Each journey begins with a single step...

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

nomad_kiwis — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:04:00 GMT

Costs pp: Colonial Express ferry from Buenos Aires 41.5 Arg p (special price usually is 135p). Bus from Colonia to km189 approx 15km 27 Urugauy pesos. NZ$1 = 15.3 Uruguay pesos

Took a bus to a neighbourhood near the ferry terminal and a taxi from there as we had been warned that it was a dangerous area but it was the middle of the day and all looked ok. The taxi driver said there is no problem there. Carol worried that they might find there was a mistake with our tickets and we would have to pay more but no, we went through unmolested. In fact they took away our tickets and gave us a boarding pass which stated we had paid 110p. The trip was bouncy although the river wasn't that rough we were in a catamaran and the wind picked it up a bit, Carol had no problem and even fell asleep most of the way.

Our first impressions of Uruguay are great, traffic is slower and people actually stop for you if you are on a crossing (this is a marvellous new thing), very friendly and helpful people, feels relaxed and looks very green.

We had to contact our couch Cesar and were directed by the tourist info to the Plaza which has free WI-FI. Carol wasn't excited about having to phone Cesar, who only speaks spanish, on Skype so went across to a nearby hotel and enlisted the help of the young receptionist there. She was so helpful and sorted us out with Cesar and the bus and even wrote a note to give to the driver to say where and when to let us off the bus. We felt like happy little children again, very nice.

The bus went at 8pm, plenty of time? No, the time has changed by one hour from Buenos Aires. We found an ATM in the town but it only gave out a small amount, this is difficult for us as each time we withdraw there are fees so it is better to get one bigger amount altho as is usual with ATMs there is always a limit. Later we found an ATM at the bus terminal that possibly would have been better. Did some shopping at the supermarket so that we can cook for Cesar and boarded the bus.

Cesar was waiting on the road to pick us up and after dropping our bags at his place we went thru the paddock to his parents house for dinner and had a lovely evening with them all, they had had a kiwi girl stay for 3 months some time ago so are well versed in Kiwi culture. Cesar and his dad are agricultural machinery mechanics. A storm started as we headed back to the house, we heard a few rolls of thunder. By the time we hit the sack the lightning was almost continuous and sometimes the thunder cracked so loud we thought it was opening up the roof! It continued all night and was magnificent!

We discovered that part of the workshop next door has been made into a museum, it is full of things from the past, bottles, coins, machinery, an old tractor... It is very interesting and made us feel reminiscent of the old days in New Zealand. We are finding that Uruguay is quite similar to home about 20 or so years ago.

Colonia is the oldest town in Uruguay and has a fortified wall surrounding the old town which is on the point facing the river towards Buenos Aires. There are beaches but the river water is brown from travelling through all the countries from Bolivia on down. We got to walk around the town, including the old part, and climbed the lighthouse which gave a great view of the surrounding area and we could see Buenos Aires in the distance across the river too.

Next stop Montevideo, a city we have heard of before but didn't know it was in Uruguay.

Buenos Aires

nomad_kiwis — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:26:00 GMT

Cost pp: bus to Buenos Aires semi-cama 4 hours 51p

We arrived in Buenos Aires around 3pm on Friday 13th and in celebration the skies opened and all the water that ever was stored in any cloud anywhere descended on the city. We caught a bus outside the terminal to our couchsurfing home it was full of people and we were trying to peer out fogged up windows in obscured light to see street names and numbers while it negotiated streets that were now rivers and entered rushhour traffic. As is the norm, the people on the bus rallied to our aid and made sure we got off at the right place, the driver was not in the mood nor really able to be helpful with all that he was dealing with. At the end of the ride we got off the bus a couple of blocks early because it was faster to walk the traffic was so clogged up. We arrived at Tolgas place around 6pm, usually the ride would take 35 minutes with no traffic.

Our host is from Turkey so Carol got to have a great reminise about that country and her travels there. We were given a room with double airbed and introduced to French couple who live there and another traveller also staying.

Buenos Aires is huge, like Mexico City is huge, but worse because the metro only goes a short distance and the buses take a long time to go relatively short distances and only take coins which no-one has. You end up having to buy small items you don't want in order to get change and shopkeepers go out of their way to organise things so they don't have to give coins as change. It's a mess really. We had tried to be prepared as we had been forewarned and had been saving up the smaller denominations but didn't realise the problem was only with coins so didn't really have enough for more than a day.

We spent our time going to see the Museum of Natural Science, the Cemetario de la Recoleta which is so huge that at closing time Kent could not be found and a search had to be launched! Evita is buried in this cemetary which is full of huge sarcophagi like a mini city. Also markets where we saw local caballeros galloping horses down a street to capture a small ring (see the pics), similar to our club rally weiner snatch but at a faster speed...

