After an another day sorting out all our stuff to go hiking - packing, shopping, laundry and food loading including a massive, great value steak at the Map Room - we headed out to Villa Cathedral early on thurs morning. Well early being 10am which is very early in Argentina! Villa Catherdral is a little ski village just outside Bariloche and it must be fantastic for skiing in winter. Loads of lifts, runs, etc .... well compared to NZ/Australian ski fields it looked massive anyways. Got the chairlift upto Refugio Lynch (slightly cheating to start a hike on a chairlift but beats a 3 hour climb up a snowless ski run) which is just above 2000m. Its very strange to be on a ski lift with a backpack and not a snowboard. The legs still did the automatic swing the board out of the lift safety bar way and all like. It was a pretty chilly ride up but very scenic.
The view at the top was tremendous. Could see all the way to Volcan Lanin (which is miles away) and all the mountains in between, including the massive Mount Tronador which looked incredible, and many more volcano and mountain peaks. Really beautiful clear day once again so off we set up and over the ridge from the refugio towards Punta Nevada. The hike leads along above really steep scree slopes over a beautiful valley and under the craggy, ice beaten mountain tops. Some rock scrambling was required but nothing too serious or dangerous (even with my feeble head for heights)We stopped in a sheltered saddle for lunch (about an hour after we started - very cruisy day really) which had good views over the rock spires of Cerro Catherdral (very aptly named). After that we continued just above the scree for about an hour to the Cancho De Futbol ... a sandy kind of depression on a saddle which has lots of really square, tall , funky rock slabs and boulders. Messed about on these for an hour with stunning views to the west over the valley towards Mount Trondor, over to the peaks of Torre Principal and down the valley we were headed to refugio Frey.
Headed down steeply to Laguna Shmoll and then onto Laguna Tonchek where we camped on the western shores. The hike down was steep but fun and even in areas there was still ice from the previous night. Now we could understand why this hike is closed until end of Jan some years. There was still many large patches of snow and ice. The hut (at 1700m) was nestled on the eastern end of the lake and once again very scenic. There´s fantastic climbing in this area and lots of cool photos in the hut of the area in the winter. We got our first frost of the year that night - still managed to stay sitting out in the dark for a few hours watching the night sky which was just beautiful.
Next morning we headed back up to the Cancho de Futbol past the lakes and over some icy rocks and frozen track. Pretty brisk but when we were in the sunshine it was very pleasant. From there we headed down a very steep scree slope into the valley below Brecha Negra. The descent was more like skiing rather then hiking as we slide down metres with each so called step. Had a dusty bum and stone filled boots at the bottom. From here we hiked up the lovely beech filled valley. The trees are just beginning to change into their autumn reds and yellows and it should be spectacular in another couple of weeks. At the head of the valley we followed a ridge that lead us up onto the rocky Paso Brecha Negra. Steep enough just before the top of the pass but the views at the top were incredible. The next valley which has Laguna Jakob at its head is very spectacular. Surrounded by very high, rocky, harsh mountains with a very deep valley and the really deep blue of the lake with Mount Tronador off in the distance it was probably one of the best views we have seen all trip. Perfect blue skies and just a little breeze allowed us to sit around and soak it all in for awhile.
The descent to the hut (Refugio Jakob 1600m) was pretty steep but not so loose as the previous descent. Hard on the knees tho but the scenery was a good distraction. Its a great little hut again (altho think it sleeps upto 100 people in peak season so not that little) just sitting on a rock above the lake. Put up the tent and then headed up onto the massive, glaciated rock slabs behind the hut to Laguna Los Tempanos. This is a dramatic lake surrounded on 3 sides by sheer cliff and rock with a tiny little outlet. We sussed out the route for the next day`s hike and it looked pretty exposed but doable (obviously people do it all the time). Once again we could see why this area is closed until late in Jan as its really high, exposed, steep and harsh. To be honest I wasn`t looking fwd to the clamber up the steep (almost vertical seriously) slope the next day. Dinner was a soupy tuna gnocchi (I am so over eating camping food especially when I stuff up and add too much water) - filling I suppose but enough tuna pasta for awhile.
Woke the next morning to heavy cloud cover. Ohhh nooo .... we could barely make out the lower ridge we had to clamber up to the start of the hike. Packed up and consulted the hut warden about the weather forecast. She reckoned it might clear in an hour or so so we hiked up to another little valley towards Cerro Celia. Was good fun clambering up a rocky waterfall with nice views across the lake to the hut. By the time we got back to the hut it was 12 and the clouds had come down further so we had to pike and not go over the top. The route requires good weather to be navigable (as the maps here are not detailed enough) plus not much point wandering around in cold clouds at the top of exposed mountains half the day. We decided to walk out along the Arroyo Casa de Piedra and end the hike a day early. We could have sat it out at the hut but not really in the form for hanging around plus we didn´t have enough food for an extra day hiking.
The hike out was interesting tho. Its about 18kms (not 13kms which the LP says), starts with a steep descent and massive views of the valley before descending more gently all the way down along the valley thru beech trees and bamboo. Towards the end its a bit monotonous. We then spent 2 hours waiting for the bus which never showed and eventually managed to hitchhike (6 of us by that stage) back towards Villa Catherdral and get the bus back into Bariloche from there.
All in all this was a superb few days out on a really high and exposed walk. It would have been great to do the full traverse but hey the weather has been great to us for the last 3 months so we are content to get one day against us. Not bad going really. Would highly recommend doing this walk at this time of year or even later as the trees are just turning colour. Its a very spectacular hike, the refugios are well managed, the track is well marked and easy to follow and its good and challenging with many steep ascents and descents. The scenery in this area is outstanding and in our view this is the equal of the more famous Torres del Paine and Fitzroy.
We could easily spend another 2-3 weeks walking in the Bariloche area (eg return and finish the traverse above, hike to Pampa Linda via Laguna Negra, return to El Bolson, do some of the lower level but very beautiful hikes to Lago Mascardi amongst a few that just pop to mind). Its absolutely fantastic here for hiking and in a way we wish we were here earlier when we had more enthusiasm and walking beans left. This would be a great 3 week trip from Europe, easy to get to, good food and well organised and many options even if the weather was poor. March and April is prolly the best time as hardly any people, stable weather, autumn colours and no horseflies or mossies.
We´re now 99% sure that this is the last overnight hike of our travels this time around. We´re pretty jaded of packing, shopping and getting organised for hikes. Altho we are now really fast at this its just becoming a tedious pain in the ass and we don`t have enough enthusiasm for it. Once we´re out on the hike its all good but the burden of getting there is now outweighing the buzz of the hikes. Dunk´s boots have also more or less died despite the miracle patching by the guy in Puerto Natales. The holes at the toes of his boots are nearly bigger then the one to put his foot in so we would need to splash out and buy him new boots (and since its mostly Asolo here then this is not an option) so bit late in the travels for such an expense. Our knees and backs are also suffering a little and need to be rested (when the stairs in the backpackers hurts then thats not a good sign) plus another little bonus from wearing hiking boots lots is cracks in my feet that you could fall into. Looks like we might head north to Mendoza and Salta before heading back to Buenos Aires.
Will be sad to leave Patagonia as we have had the best 3 months here but time for a change of scenery and travel style!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
El Bolson and la Comarca del Paralelo 42
After well and truly hitting the town for Paddy´s day, we took a day off to recover and then headed to El Bolson on wednesday. Its a 2.5 hour drive south of Bariloche thru lovely, forested hills and great views to the mountains in the distance. Pretty winding road all the way so not much chance for reading on this trip.
