Day one of the trek started late. First we didn't have enough space in the van for our guide, then we waited for bikes, then we got pulled over, then our bus broke down (and we sat in the street and played cards as our driver hailed a truck to take our bikes, and we ended up back in our choking van to chug ever so slowly up up the canyon. Luckily, the bike ride down the otherside went off without incident (and was a blast), but then, back once again in our van, and immediately a flat tire. Just when we thought we were in the clear, we got a whole different type of obstacle: Protests. The local people were demonstrating because they are not getting enough money for their fuel and cocoa leaves, so they blocked the road in several places with huge rocks so we couldn't pass. Eventually we got past those, and finally arrived to lunch in Santa Maria at 4 pm.
A couple hours later we needed to continue to Santa Teresa, except there was only one road and that too, was blocked. Our guide told us we couldn't take the regular company bus, so we'd have to take the local bus (mini combi). Unfortunately, the locals were coming down the hill demonstrating (abour 40 of them) when we needed to catch the bus and they weren't having it. Our guide told us to stand behind the taxi there (all of this is on the side of a river with nothing else around) and he and two taxi drivers stood face-to-face with this mini-mob having some unpleasant words (to put it nicely) while we were sat frantically trying to hide our memory cards and passports (only really important things) in case they came to us, instead. Luckily, our guide paid them off, we jumped in the cab and he took off, only to find the road blocked again 100 yards ahead, and the mob was back and we were back to square one. Our guide told us we'd have to take the local bus afterwards, but as we were going to get on, they were kicking off another tourist because they didn't want him on there, so back in the taxi we jumped, and they threw him in the back of our cab while our guide paid them off again to let us past this road block. Finally we were out and our taxi took off at the speed of light and did not slow down for the entire rest of the hour plus ride on the tiny winding cliff road. Occasionally we would come up on a combi, not be able to see a foot in front of us because of the dust they created (one even had a guy riding on top), and he would honk and flash at them to pass, only it was not even one lane, and immpossible to pass. It was without a doubt the scariest 3 hours of my life. Wrong place and wrong time to be a tourist for sure.
Finally, we got settled in Santa Teresa, and all was well. We managed to dodge day 3 of the protest because we were hiking, so we spent a few hours in the jungle trekking, crossed a river on a tiny metal platform they pulled back and forth across it, and ended in Aguas Calientes. We stopped by the hot springs there, and had a great dinner and went to bed early before our 3:30 am wake-up!
3:30 am came soon, but we were excited and jumped out of bed to climb 1700 plus steps in the dark to gates of Machu Picchu to be within the first 400 there (to get tickets to climb Waynupicchu). 6 am we were in the door, got a 2 hour tour of Machu Picchu, climbed another 1400 plus steps up Waynupicchu for a downwards view of Machu Picchu- the pictures speak for themselves). It is quite possibly the most spectacular man-mad thing I've ever seen. No, it definitely is. It is indescribable. We just wandered and explored all the nooks and crannies all day, ended at the Inka Bridge (see photos), and went back down the way we came up. We hung out in Aguas Calientes for a few hours (sampling several happy hours- you can bargain them down to almost nothing) before catching our train to bus to bus back to Cusco. FANTASTIC.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Cusco, Peru and Rafting
This is going to be a long entry-- sorry.
CUSCO:
We arrived in Cusco a little down and out after a tough few days, but were THRILLED when our hostel took us in at 5 am let us go to our rooms to sleep (and it didn't hurt that it was the nicest hostel of all time). After a little cleaning up, we went out to explore AMAZING Cusco. It is maybe the most beautiful city I've ever seen. It is chalk full of gorgeous plazas, all the buildings are old and well kept, and I still don't think I've seen any trash anywhere here. We had a blast exploring and gawking at everything, had a $2.50 four course meal to die for, went out a bit at night for quiz night, and then tried to get some sleep to prepare for our trek to Machu Picchu (next blog entry).
When we returned from Machu Picchu, much as we wanted to sleep, we got up to try to go paragliding over the sacred valley the next morning, and it was beautiful, but unfortunately no wind, so after a few hours of waiting we came back to Cusco and played around town for the afternoon (last minute shopping). We went for dinner and a much anticipated big night outtttttttttttt!!!!
Unfortunately the girls left Sunday afternoon. I was on my own again, so I went to meet up with everyone at the "Highest Irish owned bar in the World" for a "Sunday Session". It was a great night, and the next two days were more of the same just living it up in Cusco (LOVE this town).
RAFTING:
Rafting was a blast. We left Cusco early Wednesday morning and drove for a few hours on (surprise surprise) a dusty, bumpy, very scary cliff road, with a considerable amount of traffic in the opposite direction (as far as cliff roads go) and somehow we always seemed to be the ones blindly reversing. We had a great lunch down next to the river and set out for the first few hours of rafting. It was mostly class 2, 3, and 4 this day, and we got to our beach campsite around 6 pm and had a fabulous hot lomo saltado (one of my favorite Peruvian dishes) dinner, a fire, and turned in early.