Buenos Aires is full of lovely parks, we didn't have a problem with smog, and walked very late at night through the downtown areas with no problem. For the locals the evening starts at 10pm and finishes around 3am, everyone is out and about all night every night on the buses. You can manage this if you have a sleep from 2 - 5 pm in the day, although we have had this all the way through Argentina and Chile we still can't get used to the shops not being open then.

It was great staying with Tolga as he was a mine of information and took us out to places as well. We wanted to head to Uruguay next and found a travel agent who offered ferry tickets at 41.5p, at first we thought this was wrong and must be USA$ as the usual price is 135p but he rang and checked so we bought our tickets to cross the river mouth to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay for a very small price indeed!

Rosario

nomad_kiwis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:08:00 GMT

Costs pp: bus from San Luis overnight 9 hrs 90p, staying at the Hostal Rosario on the corner of San Luis and Laprida streets dorm bed 35 is new inside an old building and has free WI-FI internet & a kitchen.

Rosario is on a huge river and has nightlife on the banks as well as in town. Near our hostal was a huge monument about a block long which we didn't get a photo of for one reason or another. Into town to visit the Museum then we headed out up the river to where they have sandy beaches, one a public one and one private. The weather was beautiful and we found a ferry that crossed to an island in the river but when we got there there was less than nothing to do. We managed to find our way through the scrub to a guy who was building a bar who sold us a bottle of fizz then went back to the dock and waited over an hour for the ferry to come back and take us back. In the evening we walked down to the river and found a huge celebration going on of the heritage of the people of Rosario. For each country represented there was a food hall and outside a stage for the national dancing. Represented were Italy, Spain, Israel and right next door Palestine, Iran, Iraq, France, Germany, Croatia, Greece and many more. The food wasn't really exactly like the original countries food but more like the Argentinian version of it but still great. The costumes for the dancers were excellent and the music LOUD for each stage as music has to be it seems in these spanish speaking countries. The fair covered a huge area and was well supported by the locals. Carol could have wandered for longer and enjoyed more of the dancing but it wasn't Kents idea of heaven.

Cooked up some good meals in the kitchen, it is far cheaper to buy food and make your own meal than to eat out in Argentina and Chile. Next stop the big smoke Buenos Aires!

San Luis for the day

nomad_kiwis — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 13:24:00 GMT

Costs pp: bus from San Juan 39p 5 hrs

We got woken at 5am by another couple leaving so Carol got up then and Kent an hour later and we got to the San Juan terminal with only 10 minutes to spare to catch our 7am bus and still had yet to buy the tickets. All went well though and we dozed on and off all the way there.

On our arrival we checked the times etc for our next bus as we usually do and found that a bus to Rosario would take 8 hours and we could go overnight. So we decided not to stay in San Luis but to spend the day there and go overnight to Rosario and thereby also save ourselves the cost of accommodation. Long distance buses here are not cheap.We bought our tickets and the guy in the office let us leave our packs with him while we headed off.

We walked all over the town and then found a nice park and lay in the sun and caught up on some sleep. You may think this is weird to go and sleep in a park, wouldn´t everyone be looking and thinking we are hobos or something. But no, these parks over here are really used by everyone, there is always someone lying on the grass dozing in the sun somewhere and there are always couples conoodling on the park benches and groups of teenagers sitting on the grass discussing things and families playing together.

After our nap we asked 2 different people how to get to the big shopping centre, both times they said to take the bus to 'Baysejay' wow we couldn't figure it out, what a weird name. When the bus came we saw it had the letters BCG on the front! We jumped on the bus and got lost in the suburbs looking for the shopping centre we needed to buy glue to reglue Kents teva, thanks Teva company for making a really crappy pair of shoes, we have been resoling them every month since about 2 months after purchase. Anyhow the driver thought it was funny that we were still on the bus at the end of his run and we just waited for him to take his break and then went back around again and he deposited us at the shops front door.

Got back to the terminal just in time for our 11.15pm bus to Rosario.

San Juan, Argentina

nomad_kiwis — Fri, 6 Nov 2009 01:37:00 GMT

Costs pp: bus from La Serena to Santiago 7000 chil pesos, bus across the border to Mendoza, Argentina 10,000 chil pesos. Bus to San Juan 20 arg pesos. Dorm bed at San Juan Hostal in Avenida Cordoba 30p includes free internet and breakfast. www.sanjuanhostel.com

We arrived in Santiago after an almost sleepless, hot journey and changed to another bus on to Mendoza. On the journey across the border we had front seats and a great view, the snow had melted considerably since our trip the other way about 7 weeks ago and it was like travelling a different route. Hit Mendoza around 3pm and had to wait 2 hours for the next bus to San Juan a 2 hour journey to the north. While we waited Carol chatted with a local man who told us all about the area around Mendoza and also San Juan.

