man from Switzerland. We all dined together at a local restaurant which we wouldn´t have gone into had the BA couple not been with us, so that was something.
Having had our fill of San Juan we thought it best to get on a bus out of town and so headed for San Augustin, which was lovely. Very laid back, very friendly and really quiet. On our second day in San Augustin we joined a tour and headed off for a full day of history and information. Our first stop we Ischigualasto or Valle del Luna - Valley of the moon, named as such because the landscape resembles that of the moon. Although it was quite impressive, I think our appreciation of it would have been much improved had we been fluent in spanish with a degree in archeology (it was at about this point, Andrew and Li-Ann, that I feel we really could have benefited from having Cristina with us!) but we were still incredibly impressed by the landscape and history of the area.
Following on from Ischigualasta, we headed over to Talampayu, which for us, was better than Ischigualasto. The vista, the rock formations, the history, just everything was really quite mind-blowing.
We left San Agustin a couple of days later and headed off to Mendoza, where we had planned on spending New´s Year Eve - what with this being the premier red wine district of Argentina.
Mendoza was a nice city, really, but I think by this point we had simply had enough of being in cities and around lots of people. After being in San Agustin we just wanted to get away from that and spend time really enjoying the country itself. So, New Year´s Eve was spent on a bus to San Martin de Los Andes.
San Martin was more like an alpine village in Austria than what I expected to find in South America. It sat on a large lake, had shops filled with ski and snowboarding gear and people with arms and legs in slings and plaster! It is also a great starting place to check out Lanin Nacional Parque - which we did. Having sought all kinds of information from the ever friendly and helpful oficino de tourismo, we donned our (full) packs and headed off for a three day hike in the national park around some fabulous lakes. Of course, our first clue that all was not as it should be was when the helfpul tourist lady said "of course, the park rangers haven´t actually opened the track yet, but it should be fine ....."
So, of we set, leaving behind only our day packs with the few items of clothing we wouldn´t need for the next three days and having stocked up on food to cook over the gas cooker we had recently purchased, for just such occasions. The day started out lovely, a nice trip across the lake on a boat, landing on a small, quiet, lakeside beach. We then had to check in with the park ranger, where we recieved helpful information and a map with some handwritten instructive drawings (or so we thought at the time) and off we went.
We began the walk at 12:30 (crazy I know but the hottest part of day here is more like 3 or 4 in the afternoon, so we thought it would be fine) and stage one was essentially straight up a dirt road and up and up and up. When I say steep, I am not exaggerating when I say that the cars could only make it in first gear. Still, after 45 minutes we made it to the top and had our first meeting with a group of Scouts and their guides who were doing the same walk. After a quick snack and water break, on we went. Thankful at this point that we were off the road and now on a track, very much unused by cars. This was nice, there was a small river to our right, mountains to our left .... and then came a fork in the road. Having perused all the instructions provided by the park ranger and the map we purchased on the advice of the tourist office, we had no idea and so took the road ahead (rather than the one up the mountain - at one point the ranger had said, keep the water to your right and don´t go up the mountain and whilst I could´t recall what this was in relation to, I was sticking to it). So we set off and came across the Scout group who were discussing whether we were all actually on the right track of if, in fact we should have gone up. Their pro-active leader then took off back the way we came to ask at a nearby house. Anyway, after some time and much walking back and forth along the two tracks, we all concluded that we were right and off we set. Tim and I soldiered on, leaving the scouting group paddling in the river and continued on until we came across a group of mountain bikers who were coming back from where we were going. They presented us with the (not so) cheering news that in about another 3 hours we would be there. They did, however, assure us that all but the last part was really quite easy walking.
After about 2 1/2 hours more we started heading up and up and up .... until we finally reached ´the hidden lake´after 7 hours of pretty solid walking. Not bad. After a refreshing and cleansing swim in icy cold water, it was dinner and bed, in preparation for the next days expedition.
About 1 hour after our arrival, the scout group turned up - still full of cheer and singing and energy - except for the leader who had to carry 2 packs up the final mountain!
