Day 213 - in search of the perfect volcano

Próspero Año Nuevo!

Yes as I reach the last day of my time in Latin America I figure it’s appropriate to prove that I have at least mastered a little of the language whilst I’ve been out here. Okay so that wasn’t too taxing but in the interest of preserving my core group of readers back home (and some of my dignity) we’ll leave it in English from here on I think.

As I said, it’s my last day before heading on to New Zealand, but before I get all nostalgic and try to decide on a way to sum up my time in Latin America and what I’ve really thought about it all, I ought to tell you about the last weeks - back as a fully-fledged “independent traveller”.

Yes when last we spoke it was just before Christmas... James had finished his travels and headed back home to England and I was suddenly on my own again. Left. With no one to help make a decision on what to do or where to go next. Back to being the only person sitting alone in a restaurant if I wanted to eat. Back to having to talk to absolute strangers if I wanted company. And did I mention it was just before Christmas? Lots of people all around having fun and all my friends and family on the other side of the world. Think about that for a while… and then remember it was just before Christmas with lots of people all around having fun and all my friends and family on the other side of the world… and think about it a little while more…

And when you’ve dried your eyes let me tell you not to worry - it isn’t as bad as all that. You realise that it’s actually just another day like any other and of course you’re a lot better off than many people in this world. But sure alright I’ll admit it - I did miss everyone a bit… it has to be one of the toughest times of year to be travelling solo.

Actually I’m pretty much undecided as to what side of the fence I sit on with regards to travel - go with friends or go alone? It’s a debate that rages amongst travellers. For me I reckon a bit of a balance is the best. Which is a real politician’s answer I know but I’m lucky because that’s what I seem to have got this time round.

With friends you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a good time (as long as you don’t argue!). Usually you’re into the same stuff and if not, you know each other well enough to work round it. You have a laugh and you get stories you can talk about for years. But it does come at the price of meaning you don’t necessarily meet as many people - which is a huge part of the travelling experience. Whether you like it or not you’re more unapproachable when there’s more than one of you and, even if you do have good intentions to make an effort, the truth is you don’t need to - and so by and large you don’t.

With solo travel things always seem a bit tougher - there are bound to be moments when you’re on your own and if you’re not good in your own company it can be tough. But one thing that may surprise is that it’s not difficult to meet people - at least not in South America. Check into a popular hostel and it’s virtually impossible not to see other solo travellers (or occasionally groups!) desperate to meet people. Do it 3 days before Christmas and unless you’re George Bush checking into the Al Qaeda Inn, within minutes you’ll have an entirely new set of friends without trying.

Which is pretty much what I got - and so I spent the Christmas period in Buenos Aires having a nice balance between enjoying some time to myself (much needed as I’d actually started reading the 1,289 page epic “The Count of Monte Cristo”), hanging out and seeing some of the city’s sights with the folks in the hostel and even heading out to a few parties that the hostel had organised. Oh and I soaked up the culture big time.

So what did I think of Buenos Aires? Well actually I’d been told by lots of people that I’d really like it - and I did. It’s by far the most refined, cultural and cosmopolitan of any city I’ve visited in Latin America. It’s often described as a city with a very European feel and I’d tend to agree - it reminded me a lot of Paris… right down to the dog crap on the pavements. But that gripe aside (seriously they really need to sort it out) it was a great place to spend a week and get a feel for the history and culture of Argentina (which as you may recall I’d pretty much failed to achieve in my travels round the rest of the country - something to do with too much scenery and good food I seem to remember…).

Keen to make up for having had it too easy in previous weeks - I hit the knowledge trail and decided to cover all the sights, museums and art houses that the city could throw at me. It was exhausting - at the turn of the century Argentina was one of the top ten wealthiest countries in the world and that position allowed it to create and amass an awful lot of what today we call culture. Be it monuments, churches, plazas, art, dance, theatre, you name it - Buenos Aires is where they keep it all. And then you can throw on top of all this the very rich and colourful history that this country has - from the likes of the native Andean and Patagonian people to the Spanish conquistadors, the fight for independence and then the struggles of the republic through to Peron, the Dirty War, Galtieri and the Battle for the Falklands and on to Menem and the debacle of other fallen Presidents that led to and surrounded the 2001 fiscal crisis. All in all an immense amount to soak up and a week really didn’t do it all justice.

