This is for my mamma, my number 1 fan..
Happy Birthday! Check out my flickr site to see the video I made for you.
Con mil besos
Emilia
Monday, February 9, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
From Chile to Argentina to Chile again
Jon and I have finally made it to Puerto Natales. One month later.
This town is perfectly small and packed with trekkers of all sorts and the very pro mountaineers. We´re staying in a very friendly family run hostel/home with a mountain `dancer` and a climber who have been coming here for 10 years. Check her out at Project Bandaloop. After nearly 2 weeks of camping we´re enjoying the warm beds, private bathroom and Chile´s finest movie networks.
Yes...two weeks of camping! Where have we been? Mostly on buses...And in between? Well, since I last wrote we left Coyhaique for the tiny town of Puerto Ibañez. We went with the intention of catching our ferry to Argentina, but ended up staying the night to revel in the rodeo. What a site. cowboys, or Gauchos from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay all showcasing their talents on wild horses for a small sum of cash. What it really was, however, and what we´re discovering about Chile, is that everyone simply loves to party. The life of a gaucho is probably quite lonely in remote and vast Patagonian landscape. A landscape inspirational for songs of longing for a past since forgotten by most South Americans. The music was similar to Portuguese Fado. The men themselves are very handsome, and well dressed in their berets and short pants. They don´t quite fit the rugged picture of an American cowboy, but I bet these dudes could kick anyones´ arse. Our friend Hillary did mention that she walked in on a room full of tough looking gauchos drinking pisco at 9am only to witness their hearts melt as they swooned for a baby guanaco who stumbled into the room, searching for milk.
The night we saw them they were taking turns dancing with the local ladies, sharing wine and stories. We had such a great day, eating asado and hanging with the folk of this dusty, windy town hiding in the Andes. Unfortunately, the following day our ferry disappeared and we changed our opinion of the town, wanting desperately to get out and over to Argentina to continue our travels south. When I say the ferry disappeared, I mean it was meant to come, but the officials told us it wasn´t going to show for 3 days. What?!? Stranded in Ibañez with its one market and stray horses, we sadly sat by the ferry dock dreaming of a way out, when hours later a boat 'magically´ appeared!! Stupid us, we didn´t have tickets, but ended up catching a lift thanks to the captains pity. 2 hours later we were in Chile Chico, picking pears and nectarines from the campground trees. The following day we headed across the border (easy) to Los Antiguos ARGENTINA!!! Famous for cherries and cheezy pizzas.
Argentina........From what I´ve gathered so far, it´s more expensive than Chile!?! They´re catching up after years of economic turmoil, finally taking advantage of the massive tourism idustry thanks to their UNESCO World Heritage sites. Argentina, like Chile has a shady past and the locals would prefer not to discuss it. Jon and I are ok with just chilling by the fire, learning about the art of the asado in El Chalten where we began cooking at 8 and didn´t eat our steaks until midnight, drinking yerba mate and having a laugh with the very generous Argentinians.
El Chalten is a town at the north entrance to the Parque Nacional de los Glacier. It´s a really chilled out place complete with tired, sunburnt mountaineers and exhausted trekkers. We spent a good 3 nights making great friends and drinking local beer. I made the mistake of spending 4 pesos (about $3) on a box of wine which left me feeling awful the next day. The Chileans called it ´mas pinas´ or a punch in the face. The Buenos Aires boys shared their cordero (lamb) after cooking it slowly over the coals until the wee hours of the night, with the stars watching over us. Beautiful town, beautiful scenery! We had the mountains surrounding us completely, and were lucky weather wise. Usually it´s a challenge to see the peaks, but we witnessed their majesty every single day! We decided to camp in the valleys for 4 nights after trekking for several hours uphill each day! Tired legs!!!
One concern...people don´t get what it means to leave no trace when camping. Toilet paper littered the woods and people took numero doses anywhere they pleased without burying it! Disgusting! The El Chalten access to the park is free as is camping, and the rivers are some of the last where you can drink straight from them, but if people keep on like this we won´t be so fortunate. There are huge environmental concerns for Patagonia right now. We`ve been noticing Sin Represas posters and tshirts promoting awarness and protesting private companies who want to interfere with Patagonia. In a few years the mountain vistas might be molested by power lines sending energy to Santiago, and the pristine rivers being dammed. It´s a sad thought, but one that apparently most people don´t seem to care about! If you ever camp please don´t ever leave anything behind except for footprints!
The freedom of free park entry was left behind when we bused it to El Calafate and the south entrance to the park. Touristy town. Expensive. Full of loud backpackers and rich Westerners. We had to check out the glacier though, the crowning glory of El Calafate. It cost us about $50 US but it was worth it! The Perito Merino glacier is massive and inspires poetry! It´s also very active, sending chunks of ice into the lago Argentino as we covered our ears from the force of the drop. What a beautiful site!
Now we´re resting our heads in Natales, meeting up with two American cousins whom we´'ve befriended. One´s been travelling South America for one year and just returned from Asia where he travelled for 2. Tonight there´s a fiesta in town where we hope to have some laughs (there´s no holiday, just another day to party). Oh yeah, we´re in Chile again. We had little difficulty crossing the border, just a loooong wait and an embarassed customs official as had held my tampons inquisitively. In a few days we´ll head over to Torres del Paine to begin our 10 day trek along the circuit. Pray for good weather!
