We left Buenos Aires on a ancient southbound train to Bahia Blanca. There couch surfed one night (hospitality exchange in which you join the club online and can search for people who want to host travelers free of any monetary exchange, just good vibes http://www.couchsurfing.com/) Then we started out on our journey to the end of the earth... hasta el fin del mundo!
RUTA 3
We hitched from Bahia Blanca down the Ruta 3 which runs along the eastern coast of Argentina. Ruta 3 passes through some of Argentinas most desolate and sparcely populated areas. We traveled a total of about 2,500 km along this national highway sometimes traveling hundreds of kilometers between towns (some of which we nothing more than a service station on the side of the road) and reached Rio Gallegos at the far end of Argentina in less than 3 days. We slept in cabins of semi trucks, in bus terminals, service stations, in our tent on an abandoned soccer field with stray puppies trying to break in, it was an interesting couple of days.
From Rio Gallegos (which by the way has THE BEST BUS TERMINAL EVER, we showed up at 2am no bus
ticket they let us sleep there until morning and even had free hot water for mate and a well heated waiting room) we took a bus to Rio Turbio (hell on earth, 2am no bus terminal coldness and puppies) near the Chilean border. Over the border from Rio Turbio, in Chile is Puerto Natales at the foot of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.
Chile (first time) PARQUE NACIONAL TORRES del PAINE
I cant describe in words how beautiful this nacional park is. We went on a 5 day trek, hiking about 20 km a day, carrying our gear, food, tent, etc... and camping every night. It was cold. Very cold. But the most stunning scenery I have ever seen. It is known as the park at the end of the earth, because that is basically where it is, at the far tip of southern Chile. We hiked for 6 days along snow capped mountains, teel lakes, imense glaciers, and all the beech trees changing colors from green to brillant red, orange, and gold marking the changing of seasons in the southern hemisphere. It is autumn here, almost winter, it actually snowed during some of the nights although in general
Guanacos in ChileGuanacos are some kind of a cross between deer and llamas from what I can tell and sooooooo soft.
we were very lucky with the weather, no rain. We camped every night with the same group of about 15 backpackers, cooked our cheesey pasta and rice together and laughed about the mice that were persistently scavaging our most sacred supplies aka CHOCOLATE. The last night we camped at the foot of a valley that offers a wonderful view of the Torres (towers) which the park is famous for. We woke up before sunrise and hiked to the top of the peaks to see the sun rising and casting a redish pink color over the three Torres del Paine.
Argentina: El Chalten, Perito Moreno
After Torres del Paine we crossed back into Argentina. El Chalten, a village at the base of the Fitz Roy range, was our next trekking destination. Experienced climbers come to this valley village to summit Cerro Fitz ROy (3441m), we did a two day trek to the base of the peak to get some nice views of the tower and in general to take in the goregous scenery. Like Torres El Chaten had incredibly beautiful vistas of mountains, lakes, and trees changing over to fall colors. Side note about Patagonia cooking: the diet in
Patagonia mostly involves lamb and potatoes, in El Chalten I prepared my first lamb roast- cordero
Chile (second time around) the Lake District, Chile Chico to Coyhaique
From El Chalten we moved on to Perito Moreno (not to be confused with the huge glacier near Calafate) a tiny town off Ruta 40 near the chilean border in Argentina. A tip from Leah, we stayed at RAUL's MINI CAMPING where what was supposed to be a quick stay over before crossing into Chile, turned out to one of my favorite experiences so far. RAUL is, besides being loco loco, one of the kindest, most generous and caring individuals I have met in my travels. If you ever pass through Perito Moreno on Ruta 40 definitely make it a priority to stay with this man. He immediately invites us into his home, ranting and reciting protest poetry from his days as a political agitator (completely outfitted with police cap and Argentine flag) then cooked us a huge meaty meal, stuffing us with torta fritas and dulce de leche, and insisted that we sleep in his one room house to keep warm. This man is a legend of Perito Moreno.