El Bolson is famous for its micro and home brew beers and for its markets as well as having a pretty setting in the middle of a large valley surrounded by mountains. Its also renowned for its large hippy population hence the markets and beer I suppose. We found an ok looking hostel in town altho the better ones are outside of town but we were being lazy as wanted to be near the supermarket for buying hiking supplies. The Albequrque Valle del Sol where we stayed had the potential to be a really sweet little place to stay but in reality it was a smoky, dirty, badly managed place. At least we only spent 2 short nights there. We did find a great restaurant tho (Vatto) for steak and local beer on tap. Droool for both!! There´s also the famous Jauja icecream chain here. So delicious and so many varieties to choose from. They sell it in quarter, half or litre tubs and its really cheap as well. Tempting to go back again and again and again.
The markets are the typical markets you find anywhere in the world with plenty hippy shirts, jewellery, paintings, woodwork, etc altho there was some original things for sale and I guess if you like shopping it was pretty interesting :) We did find some yummy paprika cheese, brown bread, fantastic raspberry jam and amazing alafajores (which are an argentian speciality like a biscuit sandwich coated in chocolate with some kind of filling like raspberry, choc mousse, etc - droool fest going on here, my mouth is watering at the memory altho eating more then 1 a week per person would probably have you in cardiac arrest within 6 months!).
The Club Andino Pilquitron provided us with really good info and a basic map (would have been better to have a proper topo) and were really friendly and helpful. They also register all hikers and really do keep an eye on you and make sure you always get to your destination. At each hut we had to sign in and also tell them where we were headed next and if we didn´t show up within a certain number of hours they would be out looking for us. The double benefit of this is that obviously if ya get hurt or lost then you know help will turn up at some stage and it also prevents people wild camping (as a lot of the area is privately owned and also very dry and fire hazardous) which keeps the area much better for hiking thru.
Armed with our hippy supplied lunch and full backpacks we headed for the mountains to the west of El Bolson.We got a taxi out to the start which is near a camping area called Hue Nain which we reached after 40 mins hike north along the Rio Azul. The first obstacle was the ´bridge´across the Rio Azul which was a kind of cable bridge about 10m above the ground-river. There was missing and broken wooden slats all the way across it and it swung from side to side ridicously. Now this river wasn`t very deep so if ya fell into it from that height it would hurt alot. After watching Dunk crossing with some very large steps across some of the gaps, I choose the wetter but safer walk across the river (which was only calf deep all the way). From there it was a 3 hour hike straight up a steep ridge followed by about 1 hour along a valley to the Refugio Hielo Azul. In total about 10kms and a 1000m ascent so hard enough on the lungs and legs! It was very pleasant walking tho in the forest the whole way with glimpses of the valley below us all the way and the mountains ahead. The hut is probably one of the best we have ever seen. Really well maintained and managed and we almost were tempted to stay in there but opted for the tent since we had carried it all the way. We tried out a new camping recipe of instant mash with onions, hotdogs, capsicum and sauce - it tasted great - my Irish spud heritage did turn purple at the thought but hunger overcame that little obstacle pretty quickly. I think soon our hiking will come to an end as if this type of food is beginning to be palatable then I worry about how low we can go!
The next day we hiked upto see the glacier in the valley above the hut under Cierro Azul. Quite a strenous climb and scramble over rocks and scree but good views of the glacier and also back down the valley where we had hiked from the previous day. I think we were the only non-Argentians to stay at Hielo Azul as well which was really a novelty for us (and them). Its a very pretty area and whilst the glacier didn´t have the drama and size of the glaciers further south, its still very beautiful and charming. From here we hiked on for about 10kms up and over a ridge to Lago Natacion and then onto Cajon del Azul. This took about 4 hours and it was a steep 30 mins to start with, followed by about 30 mins of flat meandering thru the forest and then a very steep, roughish descent (800m) down to the Refugio Cajon del Azul. The poor ole knees were suffering at the end of that descent but the sight of the beautiful clear, turquoise, blue waters rushing thru the steep canyon made us forget the pain (til the next day anyways). There is a 3 metre `bridge` across the narrowest (and highest) part of the canyon (we couldn´t see the bottom) and I did nearly brown pants it going across cos the logs were just scary bendy and felt like they would snap any time. Once again, the refugio was very well maintained, much better then some of the hostels we stayed in and the camping area was glorious so we called it a day here. They grow all their own veggies, brew beer and slaughter their own sheep or cattle. Decided to splash out and have dinner in the refugio (for about 4.50 euros each). Got a massive feed of salad, bread, dips (really tasty and spicy), rice and milanesa (like a schnitzel). We also tried the home brew but sadly it tasted somewhere in between vinegar and acid so didn´t have too much of that. Mostly all Argentians staying again which was great except for one crowd of yobs that woke us all at around 5am and kept up a racket til about 8am when they finally left (I think they were told to leave).
We hiked up the Rio Rayado thru amazing forest, valley views and thru a good variety of different types of trees. Some really big beech, cypress, etc and just beautiful weather as well to show the mountains and steep valley sides off to their best. We also passed thru a stand of alerce trees which are really amazing, old pine trees that are quite rare (as they are hard wood, very straight and really big) which was the highlight of the day. The hike ended (18kms and 5.5hrs , 800 ascent later) at Refugio Los Laguitos which has an incredible setting at the edge of Lago Lahuan. The hut was more rustic then the others but the guys were friendly altho they had run out of homebrew (or maybe they had for foreigners as all the argentians staying at the place seemed to be drinking beer later - another case of one rule for argentians, one for the foreigners - kind of irritating really). The lake was stunning as its really calm and deep and reflects the surrounding mountains perfectly. The sky was stunning, the mountains all around us covered in forest and jagged rocks and scree at the top and it was another perfect weather day. The nighttime reflection of the mountains lit up by the full moon was indescribably beautiful.
With a large lump of regret that we hadn´t planned for more days out, we headed back to El Bolson the next day. Took us about 4.5 hours to reach the cajon del azul (where we checked in as requested as all the hut wardens tell each other who is going where) where we quite surprised at the number of day trippers. Ah well guess it was Easter sunday and a glorious clear skies day at that so no wonder really. The 12kms hike out was a but tedious as its mostly horse track (for the less enthusiastic hiker you can get a horse all the way to this refugio - would highly recommend it) which was very dusty, and clambered up and down steeply for the entire way down plus the dust was exaberated as we were keeping pace with a group of horse riders but we had to keep going as didn´t want to spend all night getting back to town. Eventually got to Wharton where there was a very, very, very tempting beer garden from where we called a taxi back to town.
El Bolson was heaving with tourists which the taxi driver heaved and sighed and mumbled about all the way back in. Quite amusing really - what did he think we were! We also saw a horse in the back of a ute - seriously it was just stupefying seeing this ute with a horse in the tray and a guy holding his head so he wouldn´t jump out. Nuts!! Pretty tired that night as it turned out we had hiked about 32kms in about 7 hours. In hindsight we should have planned a bit better and spent a couple of more nights out. This whole area is outstandingly beautiful, understated and one of the most fun and interesting hikes we have done. We might even go back (if the legs have the heart to walk back up those hills! ignorance is bliss sometimes) for another few days in April. Once again we got stupendously good, unexpected weather so no complaints there either. Most of the people we met were local argentians, really friendly and obviously this hike is not on any gringo checklists which makes it even more novel and fun. Despite lacking the drama and size of the peaks and glaciers of some of the hikes we did further south, we enjoyed this walk every bit as much if not more then the more famous Torres del Paine and other such walks. Its people busy but well managed, its cheaper, easy to get to, safe and friendly and beautiful forest and shade all the way. It was more like the hiking we did in Australia and NZ rather then some checklist walk where everyone asks ya how far you have hiked, what your pack weighs, etc turning the hike into some mini competition. The whole bariloche/El Bolson area is turning out to be the best area/base for hikes we have been to and its really good fun and easy plus great food and beer near at hand to help the post hike recovery (very important). I´m sure in peak season this area is jammers, there´s probably stacks of mossies and horseflies and its pretty hot as well but it has to beat paying heaps to join the queues around Torres del Paine and Fitzroy (altho these are still class). Ah well there´s me humble opinion now for ya!