We woke up the next morning all with a significant amount of bug bites (which I still had weeks later, and even have a few scars from on my legs), but we had slept well and it was another beautiful day. We put our wetsuits and gear back on, and headed out again for a full day of class 4 and 5 rapids. Because it had rained a bit over night, there were two rapids which were considered class 6, and therefore illegal for commercial rafting, so we had to walk a short distance on the shore while our guides worked extremely hard to get our boats down safely. Judging by how much they were struggling and the complicated techniques they used (having to throw the tow line to each other and pull the boats around), I am very glad we didn’t have to do that! We stopped for a great lunch, had a quick fire, got attacked by more sand flies (or whatever it was that was eating us) and had a great afternoon of more big (and somewhat scary!) rapids. We got to our second night beach camp around late afternoon, so we had enough daylight to play some games, have another great dinner and bonfire and party!
The last day we woke up early because we had a lot of rafting to get in, and it had rained again so the water was very high! We had a few flips and some unexpected swimming in our group, but luckily I only fell out once (and was pushed out once!). We had some more class 4 and 5s, and had to rescue a couple kayakers who were having an even harder time than us. We ended our trip late afternoon again, had a fantastic dinner waiting for us, and then drove a couple of hours back to Cusco.
Sadly, it was my last night in Cusco (and South America for that matter ) so naturally we had to make the most of it and had quite a night out!!
CUSCO:
We arrived in Cusco a little down and out after a tough few days, but were THRILLED when our hostel took us in at 5 am let us go to our rooms to sleep (and it didn't hurt that it was the nicest hostel of all time). After a little cleaning up, we went out to explore AMAZING Cusco. It is maybe the most beautiful city I've ever seen. It is chalk full of gorgeous plazas, all the buildings are old and well kept, and I still don't think I've seen any trash anywhere here. We had a blast exploring and gawking at everything, had a $2.50 four course meal to die for, went out a bit at night for quiz night, and then tried to get some sleep to prepare for our trek to Machu Picchu (next blog entry).
When we returned from Machu Picchu, much as we wanted to sleep, we got up to try to go paragliding over the sacred valley the next morning, and it was beautiful, but unfortunately no wind, so after a few hours of waiting we came back to Cusco and played around town for the afternoon (last minute shopping). We went for dinner and a much anticipated big night outtttttttttttt!!!!
Unfortunately the girls left Sunday afternoon. I was on my own again, so I went to meet up with everyone at the "Highest Irish owned bar in the World" for a "Sunday Session". It was a great night, and the next two days were more of the same just living it up in Cusco (LOVE this town).
RAFTING:
Rafting was a blast. We left Cusco early Wednesday morning and drove for a few hours on (surprise surprise) a dusty, bumpy, very scary cliff road, with a considerable amount of traffic in the opposite direction (as far as cliff roads go) and somehow we always seemed to be the ones blindly reversing. We had a great lunch down next to the river and set out for the first few hours of rafting. It was mostly class 2, 3, and 4 this day, and we got to our beach campsite around 6 pm and had a fabulous hot lomo saltado (one of my favorite Peruvian dishes) dinner, a fire, and turned in early.
We woke up the next morning all with a significant amount of bug bites (which I still had weeks later, and even have a few scars from on my legs), but we had slept well and it was another beautiful day. We put our wetsuits and gear back on, and headed out again for a full day of class 4 and 5 rapids. Because it had rained a bit over night, there were two rapids which were considered class 6, and therefore illegal for commercial rafting, so we had to walk a short distance on the shore while our guides worked extremely hard to get our boats down safely. Judging by how much they were struggling and the complicated techniques they used (having to throw the tow line to each other and pull the boats around), I am very glad we didn’t have to do that! We stopped for a great lunch, had a quick fire, got attacked by more sand flies (or whatever it was that was eating us) and had a great afternoon of more big (and somewhat scary!) rapids. We got to our second night beach camp around late afternoon, so we had enough daylight to play some games, have another great dinner and bonfire and party!
The last day we woke up early because we had a lot of rafting to get in, and it had rained again so the water was very high! We had a few flips and some unexpected swimming in our group, but luckily I only fell out once (and was pushed out once!). We had some more class 4 and 5s, and had to rescue a couple kayakers who were having an even harder time than us. We ended our trip late afternoon again, had a fantastic dinner waiting for us, and then drove a couple of hours back to Cusco.
Sadly, it was my last night in Cusco (and South America for that matter ) so naturally we had to make the most of it and had quite a night out!!
Puno, Peru and Lake Titicaca
Admittedly, we weren't at our best when we arrived at 4:15 am, but we got a whole lot worse when it was 8 am and we were still sitting at the bus station waiting for someone to greet us with our names on a sheet of paper ... as promised. We had called Arequipa several times, and kept being told "5 minutos mas". Finally, we left for our tour of Titicaca.
