And so I've finally left Argentina (although not for too long) and made it into Chile. After the initial confusion of a new currency and having to remember the big numbers in spanish (1000 Chilean pesos to the pound) I've settled into Chile pretty well. After an initial cock up of going to Chiloe for 2 days of rain and, for me 2 days of watching bad tv in an anti-social manner while avoiding all people (sometimes it's necessary) I moved onto Pucon, a small town near the lake district famed for an active Volcano and thermal springs.
Once again forgetting that I am not a hiker, or even remotely fit, I signed up to climb the Villaricca Volcano, at nearly 3000 metres high, at 7am the day after I arrived. During my first day in Pucon the weather had been beautiful, the sky cloudless, perfect for hiking in fact. On the day I woke up to climb the volcano, the sky was, naturally, grey/white with low lying clouds. I got to the tour office and set about dressing in my fancy climbing togs, notably a pair of plasticky trousers, gaiters, and a smashing orange hi-vis jacket. Most important of all was the weapon, I mean ice pick. A group of 7 of us plus 2 guides drove up to the base and we received our first piece of bad news... the chances of reaching the top were 50-50 because of bad weather and we were welcome to reschedule. Naturally having woken up at 6am I wanted to climb, (early starts like that don't happen twice in a row for me) as did everyone else. The second piece of bad news was the fact that the chairlift, which normally takes people up to a 1000 metres wasn't working because of the strong winds. Adding an extra few hours to the ascent. Naturally I quickly got into my stride and settled near the back... alright at the very back of the group. The hiking waswaqs difficult in deep snow and depressing as it took us hours to reach where the charilift normally dropped people off. Despite the regular breaks, I found myself dropping back until I was holding up not only my tour group, but a magnificent 2 more groups from different companies behind me. A new and fantastic achievement I think. Having said that by the time we got to the top, a mere 6.5 hours after we set out everyone had slowed to my pace and I think therefore I won.
The crater itself was, unsurprisingly like a massive smoky hole but the views were spectacular and at that point I was pleased to have made it to the top without my legs falling off in despair. The way down on the other hand was much more fun and made me as excited as I get on fireworks night (VERY). We attached plastic nappies - for want of a better word - to our backsides and got to slide down 1000s of metres of snowy mountain, using our icepicks as breaks (or in my case a highly effective accelerator). The best fun ever and possibly my second all time favourite winter sport, after everyone's number 1, the luge. It was only at the bottom of the mountain that I realised I'd beaten my all time non-peeing record at a massive 9.5 hours. My rule on not getting my arse out above the snowline had served me well once again.
Pucon has lots more to offer, beautiful hikes, inspiring bike rides... I of course did none of these after my struggle up the volcano. I did find the energy to visit the thermal springs, which involves sitting in hot lakes in the bottom of an idyllic valley next to a river, it was tough going but I did it for Wales. While I was there a guide tried to persuade me to join him for Pisco sours (a Chilean, or some argue Peruvian drink, which is pretty deadly) later that evening...But as he was about the same age as my dad and dare I say it, much fatter, I decided against it. He did teach me the spanish for atheist however and so served a useful purpose. Several people tried to persuade me to stay in Pucon and I was quite tempted, the laid back atmosphere was wonderful, but I had things to do, places to see. And so I moved onto Chile's capital, Santiago.
Without sounding too damning, as I did like it and there are things to do, Santiago is pleasant enough but not overly exciting. But there's not a huge amount to see, which made me feel far less guilty about spending a large amount of time lying down next to the pool in the hostel, with the occasional variation on this theme... ie getting into the pool or sitting near it in a chair. Very unlike my usual anti-beach holiday stance I grant you but sometimes the body needs a rest. While there I essentially pretended to be a student again, drinking until the early hours all night and hanging out with some really cool people (or 'supercool' as locals would have it). All this and I still had time for some culture, going out to see the Police (with Beck supporting) one night - see me in cool Police rock headband on facebook - and also got to see a free performance of The Nutcracker in the plaza to increase my festiveness. All in all, good times were had by all and I checked out feeling a little sad to be leaving it all behind, not to mention very tired having stayed up all night before my airport transfer at 6.30am. Fortunately for me the next stop was Easter Island, which quickly distracted me from any sadness, being as it is, amazing.