And as if soaking up that much information isn’t enough the city itself is huge with a lot of the sights spread across it. I’d stayed in the Palermo district when James and I had passed through previously - it’s actually a pretty chic area of town (apart from the aforementioned dog crap) with nice restaurants and cafes but not ever so much for the tourist to see so I’d moved to the centre for this particular week. Even then there were still the areas of Recoleta (historically BA’s wealthiest neighbourhood and home to many of the museums and galleries), St Telmo (more bohemian with its antique shops and street theatre) and La Boca (traditionally the industrial port and famous for being the birthplace of Tango) to cover. I walked miles, but actually enjoyed every minute of it and finally feel that after 7 weeks in Argentina I’ve a much better understanding of what makes the great country tick. My guidebook did say that to really understand Argentina you need to know its capital and that statement seems spot on - it’s a must see.

So mission accomplished (or at least as much of it as I could cram into 7 days) I gave myself a Christmas treat and got an 18 hour “tutto letto” overnight bus back towards the Andean lakes at Bariloche. It doesn’t sound like much getting yourself a nightbus for Christmas, but it’s the little things that count now. “Tutto letto” is basically a class of bus in Argentina - first class! Yep - in “semi-cama” class you get a basic bus seat that reclines a bit (actually by other countries’ standards they’re still fantastic and I think bar once we’ve used them all the time), “cama” is a slightly better padded and wider seat that reclines a little bit more. And “tutto letto” is like first class in an aeroplane (except of course being Argentina you get an amazing view out the window too) - there are only about 16 seats on the entire top deck of the specially customised bus and they each stretch out flat to become a bed. Along with this luxury they come and give you a full 3-course meal with decent wine followed by whisky or champagne to help you sleep. At £30 I guess it’s dirt cheap compared to flying in the same style, but I was just grateful there were no screaming kids or rancid unshod feet behind me for a change!

Feeling refreshed (well actually a little hungover which maybe is the downside to a nightbus and alcohol) I was back in an unusually hot and sunny Bariloche, which is where you may remember we’d spent 24 hours a few weeks previously when we’d been racing down south to go trekking. The main reason for going back was to do a bit of trekking in the national park there, then work my way through the Lake District and try and get across the border into Chile before heading up to Santiago for my flight out to New Zealand. I actually hadn’t really made a plan but the hostel and park rangers’ office set me up with some good info and maps and I found myself heading off on a bus to Pampa Linda to (for the first time in ages) go trekking solo. But in another example of how you’re never alone for long I met some people on the bus who were doing the same overnight trek and we ended up battling uphill for 5 hours, through some icy winds and across snow, to a little tin refugio (cabin) set between two glaciers in the shadow of Mount Tronador. The refugio was pretty small but so welcome after the unexpectedly icy hike - it’s run by a few people who carry up food and drinks which you can buy so at least we got a cup of tea. You all sleep on the floor in the upstairs part and that night the winds howling down the mountain and sleet lashing on the tin roof never stopped. We woke to find ourselves surrounded in cloud and pouring rain but it ended up clearing enough for us to traipse back down through the snow and wind in time for New Year’s Eve back in Bariloche, where our group of 4, having bonded up in the wilds, found a cozy all-you-can-drink Mexican restaurant to celebrate New Year in.

I spent a couple more days doing day hikes around Bariloche - it can’t beat Torres del Paine for scenery but it’s still beautiful and there are far fewer people. I managed to get out for a whole day on my own where my only companion turned out to be an old black Labrador who appeared out of nowhere (I was two hours from the nearest sign of life) and stayed with me for the whole walk, happily trotting in front of me to show me the way. I was constantly suspicious he might be setting some kind of evil canine trap for me but we got along pretty well despite our lack of trust. He turned out to be a good listener so I told him some stories which I think he enjoyed and I even helped him find his way back to town. Whereupon he responded by disappearing without even saying goodbye.