San Juan is a spacious city with treelined streets and a casual feel to it. In 1944 it was destroyed by a huge earthquake but has since been rebuilt.

On our arrivel in San Juan we were rebuked by a guy in the bus office for walking through the office to gain entry to the internal part of the terminal without saying 'excuse me', not a good start. In town Carol had a confusing conversation on the phone to a person she didn't know trying to contact her niece Carolina's uncle and decided never to use a phone again when speaking in a foreign language! We found a good hostel near the centre with the bonus of free internet and instead of crashing, which we should have done considering how tired we were, we ended up mucking around on the internet for hours!

The next day we managed to connect with Carolina's uncle and aunt and had a great time with them that evening and the next day when we were invited to a barbeque at their lovely home. Gustavo and Adriana are a great couple, very relaxed and with a good sense of humour, we really enjoyed meeting this new part of the family.

On the Monday we went to the Museo Graffigna which is a winery and had a tour of it (free) then visited an artisanal shop in town that was really interesting. The items for sale were all made from natural products and excellently made too. We then took the bus out to see a dam on the nearby lake, then another bus to the other side of the lake. There we found the Zonda cave where they store champagne, it is produced, stored and bottled in the cave which is a constant 20 degrees C all year. The labelling is done by hand. Back into town where we visited a really interesting artisanal shop with things made from natural products.

Next stop San Luis.

La Serena

nomad_kiwis — Sun, 1 Nov 2009 13:16:00 GMT

Costs pp: bus from Valparaiso semi-cama 8 - 11,000. We bought our ticket half an hour before the bus left and were given cama seats and a discount so travelled in more luxury for less... Tour of Capel piscoery 1000

The scenery on the way was not the greatest, beaches but nothing wonderful. At La Serena we had no trouble finding our 'couch' Oscar's home and in the evening he and his flatmate Carla took us out to dinner at a local seafood restaurant and shouted us a meal. It was a wonderful meal, we haven't had fresh fish for over a year we think. Both Oscar and Carla are geologists working in the iron and copper mining areas nearby. Oscar was due to go out on a major expedition in the far north where he is in charge of 70 people and working at a height of over 4,000 mtrs.

We explored the town and spent one day on a trip up the Valley Sol de Elqui which grows grapes to make pisco, it is one of only 5 valleys in Chile that are allowed to produce Pisco. We went on a tour of one of the vineyards, Capel, near Vicuna which was very interesting and we bought some pisco from there too. On the tour we met up with a great couple (also bikers) June & Jack from Canada and their daughter Heather who lives in Santiago, they gave us a lift further up the valley to Pisco Elqui and we promised to visit them when we head up their way - cool! The valley was brown arid hills with a very green valley bottom where the grapes and fruit trees are grown. The crops are watered from a nearby reservoir/lake which has been created with a dam across the river.

That night we caught the 11.30pm bus to Santiago.

Valparaiso

nomad_kiwis — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:11:00 GMT

Costs pp: bus from Santiago 3100p

It took about 2 hours to get to Valparaiso and we had no problem finding our 'couch' Dan who was very welcoming and gave us his own room at his pad. There were 2 other couchsurfers there also, from USA, they were staying for the halloween party as well. What Halloween Party? Dan had organised a 'couchsurfing event' a barbque costume party for saturday night.

We were able to help Dan to clear and decorate his backyard for the event which was a lot of fun, coz Dan is a fun guy.

Saturday was spent exploring the next town of Vina del Mar, Valparaiso is a port and Vina del Mar has the beach, V is older and VdM is richer. We wandered along the beach looking at the stalls there and not much else. It was a cloudy day and not very warm. In the evening we met up with Dan and other couch's and friends at the supermarket to shop for the barby. Then it was home to PARTY!

The next morning was spent cleaning up of course then Dan took us on a walking tour of the old downtown.

It was really excellent as in the summer he is a tour guide so he knew all the dates, facts and figures. We also got the opportunity to ride up and down in 2 different funiculars, really cool.

We had a wonderful time with Dan and really connected with him.

Next stop La Serena.

back in Santiago

nomad_kiwis — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:58:00 GMT

Costs pp: Cama bus from Temuco 17,200

We are back in Santiago and staying with our friends Pamela and Christian again. It's lovely to be here, we both like Santiago except for the pollution which gives us both headaches, and we really enjoy being with Pam & Christian. Santiago is surrounded by mountains and hills so there is not much wind to blow anything away or to cool anything down. At the moment the temperature is perfect but in the summer it must just about kill you to be here, especially in the metros. Life in this country seems to be fairly much on the same level as NZ although Pam says that school fees and health costs cripple families. But it seems to us that incomes are similar, houses here are definitely cheaper. Still wouldn't like to be here in summer, down south further maybe.