Wednesday, 28 November 2007
Saturday, 17 November 2007
Hiking, hiking, hiking (drinking).
Ah the lake district, home of chocolate, mountains and, well lakes of course. My introductiuon to the Lake District was in El Bolson, a hippy hangout for years and known for its 'positive ions' and weed smoking, of course the 2 aren't in any way linked... For someone as fundamentally opposed to physical exercise as myself, I think i did extremely well in the hiking stakes, adopting a ´when in Rome´approach. The first few days passed easily enough with some mild hikes with a group of people who adopted me from day one (very handy as they cooked very well, even if they were quite annoying and inclined to say 'I'm mad me'). After each hike, we forced ourselves to walk the extra km to get to the mircobrewery, of which El Bolson has many. This one served a wonderful chocolate beer and an almost as good raspberry beer (and lots of proper ones for the proper beer drinkers out there). So following this vigorous regime I decided I was fully primed for a gruelling 2 day hike up a mountain way past the snow line. I was accompanied this time by a couple and one half of a couple whose other half was incapacitated by blisters. By this point I'd realised that I should never be allowed to hike on my own as I have no sense of direction or path observation skills. Know your limits.
We set off confidently on day one and little know to me an dthe otherg girl, immediately set off on the wrong path, a mere 40 minutes later the boys chose to let us know...perhaps a boy could explain the mentality of knowingly going the wrong way at the start of a 6 hour hike to me...Anyway, 3 of us decided to backtrack while one decided to traverse the river (up to his pants) instead to avoid backtracking. We arranged to meet at the next bridge. After a death defying crossing over a one at a time bridge (a la Indiana Jones, lots of missing wood and lurching) we got to the meeting point to find...no sign of Tom. We searched, trying not to assume the worst (that he'd fallen into the river taking my bag that he'd borrowed with him) but to no avail. We had lunch and waited for half an hour before noticing a sign in sticks on the ground... 'Gone Ahead, Tom'. Ah well. Unfortunately for me I was left with 2 of the quickest hikers the world has ever seen, I couldn't even shout loud enough to say I needed the toilet. We scaled a 1000 metres in about an hour,and soon caught up with a relaxed Tom, which at least meant that I could relax my pace and stop seeing stars.
The long hike up was well worth it, the area was covered in thick snow and almost completely untouched. I could rave about its beauty but I think i'll use the phrase I used then 'Its a bit like Narnia isn't it'. (Oh for a wider reference base). Our refugio for the night was a log cabin on 2 floors with a log stove and lots of log chairs. We made ourselves at home and cooked up a tomato soup based storm before sampling the refugio's own beer (very good, although this may have been because we hiked for 6 hours to get it). The next morning the parties divided, me and Tom were going for an easy 5 hour hike down to El Bolson, while the couple were heading to a different refugio for a 2nd night in the hills. After hiking up the steepest, snowiest mountainside imaginable, with nowt but our trusted sticks for support, we realised that we'd possibly gone too far down the wrong path and were still following the couple who were heading to a different place. Just to put the paths in perspective for you, they are marked every now and again by tiny red markers or occasionally blobs of red paint, on the odd tree. Very easy to miss as we discovered. We walked on for a while before realising that not only had we lost the path completely, but we'd also caught up with the couple who were equally lost. Still high above the snow line with the glare from frozen lakes and snow hurting our eyes (well ok I had sunglasses on, but it would have hurt if without) we trekked on for hours, eventually deciding to split up again. Tom confessed at last that we were accidentally ehading to the same refugio as the others and we'd have to walk a further 3 hours from there to get home. As we had buses booked for the next day we pushed on, feet aching as much from going down as up, and thermal leggings increasingly slowing down my already paltry pace. We trudged on and on for hours, until a mere 8 hours after we started we reached the shop where we could call for a taxi and drink lots of fizzy drinks and eat chocolate. I thought we'd never make it. Apologies to everyone who made it to the end of that story, it lasted almost as long as the hike itself.
