The east-coast of Argentina

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So I finally continued to see the east-coast. Luckily I was able to go by car with Fernando from Villa Ventana to Bahia Blanca. There I could stay one night at his parent´s home. We went over to some friends of him and had a BBQ at the swimming-pool - was a nice evening. Well, went to bed at 1:30 and had to wake up at 5:30 to take a taxi to the bus-terminal to catch my bus to Viedma! That´s really less, but there was no other bus-connection ...

In the bus I sat next to a nice family, that invited me to share some mate with them - that was fun! :-) It was very hot in Viedma and to my surprise, the prices here are really high (compared to the prices I payed up to now), but I finally took one of the "cheapest" accommodations. In Viedma itself there isn´t really much to see, so I continued to the "Balneario El Conodor" near by and took my swimming cloth with me. But when I arrived there, I decided not to go swimming. Although it had about 40 degrees, but the wind was blowing like crazy and the air was full of sand & dust. Unluckily the village itself has nothing to offer and the bus-schedule is more than bad ... I took a walk to the parrots at the "steep coast" nearby ... but the steep coast wasn´t really impressive and the parrots prefered the "electrical towers" to the coast ... and the lighthouse was closed ... and the sun was burning like hell ... and there was a "sandstorm" all the time ... and I got stuck there, waiting 5 hours for the next bus ... and there was NOTHING (not even an Internet-cafe) ... Well, maybe it wasn´t the best time to visit, but Viedma and the Balneario El Conodor really didn´t leave a good impression. So I decided to skip the next small village "La Lobeçeria" with sea-lions the next day and instead continued directly to Puerto Madryn.

The bus-ride was okay and the agency "Don Otto" even had a toilet with water AND paper-towels! Wow, this is for the first time, at my bus-rides so far! :-) The bus was a little bit late to arrive and due to a customs-control on the way, we´ve been 2 hours late at the end - but it didn´t really matter. Puerto Madryn did welcome me with really perfect sunny weather and a nice beach. And sorry for the other places, but when I saw the sea, my first thought was: "Finally the sea is blue!" - because up to now it was always a mixture of brown and blue - I know, there´s the Rio Plato etc. etc. - but nevertheless, the sea has to have a deep blue color for me, to be a sea! ;-) I also did find a nice hostel with very friendly staff, so I really did feel good. I share my room with two people from the Neatherlands - very friendly.
The next day it was very windy, but nevertheless I had to arrange some things, so I spent lots of time in the Internet-cafe. Had lunch at the hostel, where the 5 year old child of the owner "joined" me (he loved my olives) ;-) At the afternoon I was exploring the city as suddenly a car stopped and people asked "CouchSurfing"? I was a little bit surprised, but it turned out to be the CouchSurfer I had contacted in Puerto Madryn and with wich I wanted to meet this evening! He was on the way to the beach with two other Couchsurfers (from Wales and Germany), so they "kidnapped" me :-) But unfortunately I was not able to join them, because I had to make an important phone-call ... but we arranged to meet in the evening. We finally went out eating and afterwards to a club and it was really a nice evening, full of fun (although they didn´t know a "white russian" ;-). I had forgotten to tell the hostel, that I want to stay another night, so I had to change the room and ended up on an additional mattress on the floor (but it was okay - shared the room with 4 girls ;-).

The next day (25.01.) I had to get up early, because I booked a guided tour to the Peninsula Valdes, to see sea-lions, sea-elephants, pinguins and maybe, maybe an orca. Now guess who was picking me up from the hostel as tour-guide? Yes, it was Luciano, the CouchSurfer with wich we went out yesterday! :-) We both have been a little bit tired (3 hours sleep :-), but the tour was good. Of course it is touristic, but I do not have a car and the Peninsula is a bit far from Puerto Madryn. But I liked it very much and it was interesting to see the sea-lions, sea-elephants and pinguins. It´s funny, how they move and not so funny, but impressing, when they fight. And you really come close to them - to the pinguins even to 1-2 meters! Luciano was a good guide and had a good knowledge of the history and nature. At the end of the journey he invited me to visit some friends, to share a mate. I agreed and we went to a friend of him, sitting around the table with the family, sharing mate, talking about horoscopes, watching my pictures and playing with the 3 month old baby. I really enjoyed this - although I was not able to follow all of the conversation and replied to the question in which year I was born with "I don´t know" (because I thought they ask me for the hour ...) :-) This was really great.