We´re now back in Bariloche where we had major hassles finding a place to stay last night as its still the easter rush (staying a nice very cheap, clean, little place called Nomads on Salta st which turned out to be a great find except for the dumb ass, selfish group of israelis who got up at 5am for an early bus and woke everyone in the hostel this morning - did you really have to shout your heads off and annoy everyone - sigh think its time to start heading home as hostel annoyances are beginning to wreck me head!). Think we´re going to do the Nahuel Huapi 4 day traverse next and then ... only 3 weeks til we have to head to Buenos Aires so aggghhh what will we do with the last 3 weeks .... what a dilemma ;)
El Bolson is famous for its micro and home brew beers and for its markets as well as having a pretty setting in the middle of a large valley surrounded by mountains. Its also renowned for its large hippy population hence the markets and beer I suppose. We found an ok looking hostel in town altho the better ones are outside of town but we were being lazy as wanted to be near the supermarket for buying hiking supplies. The Albequrque Valle del Sol where we stayed had the potential to be a really sweet little place to stay but in reality it was a smoky, dirty, badly managed place. At least we only spent 2 short nights there. We did find a great restaurant tho (Vatto) for steak and local beer on tap. Droool for both!! There´s also the famous Jauja icecream chain here. So delicious and so many varieties to choose from. They sell it in quarter, half or litre tubs and its really cheap as well. Tempting to go back again and again and again.
The markets are the typical markets you find anywhere in the world with plenty hippy shirts, jewellery, paintings, woodwork, etc altho there was some original things for sale and I guess if you like shopping it was pretty interesting :) We did find some yummy paprika cheese, brown bread, fantastic raspberry jam and amazing alafajores (which are an argentian speciality like a biscuit sandwich coated in chocolate with some kind of filling like raspberry, choc mousse, etc - droool fest going on here, my mouth is watering at the memory altho eating more then 1 a week per person would probably have you in cardiac arrest within 6 months!).
The Club Andino Pilquitron provided us with really good info and a basic map (would have been better to have a proper topo) and were really friendly and helpful. They also register all hikers and really do keep an eye on you and make sure you always get to your destination. At each hut we had to sign in and also tell them where we were headed next and if we didn´t show up within a certain number of hours they would be out looking for us. The double benefit of this is that obviously if ya get hurt or lost then you know help will turn up at some stage and it also prevents people wild camping (as a lot of the area is privately owned and also very dry and fire hazardous) which keeps the area much better for hiking thru.
Armed with our hippy supplied lunch and full backpacks we headed for the mountains to the west of El Bolson.We got a taxi out to the start which is near a camping area called Hue Nain which we reached after 40 mins hike north along the Rio Azul. The first obstacle was the ´bridge´across the Rio Azul which was a kind of cable bridge about 10m above the ground-river. There was missing and broken wooden slats all the way across it and it swung from side to side ridicously. Now this river wasn`t very deep so if ya fell into it from that height it would hurt alot. After watching Dunk crossing with some very large steps across some of the gaps, I choose the wetter but safer walk across the river (which was only calf deep all the way). From there it was a 3 hour hike straight up a steep ridge followed by about 1 hour along a valley to the Refugio Hielo Azul. In total about 10kms and a 1000m ascent so hard enough on the lungs and legs! It was very pleasant walking tho in the forest the whole way with glimpses of the valley below us all the way and the mountains ahead. The hut is probably one of the best we have ever seen. Really well maintained and managed and we almost were tempted to stay in there but opted for the tent since we had carried it all the way. We tried out a new camping recipe of instant mash with onions, hotdogs, capsicum and sauce - it tasted great - my Irish spud heritage did turn purple at the thought but hunger overcame that little obstacle pretty quickly. I think soon our hiking will come to an end as if this type of food is beginning to be palatable then I worry about how low we can go!
The next day we hiked upto see the glacier in the valley above the hut under Cierro Azul. Quite a strenous climb and scramble over rocks and scree but good views of the glacier and also back down the valley where we had hiked from the previous day. I think we were the only non-Argentians to stay at Hielo Azul as well which was really a novelty for us (and them). Its a very pretty area and whilst the glacier didn´t have the drama and size of the glaciers further south, its still very beautiful and charming. From here we hiked on for about 10kms up and over a ridge to Lago Natacion and then onto Cajon del Azul. This took about 4 hours and it was a steep 30 mins to start with, followed by about 30 mins of flat meandering thru the forest and then a very steep, roughish descent (800m) down to the Refugio Cajon del Azul. The poor ole knees were suffering at the end of that descent but the sight of the beautiful clear, turquoise, blue waters rushing thru the steep canyon made us forget the pain (til the next day anyways). There is a 3 metre `bridge` across the narrowest (and highest) part of the canyon (we couldn´t see the bottom) and I did nearly brown pants it going across cos the logs were just scary bendy and felt like they would snap any time. Once again, the refugio was very well maintained, much better then some of the hostels we stayed in and the camping area was glorious so we called it a day here. They grow all their own veggies, brew beer and slaughter their own sheep or cattle. Decided to splash out and have dinner in the refugio (for about 4.50 euros each). Got a massive feed of salad, bread, dips (really tasty and spicy), rice and milanesa (like a schnitzel). We also tried the home brew but sadly it tasted somewhere in between vinegar and acid so didn´t have too much of that. Mostly all Argentians staying again which was great except for one crowd of yobs that woke us all at around 5am and kept up a racket til about 8am when they finally left (I think they were told to leave).
We hiked up the Rio Rayado thru amazing forest, valley views and thru a good variety of different types of trees. Some really big beech, cypress, etc and just beautiful weather as well to show the mountains and steep valley sides off to their best. We also passed thru a stand of alerce trees which are really amazing, old pine trees that are quite rare (as they are hard wood, very straight and really big) which was the highlight of the day. The hike ended (18kms and 5.5hrs , 800 ascent later) at Refugio Los Laguitos which has an incredible setting at the edge of Lago Lahuan. The hut was more rustic then the others but the guys were friendly altho they had run out of homebrew (or maybe they had for foreigners as all the argentians staying at the place seemed to be drinking beer later - another case of one rule for argentians, one for the foreigners - kind of irritating really). The lake was stunning as its really calm and deep and reflects the surrounding mountains perfectly. The sky was stunning, the mountains all around us covered in forest and jagged rocks and scree at the top and it was another perfect weather day. The nighttime reflection of the mountains lit up by the full moon was indescribably beautiful.
With a large lump of regret that we hadn´t planned for more days out, we headed back to El Bolson the next day. Took us about 4.5 hours to reach the cajon del azul (where we checked in as requested as all the hut wardens tell each other who is going where) where we quite surprised at the number of day trippers. Ah well guess it was Easter sunday and a glorious clear skies day at that so no wonder really. The 12kms hike out was a but tedious as its mostly horse track (for the less enthusiastic hiker you can get a horse all the way to this refugio - would highly recommend it) which was very dusty, and clambered up and down steeply for the entire way down plus the dust was exaberated as we were keeping pace with a group of horse riders but we had to keep going as didn´t want to spend all night getting back to town. Eventually got to Wharton where there was a very, very, very tempting beer garden from where we called a taxi back to town.