I now find myself in Bariloche, a bigger town in the lake district which is known for its wonderful hikes, sadly I'm not in the mood to appreciate it. I have however been bowling with some people I met in Puerto Madryn originally, and gotten a chairlift to the top of a mountain to admire a view. I've also eaten a lot of the fine chocolates they make here. Very strenuous and exactly what Im in the mood for.
We set off confidently on day one and little know to me an dthe otherg girl, immediately set off on the wrong path, a mere 40 minutes later the boys chose to let us know...perhaps a boy could explain the mentality of knowingly going the wrong way at the start of a 6 hour hike to me...Anyway, 3 of us decided to backtrack while one decided to traverse the river (up to his pants) instead to avoid backtracking. We arranged to meet at the next bridge. After a death defying crossing over a one at a time bridge (a la Indiana Jones, lots of missing wood and lurching) we got to the meeting point to find...no sign of Tom. We searched, trying not to assume the worst (that he'd fallen into the river taking my bag that he'd borrowed with him) but to no avail. We had lunch and waited for half an hour before noticing a sign in sticks on the ground... 'Gone Ahead, Tom'. Ah well. Unfortunately for me I was left with 2 of the quickest hikers the world has ever seen, I couldn't even shout loud enough to say I needed the toilet. We scaled a 1000 metres in about an hour,and soon caught up with a relaxed Tom, which at least meant that I could relax my pace and stop seeing stars.
The long hike up was well worth it, the area was covered in thick snow and almost completely untouched. I could rave about its beauty but I think i'll use the phrase I used then 'Its a bit like Narnia isn't it'. (Oh for a wider reference base). Our refugio for the night was a log cabin on 2 floors with a log stove and lots of log chairs. We made ourselves at home and cooked up a tomato soup based storm before sampling the refugio's own beer (very good, although this may have been because we hiked for 6 hours to get it). The next morning the parties divided, me and Tom were going for an easy 5 hour hike down to El Bolson, while the couple were heading to a different refugio for a 2nd night in the hills. After hiking up the steepest, snowiest mountainside imaginable, with nowt but our trusted sticks for support, we realised that we'd possibly gone too far down the wrong path and were still following the couple who were heading to a different place. Just to put the paths in perspective for you, they are marked every now and again by tiny red markers or occasionally blobs of red paint, on the odd tree. Very easy to miss as we discovered. We walked on for a while before realising that not only had we lost the path completely, but we'd also caught up with the couple who were equally lost. Still high above the snow line with the glare from frozen lakes and snow hurting our eyes (well ok I had sunglasses on, but it would have hurt if without) we trekked on for hours, eventually deciding to split up again. Tom confessed at last that we were accidentally ehading to the same refugio as the others and we'd have to walk a further 3 hours from there to get home. As we had buses booked for the next day we pushed on, feet aching as much from going down as up, and thermal leggings increasingly slowing down my already paltry pace. We trudged on and on for hours, until a mere 8 hours after we started we reached the shop where we could call for a taxi and drink lots of fizzy drinks and eat chocolate. I thought we'd never make it. Apologies to everyone who made it to the end of that story, it lasted almost as long as the hike itself.
I now find myself in Bariloche, a bigger town in the lake district which is known for its wonderful hikes, sadly I'm not in the mood to appreciate it. I have however been bowling with some people I met in Puerto Madryn originally, and gotten a chairlift to the top of a mountain to admire a view. I've also eaten a lot of the fine chocolates they make here. Very strenuous and exactly what Im in the mood for.