Day two dawned and we set off full of cheery expectations about the day and making it to our next destination. This did not last long. Having descended the mountainous path out of the ´hidden lake´and wandering through a small valley, up we went again, stumbling over rocks, pushing through branches and wondering if this mountain actually had a top. It turns out it did have a top and of course, we eventually reached it - after about 4 hours. This part of the path had some challenges and some decision making to be done. One key decision was whether or not to take the left or the right fork. Now, the park ranger had said when you get to a fork in the track, take the left exit because the right is full of fallen trees and has not been cleared for a while. So we get to this fork (neither the first nor the last that we would be confronted with) and Tim goes right to check the way and I head left just to see. I had only taken a couple of steps when the sound of stampeding cattle had me heading for cover behind the nearest tree and calling for Tim. Once he recovered from his laughter and convinced me to come out from behind the tree, he explained that the cows were going away from us not towards us )I am still not convinced - they were really loud!). Still, given the broken tape covering the left hand track and the herd of cows just ahead, we took the right hand fork. Needless to say, I remained quite close to big, round trees in case I needed to head for cover from more out of control livestock! In hindsight, I still wonder if we would have been better off taking on the cows than the right hand track .....
The hours passed, we went up, we went down, we went over trees and under trees, we took our packs off and commando rolled beneath the trees. We waded through streams, hopscotched across rocks in the rivers and wished many a time for a chainsaw to clear the path. Each time we got close to the lake we thought, surely, surely, we must be close but then another tree would block our way and up the mountain we would go again.
As dusk came upon us, we really needed to think about camping for the night and could see, in the far off distance, a small clearing on the beach - this is where we headed and eventually arrived. Sadly, by the end of our 10 1/2 hour day, we hadn´t even made it the 8 km´s to the halfway point. Our spirits were slightly lifted when, about 30 mins. later, the scouting group arrived at the same spot having also been thwarted by the level of difficulty they encountered.
We dined with the scouting group that evening and learned from their leader, that he had done the same walk 2 years ago and had made it from the day 1 starting point to our planned day 2 end point in 1 day. Apparently, the area had been ravaged by some quite severe storms and they had ripped huge trees out of the ground and it still hadn´t been cleared. When I say that some of these trees were two metres in diametre and that even the most hardened mountain goats would have hesitated at some of the tracks we followed , I really am not exaggerating.
Day 3 started early and Tim and I made the rather clever decision to remain with the scouts and follow their lead on the basis that a) at least one of them knew the way and b) they had machettes. The only downside to this was that they are much younger, fitter etc. than us (translate to they walk faster and recover quicker!). Still, it was nice to have company and they sang and told us some stories about the areas we were walking through. And eventually we made it to our next destination (Cachin) and set up camp for the night. It really was beautiful - worth the walk or not, I´m not sure, but I am glad we did it.
Day four was just a short, 2 hour walk to get a bus back to San Martin. Unfortunately, the bus had some difficulties and broke down part way into the trip. This wasn´t an altogether bad thing as it gave us the opportunity to chat with some local people and share some stories of our and their travels. I think it also convinced us that our next stop, in Bariloche, would include some time in Spanish school. It´s all very well to have basic converstation and talk through a dictionary but it was now time to take it a step further to really make the trip worthwhile.
Next stop ...... Bariloche.
Anyway, I fear I have now written too much and bored you all enough so will sign off and provide with you some stories of Spanish school in the next episode.
Hope all is well with all of you
Take care
Tim and Tracey
PS - I know that many of the descriptions would be much better with some photo´s but sadly, I have forgotten how to attach them. Any advice on how to do this would be much welcomed. I have uploaded and downloaded directly and through flicka with no joy - Help!
