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Published: February 22nd 2007
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So I´m in Chile now. Met up with a fellow named Jack in El Bolson about a week and a half ago, and we decided to rent a car and drive to Ushuaia. Yeah, you read correctly. We´re driving through Patagonia to the end of the world. Todd came down and met us in Bariloche, we rented a tiny Fiat for cheap and headed south. Route 40 is notorious for it´s slow-going dirt road (ripios...new vocab) and they weren´t joking! But the car is in good condition. Only has 2,000 kilometers on it, so we´ll break it in with an extra 6,000.
Jack is a fly fishing extrordinaire, so he knows all the beautiful places to stop. We spent a few nights in Parque National de Alceres (Argentina), and that was nothing short of incredible. The water systems here are all glacial runoff, meaning you can drink directly from any river or lake in the park. Most the fish here are stocked rainbow trout from the states. I guess they brought them down in the early 1900´s, and they´ve sustained themselves very well since then. I haven´t heard anything about native fish, which makes me think that there weren´t fish
Old bridge
Chile, south of La Junta to begin with in some of these high altitude lakes (like at los laguitos Franchesco told me there weren´t any fish in that lake) or the trout pushed out the natives. The water is so clear you can see straight to the bottom, which makes them easy to spot. The only fish I saw were rainbow trout, and nothing else. Other rivers are stocked with brook trout and brown trout as well... Ecologically, it is always a lousy idea to introduce any foreign species into any body of water, so it´s kinda hard for me to see the sportsman side of things. But I tell you, it´s a massive business down here. Fishing guides are in every town, and certain rivers I guess you can´t go without a guide. Big money.
From Trevelin, we crossed the frontera at Futelefu, which was the most mellow boarder crossing I´ve ever encountered. We were driving along this gravel road on the Argentine side, and passed through a small open gate by this little shack. Some guy whistled at us, and it turns out that shack is the station where you get your exit stamp for your passport. There was no stop sign or armed officer outside or any indication that this was an official building. And the guy who hailed us wasn´t even a soldier, but a mini-bus driver. I was amused. Inside, there were two soldiers, and one guy in a sweater vest behind the desk. Argentine folk music was spitting out of the radio, and a popular song must have come on because the one soldier started singing and busting some moves while flipping through our documents. This sure as hell ain´t Mexico. We briefly encountered this old man (had to be in his 60s) who was on his way back up to Buenos Aires on his bike. He came from Ushuaia. I thought driving down was crazy, but can you imagine that trek on a bike??? That is certain death, especially the way these people drive! I couldn´t believe it. I exchanged a about $10 worth of Argentine pesos for Chilean pesos with this character, and we went our separate ways.
Up the road another kilometer was the Chilean station, and the difference in atmosphere was like night and day. We walked into a room where a pin drop would have cut the silence. The stone-faced employee behind the desk barely spoke above a whisper, and we quietly filled out our information and recieved our stamps. There was actually another lady behind a desk, but they never cracked a smile or gave any indication that they recognized the other person was there. I wouldn´t be surprised if they didn´t speak a word to one another all day. Another fellow took our avocado and firewood, and then we were free to roam in Chile.
Chile certainly has a different feel than Argentina. The economy is in much better condition, so here they drive 4x4 trucks and range rovers rather than the beaten VW bugs and mystery cars that have been rusted through. Of course, everything is much more expensive, but the people seem to be less friendly than the Argentines. I don´t know what it is, but it feels more like the United States. Example: we were in the tourist office getting a map, and when I asked to use the bathroom they said there was one in the plaza. That is so US. But the scenery is gorgeous. We drove along this brain-rattling gravel road, which is the ONLY road, for about 3 hours when we came into a town called La Junta. La Junta could fit into a square mile, and the locals take a boastful pride in the fact that there is no bank or money exchange, despite the fact that it´s the second town out from the boarder. Then they gleefully inform you that the next place with a bank or money exchange of any kind is another 9 hours south in Coihaique. We were very fortunate they took a credit card at the gas station. We were even more fortunate that I haphazardly changed that $10 worth of Chilean pesos with the crazy biker, because the next gas station did not take a credit card. It was a long night.
But here we are in civilization, which is few and far between in this land. The mountainous cliffs are dramatic, the farms here are thousands of hectares each, and it is much wetter since we are no longer traveling under the protection of the Andean rain shadow. The roads here are worse than Mexico, but better than Costa Rica. It´s slow going, for sure but we´ll make it. The car is holding up surprisingly well, and is patient with Jack who is learning stick shift on the fly. We´re having a good time, and after a week of three very independent travellers in a single car, there have been no casualties as of yet. We shall see by the time we get to Ushuaia.
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Sebastian
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hi
Well i won't say that people in Argentina are friendlier than in Chile. I think that in the places you went in Argentina they live for tourismus, the people there assume that and try to help visitors making their visit comfortable, beacuse it's important to them. In contrast, you were in Chile in places were it doesn't happen. In my experience i just can say that there are nice people and a**holes at both sides of the Andes.