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Marine Life and Welshness in Patagonia
So I've finally left Buenos Aires, on a high of steak and car fumes, fairly sure that I'll return one day although probably not for this trip. And so I took a bus across to Puerto Madryn, tha anticipation I felt on the bus, simply being on the move again reminded me why I love travelling so much. For those of you who aren't aware I've wanted to go to Patagonia for many years and it hasn't let me down so far. Even the arrid plains which many people find dreary are wonderful to me, possibly because of the huge expanse of sky visible above or the excitement of anything that breaks up the landscape (such as flamingos, roadrunners or estancias). I was heading directlt to Puerto Madryn for one thing: whales. When I arrived I immediately booked 2 excursions via the hostel (possibly a mistake with hindsight), one to see a penguin colony and welsh colony, teh other to go whale watching and see sea lions the next day.
The first tour was great, the penguins live in an unexpectedly surreal landscape (for penguins anyway), in an arrid area where the only vegetation is small scrub like bushes. the penguins nest in holes under these bushes (if they can afford it, the poorer penguins have to settle for holes without any protection, and close to the road). Add to this the small llamas the exact name of teh species I forget and the general lunar feel of the area due to the thousands of holes and you have a fairly odd setting. We also went on a boat in attractive giant ponchos to see dolphins that looked like mini killer whales (all photos on facebook as we speak), great although obviously the main attraction is of course the whales themselves I was due to see the next day. We moved on to Gaiman for a 'traditional welsh tea', which I'd bever experienced in Wales before in my life. The experience for a welsh person was very odd, although the sheer number of cakes made up for this. It ws just a tad unfortunate that the only cake we weren't served was an actual welsh cake, which are very lovely and very common throughout wales. Ah well.
The next day arrived and I was very excited, as excited as I get about cake or fireworks for example (a huge amount in other words). Our first bad luck occurred when our tour guide called in sick and the only replacement couldn't speak any english, despite having booked an english tour, Nevermind we thought, the whales will be worth it. The weather looked a little windy but we headed out on our bus and drove for hours...and hours. Then we saw some sea lions, they were great but possibly the laziest creatures I've seen for a long time. They made so little movement we got excited if one even lifted a flipper for a secondor opened its mouth, which happened twice. Then we drove again for many hours and got to the departure point for whale watching. Of course the place was deserted the sea was further than inland than usual and the companies had been closed all day. Yes, we were experiencing not only bad weather but freak weather. Marvellous. Feeling dejected and like we'd been sitting in a mini bus all day we headed back to Puerto Madryn. A few of us thought we'd hire a car only none of us could drive, then a car with a driver but there were none left. Defeated and miserable we headed to the hostel. After a small moan I got chatting to an Australian couple, an Irish guy and a Dutch guy who. The couple had a car they'd rented and were happy to give us a lift to the whale watching area but they weren't heading back so we decided to try hitching back.
The next morning, we set out and after practicing our whale talk for a while (the journey flew by of course) we arrived at the port. the sea was back in its usual place and there was hardly any wind at all. 5 of us got tickets for what seemed to us to be the best boat and set off. Within 15 minutes a mother and baby whale were next to the boat. They were so close and so tranquil it was an incredible exerience and strangely calming, despite their size they seem so relaxed themselves. their intelligence and bond seemed clear even to us idiot humans in the boat with our cameras, which the whales seemed curious by, if probably above all the fuss. We saw another pair (mother and baby again) even bigger than the last and also what I can only describe as a proud sea lion sitting on a rock. The only problem now is that I want to see more. Oh and I want tricks and jumping. The final challenge of the day was to hitch back before our buses were due to leave later that evening. Within 40 minutes we hit the jackpot. Teh dutch guy found a lift with some Belgian girls and me and the Irish guy found a man who met a man happy to give us a lift back ot the town. He flagged down a bus, we assumed he'd misunderstood and had found a local bus (against the odds as there was only 1 a day) but no, this was his bus. He owned a tour company and as we boarded the bus to meet many ageing Argentinian tourists were introduced as an 'Irish man and a Welsh girl', to the apparent joy of the bus who clapped us until we sat down. Now officially a tourist attraction, I settled down for the journey back. We were once again applauded as we left the bus and I have to say I enjoyed the experience. What a friendly group.