El Bolson was heaving with tourists which the taxi driver heaved and sighed and mumbled about all the way back in. Quite amusing really - what did he think we were! We also saw a horse in the back of a ute - seriously it was just stupefying seeing this ute with a horse in the tray and a guy holding his head so he wouldn´t jump out. Nuts!! Pretty tired that night as it turned out we had hiked about 32kms in about 7 hours. In hindsight we should have planned a bit better and spent a couple of more nights out. This whole area is outstandingly beautiful, understated and one of the most fun and interesting hikes we have done. We might even go back (if the legs have the heart to walk back up those hills! ignorance is bliss sometimes) for another few days in April. Once again we got stupendously good, unexpected weather so no complaints there either. Most of the people we met were local argentians, really friendly and obviously this hike is not on any gringo checklists which makes it even more novel and fun. Despite lacking the drama and size of the peaks and glaciers of some of the hikes we did further south, we enjoyed this walk every bit as much if not more then the more famous Torres del Paine and other such walks. Its people busy but well managed, its cheaper, easy to get to, safe and friendly and beautiful forest and shade all the way. It was more like the hiking we did in Australia and NZ rather then some checklist walk where everyone asks ya how far you have hiked, what your pack weighs, etc turning the hike into some mini competition. The whole bariloche/El Bolson area is turning out to be the best area/base for hikes we have been to and its really good fun and easy plus great food and beer near at hand to help the post hike recovery (very important). I´m sure in peak season this area is jammers, there´s probably stacks of mossies and horseflies and its pretty hot as well but it has to beat paying heaps to join the queues around Torres del Paine and Fitzroy (altho these are still class). Ah well there´s me humble opinion now for ya!
We´re now back in Bariloche where we had major hassles finding a place to stay last night as its still the easter rush (staying a nice very cheap, clean, little place called Nomads on Salta st which turned out to be a great find except for the dumb ass, selfish group of israelis who got up at 5am for an early bus and woke everyone in the hostel this morning - did you really have to shout your heads off and annoy everyone - sigh think its time to start heading home as hostel annoyances are beginning to wreck me head!). Think we´re going to do the Nahuel Huapi 4 day traverse next and then ... only 3 weeks til we have to head to Buenos Aires so aggghhh what will we do with the last 3 weeks .... what a dilemma ;)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Bariloche and Pampa Linda
The bus trip from Puerto Montt to Bariloche was absolutely beautiful ... we had sunshine and clear skies all the way up and over the Andes and back down into Argentina again. Saying that it was still 7 hours on a bus, some of which was queues for border controls so at least we got to stretch our legs. Bariloche looked great in the sunset and we found a hostel at first attempt so very lucky with that too. In fact I dont think we even realised how lucky as everything here is still very busy with Easter coming up and feels like the end of summer so I presume everyone is out for one last blast. Its good to be back in the land of good food as well ;)
Did a half day trip out to area around Hotel Llao Llao which is one of Argentina´s most exclusive and scenically located hotels. Really beautiful scenery and from there we did a few hours walking around the edge of Lago Nahuel Huapi which is in the national park of the same name. Climbed up onto Cerro Llao Llao for panoramic views of the lake and surrounding mountains. It was a glorious day as well (except for the wasps which seem to be increasing in number as Autumn approaches). The drive out from Bariloche on the local bus is amazing for the scenery but also for the amount of cabanas (cabins), hotels and places for tourists. Unbeleivable really and all catering for the rich too. No skanky hostels out that road!! Maybe when all the tourists leave after Easter we can find some place thats empty and desperate and will let us stay for a cheap price ;)
Since the weather was holding so well we decided to head out on a 4 day hike. Even the shopping for food for the hike is easier in Argentina as we dont have the bland no choice of salami, cheese and dried bread for lunch, oats for brekkie and dinner of eother pasta or rice with some kind of flavouring. We even got tomato paste for this hike since it was going to be a nice short one, plus found a deli where we could choose different types of cheese for lunch ... droool. Sometimes its the small things which add up to make ya tired of travelling!
Headed out to Pampa Linda on the 7.30am bus which we had luckily booked as sometourists were turned away. Its about a 3 hour drive mostly on gravel roads out past lago Mascardi (very beautiful and turquoise), stop for mandatory park entrance fee (the usual charge the foreigners more then locals but in fairness in this case it was only 20 pesos so we didn´t mind), a quick stop at Hotel Tronador (which looked amazing in a fantastic location - if your loaded might be worth a look into staying here), followed by an obligatory stop at some other in the middle of nowhere cafe for the bus driver´s quick top up of caffeine and nicotine and eventually to Pampa Linda.This is a little tiny spot in the heart of Park Nacional Nahuel Huapi and gateway to walks near Monte Tronador. There´s a hosteria, restaurant, cafe, national park inf, camping and horses for hire.
We registered for our hike and headed off in the direction of Monte Tronador. The track is 4wd forthe first 3-4 kms and is well trodden by horses and humans so no need for navigation. You couldn`t stray too far off the trail anyways as there`s massive thickets of bamboo everywhere. We did a side trip for lunch up the valley to see Glacier Costana Overa pouring over the sides of the valley with loads of waterfalls and condors circling the top of the valley. Very spectacular.
From there, we returned to main track, picked up the big packs and headed up the steep, slippery climb to Refugio Otto Meiling. The forest was very beautiful with huge, old trees, bamboo and just lovely to walk thru. The track is a mess tho with shortcuts and erosion everywhere. There´s horses,mules and plenty people up and down here every day and looks like noone takes the same route which is a pity. Once we reached the treeline, the scenery was immense with Monte Tronador and the glaciers from it sweeping out in front and then all around the rest of the view was just mountains as far as the eye could see. The walk along the ridge to where the hut is is quite exposed but easy enough going aside from being up a mountain!
We got to the hut around 4.30 and went to register and find out what the story with camping was (its free, exposed, use the toilets in the hut) and also if we could do some walking on the glacier with the mountain guide. Turns out he was bringing out a group at 5.15pm so we quickly set up our tent in what we hoped was a reasonably sheltered spot, armed our tummies with a packet of biscuits, lots of water and nuts and headed out on the glacier 30 minutes after arriving which was a bit of a shock to the system!
The glacier walk was superb. For 100 pesos each (about 22 euros) we got 3hours on the glacier with a really good informative guide and all equipment provided (well boots, crampons, harness and ice axe). The tour was mostly in Spanish but he translated to English for us when we got stuck. Its really special walking on a glacier and as we learnt to trust our boots and crampons more (its incredible how well they stick to the ice) it just more and more fun. There was also an ice climb which I piked on as my fear of heights came rushing out in all its glory. In my defence the spot he choose was to launch off a crevasse at least 30m deep (altho I couldn´t really see the bottom) and to start at the top so I was just too scared (and had no spare pants to change into if it got stained!!). Dunk was well up for it and loved it. Got about 50 photos of him doing it so we will put a few of them online when we finda machine that doesn´t crap itself when we plug in the camera. Got pretty cold on the glacier tho as the clouds came over so in the end were happy enough to be finished. Also the boots are really stiff and make ya walk like someone who has been horseriding for 12 hours non stop so happy enough to get out of them too!
Quickly cooked up a good hot dinner and watched the stunning sunset over a vista of montains all around. Monte Tronador is actually 3 peaks - Pico Argentina, Pico Chile and Pico Internacional - which the Argentian- Chile border runs down the middle of (I will let you figure out which peak is where from the names!). We could see for miles and miles in all directions and it was just amazing. Slept like logs that night - a glacier hike and excitement after a 4 hour hike upto 2000m does that to ya! Also the hut ie Refugio Otto Meiling is amazing. Its completly concrete walled (no bricks), well insulated, and you can get all the food you need cooked up for ya plus sleep there. Being tight ass backpackers with our own equipment we obviously did it the independent way but would highly recommend a trip up there. The hut and camping site are located at the edge of a finger of rock that creeps up the side of glacier Costana Overa and peers over a cliff onto another glacier (cant remember the name) of the other side. Really incredible site.