We haven't done a lot here except going hither and yon (just thought I'd add in some olde english) for shopping and picking up Kents new English passport. One day we went on a free tour of the Metropolitan Park that was offered by the tourism centre and that was really good for a freeby.

Today we are heading to Valparaiso out on the coast where we are couchsurfing with a guy who is having a halloween party on Saturday night. Kent is going as a pirate, we found a toy stuffed chicken at a garage sale here for Kent to put on his shoulder and got some dowel to make a peg for his leg. Carol of course is going as a witch. Should be fun, will keep you posted.

Temuco

nomad_kiwis — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:15:00 GMT

Costs: Matrimonial room with ensuite at a hospedaje near the corner of General MacKenna & Lautaro 11,000.

We were given a lift up to Temuco driving up from Pto Montt in the afternoon with Tony and Patricia arriving in the early evening and found a place to stay close to the centre. Next day we went to their apartment which is in the middle of being redecorated and had lunch with Tony. He works overseas and is only back for a few weeks so has a million and one things to get done in a short time. He took us on a tour of the central city, Temuco is a city on the banks of the Cautin river with a population of aprox 260,000, the Mapuche being the local indigenous tribe. Back to the apartment where Kent helped sort some problems with Tonys laptop then we headed back into town.

The next day we checked out but left our packs at the hospedaje and explored the Temuco. We found a big municipal market & a train museum and had a good nosey in the shops. We ate at a restaurant in the market which is an upmarket version of the ones in the poorer countries. Our meal was good for 1,500 ea we got a pork chop, mashed spuds and salad. Usually in Chile we buy food at the supermarket for meals as it is cheapest. We are searching for another way to back up our photos, our old ipod is full and must be near the end of its life. Kent dislikes flashdrives as backup but they may be the best way to go...

Late in the evening we caught a bus to Santiago.

Puerto Montt

nomad_kiwis — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:11:00 GMT

Costs pp: Ferry from Chaiten to Puerto Montt 20,500 6pm to 6am on the Pincoya.

We were allowed onboard the ferry around 4pm and they stowed our packs in a hold near the vehicle entrance. The Pincoya is primarily a vehicle ferry with an area for passengers with reclining seats, small shop and most importantly a tv screen for DVDs. The weather was cool and overcast and the sea completely calm. We watched a couple of movies, looked outside a bit at the passing views but not that great and fell asleep for the night.

We arrived at 6am which was an hour earlier than expected, we had come here to meet an old friend of Carols from her childhood, Tony, who she hadn't seen for over 30 years. We made our way down to the bus terminal to hopefully find an internet cafe that was open early to call Tony and tell him we had arrived. At the terminal the cafe was closed so we plopped ourselves down outside and prepared to wait. A man came to open the office next door and spoke to us and offered us the use of his computer. Carol explained that we needed to use a program called Skype and when he realised what it was he said he has a sister in England who uses Skype and could we please install it on his machine. This we did then Kent helped him set himself up as a user and we searched and found his sister. As soon as we sent her a message from him she called. Well such excitement! She had a video camera and he was beside himself with being able to see her and talk to her for free. Luckily some clients came in to speak to him so we were able to use it for a moment to call Tony otherwise we may have had to wait quite a while haha. His reaction after all this was not to thank us but to ask us please to come back in the afternoon and install the microphone, earphones and camera he was racing out to buy. Luckily we managed to convince him he would easily install those himself.

Tony came straight away to pick us up, he lives in Temuco a few hours north but had come down to visit his partners family and to see us. He took us out for breakfast in the local mall while he and Carol caught up on the past. The next step was amazing, he took us to a local seafront hotel and put us up in a room for the night as his treat! Wow, blown away, what a cool gift. We made ourselves at home in the room which had a view out over the plaza and ocean, filled up the bath and dived in there for about an hour! In the evening Tony took us to meet his lovely partner Patricia and her family and have a bar-b-que with them. It was a very enjoyable night and we got back to the hotel in the wee small hours.

Next destination Temuco.

Chaiten - lost pueblo

nomad_kiwis — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:05:00 GMT

Cost pp: bus La Junta to Chaiten 7500

Our bus to Chaiten left at 8am and was a van. It was still misty with a very early morning feel when we got up and went searching for the bus office. There were 3 others on the journey and more we picked up on the way, the bags all got dumped into the rear seat. The scenery was beautiful and the trip took about 3 hours, half way we changed to a small bus and continued on. When we arrived in Chaiten the bus took us straight to the ferry office to buy our tickets then took us on a tour around the town. It was a very sad tour...