So those were the adventures in Puerto Madryn. I've now moved onto the lakes district but more of that in another blog.
The first tour was great, the penguins live in an unexpectedly surreal landscape (for penguins anyway), in an arrid area where the only vegetation is small scrub like bushes. the penguins nest in holes under these bushes (if they can afford it, the poorer penguins have to settle for holes without any protection, and close to the road). Add to this the small llamas the exact name of teh species I forget and the general lunar feel of the area due to the thousands of holes and you have a fairly odd setting. We also went on a boat in attractive giant ponchos to see dolphins that looked like mini killer whales (all photos on facebook as we speak), great although obviously the main attraction is of course the whales themselves I was due to see the next day. We moved on to Gaiman for a 'traditional welsh tea', which I'd bever experienced in Wales before in my life. The experience for a welsh person was very odd, although the sheer number of cakes made up for this. It ws just a tad unfortunate that the only cake we weren't served was an actual welsh cake, which are very lovely and very common throughout wales. Ah well.
The next day arrived and I was very excited, as excited as I get about cake or fireworks for example (a huge amount in other words). Our first bad luck occurred when our tour guide called in sick and the only replacement couldn't speak any english, despite having booked an english tour, Nevermind we thought, the whales will be worth it. The weather looked a little windy but we headed out on our bus and drove for hours...and hours. Then we saw some sea lions, they were great but possibly the laziest creatures I've seen for a long time. They made so little movement we got excited if one even lifted a flipper for a secondor opened its mouth, which happened twice. Then we drove again for many hours and got to the departure point for whale watching. Of course the place was deserted the sea was further than inland than usual and the companies had been closed all day. Yes, we were experiencing not only bad weather but freak weather. Marvellous. Feeling dejected and like we'd been sitting in a mini bus all day we headed back to Puerto Madryn. A few of us thought we'd hire a car only none of us could drive, then a car with a driver but there were none left. Defeated and miserable we headed to the hostel. After a small moan I got chatting to an Australian couple, an Irish guy and a Dutch guy who. The couple had a car they'd rented and were happy to give us a lift to the whale watching area but they weren't heading back so we decided to try hitching back.
The next morning, we set out and after practicing our whale talk for a while (the journey flew by of course) we arrived at the port. the sea was back in its usual place and there was hardly any wind at all. 5 of us got tickets for what seemed to us to be the best boat and set off. Within 15 minutes a mother and baby whale were next to the boat. They were so close and so tranquil it was an incredible exerience and strangely calming, despite their size they seem so relaxed themselves. their intelligence and bond seemed clear even to us idiot humans in the boat with our cameras, which the whales seemed curious by, if probably above all the fuss. We saw another pair (mother and baby again) even bigger than the last and also what I can only describe as a proud sea lion sitting on a rock. The only problem now is that I want to see more. Oh and I want tricks and jumping. The final challenge of the day was to hitch back before our buses were due to leave later that evening. Within 40 minutes we hit the jackpot. Teh dutch guy found a lift with some Belgian girls and me and the Irish guy found a man who met a man happy to give us a lift back ot the town. He flagged down a bus, we assumed he'd misunderstood and had found a local bus (against the odds as there was only 1 a day) but no, this was his bus. He owned a tour company and as we boarded the bus to meet many ageing Argentinian tourists were introduced as an 'Irish man and a Welsh girl', to the apparent joy of the bus who clapped us until we sat down. Now officially a tourist attraction, I settled down for the journey back. We were once again applauded as we left the bus and I have to say I enjoyed the experience. What a friendly group.
So those were the adventures in Puerto Madryn. I've now moved onto the lakes district but more of that in another blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)