And that was the end of my time in Argentina - it’s a vast and spectacular country and, although you can fly between various points to speed the trip up, doing it by bus gives you a much greater feel for the place. But it does take ages. I’m not good at staying in one place for too long so I tend to see a place and move on pretty quickly. But in 7 weeks there are still several areas I didn’t get to see, such as the region around Salta in the northwest, the second city of Cordoba, the marshland and wilderness of the Chaco near Paraguay and the fantastic scenery around El Chalten and the Fitz Roy massif (an imposing mountain range with great hiking). I did pretty well though and absolutely loved everywhere I did get to. And without a doubt I’ll be doing my best to get back someday to finish it off (and stay at Viviana’s estancia again if I can!).

My route out of Argentina was one I knew I wanted to take long before I’d finalised any plans for this trip to South America. It’s the route across the Andes and through the lakes into Chile that Ernesto (Che) Guevara took when he travelled on the journey documented in his book The Motorcycle Diaries. The film they made a few years ago was like one big advert for South America but I remember the scenery from the lake crossing the most. And it didn’t disappoint.

It’s easy enough to jump on a bus in Bariloche and cross by road all the way into Chile. But that’s cheating a bit when there’s such a stunning and inaccessible (by vehicle anyway) alternative route. To do the lake crossing you take a boat for a couple of hours along Lago Nahuel Huapi to Puerto Blest, go a few kilometres cross country to Lago Frias, then get a small boat for half an hour across the lake. After that you’re in Chile so go through immigration and then head through a national park to the edge of Lago Todos Los Santos where you take the ferry for another spectacular 2 hours. Then it’s just a 2 hour bus to Puerto Montt - the main city in the Chilean Lakes. Simple.

Well it’s a long day with a lot of waiting around, but if the weather’s good (which it was) then it’s a truly spectacular voyage. Lago Frias was the lake they filmed in the movie of The Motorcycle Diaries and it was just as stunning in real life - a small, remote, aquamarine lake with high snow-capped mountains rising vertically straight out of it into the misty clouds above. And on the far side - Chile. Without a doubt it is the most impressive crossing of any border I’ve done.

After that I hadn’t expected to be particularly amazed by the Chilean Lake District. It’s not tucked quite as close into the Andes as the Argentine side so I figured it would just be fairly flat with a few lakes. But I’d forgotten all about their volcanoes - until one erupted right before I got there and made international headlines. The slightly less mountainous area around this region makes these giants even more noticeable and as you work your way up the 200 miles or so north from Puerto Montt, through the lake district, at every turn of the road there’s a picture postcard view of a lake or meadow with a giant snow-capped cone in the background that you just have to stop and gaze at.

I stayed in Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas, Valdivia and Pucon (the closest I got but still a nice, safe 60 miles or so from Llaima which was the volcano that had erupted). They’re all interesting enough towns (there’s heavy German Alpine influence again throughout the region) but in reality it’s being in the countryside that you come to this region for, so most of my time was spent travelling in between the various lakes in search of better and better views to soak up.

And then I decided to head up to Santiago - and halfway there had second thoughts and changed my mind. So getting off the 12 hour nightbus (yes semi-cama this time) I walked across the bus terminal and bought another ticket straight out again to the coastal port of Valparaiso.

Valparaiso is billed as the cultural centre of Chile - it’s a port town that grew from a small trading station in the 1500’s to become Chile’s most important port in the 19th Century. It was the key stopping point for US ships travelling between the east coast and California and was used as a stop off for any European ships having come round Cape Horn. The development of steam ships and the opening of the Panama Canal pretty much ended its prosperity but in recent years it’s picked up a bit. The major reason to visit apart from the sense of history is to see the layout of the town. There are 42 hills sprawling in a crescent around the bay and on these hills are a labyrinth of cleverly designed and dated mansions and shacks taking up every available space. All made from wood and tin and painted in a kaleidoscope of different colours.