The next morning we awoke to a glorious sunset. Took it niceand easy and wandered around the rocks above the shelter. There was an incredible amount of condors taking advantage of the rising winds so we decided to spend an extra night admiring the views and chilling out. After lunch the condors went nuts and it was the equivalent of a condor fest as upto 40 condors soared over, above and alongside the cliff running above the hut. They also landed on the ice on the glacier. We were slightly nervous eating lunch as we saw a condor poo near our tent and to be honest the thought of 2 litres of skanky, green, oozy, big-bird poo landing on a sandwich helped us wolf down lunch rapidly. These birds are massive ... like I know I can exagerate but its like having something the size of a pillow with a 1 metre wing each side and a goddamn ugly turkey head stuck to the front hanging over you. Their not the prettiest bird in the world but we´d have to go along way to see something as spectacular as this again. Also on a side note this is infinitely better then condor watching in Colca Canyon in Peru. After an hour or two or playing in the thermals they all suddenly decided to head off and that was the end of that show.
The winds had been picking up all day and were now blowing a gale. We had a reasonably sheltered spot behind a rock wall and made sure everything was pegged well. Dinner was a gusty, cold affair with ample sprinkles of rock dust and sand and no fear of burning your mouth as the wind cooled everything down quickly. We nearly lost our plates in washup and am sure everyone in the hut was highly amused to see us frantically dashing after them. We avoided the warmth of the hut cos nothing worse then the nice smell of toast and warm room knowing we had to spend the night in the tent! That night we didn´t sleep much. Its pretty difficult with the tent rattling and flapping so loudly we had to shout at each other to be heard. Its also slightly disconcerting to feel your body being lifted up in the tent by the larger gusts. Dunk did a quick mid night prowl to make sure everything was holding ok and it was. In the morning the wind was still roaring despite the rains having started. We found our backpacks and shoes (which were in the tents vestibules) covered (seriously coated) in a layer of dust and earth plus some of the finer stuff had got thru the tent fly so we know have slightly dusty bags, clothes, thermarests etc. Brekkie was in the tent as everything would have blown away or else been soaked. Also managed to pack our bags in the tent. Taking down the tent was a hazardous affair tho but we managed not to loose it or any of the pegs or poles. the 2 main poles on the tent now each have an identical bend which we presume was from the continous onslaught all night. Hope it wont make a big difference to the tent.
Headed off back down the ridge slowly as the wind threatened to send us paragliding with our packs a few times. Having a backpack in wind like that is pretty annoying as it acts like a sail and catches all the gusts. Made it to the treeline and it was like stepping into a different planet - calm, warmish and very pleasant. We did a side trip to a steep mirador of the valley just before Pampa Linda and then hung around for the 5pm bus. We piked a day early as the forecast was awful for sunday altho its not been too bad but we are 40kms from the mountains and it looks a lot gloomier out there.
Did our first dorm bed experience last night as well as there was only 2 beds left in the hostel and we couldn´t be bothered finding another place. The dorm I was in had 2 noisy buggers who took ages to pack up at 6am this morning (they had also woken me at midnight by turning on all the lights and having a loud conversation gggggrrrrrrr)- I was going to get up and help them cos they were making so much noise. Thankfully its back to ole-married-couple style travels tonight and we have our own room again ;)
We´re staying in Bariloche for the next few days to eat chocolate, icecream, good food and celebrate Paddy´s day and from there we will probably head to El Bolson. Running out of travel steam a bit and the novelty of living in a backpack is beginning to wear very old. Still thou all I have to do to recover my enthusiasm is remember those interminable daily morning defect meetings I used to have to go to this time last year and the backpack doesn´t seem so painful after all! I can hear all the pity ye have for us ... hahahaha! Anyways Happy Paddy´s day to everyone - we will drown the shamrock in Bariloche!
Did a half day trip out to area around Hotel Llao Llao which is one of Argentina´s most exclusive and scenically located hotels. Really beautiful scenery and from there we did a few hours walking around the edge of Lago Nahuel Huapi which is in the national park of the same name. Climbed up onto Cerro Llao Llao for panoramic views of the lake and surrounding mountains. It was a glorious day as well (except for the wasps which seem to be increasing in number as Autumn approaches). The drive out from Bariloche on the local bus is amazing for the scenery but also for the amount of cabanas (cabins), hotels and places for tourists. Unbeleivable really and all catering for the rich too. No skanky hostels out that road!! Maybe when all the tourists leave after Easter we can find some place thats empty and desperate and will let us stay for a cheap price ;)
Since the weather was holding so well we decided to head out on a 4 day hike. Even the shopping for food for the hike is easier in Argentina as we dont have the bland no choice of salami, cheese and dried bread for lunch, oats for brekkie and dinner of eother pasta or rice with some kind of flavouring. We even got tomato paste for this hike since it was going to be a nice short one, plus found a deli where we could choose different types of cheese for lunch ... droool. Sometimes its the small things which add up to make ya tired of travelling!
Headed out to Pampa Linda on the 7.30am bus which we had luckily booked as sometourists were turned away. Its about a 3 hour drive mostly on gravel roads out past lago Mascardi (very beautiful and turquoise), stop for mandatory park entrance fee (the usual charge the foreigners more then locals but in fairness in this case it was only 20 pesos so we didn´t mind), a quick stop at Hotel Tronador (which looked amazing in a fantastic location - if your loaded might be worth a look into staying here), followed by an obligatory stop at some other in the middle of nowhere cafe for the bus driver´s quick top up of caffeine and nicotine and eventually to Pampa Linda.This is a little tiny spot in the heart of Park Nacional Nahuel Huapi and gateway to walks near Monte Tronador. There´s a hosteria, restaurant, cafe, national park inf, camping and horses for hire.
We registered for our hike and headed off in the direction of Monte Tronador. The track is 4wd forthe first 3-4 kms and is well trodden by horses and humans so no need for navigation. You couldn`t stray too far off the trail anyways as there`s massive thickets of bamboo everywhere. We did a side trip for lunch up the valley to see Glacier Costana Overa pouring over the sides of the valley with loads of waterfalls and condors circling the top of the valley. Very spectacular.
From there, we returned to main track, picked up the big packs and headed up the steep, slippery climb to Refugio Otto Meiling. The forest was very beautiful with huge, old trees, bamboo and just lovely to walk thru. The track is a mess tho with shortcuts and erosion everywhere. There´s horses,mules and plenty people up and down here every day and looks like noone takes the same route which is a pity. Once we reached the treeline, the scenery was immense with Monte Tronador and the glaciers from it sweeping out in front and then all around the rest of the view was just mountains as far as the eye could see. The walk along the ridge to where the hut is is quite exposed but easy enough going aside from being up a mountain!
We got to the hut around 4.30 and went to register and find out what the story with camping was (its free, exposed, use the toilets in the hut) and also if we could do some walking on the glacier with the mountain guide. Turns out he was bringing out a group at 5.15pm so we quickly set up our tent in what we hoped was a reasonably sheltered spot, armed our tummies with a packet of biscuits, lots of water and nuts and headed out on the glacier 30 minutes after arriving which was a bit of a shock to the system!
The glacier walk was superb. For 100 pesos each (about 22 euros) we got 3hours on the glacier with a really good informative guide and all equipment provided (well boots, crampons, harness and ice axe). The tour was mostly in Spanish but he translated to English for us when we got stuck. Its really special walking on a glacier and as we learnt to trust our boots and crampons more (its incredible how well they stick to the ice) it just more and more fun. There was also an ice climb which I piked on as my fear of heights came rushing out in all its glory. In my defence the spot he choose was to launch off a crevasse at least 30m deep (altho I couldn´t really see the bottom) and to start at the top so I was just too scared (and had no spare pants to change into if it got stained!!). Dunk was well up for it and loved it. Got about 50 photos of him doing it so we will put a few of them online when we finda machine that doesn´t crap itself when we plug in the camera. Got pretty cold on the glacier tho as the clouds came over so in the end were happy enough to be finished. Also the boots are really stiff and make ya walk like someone who has been horseriding for 12 hours non stop so happy enough to get out of them too!