We crossed back into Chile and hitched from the border north along Ruta 7 to the first town that is actually big enough to be called a city in southern Chile: Coyhaique. Ruta 7, the Carretera Austral, is the main road that connects the southern part of Chile with the rest of the country. This national highway which ar some points is little more than a rocky path winds through some of the most spectacular scenery in Chile. We visited a few small villages along the way where we were invited to spend the night in the house of an elder woman free of charge, just because she enjoys the company in am empty home. Hitching was fairly easy as long as there were cars passing someone would take us. Chileans are extremely generous with giving rides, simply because of the lack of other forms of transportation. There are really not too many regular busses in these parts. We took rides from truck drivers, families, and a particularly fun one from two German lesbians traveling the continent in a huge red camper called The Snail.
In Coyhaique we rested a few days, enjoyed the luxuries of a semi large
city (population approx 45,000) and met a couple of young Americans who had just finished an intense 3 month NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) mountaineering course in southern Chile. From there we continued the journey northward along Ruta 7 hoping to get to Futalefu, about 300k north at the border in a few days. After a rough first day: making a mistake of taking a dirt road instead of the paved one, having to walk about 5 k with our full packs, and only traveling a total of 50 kin one day, we woke up late the next morning realized we had missed the rush of trucks and there was barely any other traffic. We were also starting to worry about running out of money being hundreds of miles from any town with an ATM... then after and hour of NO cars passing GOD showed up in the form of two German lesbians in a red camper slowing coming around the corner.
After our second ride with the German vehicle of love we got our last ride to the border which ended up bringing us into the region effected by a VOLCANIC ERRUPTION that had gone off earlier
that morning. Near Chaiten, in Chile about 50 k north of where we were the volcano had errupted at 4 am. We had no idea until the guy giving us a lift from Puyuhuapi at 3pm started talking about his worries about his animals eating the ASH! Then we drove into it. It began like a light dusting of snow and by the time we reached Futalefu the falling ash had completey blocked out the sun so at 10:30 am it looked like night had overtaken us. I had never seen anything like it. The military had been called to service and was in teh effected towns handing out white marks so that people didnt breath in the ash. Before we reached the border our entire bodies, our backpacks, our clothes were completely covered with the grey ash.
Back in Argentina, Esquel, the Welsh stronghold, and our second volcanic erruption!
We managed to cross the border wit the help of border guards, and an old couple also fleeing the ash and we made our way to Esquel in Argentina. Esquel had been effected by the erruption but much less. Our first night in an Irish Pub in Esquel
I was approached by a group of older Welsh travelers on a tour of the WELSH COMMUNITIES IN PATAGONIA. They sat with David and I for a bit, sang us some Welsh songs, taught me a few phrases in Welsh which I am still practicing, and invited us to a Welsh Singing Festival- Cymanfa Ganu- the next day in Trevelin (a smaller town 20 k west of Esquel known for being a Welsh stronghold). The Cymanfa Ganul was jolly, I had never seen so many Welsh in one room before, and it was even more special because they were all singing their tradional songs. After our Welsh cultural experience (ny the way I now speak more Welsh than Dave and he is half Welsh) we headed north to Epuyen.
We went to Epuyen with the intent of volunteering on another WWOOF farm. Once we arrived Epuyen we discovered that the WWOOFing farm where we were supposed to volunteer didnt want us anymore! Confused and not sure what to do next we ran into a few of the super hardcore NOLS kids making camp outside the bus terminal in the middle of the village. We made camp with them and
a couple Argentine travelers and the next day camped on an actual campground near Lago Epuyen. We had an asado, grilled chorrizo, homemade back-country biscotts (recipe taughtby our friends who had spent 3 months straight hiking and camping in southern Chile) and a good night sleep but in the morning around 10 am we heard what sounded like thunder and noticed that the sly had darkened. First thinking it was rain, it appeared like a huge rain cloud was overtaking the sky. Within 20 minutes we had to get out of flashlights at 10:30 in the morning. Then the ash started to fall... AGAIN! I couldn't believe it, a second erruption. We got a bus north straight away, all the way to Barlioche hopefully getting away from the ash for good!
Well, thats where I am now... For now there is no ash in Bariloche and I am happy about that. As for the erruptions as far as I know no one was killed but it was the first time a volcano had errupted in Chile in 12 years and they didnt even think it was an active volcanom, interesting stuff. So there you have it my friends... my
very first natural disaster experience! Take care!
Chile's Flag
Map of Chile