I actually arrived early on a Sunday morning when the whole city was shrouded in fog and as I wandered around the ghost town looking at all the graffiti I wondered what on earth I’d done by coming here. This was dreary. Then after a couple of hours sat fuming in a café cursing the guidebook the sun came out along with all the city’s residents and I suddenly realised what it’s all about - the place came to life, the colours of the buildings lit up and it seemed that even the graffiti had a point - it’s arty. Overall Valparaiso is a pretty bohemian place (kind of reminds me of a cross between San Francisco and La Boca) and actually in the sunshine it’s a very pleasant place to find a café with a view of the bay and sit reading for a few hours - which is what I did a lot of (I’m now up to page 756 - not much past halfway!).

But now you find me finally in Santiago - at the very end of this chapter of the journey. I’m actually racing to finish this blog before I get on a flight to New Zealand and lose all sense of time. I leave on the 8th and arrive on the 10th - yet the flight is only 12-13 hours. So apparently I completely miss the 9th of January thanks to crossing the International Date Line. And now I’ve just thought about that I’ve lost my train of though trying to work out if I ever get that day back again. Cousin John can you write me a note to explain it please!?

I’ve pretty much tried to blog my thoughts on each country I’ve visited as I’ve gone along. But I guess I ought to try and summarise what I think of Latin America as a whole and what have been the best bits for me. This isn’t going to be easy and I’ve been dreading it for weeks!

I guess it may well only be by spending time like I have, travelling from one country to another, that you really begin to get a sense of what Latin America is all about. But that’s not to say you can’t do a much smaller trip than me and still take home a lot more. I’ve in reality only spent a very small amount of time in each country due to the size of the region (and because I prefer to stay on the move) - so I hardly feel worthy of passing comment. And everybody has different things they’re looking for in visiting a country anyway. Or they’re in a different mood when they’re there so it affects them differently. But I’ll put across my impressions and highlights as they stand at the minute and try and keep it light.

Culturally every country is unique but I felt I learned the most (at least about what makes South America tick) in Peru - the tourism there is mostly based around the culture - so ignore the other tourists and spend time in Cuzco and visit Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca and I defy you not to get a feel for the indigenous people of South America. From there its only a bit of time in museums, art galleries or the churches to pick up a knowledge of the various regimes - from the Incans, then the Spanish, through to Independence and latter day governments - that have all since exploited and repressed these native people. In Central America the story is much the same in Southern Mexico and Guatemala - it’s a good place to visit a few Mayan sites and immerse yourself in a culture that is so different and has almost incomprehensible facets to it. And then see how its descendants are similarly at the poorer end of society there too. You can visit almost any country and see the evidence of Spain’s exploitation of this continent but for me it was most evident in the mining town of Potosi in Bolivia (a classic example of where they literally raped the natural resources of the continent) and the fortress town of Cartagena in Colombia (through which the wealth extracted by the empire was ferried back to Spain). Speaking of Colombia if you want to go somewhere that has conflict and exploitation going on even today that may be the place to head - although I didn’t look for or see a sign of it!

But on top of the heavy history and politics there’s a lighter side to culture in everything from dance, art, music, theatre, food… the list is endless! Francisco Llort in El Salvador and Fernando Botero from Colombia are two artists I knew nothing about and I really enjoyed a brief spell learning about them (even if they are modern!). Authentic Mexican food was great and I’m also delighted I got to try ceviche in Ecuador, ants in Mexico, guinea pig in Peru (sorry again to all those of you who still hate me for that), steak in Argentina and coffee straight from the plantation in Colombia… oh and did I mention streak in Argentina, I won’t miss the fried chicken and Giardia of Bolivia though! I loved the rhythms of the Garifuna communities along the Caribbean coast of Central America, salsa in Colombia and Tango in Buenos Aires. The best nightlife - well that depends on who you’re with but tequila in Mexico, rum in Honduras, Caipirinhas in Rio and bottles of Malbec in Argentina were a highlight. Although I vaguely remember having a great time in the sleepy town of Puno too so nightlife really is a case of “wherever I lay my hat”!