Quickly cooked up a good hot dinner and watched the stunning sunset over a vista of montains all around. Monte Tronador is actually 3 peaks - Pico Argentina, Pico Chile and Pico Internacional - which the Argentian- Chile border runs down the middle of (I will let you figure out which peak is where from the names!). We could see for miles and miles in all directions and it was just amazing. Slept like logs that night - a glacier hike and excitement after a 4 hour hike upto 2000m does that to ya! Also the hut ie Refugio Otto Meiling is amazing. Its completly concrete walled (no bricks), well insulated, and you can get all the food you need cooked up for ya plus sleep there. Being tight ass backpackers with our own equipment we obviously did it the independent way but would highly recommend a trip up there. The hut and camping site are located at the edge of a finger of rock that creeps up the side of glacier Costana Overa and peers over a cliff onto another glacier (cant remember the name) of the other side. Really incredible site.
The next morning we awoke to a glorious sunset. Took it niceand easy and wandered around the rocks above the shelter. There was an incredible amount of condors taking advantage of the rising winds so we decided to spend an extra night admiring the views and chilling out. After lunch the condors went nuts and it was the equivalent of a condor fest as upto 40 condors soared over, above and alongside the cliff running above the hut. They also landed on the ice on the glacier. We were slightly nervous eating lunch as we saw a condor poo near our tent and to be honest the thought of 2 litres of skanky, green, oozy, big-bird poo landing on a sandwich helped us wolf down lunch rapidly. These birds are massive ... like I know I can exagerate but its like having something the size of a pillow with a 1 metre wing each side and a goddamn ugly turkey head stuck to the front hanging over you. Their not the prettiest bird in the world but we´d have to go along way to see something as spectacular as this again. Also on a side note this is infinitely better then condor watching in Colca Canyon in Peru. After an hour or two or playing in the thermals they all suddenly decided to head off and that was the end of that show.
The winds had been picking up all day and were now blowing a gale. We had a reasonably sheltered spot behind a rock wall and made sure everything was pegged well. Dinner was a gusty, cold affair with ample sprinkles of rock dust and sand and no fear of burning your mouth as the wind cooled everything down quickly. We nearly lost our plates in washup and am sure everyone in the hut was highly amused to see us frantically dashing after them. We avoided the warmth of the hut cos nothing worse then the nice smell of toast and warm room knowing we had to spend the night in the tent! That night we didn´t sleep much. Its pretty difficult with the tent rattling and flapping so loudly we had to shout at each other to be heard. Its also slightly disconcerting to feel your body being lifted up in the tent by the larger gusts. Dunk did a quick mid night prowl to make sure everything was holding ok and it was. In the morning the wind was still roaring despite the rains having started. We found our backpacks and shoes (which were in the tents vestibules) covered (seriously coated) in a layer of dust and earth plus some of the finer stuff had got thru the tent fly so we know have slightly dusty bags, clothes, thermarests etc. Brekkie was in the tent as everything would have blown away or else been soaked. Also managed to pack our bags in the tent. Taking down the tent was a hazardous affair tho but we managed not to loose it or any of the pegs or poles. the 2 main poles on the tent now each have an identical bend which we presume was from the continous onslaught all night. Hope it wont make a big difference to the tent.
Headed off back down the ridge slowly as the wind threatened to send us paragliding with our packs a few times. Having a backpack in wind like that is pretty annoying as it acts like a sail and catches all the gusts. Made it to the treeline and it was like stepping into a different planet - calm, warmish and very pleasant. We did a side trip to a steep mirador of the valley just before Pampa Linda and then hung around for the 5pm bus. We piked a day early as the forecast was awful for sunday altho its not been too bad but we are 40kms from the mountains and it looks a lot gloomier out there.
Did our first dorm bed experience last night as well as there was only 2 beds left in the hostel and we couldn´t be bothered finding another place. The dorm I was in had 2 noisy buggers who took ages to pack up at 6am this morning (they had also woken me at midnight by turning on all the lights and having a loud conversation gggggrrrrrrr)- I was going to get up and help them cos they were making so much noise. Thankfully its back to ole-married-couple style travels tonight and we have our own room again ;)
We´re staying in Bariloche for the next few days to eat chocolate, icecream, good food and celebrate Paddy´s day and from there we will probably head to El Bolson. Running out of travel steam a bit and the novelty of living in a backpack is beginning to wear very old. Still thou all I have to do to recover my enthusiasm is remember those interminable daily morning defect meetings I used to have to go to this time last year and the backpack doesn´t seem so painful after all! I can hear all the pity ye have for us ... hahahaha! Anyways Happy Paddy´s day to everyone - we will drown the shamrock in Bariloche!
Monday, March 10, 2008
Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt on the ferry
There is a 4 day (well its really 3 day) ferry trip from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt that runs up and down thru the archipaelago of southern chile. We decided to use this option to head back up north as its quite economical and much better then the 40-50 hour bus journey (I guess we could have flown as well but the ferry sounded much more fun and value for bucks). At this stage we are both allergic to bus journeys altho we haven´t done that many lately its just head wrecking.
Went on board on thurs evening. Had booked the more expensive option of a 4 bed cabin rather then the dorm option which turned out to be great as we had it to ourselves as the ferry was only half full. The dorms looked ok as well but not much privacy plus we got our own bathroom.
The first night we slept on board and the ferry left port at 6am. We woke up early to see the ferry navigate thru the narrowest passage of the journey - its 80m wide (the ferry is probably 40m wide) so not much room for error here. Quite a spectacular sunrise and scenery - we saw some dolphins alongside the boat as well which was a great start to the trip. After an hour or so the weather turned to mush and it was cold, wet and very poor visibility. Good day for relaxing with a book. We did stop at Glacier Skua which would have been amazing if we could have seen more then 50m higher up the glacier. The trip that day was mostly thru narrow passages between islands so very protected from the sea and nice and gentle. We could also wander onto the bridge anytime we felt like it to check out the maps, navigation equipment, chat with the guys running the show, etc so that was pretty interesting.
On the second morning the ship stopped at Puerto Eden where a flotilla of little red and yellow fishing boats came down and ferried us over to the little village of Puerto Eden. Its a tiny settlement (180 inhabitants) who live in the this incredibly remote area miles from the nearest centre of civilisation. Mostly they live off fishing and the ferry is obliged to stop there twice a week to drop in supplies, pick up passengers, etc. There´s the last survivors of the Kaweshkar tribe live here as well. Its all little wooden board walks (similar to Caleta Tortel but on a much smaller scale) and little brightly painted wooden houses with mandatory satellite dish. Must be absolutely miserable there in the winter. From there we headed north thru the English Narrows and then thru Falso Channel out into the open ocean. We saw the Cotopaxi shipwreck which is where is 1968 a Greek capitan decided to make a quick buck from the insurance company. He ran his ship onto an infamous rock spike which is 2m below the surface on a broad channel. Unfortunately, the ship didn´t sink but is just stuck on the rock and the insurance inspectors were able to figure out that his cargo of sugar hadn´t melted as he had tried to claim (he had previously sold the sugar in Uruguay) as where were all the sugar bags. Dumb guy went to jail for 2 years and the ship remained stuck where its now used as a lighthouse and birds like to land there too. The scenery of untouched forested islands and mountains was incredible. We hit the open sea that afternoon and there was a moderate swell. We ended up taking seasickness tablets altho not sure if they worked with a placebo effect or actually did work! Dinner was an interesting experience keeping your plate on the table and trying not to fall off your chair. One bloke landed on top of Dunk after a particularly big dip - luckily it was post dinner so Dunk didn´t end up wearing spaghetti!! It was really good to lie down that night and the seasickness tablets complelty knocked us out so a good snooze was had.