Let´s see, if I recall correctly, when I last checked in, we were heading to San Juan for Christmas and to check out some of the more interesting aspects of the area. San Juan itself was essentially just another town that was nice enough but didn´t really have much centrally to hold your attention. We checked out the Museo Cientifico Naturales, where they have some dinosour skeletons on display, walked around the local park and decided that the best thing to do was to book a tour of the wineries; which we did. And the less said about that the better. Needless to say, close to Christmas, wineries closed, pretty much a waste of a day and money. Christmas day itself was kind of slow for us - ie. we were the only ones at the hostel and spent the day handwashing all of our dirty clothes. Apparently, this saves money but I can assure you the clothes aren´t as clean and fresh smelling as the washing machine makes them! Still, the sun was out and after our domestic chores, we sat outside and enjoyed some nice cold white wine. Lunch consisted of packet rice, cooked in 15 minutes with water. I know, those of you that sat down for prawns, salad and cold beer are jealous but as it is now a speciality of ours we will share the secret recipes when we get home. Fortunately, we were joined later in the day by a couple from Buenos Aires who were on three weeks vacation, a cyclist from Holand, who had so far ridden about 23 000 kms from Alaska to San Juan (he is heading to Ushauia) and another man from Switzerland. We all dined together at a local restaurant which we wouldn´t have gone into had the BA couple not been with us, so that was something.
Having had our fill of San Juan we thought it best to get on a bus out of town and so headed for San Augustin, which was lovely. Very laid back, very friendly and really quiet. On our second day in San Augustin we joined a tour and headed off for a full day of history and information. Our first stop we Ischigualasto or Valle del Luna - Valley of the moon, named as such because the landscape resembles that of the moon. Although it was quite impressive, I think our appreciation of it would have been much improved had we been fluent in spanish with a degree in archeology (it was at about this point, Andrew and Li-Ann, that I feel we really could have benefited from having Cristina with us!) but we were still incredibly impressed by the landscape and history of the area.
Following on from Ischigualasta, we headed over to Talampayu, which for us, was better than Ischigualasto. The vista, the rock formations, the history, just everything was really quite mind-blowing.
We left San Agustin a couple of days later and headed off to Mendoza, where we had planned on spending New´s Year Eve - what with this being the premier red wine district of Argentina.
Mendoza was a nice city, really, but I think by this point we had simply had enough of being in cities and around lots of people. After being in San Agustin we just wanted to get away from that and spend time really enjoying the country itself. So, New Year´s Eve was spent on a bus to San Martin de Los Andes.
San Martin was more like an alpine village in Austria than what I expected to find in South America. It sat on a large lake, had shops filled with ski and snowboarding gear and people with arms and legs in slings and plaster! It is also a great starting place to check out Lanin Nacional Parque - which we did. Having sought all kinds of information from the ever friendly and helpful oficino de tourismo, we donned our (full) packs and headed off for a three day hike in the national park around some fabulous lakes. Of course, our first clue that all was not as it should be was when the helfpul tourist lady said "of course, the park rangers haven´t actually opened the track yet, but it should be fine ....."
So, of we set, leaving behind only our day packs with the few items of clothing we wouldn´t need for the next three days and having stocked up on food to cook over the gas cooker we had recently purchased, for just such occasions. The day started out lovely, a nice trip across the lake on a boat, landing on a small, quiet, lakeside beach. We then had to check in with the park ranger, where we recieved helpful information and a map with some handwritten instructive drawings (or so we thought at the time) and off we went.
We began the walk at 12:30 (crazy I know but the hottest part of day here is more like 3 or 4 in the afternoon, so we thought it would be fine) and stage one was essentially straight up a dirt road and up and up and up. When I say steep, I am not exaggerating when I say that the cars could only make it in first gear. Still, after 45 minutes we made it to the top and had our first meeting with a group of Scouts and their guides who were doing the same walk. After a quick snack and water break, on we went. Thankful at this point that we were off the road and now on a track, very much unused by cars. This was nice, there was a small river to our right, mountains to our left .... and then came a fork in the road. Having perused all the instructions provided by the park ranger and the map we purchased on the advice of the tourist office, we had no idea and so took the road ahead (rather than the one up the mountain - at one point the ranger had said, keep the water to your right and don´t go up the mountain and whilst I could´t recall what this was in relation to, I was sticking to it). So we set off and came across the Scout group who were discussing whether we were all actually on the right track of if, in fact we should have gone up. Their pro-active leader then took off back the way we came to ask at a nearby house. Anyway, after some time and much walking back and forth along the two tracks, we all concluded that we were right and off we set. Tim and I soldiered on, leaving the scouting group paddling in the river and continued on until we came across a group of mountain bikers who were coming back from where we were going. They presented us with the (not so) cheering news that in about another 3 hours we would be there. They did, however, assure us that all but the last part was really quite easy walking.