In terms of wildlife there is one place that stands above anywhere I’ve been and that’s the Galapagos - I still can’t quite believe that place exists! But other countries are great too -snorkelling off Belize, boating around the upper Amazon Basin in Bolivia and roaming Peninsula Valdes in Argentina were all fantastic for spotting unique wildlife. But I suppose for sheer variety Costa Rica is tough to beat.

Scenery wise it’s almost impossible to say - so I’ll try and remember places that took my breath away - Lake Atitlan and Tikal in Guatemala, the beaches in Belize and Honduras, Machu Picchu, the Larez Trek and Colca Canyon in Peru, Tupiza and the Salar de Uyini in Bolivia, Iguazu Falls in Argentina, the expanses and glaciers of Patagona and the Torres del Paine, Lake District and volcanoes in Chile. I’ve missed loads I’m sure.

For action, adventure and adrenalin - if you’ve got the time and money to seek it out you can find it almost anywhere in any form. I’ve saved the money and rather boringly steered relatively clear of it but the most “in your face” peddling of excitement was Costa Rica. My most unique adrenalin adventure though was cycling Death Road and galloping on an out of control horse in Bolivia.

And finally on a lighter note - some guy I don’t know recently left me a message through Travel Blog and asked me about the local women - so I figure in order to keep readers happy I ought to write about that too! But in all honesty my knowledge of the locals has remained fairly limited - I promise - I’ve kept my distance… something to do with old ladies in El Salvador and Colombia! But in terms of looks Colombia and Argentina are always billed as having the hotties - and I’d say Argentina wins hands down!

And where does all that summing up leave me - well with a long list of great memories from some amazing places. But everything above is factual stuff any good guidebook could probably tell you. For me to really sum up the countries and places that touched me most you have to go past facts and overlay how you felt, the people you met and the experiences you had there. That changes things a little. But rather than list a whole load more things that happened and people I met (everyone was wonderful and if I list one I have to list them all right!)… I’ll just say that personally I enjoyed, felt moved and really got the most out of Guatemala, Nicaragua and Bolivia. I can’t really say why as there are many different reasons I can think of (and probably dozens more I can’t put my finger on) but a few things they have in common are that they’re actually the three poorest countries of those I visited, they were all a bit more backpacker-ey and off the mainstream tourism circuit and in each one I came away feeling that I’d actually got to see the real country without too much of that Disney-esque tourism veneer that so quickly appears once a place is discovered.

To paraphrase Che Guevara (which you certainly won’t find me doing often) Latin America is pretty much “one single mestizo race from Mexico to the Magellan Straits”. But I’ve found it to be far more than that. Despite the shared language and history that covers such a great proportion of Central and South America there are such differences, some vast, some subtle, between so many aspects of the countries here, that they’re all uniquely identifiable. And I can only imagine these differences will continue to change and define themselves further as each country pursues its own independent agenda. I just hope that, from the poorest to the wealthiest, they all continue to preserve and improve on what they’ve got and that the corruption in their various governments (which I’ve heard locals talk about in almost every country I’ve visited) is stamped out or at least reduced enough to enable the poorest to have an acceptable quality of life.

So that’s it. Time is up. Seeing Latin America was the reason I put the career and life-as-it-was on hold and decided to travel. And although I’m still travelling the world I can’t quite believe that my time here is done - it has exceeded every one of my expectations. But I’m delighted to leave feeling like there’s still a lot of this fantastic place I haven’t seen - because that means I get to have something to look forward to for the future - making it back here one day. Which I thoroughly intend to do.



Argentina Slideshow
Chile Slideshow

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Videos from "Day 213 - in search of the perfect volcano":

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