On Monday I continued to near by Trelew, put my things to an hostel and continued to a village called Gaiman. This is an small village, founded by emigrants from Wales, where you will find some good old tea-tradition! The village itself doesn´t have very much to offer - I continued to another, even smaller village, called Dolavon, also founded by emigrants from Wales - it´s nice, but even less to do, than hang around near the tiny river. So I returned to Gaiman and went to one of the traditional tea-houses - this was really great. They offer a tea-service for 40,-- Pesos. First I got a can of tea and two different types of really good bread with butter and two types of jam. Really delicious. But when I thought, well, its really good, but maybe for 40,-- Pesos a little bit less, they came with the second part ... a selection of 8 (!) different types of cakes! All very delicious! :-) Almost too much (the service is meant for 2 people ;-) - but I managed it! :-) This was really great! In the evening I returned to the hostel.

The next day I continued to Comodoro Rivadavia - the bus was late about 1 hour and on the way we had a passport-control. In Comodoro I informed myself about accommodations and bus-connections to Sarmiento, because I want to see the petrified forest there. I finally decided to continue to Sarmiento the next day and ended up at an hotel, they are at the moment "building", but have already more or less "finished" rooms. It was really expensive (like Viedma), but I had no other choice. The next day I wanted to have breakfast somewhere in the village, but there wasn´t one single restaurant offering breakfast ... so I finally bought something at the supermarket and ate sitting at the corner of a street, because there was no other option to sit too ... Didn´t really like this and therefore didn´t really feel comfortable. Well, took a taxi to the petrified forest - it was a ride of about 30-40 minutes on gravel-roads, with lots of heat and not much to see. The forest itself was very small and just a few trees have been "lying around" :-) It was interesting to see, how wood can transform into stone ... But all in all, not really worth the detour from Rivadavia to Sarmiento and the taxi, to come here. Well, thats an experience of the type "it isn´t necessary to see everything" ;-) But nevertheless, I wanted to see petrified trees and here I had the chance to, so I do not regret. But Sarmiento and the park didn´t leave a good impression behind - I would not suggest to visit this places - but again, this is my personal experience! And to complete my "not so positive" experiences with Sarmiento, they charged me half the price of a second night at the hotel, when I returned, because they could have rented the room to another person, but didn´t because my backbag was still there ... well, all I asked them when I left in the morning, was a place to leave my backbag, not to occupy a room ... well, never mind - it´s not worth an argue, but it´s also not helping, making my experience with Sarmiento more "positiv" - it fit´s into my picture :-)

In the evening I continued to Comodoro Rivadavia, where the accommodations also are not very cheap, just to realise, that I still have the key of the locker of the hostal in Trelew (damn) and (more important) have forgotten my big travel-towel there (shit)! As the bus-connections from here are not very consumer-friendly (early in the morning, or late in the night), I decided to stay another night and contact the hostal, to ask them, to "exchange things" :-) As Trelew isn´t that far and you can send stuff with the bus-agencies, this shouldn´t be a problem. The next day (29.01.) in Rivadavia was unspectacular. Had breakfast (asked for coffee with lot´s of mild - got hot milk alone :-), searched for a museum, that just didn´t exist :-) and finally watched a movie (Crepúsculo - not too bad). The hostal also replied, that they have alreday sent my towel (jipi!) and I tried to get it, after the movie, but was to late, as the package can not be claimed at the ticket-counter (open 24 hours), but an extra office (closed at 21:00) - damn! And it opens tomorrow at 8 - that´s the time, when the bus leaves! So I thought, maybe the bus is a few minutes late (as ususal), than it´s no problem. I was there in the morning next day, just to realize, that the bus at 8 starts from here and therefore isn´t late - so I missed it - shit! But then I found a new option with Andesmar at 11:30 - good! :-) I tried to send the key and had to walk 2 times to the office and back to the terminal (with my backbag), because no one told me in advance, that I can´t send it in an box, but must buy an envelope ... well, somehow Sarmiento and Rivadavia seem not to be "my places" ;-) To top it, the bus was 1 hour late and on the way to Puerto San Julian had an extra stop for 1:30 hours on the way, to wait for another bus ...