Chaiten was evacuated in May 2008 because a nearby volcano threatened to spill itself over the town. This is indeed what happened and the lahar pushed itself along the old path of the river then diverted it pushing a new path straight threw the middle of the town and out into the bay. No lives were lost but we would estimate that about 20% of the houses were destroyed or damaged. All the services such as hospital, fire, school etc remained untouched. Later we went for a walk through it by ourselves and it seemed quite weird to walk through a town that looked like it should have people walking in the streets. Some shops still had equipment and furniture etc still sitting in them. The mud that flowed through the town was in places about 18" deep and huge piles of it sat on the sides of the streets where they had been cleared. Previous to the eruption about 5000 people lived there now only 150 remain.

For more info copy and paste this into your browser http://geology.com/volcanoes/chaiten

La Junta

nomad_kiwis — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:56:00 GMT

Costs pp: Hospedaje 5,000, in a white house with no name. All the other places visited were 10,000pp regardless of how good or bad but this white house had lovely people and good beds. For 1,000 extra you could have breakfast.

There were no buses from Puerto Cisnes north so we loaded up and hitched. A nice guy picked us up in his ute, Kent in the back with the packs and Carol up front trying to make conversation. We are not sure where the guy was actually going, he kept going to stop then would start on again and take us further and further. In the end he let us off in the middle of the National Park Quelat. The road looked like a back road to Minginui so we wondered if we had been abandoned in the middle of nowhere but no it was the main road. Several cars passed us without stopping at a great rate of knots and we thought it might actually be a little dangerous to be hitching on the road. We walked through stunning scenery on a beautiful day for about 2 hours then called it quits at a bridge where we sat and just waited.

Finally a guy with a ute loaded with wood and with only 2 spare seats stopped and gave us a ride to Puyuhuapi. When we got to this very scenic little bay the first thing we did was to check when and where the bus was. We found there was no bus until the next night, after our ferry had sailed, so we bought a ticket on the 8pm bus to the next town (La Junta) on the way where they assured us there would be a bus in the morning.

The 8pm bus arrived at 9pm and we arrived in La Junta after 10pm which is the worst time to search for a place to stay but Carol ventured forth and after 3 or 4 misses found a place we could afford. A white 2 storied house with a piece of paper in the window saying 'Hospedaje' and a big yard out back with trucks in. Everyone inside was watching the Chile stopping soap opera called 'Donde esta Elisa' on at 10pm every week day night. Our room had a sloping ceiling and two great beds and we piled in and slept well until our alarm went off at 7am ready to catch our 8am bus to Chaiten.

Puerto Cisnes

nomad_kiwis — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:57:00 GMT

Costs pp: Coyhaique to Puerto Cisnes 6,000p

It was still really cold when leaving Coyhaique but not snowing at least. The trip was scenic and especially the road down to Puerto Cisnes and coming into the bay there. The bus driver took all the people and dropped them off at their homes like the guy did in Pto Rio Tranquilo. We were the last to be dropped at our 'couch's' home right by the sea. We were welcomed into a home of a young couple with two young children and the grandparents living above. The young son gave up his bed for us to sleep in and moved into his parents room for the two nights, how cool is that!

The weather was perfect while we were there.We spent some time exploring the area and walked to the end of the dock and up into the hills, it was a rough track but had rewarding views of the bay and islands beyond. Kent came back with totally wet boots from the mud and water we had to negotiate. We toured the town and found the free internet at the local library and made use of that.

That evening the baby was taken ill and had to be rushed up to the hospital and on from there to the hospital in Coyhaique. So in the morning we packed and left without being able to say a proper goodbye but with the good news that all was now ok with the baby.

Coyhaique and music, music, music!

nomad_kiwis — Fri, 9 Oct 2009 19:55:00 GMT

Costs pp: Minivan Rio Tranquilo to Coyhaique 6,000p

On our arrival we phoned Javier our 'couch' and met him in the Plaza Principal which is an unusual hexagonal shape. The day was sunny but very cold especially in the wind. Javier took us to his flat, a wonderful little place at the edge of town (but only a few blocks from the plaza) looking out over a valley of farmland. From his main window we watched the weather over the 3 days we spent with him change from sun to rain to snow!

We had a wonderful few days with Javier who is a bio-chemical engineer that plays the guitar and saxophone (Carol's favorite instrument). The night we arrived we went with him and his novia Jessica to a local club and we treated to some live music then to the locals dancing the salsa. Having just won a soccer game in the world cup warmup everyone was in a jubilant mood and out to enjoy themselves.