Day 3 started with a lovely sunrise turning into a clear and beautiful sailing up thru the Chacabuco Channel having left the open sea behind. Spent most of the day out on the top deck
enjoying the sun and gentle sailing. Spotted a few whale spouts later in the day but they never got close enough to us to actually see the whales. Saw heaps of seals, some penguins too and lots of large seabirds (probably some kind of albatross). At the end of the day there was a spectacular sunset over the sea and onto the snow capped mountains on the coast as we sailed up towards Chiloe Island and the main land. Really beautiful and tranquil. To top it off a few black and white dolhpins cruised by the ferry for a few minutes doing a few little jumps out of the water to the delight of everyone. After dinner was live entertainment by one of the ships crew - quite funny - followed by the world´s worst disco ... how is it that ferries, cruises etc manage to have such terrible music. Lots of Chilean pop music which is like a bad mix of hip hop, pop, and something traditional thrown in on top .. bloody awful.
Day 4 is really a no day where we just had breakfast and then disembarked at Puerto Montt. We quickly headed to the bus station and booked the first available bus out to Bariloche as we know from previous experience that PM is a pretty dingy place to hang around. In fairness, even in the ship´s briefing they advise you to leave town asap.
All up a very pleasant, scenic and relaxing few days. The food on board was ok - like canteen food really and the usual generous dose of bland, dry chilean bread (god I hate that stuff now). Our room was great and really clean and comfy as were the bathroom facilities, the staff were friendly and helpful (especially the kitchen lady who helped everyone with their dinner tray as the boat rolled from side to side on the open seas - she was amazing) and the people on board were an interesting, lovely mix (aside from the pain in the ass old australian fella who was lucky not to get thrown overboard - he annoyed everyone we met!!) so we spent a lot of time trading stories and chatting. We probably would have cracked up if we had to spend another day on board (we´re definitly not cruise boat material). Also there was a trailer load of sheep and one of horses in the cargo hold which stank more and more as each day passed. I dont know if they fed/watered these animals but didn´t seem to be the most humane conditions plus the smell was rank (and I am used to farm smells) which was non too pleasant especially on the high seas of the open ocean.
Off to Bariloche now to go hiking again. Think the bodies have recovered and will be keen to stretch our legs again now.
Went on board on thurs evening. Had booked the more expensive option of a 4 bed cabin rather then the dorm option which turned out to be great as we had it to ourselves as the ferry was only half full. The dorms looked ok as well but not much privacy plus we got our own bathroom.
The first night we slept on board and the ferry left port at 6am. We woke up early to see the ferry navigate thru the narrowest passage of the journey - its 80m wide (the ferry is probably 40m wide) so not much room for error here. Quite a spectacular sunrise and scenery - we saw some dolphins alongside the boat as well which was a great start to the trip. After an hour or so the weather turned to mush and it was cold, wet and very poor visibility. Good day for relaxing with a book. We did stop at Glacier Skua which would have been amazing if we could have seen more then 50m higher up the glacier. The trip that day was mostly thru narrow passages between islands so very protected from the sea and nice and gentle. We could also wander onto the bridge anytime we felt like it to check out the maps, navigation equipment, chat with the guys running the show, etc so that was pretty interesting.
On the second morning the ship stopped at Puerto Eden where a flotilla of little red and yellow fishing boats came down and ferried us over to the little village of Puerto Eden. Its a tiny settlement (180 inhabitants) who live in the this incredibly remote area miles from the nearest centre of civilisation. Mostly they live off fishing and the ferry is obliged to stop there twice a week to drop in supplies, pick up passengers, etc. There´s the last survivors of the Kaweshkar tribe live here as well. Its all little wooden board walks (similar to Caleta Tortel but on a much smaller scale) and little brightly painted wooden houses with mandatory satellite dish. Must be absolutely miserable there in the winter. From there we headed north thru the English Narrows and then thru Falso Channel out into the open ocean. We saw the Cotopaxi shipwreck which is where is 1968 a Greek capitan decided to make a quick buck from the insurance company. He ran his ship onto an infamous rock spike which is 2m below the surface on a broad channel. Unfortunately, the ship didn´t sink but is just stuck on the rock and the insurance inspectors were able to figure out that his cargo of sugar hadn´t melted as he had tried to claim (he had previously sold the sugar in Uruguay) as where were all the sugar bags. Dumb guy went to jail for 2 years and the ship remained stuck where its now used as a lighthouse and birds like to land there too. The scenery of untouched forested islands and mountains was incredible. We hit the open sea that afternoon and there was a moderate swell. We ended up taking seasickness tablets altho not sure if they worked with a placebo effect or actually did work! Dinner was an interesting experience keeping your plate on the table and trying not to fall off your chair. One bloke landed on top of Dunk after a particularly big dip - luckily it was post dinner so Dunk didn´t end up wearing spaghetti!! It was really good to lie down that night and the seasickness tablets complelty knocked us out so a good snooze was had.
Day 3 started with a lovely sunrise turning into a clear and beautiful sailing up thru the Chacabuco Channel having left the open sea behind. Spent most of the day out on the top deck
enjoying the sun and gentle sailing. Spotted a few whale spouts later in the day but they never got close enough to us to actually see the whales. Saw heaps of seals, some penguins too and lots of large seabirds (probably some kind of albatross). At the end of the day there was a spectacular sunset over the sea and onto the snow capped mountains on the coast as we sailed up towards Chiloe Island and the main land. Really beautiful and tranquil. To top it off a few black and white dolhpins cruised by the ferry for a few minutes doing a few little jumps out of the water to the delight of everyone. After dinner was live entertainment by one of the ships crew - quite funny - followed by the world´s worst disco ... how is it that ferries, cruises etc manage to have such terrible music. Lots of Chilean pop music which is like a bad mix of hip hop, pop, and something traditional thrown in on top .. bloody awful.
Day 4 is really a no day where we just had breakfast and then disembarked at Puerto Montt. We quickly headed to the bus station and booked the first available bus out to Bariloche as we know from previous experience that PM is a pretty dingy place to hang around. In fairness, even in the ship´s briefing they advise you to leave town asap.
All up a very pleasant, scenic and relaxing few days. The food on board was ok - like canteen food really and the usual generous dose of bland, dry chilean bread (god I hate that stuff now). Our room was great and really clean and comfy as were the bathroom facilities, the staff were friendly and helpful (especially the kitchen lady who helped everyone with their dinner tray as the boat rolled from side to side on the open seas - she was amazing) and the people on board were an interesting, lovely mix (aside from the pain in the ass old australian fella who was lucky not to get thrown overboard - he annoyed everyone we met!!) so we spent a lot of time trading stories and chatting. We probably would have cracked up if we had to spend another day on board (we´re definitly not cruise boat material). Also there was a trailer load of sheep and one of horses in the cargo hold which stank more and more as each day passed. I dont know if they fed/watered these animals but didn´t seem to be the most humane conditions plus the smell was rank (and I am used to farm smells) which was non too pleasant especially on the high seas of the open ocean.
Off to Bariloche now to go hiking again. Think the bodies have recovered and will be keen to stretch our legs again now.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
El Calafate and the easy part of Los Glaciers NP
After a day recovery in Puerto Natales (including clothes washing! and 2 steaks) we headed to El Calafate bracing ourselves for one of Argentina´s most touristy towns. It gets 250,000 plus tourists a year and is only 20,000 locals. There are hostels, hospedajes, hotels, tours, gourmet food shops, artesans, restaurants and anything else a tourist would want everywhere BUT at least it has a little park and is more organised then El Chalten.