Finally I arrived almost 3 hours late in Puerto San Julian, to be told, that the cheapest accommodation here is the most expensive I´ve ever used ... but I don´t want to be on the run and therefore took it for 2 nights, as I want to see the dolphins and maybe stay a night at an famous Estancia (La Maria), some 150 km away, with some interesting cave-paintings. But the biggest difference here is, that for the first time, it is really "fresh", so you need a jacket - I really enjoy that, after all the heat! :-) The next day I had a good breakfast (important to me ;-) and ended up chatting with a very nice couple of Argentinas, that was also traveling. They gave me some tips for my travel, as they have been to Ushuaia recently and so I changed my plans. For example it´s not worth to pay here to see the dolphins, when on my journey to or from Ushuaia I will have to use the ferry anyway and there I will see "enough" dolphins. And the other interesting thing was, that there are flights from Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia with the local agency "LADE", that are just some 30,-- Pesos more expensive than the bus, but are lasting only 2 hours, instead of 12 hours with the bus! And they told me, that the 12 hours are not really correct, because you have to cross the border of Chile twice on the way and there it can easely be, that you have to wait 1-2 hours! So this is a big difference and I will try to catch a plane (although I thought I would not do so at my travel in Southamerica, but this seems really worth it)! We chatted almost 3 hours and yes, it was in Spanish! ;-) Of course, my simple and plain Spanish and I had to use my diccionary and sometimes they just could guess the meaning, but it was a good practice for me! :-) So I went to the terminal this day and bought a ticket for the next day to continue to Rio Gallegos and also used the Internet to get some other perfect news: I sold my flat! Yes, it finally did work out - I´m really glad about this - this is one big "worry" less! Thanks to my parents, that really did help me a lot (as I could in fact do nothing, because I wasn´t there) And to make my day, I was able to reserve a flight-ticket for next Thursday (only operating Thursday and Friday) from Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia AND I reserved an accommodation (by phone) at an reasonable price in Rio Gallegos (I can stay there 3 nights at the same price of one night here ;-)! So today is a PERFECT day! I´m really HAPPY! :-)) To celebrate all this, I decided to have dinner at one of the good restaurants at the harbour, where they offer fresh fish :-) Ate an delicious fish (Trout) there, with "papas a la crema" and a "suiza bombon" - really good (and much ;-). Just for the records: I have to admit, that the fish in Valizas (Uruguay) was even more delicious ;-)

On the first of February I finally continued from Puerto San Julian to Rio Gallegos. In fact, there isn´t very much to see and to do in Rio Gallegos (even the tourist-info said so :-). But I will stay 3 days, because my flight leaves on Thursday. In the evening I had a nice talk with a guy from Argentina and two girls from Switzerland - we ended up talking, until the owner asked us to go to bed ;-) It was also some kind of "funny", because there was a electrical power breakdown, so everyone tried to prepare a dinner in the candle-light (thanks god the gas-oven works without electrical power ;-). Maybe I will meet the girls from Switzerland again, because one of them likes to go hiking (as I do) and seems to have more or less the same "route" and so we could visit some national parks together. They already continue tomorrow to Ushuaia and maybe take a boat to Punta Arenas (Chile) afterwards. We´ll see, if we manage to travel together - would for sure be nice. The next 3 days I was just walking around in the city and there really isn´t much to see. The museums are either really "tiny", or closed :-) and as there isn´t much more to see or do there, I ended up walking around, drinking coffee and surfing the Internet :-) But I do like this, because it´s some kind of break and gives me the chance to chat with friends in Austria, write my diary (and this blog-entry ;-) and read the travel-books to get some ideas of my next destinations. And Ricardo (the guy from Argentina) also stays at the hostal and turns out to be a very interesting person, so we´ve been talking a lot (and not really "easy" things, like politics, spirit, sense of live, ... and this with my "spanish" (!) ;-) every evening, ´till late into the night - I really apreciate this.

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Photos

Bus-ride to Viedma
Nice people shared some Mate with me :-)

Balneario El Conodor 2
The sign reads "Unruhiger Deutsch" - I would suggest "Falsch Deutsch" :-)

Balneario El Conodor 5
More than at the cliffs the parrots did sit at the "electrical towers" :-)

Viedma
Little puppy at the accommodation

Peninsula Valdez 1
This island has inspired Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for his famous "The little prince". Have a close look - does it remind you to a hat, or a snake, who has eaten an elefant? :-)

Peninsula Valdez 2
Skeleton of a right whale (Glattwal), in the museum at the entrance to the Peninsula Valdez.

Peninsula Valdez 30
Luciano - our tour-guide - in action :-)

Peninsula Valdez 31
On the road ... (of course, sharing a mate :-)

Peninsula Valdez 3
The sea-lions.

Peninsula Valdez 6
Family?

Comments

[Christian H]

Nice pics
Nice pictures, Martin. I think you enjoy your trip very much as I can read out of your smile, don´t you ? Beautiful landscape, impressive buildings, pretty women! Hope to hear from you again soon, Christian

[Pablo Podhorzer]

Patagonia
Yep, Patagonia is a harsh place, and an expensive one. No one said that being in the "frontier" is easy. The people living there have a pioneer spirit. The infinite expanses of nothings, the sensation of being in the end of the world, were the adventurers go after all the rest has been conquered and "civilized". Don't worry Martin, once back in the city you will miss (at least a bit) this barren place.

[Maddin]

RE: The east-coast of Argentina
Yes, I´m really enjoying this trip - this is just great and I´m already curious, what comes up next ;-) lg, Martin

[Angie]

HI!
Nice moments in the south of Argentina