On Sunday we went, after we finally got up, out for a drive to see some local lakes and ended up meeting some rellys of Jessicas. It was so cold but we managed a walk by the lake and a short game of volleyball with a young man. Jessicas family made us feel so welcome, we sat for a couple of hours with them talking.

We asked Javier if we could stay an extra day, the reason? There was to be a rock concert on Monday evening starring a famous Santiago group called Durso. On Monday it was snowing in the morning, we went to lunch with Cristian who we met in Santiago, a friend of Christian there. He took us to his home where we met his wife, two really cute kids and ate a wonderful meal with them. When we got back the threat of snow was still hovering altho it wasn't staying on the ground. Javier found out the concert was at 3pm not in the evening, it was now 5.30pm so we walked over. Because of the snow it had been delayed in starting and we caught it almost at the start. The sun came out and the wind almost settled, it was still freezing but we stayed there (it was an outdoor concert!) and listened to 4 or 5 opening acts of about 20 minutes each and finally the main group Durso. Shows real dedication to Rock doesn't it standing in the cold all that time, tiny snow flakes landing around us! haha After that it was home to hot chocolate and roast marshmellows in biscuits and pancakes.

Next stop Puerto Cisne.

Puerto Rio Tranquilo

nomad_kiwis — Thu, 8 Oct 2009 15:13:00 GMT

Costs pp: Bus Perito Moreno to Chile Chico Arg-35p, minivan to Rio Tranquilo Chl-10,000p, Hospedaje Darka 6,000p (no b/fast and after bargaining).

The road from PM was more and more interesting the closer we got to Chile. No problems at the border altho we both had our packs searched. Like in NZ they don't want fresh fruit and vege or animal products entering the country. The day was sunny and warm and we saw a garden full of tulips and the trees are full of new spring growth.

Carol went searching for info in Chile Chico and discovered that the transport system is erratic. With this being Friday there was no transport to Pto Rio Tranquillo on the weekend. There was a ferry going directly across the lake with transport on to Coyhaique on Sunday but we wanted to go the long way around the huge Lago General Carerra (2nd largest lake in SA after Lago Titikaka). In the end we sorted out travel to Puerto Guadal and from there on to Rio Tranquilo this evening. We bought the usual supplies from the supermarket and headed to the lake and found a spot out of the wind and ate lunch.

The trip along the edge of Lago General Carrera was filled with excellent scenery and we arrived in Puerto Guadal on dark. Dumping our packs in the shop of a lovely lady there with whom we had a bit of a conversation and a few laughs, we headed out to scope the town. We hadn't got far when Carol needed to go to the loo so headed into the school where there were some lights on. Here we met the local teacher putting in a few extra hours and talked with him for a while about Chile and the surrounding area. Did you know that in this lower area of Chile there are over 3,000 islands! After chatting with him and finding out that all they need here in the school is an english teacher and of course every town needs a repairman like Kent and thinking this would be a great spot to come and stay, we headed out again but it was now dark. We went anyway down to the lake and viewed it in the moonlight then back to the tienda to catch the minivan on to Rio Tranquilo.

The trip was uneventful being in the dark but when we got there the driver zoomed about and dropped everyone at their homes then he took us about looking for a place for us to stay. Now this was really great for us as 10.30pm at night is not a good time to have to find a place on your own. Finally we found a place that was 8,000ea with breakfast but the lady agreed to 6,000p without, every other place was way more expensive and the cheaper place was closed. The beds in this place were the best we have been in on the whole trip and we thankfully dived straight into bed and slept well, making up for last night.

On the map below you will see that we travelled along the highway 265 right along the southern side of the lake then onto route 7 which took us across the end of it.

Next stop Coyhaique.

Perito Moreno - the town not the glacier

nomad_kiwis — Thu, 8 Oct 2009 01:24:00 GMT

Costs pp: Flight El Calafate to Perito Moreno 254p, costs we didn't think about when flying = bus to the airport 24p, airport tax 6p, remis (taxi) from airport to Perito Moreno town 30p (we shared with another guy so it cost us 10p ea). Camping at Raul's Minicamping 20p.

Our flight was scheduled for 2pm and we were picked up by the airport shuttle from a hotel near to Analias house at midday. At the airport we were worried that our packs clearly failed the 15kg weight limit but they put them through without a comment. The flight was late and as we sat up the top of the building looking out over the runway we could see our plane with the baggage cart outside with our 2 packs and one other bag sitting there. They had loaded them but then unloaded them again, we got worried that they were going to protest about their weight and tried to think about what we could unload and stick in our pockets! haha. However it seemed that they were just being left until last as we were getting off at the next stop on the flight, whew!