That´s about all for now...Please enjoy the photos and drop me an email!
Con mil besos!
Emily
This town is perfectly small and packed with trekkers of all sorts and the very pro mountaineers. We´re staying in a very friendly family run hostel/home with a mountain `dancer` and a climber who have been coming here for 10 years. Check her out at Project Bandaloop. After nearly 2 weeks of camping we´re enjoying the warm beds, private bathroom and Chile´s finest movie networks.
Yes...two weeks of camping! Where have we been? Mostly on buses...And in between? Well, since I last wrote we left Coyhaique for the tiny town of Puerto Ibañez. We went with the intention of catching our ferry to Argentina, but ended up staying the night to revel in the rodeo. What a site. cowboys, or Gauchos from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay all showcasing their talents on wild horses for a small sum of cash. What it really was, however, and what we´re discovering about Chile, is that everyone simply loves to party. The life of a gaucho is probably quite lonely in remote and vast Patagonian landscape. A landscape inspirational for songs of longing for a past since forgotten by most South Americans. The music was similar to Portuguese Fado. The men themselves are very handsome, and well dressed in their berets and short pants. They don´t quite fit the rugged picture of an American cowboy, but I bet these dudes could kick anyones´ arse. Our friend Hillary did mention that she walked in on a room full of tough looking gauchos drinking pisco at 9am only to witness their hearts melt as they swooned for a baby guanaco who stumbled into the room, searching for milk.
The night we saw them they were taking turns dancing with the local ladies, sharing wine and stories. We had such a great day, eating asado and hanging with the folk of this dusty, windy town hiding in the Andes. Unfortunately, the following day our ferry disappeared and we changed our opinion of the town, wanting desperately to get out and over to Argentina to continue our travels south. When I say the ferry disappeared, I mean it was meant to come, but the officials told us it wasn´t going to show for 3 days. What?!? Stranded in Ibañez with its one market and stray horses, we sadly sat by the ferry dock dreaming of a way out, when hours later a boat 'magically´ appeared!! Stupid us, we didn´t have tickets, but ended up catching a lift thanks to the captains pity. 2 hours later we were in Chile Chico, picking pears and nectarines from the campground trees. The following day we headed across the border (easy) to Los Antiguos ARGENTINA!!! Famous for cherries and cheezy pizzas.
Argentina........From what I´ve gathered so far, it´s more expensive than Chile!?! They´re catching up after years of economic turmoil, finally taking advantage of the massive tourism idustry thanks to their UNESCO World Heritage sites. Argentina, like Chile has a shady past and the locals would prefer not to discuss it. Jon and I are ok with just chilling by the fire, learning about the art of the asado in El Chalten where we began cooking at 8 and didn´t eat our steaks until midnight, drinking yerba mate and having a laugh with the very generous Argentinians.
El Chalten is a town at the north entrance to the Parque Nacional de los Glacier. It´s a really chilled out place complete with tired, sunburnt mountaineers and exhausted trekkers. We spent a good 3 nights making great friends and drinking local beer. I made the mistake of spending 4 pesos (about $3) on a box of wine which left me feeling awful the next day. The Chileans called it ´mas pinas´ or a punch in the face. The Buenos Aires boys shared their cordero (lamb) after cooking it slowly over the coals until the wee hours of the night, with the stars watching over us. Beautiful town, beautiful scenery! We had the mountains surrounding us completely, and were lucky weather wise. Usually it´s a challenge to see the peaks, but we witnessed their majesty every single day! We decided to camp in the valleys for 4 nights after trekking for several hours uphill each day! Tired legs!!!
One concern...people don´t get what it means to leave no trace when camping. Toilet paper littered the woods and people took numero doses anywhere they pleased without burying it! Disgusting! The El Chalten access to the park is free as is camping, and the rivers are some of the last where you can drink straight from them, but if people keep on like this we won´t be so fortunate. There are huge environmental concerns for Patagonia right now. We`ve been noticing Sin Represas posters and tshirts promoting awarness and protesting private companies who want to interfere with Patagonia. In a few years the mountain vistas might be molested by power lines sending energy to Santiago, and the pristine rivers being dammed. It´s a sad thought, but one that apparently most people don´t seem to care about! If you ever camp please don´t ever leave anything behind except for footprints!
The freedom of free park entry was left behind when we bused it to El Calafate and the south entrance to the park. Touristy town. Expensive. Full of loud backpackers and rich Westerners. We had to check out the glacier though, the crowning glory of El Calafate. It cost us about $50 US but it was worth it! The Perito Merino glacier is massive and inspires poetry! It´s also very active, sending chunks of ice into the lago Argentino as we covered our ears from the force of the drop. What a beautiful site!
Now we´re resting our heads in Natales, meeting up with two American cousins whom we´'ve befriended. One´s been travelling South America for one year and just returned from Asia where he travelled for 2. Tonight there´s a fiesta in town where we hope to have some laughs (there´s no holiday, just another day to party). Oh yeah, we´re in Chile again. We had little difficulty crossing the border, just a loooong wait and an embarassed customs official as had held my tampons inquisitively. In a few days we´ll head over to Torres del Paine to begin our 10 day trek along the circuit. Pray for good weather!
That´s about all for now...Please enjoy the photos and drop me an email!
Con mil besos!
Emily
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