We found an ok place to stay (Chiloe) or it was til we discovered the owner and permanent residents there smoked continously in the kitchen, corridors, etc. Gross. Plus it had the worst supplied kitchen ever. 2 forks (seriously), 5 plates, 3 knives, 2 spoons altho ample pots and pans - one big enough to swim in! The best part was the tea towel - I have never seen anything as bad as it - it was a dark, brown, green, dont touch me colour - and I actually saw the owner drying things with it. Needless to say we washed anything we used very well before.
On sunday we splashed out and headed on an upmarket tourist tour to Upsala Glacier. With no other backpacker in sight but plenty richer type tourists aboard off we set on the bus to Puerto Bandera. There a company called Ferdanaz Campbell have a flotilla of catarmans to whisk tourists off on daytrips to all the glaciers. Its serious business and there must have been 1000 people at least headed off. Really good boats tho with good viewing areas altho got a bit frenetic as we neared each glacier despite the fact the captain always hung around for ages so everyone got good photo chances.
We set off down Lago Argentina where we saw our first icebergs. The scenery is very pretty to look at with big steep mountains which are dry at first and then become more forested as we got closer to the glaciers. First stop was at Onelli bay where we walked about 1km to a lovely little lake full (well maybe half) of icebergs. Stayed there for a very peaceful lunch gazing at Onelli glacier plus at least 2 more I cant remember the name of with big mountains and trees everywhere. From there we headed onto Glacier Upsala which is just HUGE (21 kms long 8 kms wide or something like that). It had about 4kms of icebergs in front of it ... and I mean some of these were massive towering over the catarman, all funky shapes and intense blue colours in the sunshine. Really amazing to sail along between them all. We went to within 800m of the glacier but no nearer cos if one of those big chunks peeled off ... well obviously thats a big wave and we wouldn´t want to sink in those cold waters! Its weird tho cos it felt much closer then this. Its really hard to get a perspective on this glacier and in a way it was the icebergs that made it cool rather then the fact that its the biggest, longest widest glacier in the park.
We then headed to Spegizinni glacier which has the highest front (ie the part that mets the lake - not sure if I have my technical terms right here tho) which stole the day. The back drop on the right is a really high craggy mountain (in English the guide said it was called the Devil´s Whore - hard work for him to get up there ;)) with hanging glaciers dripping off to feed into Spegizinni and then on the left is a reddish mountain with snow and glaciers on it as well. You can see all the glacier which is really steep and the front is massive - 80m-120m high. Thats the width-length of a football field. Hard to imagine that much ice really. Even looking back on the photos it doesn´t seem that big but it is. Really really fantastic place and once again the sun smiled on us all day long. Highly recommend this tour cos its worth every cent we paid just remember to bring your own lunch!
Took a break the day after as my tummy has thrown a hissy fit at the variety, (and lack of) quality food thats been dumped on it in the last few months - ah well nothing that a day or 2 of sleep didn´t fix (plus trying to eat normal food - not sure what we will do when we go hiking again).
Perito Mereno was the last glacier we had to see so of course we couldn´t miss the world´s most famous glacier. Spent 3 hours staring at it yesterday willing massive blocks to fall off and saw plenty spectacular and loud smaller chunks but no full top to bottom chunks. Of course one did just as we got on the bus (doh) but thats a glacier for ya!! Its a really great setting tho and you just can spend a morning or afternoon standing around on terraces waiting for action. Very beautiful surrounds and once the mad rush after everyone arrives ends then its also very peaceful. Most people seem to get bored and head back to the cafe and bus after an hour so hardly anyone around either (to the point we thought we´d missed the bus). Well worth the trip also altho I think Spegizzinni has won the accolade of best glacier in the Los Glaciers NP for me.
Took the bus back down to Puerto Natales today and heading on the 4 day ferry tomorrow to Puerto Montt so archipaelagos here we come!!
We found an ok place to stay (Chiloe) or it was til we discovered the owner and permanent residents there smoked continously in the kitchen, corridors, etc. Gross. Plus it had the worst supplied kitchen ever. 2 forks (seriously), 5 plates, 3 knives, 2 spoons altho ample pots and pans - one big enough to swim in! The best part was the tea towel - I have never seen anything as bad as it - it was a dark, brown, green, dont touch me colour - and I actually saw the owner drying things with it. Needless to say we washed anything we used very well before.
On sunday we splashed out and headed on an upmarket tourist tour to Upsala Glacier. With no other backpacker in sight but plenty richer type tourists aboard off we set on the bus to Puerto Bandera. There a company called Ferdanaz Campbell have a flotilla of catarmans to whisk tourists off on daytrips to all the glaciers. Its serious business and there must have been 1000 people at least headed off. Really good boats tho with good viewing areas altho got a bit frenetic as we neared each glacier despite the fact the captain always hung around for ages so everyone got good photo chances.
We set off down Lago Argentina where we saw our first icebergs. The scenery is very pretty to look at with big steep mountains which are dry at first and then become more forested as we got closer to the glaciers. First stop was at Onelli bay where we walked about 1km to a lovely little lake full (well maybe half) of icebergs. Stayed there for a very peaceful lunch gazing at Onelli glacier plus at least 2 more I cant remember the name of with big mountains and trees everywhere. From there we headed onto Glacier Upsala which is just HUGE (21 kms long 8 kms wide or something like that). It had about 4kms of icebergs in front of it ... and I mean some of these were massive towering over the catarman, all funky shapes and intense blue colours in the sunshine. Really amazing to sail along between them all. We went to within 800m of the glacier but no nearer cos if one of those big chunks peeled off ... well obviously thats a big wave and we wouldn´t want to sink in those cold waters! Its weird tho cos it felt much closer then this. Its really hard to get a perspective on this glacier and in a way it was the icebergs that made it cool rather then the fact that its the biggest, longest widest glacier in the park.
We then headed to Spegizinni glacier which has the highest front (ie the part that mets the lake - not sure if I have my technical terms right here tho) which stole the day. The back drop on the right is a really high craggy mountain (in English the guide said it was called the Devil´s Whore - hard work for him to get up there ;)) with hanging glaciers dripping off to feed into Spegizinni and then on the left is a reddish mountain with snow and glaciers on it as well. You can see all the glacier which is really steep and the front is massive - 80m-120m high. Thats the width-length of a football field. Hard to imagine that much ice really. Even looking back on the photos it doesn´t seem that big but it is. Really really fantastic place and once again the sun smiled on us all day long. Highly recommend this tour cos its worth every cent we paid just remember to bring your own lunch!
Took a break the day after as my tummy has thrown a hissy fit at the variety, (and lack of) quality food thats been dumped on it in the last few months - ah well nothing that a day or 2 of sleep didn´t fix (plus trying to eat normal food - not sure what we will do when we go hiking again).
Perito Mereno was the last glacier we had to see so of course we couldn´t miss the world´s most famous glacier. Spent 3 hours staring at it yesterday willing massive blocks to fall off and saw plenty spectacular and loud smaller chunks but no full top to bottom chunks. Of course one did just as we got on the bus (doh) but thats a glacier for ya!! Its a really great setting tho and you just can spend a morning or afternoon standing around on terraces waiting for action. Very beautiful surrounds and once the mad rush after everyone arrives ends then its also very peaceful. Most people seem to get bored and head back to the cafe and bus after an hour so hardly anyone around either (to the point we thought we´d missed the bus). Well worth the trip also altho I think Spegizzinni has won the accolade of best glacier in the Los Glaciers NP for me.
Took the bus back down to Puerto Natales today and heading on the 4 day ferry tomorrow to Puerto Montt so archipaelagos here we come!!
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