The remis that took us from PM airport to the town took the three of us to a couple of hotels which we rejected and then to a 'cheap hostel', obviously 'cheap' is relative as the cost was 50p for a dorm bed. The other guy stayed and we headed out to find a cheaper spot. Where was it? right across the road at 'Raul's minicamping'. We entered his property and walked straight into a large greenhouse of vegetable plants, and here we met Raul, a talkative character who invited us straight into his home and chatted 90 to the dozen in spanish all the time we were there. We set up our tent in his backyard and helped him plant some new seeds in the greenhouse then he cooked us dinner and we piled the food we were carrying into his fridge for him. In the evening he recited his poetry to us, we couldn't understand it all of course but got the gist of it and the feeling.

Our stay was marred only by the dogs next door who barked all night and stopped us from getting a good rest. Luckily the weather was fine and not too cold so ok for camping. In the morning we made up some porridge and prepared to leave but when we wanted to pay Raul wouldn't accept anything from us so we gave him a pen decorated in NZ motifs which is magnetic as a thankyou gift.

Next stop over the border and back into Chile, not sure where to exactly.

El Calafate, the Perito Moreno Glacier & El Chalten

nomad_kiwis — Fri, 2 Oct 2009 18:06:00 GMT

Costs pp: Bus to El Calafate 11,000 Chilean pesos, return bus to the Perito Moreno Glacier combined with a return bus to El Chalten 180 Argentinian pesos. Usually the bus to PM Glacier is 80p and the return bus to El Chalten 130p. Entry to PM Glacier park 60p. Boat trip to glacier face 50p. Hostel Marconi Glacier dorm bed 30p in El Chalten a very nice hostel. No cost for tramping in the park at El Chalten.

The bus trip into Argentina was over full on iced roads and the countryside was beautifully covered in snow, clear skies and a beautiful sunny day.

El Calafate is situated on the shores of Lago Argentino, the area is dry and tends to be windy. We were picked up at the bus station by our wonderful, funny, welcoming 'couch' Analia and her daughter Valentina (9yrs). We had our own room in her second little cottage and in the evening she made us a wonderful meal and we talked on into the night.

We are having a bit of trouble with our bank in that we went to withdraw some funds at an ATM in Bariloche but at the last part of the transaction it told us we would have a huge fee so we cancelled the transaction. Unfortunately all the banks there had the same fee so we had to pay it but withdrew the money at another ATM. On our bank account however both of the transactions showed, aagghhh, we are in the middle of trying to recover the first lot of non-withdrawn withdrawal!

4 Oct 09 - 5th in Oz so it's Corrins birthday today - Happy Birthday, thinking of you! Today we got a bus out to see the Perito Moreno Glacier. It is a magnificently huge glacier which is advancing at an incredible 2 meters per day! It is so white it's blue and is advancing down a valley into a lake, it is 5km wide and averages 74mtrs in height. It regularly flows so far into the lake it blocks the two sides off then on one side the water will build up until it breaks thru again.

Big chunks of ice fall into the lake all the time but we only got to see some small pieces come down. Amazingly they let both of us into the park for free because of Kent's leg, we didn't argue but spent the money saved on a boat trip out to the face of the glacier. In hindsight what Eugenio, our 'couch' in Rada Tilly, had told us was true, the best part was just walking along the walkways in front of the glacier, we could easily have given the boat trip a miss, it wasn't any better. We took heaps of wonderful pics so don't forget to look in the 'Perito Moreno Glacier' gallery.

5 Oct We headed to El Chalten a small village about 3 hours north of Calafate where the top of the Los Glaciares National Park is and more glaciers and torres. We arrived at midday and went for a short walk up to views above the excellent and informative Information Centre. It was a lovely day with a small cold wind. Unlike the people in Torres del Paine here they know exactly what the weather is doing and they told us tomorrow was going to be an even better day so we planned a big hike to see Cerro Fitz Roy 3405mtrs and the Glacier Grande which flows into Lago Torre.

Found a lovely little hostel to stay in and had a 4 bed dorm room to ourselves with an excellent ensuite and wonderful hot water. Headed off at 9am for our big tramp, we should have started earlier! The first part of the trek, up to Poincenot, took over 3 hours. We sat there viewing Fitz Roy as we ate our lunch then headed across towards Lago Torres on a trail that hasn't been used much this year and was under water in parts. That part of the trail took us past a few lakes, some snow and down thru some woods for 2 hours. It was now 3pm the trail back to town was 2 hours and our bus left at 6pm and we had wanted to go and see the Glaciar Grande which was another 2 hours walk. Darn, Carol headed on back toward town, after more than 5 hours walking she was a bit knackered. Kent decided to see how far he could get toward the glacier and headed off at a quick pace. He didn't get all the way and got to see the glacier but not the lake. He made it back to the village at quarter to six just in time for the bus back to El Calafate, where Analia was waiting for us with homemade pizza! How wonderful! A huge hug from us!