After about 2 1/2 hours more we started heading up and up and up .... until we finally reached ´the hidden lake´after 7 hours of pretty solid walking. Not bad. After a refreshing and cleansing swim in icy cold water, it was dinner and bed, in preparation for the next days expedition.
About 1 hour after our arrival, the scout group turned up - still full of cheer and singing and energy - except for the leader who had to carry 2 packs up the final mountain!
Day two dawned and we set off full of cheery expectations about the day and making it to our next destination. This did not last long. Having descended the mountainous path out of the ´hidden lake´and wandering through a small valley, up we went again, stumbling over rocks, pushing through branches and wondering if this mountain actually had a top. It turns out it did have a top and of course, we eventually reached it - after about 4 hours. This part of the path had some challenges and some decision making to be done. One key decision was whether or not to take the left or the right fork. Now, the park ranger had said when you get to a fork in the track, take the left exit because the right is full of fallen trees and has not been cleared for a while. So we get to this fork (neither the first nor the last that we would be confronted with) and Tim goes right to check the way and I head left just to see. I had only taken a couple of steps when the sound of stampeding cattle had me heading for cover behind the nearest tree and calling for Tim. Once he recovered from his laughter and convinced me to come out from behind the tree, he explained that the cows were going away from us not towards us )I am still not convinced - they were really loud!). Still, given the broken tape covering the left hand track and the herd of cows just ahead, we took the right hand fork. Needless to say, I remained quite close to big, round trees in case I needed to head for cover from more out of control livestock! In hindsight, I still wonder if we would have been better off taking on the cows than the right hand track .....
The hours passed, we went up, we went down, we went over trees and under trees, we took our packs off and commando rolled beneath the trees. We waded through streams, hopscotched across rocks in the rivers and wished many a time for a chainsaw to clear the path. Each time we got close to the lake we thought, surely, surely, we must be close but then another tree would block our way and up the mountain we would go again.
As dusk came upon us, we really needed to think about camping for the night and could see, in the far off distance, a small clearing on the beach - this is where we headed and eventually arrived. Sadly, by the end of our 10 1/2 hour day, we hadn´t even made it the 8 km´s to the halfway point. Our spirits were slightly lifted when, about 30 mins. later, the scouting group arrived at the same spot having also been thwarted by the level of difficulty they encountered.
We dined with the scouting group that evening and learned from their leader, that he had done the same walk 2 years ago and had made it from the day 1 starting point to our planned day 2 end point in 1 day. Apparently, the area had been ravaged by some quite severe storms and they had ripped huge trees out of the ground and it still hadn´t been cleared. When I say that some of these trees were two metres in diametre and that even the most hardened mountain goats would have hesitated at some of the tracks we followed , I really am not exaggerating.
Day 3 started early and Tim and I made the rather clever decision to remain with the scouts and follow their lead on the basis that a) at least one of them knew the way and b) they had machettes. The only downside to this was that they are much younger, fitter etc. than us (translate to they walk faster and recover quicker!). Still, it was nice to have company and they sang and told us some stories about the areas we were walking through. And eventually we made it to our next destination (Cachin) and set up camp for the night. It really was beautiful - worth the walk or not, I´m not sure, but I am glad we did it.
Day four was just a short, 2 hour walk to get a bus back to San Martin. Unfortunately, the bus had some difficulties and broke down part way into the trip. This wasn´t an altogether bad thing as it gave us the opportunity to chat with some local people and share some stories of our and their travels. I think it also convinced us that our next stop, in Bariloche, would include some time in Spanish school. It´s all very well to have basic converstation and talk through a dictionary but it was now time to take it a step further to really make the trip worthwhile.
Next stop ...... Bariloche.
Anyway, I fear I have now written too much and bored you all enough so will sign off and provide with you some stories of Spanish school in the next episode.
Hope all is well with all of you
Take care
Tim and Tracey
PS - I know that many of the descriptions would be much better with some photo´s but sadly, I have forgotten how to attach them. Any advice on how to do this would be much welcomed. I have uploaded and downloaded directly and through flicka with no joy - Help!
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