The next day was a day off and Kent spent it sorting out Analia's water pump which had an air leak and other assorted problems around the house (he is an amazing problem solver). Carol headed into town and sorted out the details of our flight to our next destination and the getting to the airport etc then hitched back out to the house. Carols backpack has been gradually breaking at the point where the shoulder straps connect to the pack, Kent has had to repair it yet again. Hopefully it will hold for the rest of our journey.

Next stop Perito Moreno, not the glacier but a town 1hr flying time or 20hrs bus trip to the north.

Puerto Natales & Torres del Paine

nomad_kiwis — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:02:00 GMT

Costs pp: bus to Puerto Natales 5,000p, room at Hospedaje Knudsen (not recommended) 10,000 for 2 ppl double bed, tv, breakfast and one very slow internet connection.

Return bus fare to Torres del Paine 15,000p or 8,000p one way, entry to the park 15,000p, shuttle to the beginning of the trails,hosteria and camping etc 5,000p, to stay at the refugios 19,000, to camp 4,000. A day tour of the park is 20,000p plus entry.

We spent the morning in Punta Arenas with Daniel at his cafe and invited the other 'couch' in the town, Cecilia, to coffee with us. We had only an hour for a chat before we had to race out to catch our 2pm bus to Puerto Natales. On arrival there we were greeted by touts and went with a forthright young Danish girl to her family's home. She was full of information and interesting to talk to but when we got to the home the father was not as great.

We had a nice room there however and after sorting with Mr 'I've been in the business 40 years and know everything there is to know' Knudsen to go on a tour of the Torres del Paine instead of going to camp there (it is very expensive and we can't afford it) we bought tickets for the next day.

The next day was very bad weather, so much for Mr Know-it-all, maybe he just wanted the $$ whether or not we got a good tour. The annoying thing is that we could easily have rested a day and gone the next day which was a perfect day. Also we discovered that the 'high season' began on Oct 1st and here we are on Oct 1st, darn! All the prices go up on that date, entry from 5,000p to 15,000 etc etc etc.

So out we went on the day tour, driving through rain, then sleet, then finally snow. We had a couple of fine periods which came at the right times, when we stopped for lunch and when we took a walk to the Grey Lake which has a glacier (which we couldn't see) at the head. At that lake we got to see huge icebergs floating close to the shore which was amazing.

Other than that scenic treat we really saw nothing but mist and snow. The countryside is pretty covered in snow but not when you are paying dearly for the experience. However it was very clear that we could not have camped there. There are free camping areas but they are all the furtherest distance and high up so would be in the snow now. So if you want to see the Torres del Paine (Towers of blue), which we understand are quite amazing, you will have to google it and look at the pics like we did...

Next stop back into Argentina, this is getting muddling jumping to and fro between the countries!

Punta Arenas

nomad_kiwis — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:57:00 GMT

Costs pp: bus Ushuaia to Punta Arenas (to be added later...)

The trip again was fairly boring, on the strait we saw some of the black and white dolphins swimming right next to the ferry so that was cool.

We were lucky enough to couchsurf in Punta Arenas with Daniel who hails from Ohio and is in love with this cute but cold windy city. He teaches english at the local university and took us along in the evening of our arrival to talk to his class. It was an interesting experience, they understood some of Carols words but none of Kents kiwi accent!

We stayed only one night and caught the bus the next day to Puerto Natales.

Ushuaia

nomad_kiwis — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:55:00 GMT

Cost pp: semicama bus Comodoro Rivadavia to Rio Gallegos 136p, Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia 180p. Dorm bed at the friendly Hostel Patagonia Pais 35p (includes free internet and breakfast of coffee and toast).

We travelled all night on the bus arriving at Rio Gallegos at 7am waited an hour for our connecting bus. This was a single level bus (called a 'micro' here) but comfortable and when we got to Rio Grande after crossing Chile in the south we changed buses yet again. The scenery was fairly boring as Patagonia land is flat and arrid, the Straits of Magallanes (Magellon we pronounce it terribly wrongly) were flat and Carol got to get a glimpse of a black and white dolphin near the ferry.

We were prepared for freezing weather in Ushuaia but in fact it was reasonably warm. It is a pretty place, reminiscent of Queenstown in NZ but surrounded by more mountains. The mountains were covered in snow so it was strange to feel warm looking at them. In the afternoons a wind came up that was quite strong and destroyed the urge to go anywhere or do anything much. We didn't end up going far, just looked around the town then headed north again.