Our first stop was Los Uros, the floating islands. They were actually really cool- they are not like the ones in Vietnam which I was expecting (those were really cool too, but totally different). These were built on mud and straw, taking two years to build each island (and having to be replaced every 9 months as they start to errode. We went ashore (so to speak), got to talk to the locals and see their houses, went for a wicker boat ride, and carried on in VERY rough seas to Isla Amantani where we met our host family and they showed us to the house. It was quite a walk everywhere (no cars or transportation anywhere on the island), and no heat, running water, or electricity at the house. Our room was very nice, though- it was like a little apartment above their house ... lit with a candle! We went on a long hike to the top of the island to watch the sunset and it was spectacular- it was nice to see water after being inland for all but a few days of my trip. We ended the evening with a little "fiesta" where we went with the locals to dance (traditionally-- don't be picturing a club)!
The next day we set off to Isla Taquile and hiked up to the top of that as well (you have to to get to "town"). It was an incredible view, so we broke off from our group and found an amazing little restaurant perched way up high with great views and even better fresh fish! The boat ride back to Puno was much calmer and very enjoyable. Puno itself, however, leaves something to be desired. It's a pretty dingy and dirty place, with not much to put it on the map except for Lake Titicaca and being the highest city in Peru. We did have some great pizza though before boarding yet another (last one!) overnight bus to Cusco (and not NEARLY as cushy as Arequipa to Puno, I might add).
Our first stop was Los Uros, the floating islands. They were actually really cool- they are not like the ones in Vietnam which I was expecting (those were really cool too, but totally different). These were built on mud and straw, taking two years to build each island (and having to be replaced every 9 months as they start to errode. We went ashore (so to speak), got to talk to the locals and see their houses, went for a wicker boat ride, and carried on in VERY rough seas to Isla Amantani where we met our host family and they showed us to the house. It was quite a walk everywhere (no cars or transportation anywhere on the island), and no heat, running water, or electricity at the house. Our room was very nice, though- it was like a little apartment above their house ... lit with a candle! We went on a long hike to the top of the island to watch the sunset and it was spectacular- it was nice to see water after being inland for all but a few days of my trip. We ended the evening with a little "fiesta" where we went with the locals to dance (traditionally-- don't be picturing a club)!
The next day we set off to Isla Taquile and hiked up to the top of that as well (you have to to get to "town"). It was an incredible view, so we broke off from our group and found an amazing little restaurant perched way up high with great views and even better fresh fish! The boat ride back to Puno was much calmer and very enjoyable. Puno itself, however, leaves something to be desired. It's a pretty dingy and dirty place, with not much to put it on the map except for Lake Titicaca and being the highest city in Peru. We did have some great pizza though before boarding yet another (last one!) overnight bus to Cusco (and not NEARLY as cushy as Arequipa to Puno, I might add).
Arequipa, Peru
Because I was crossing a border, I had to take a day bus and waste a whole day, but it was alright. We stopped in a tiny town on the border, the bus let us out, we walked across a bridge over Titicaca, and right on into Peru. We went into immigrations, but it would have certainly been easy enough to just stroll on in! A few hours later, my bus pulled over randomly in the middle of a bridge, everyone was frantically grabbing their stuff and pushing each other off the bus. Being the only tourist, I had no idea what was going on, so I grabbed my stuff and jumped off with them, stood outside freezing for 30 minutes, then followed them as they all calmly boarded back on the bus ... NO idea what all that was about.
Finally, a few hours late, I made it to Arequipa to meet Courtney and Eileen who had been waiting all day! We immediately went out for some celebratory food and drinks! The next day we had a ball just running around Arequipa exploring: we went to the Monestary (doesn't sound that exciting but it was lots of fun and gorgeous), all around downtown (including the ... noteworthy ... market (see pictures)), up to the viewpoint, and had an incredible meal sitting in the garden at a great little restaurant. For dinner, we went to a local penas show (live folk music) at a restaurant near our hostel, were the only people there for the whole three hours, and were outnumbered by the band. Luckily a friend of the band, our old pal Javier, befriended us and in our drunken spanish we managed to have a great time laughing and dancing. Unfortunately, because we were the only people there (and tourists) the restaurant decided to make up a 20% tax (food is not taxed in South America), and upon our refusal to pay we were chased down the street (and still refused to pay). That put a damper on an otherwise fantastic night.
We were regretting our 4 or 5 rounds of Pisco Sours at 3 am the next morning when we were getting up for our Colca Canyon trek. After a very touch-and-go bus ride, we stopped and got to see some amazing condors showing off flying above us, then started our trek all the way down ... and right back up ... and right back down, the deepest canyon in the world. We stayed at a fantastic "Oasis" right in the bottom next to the river, swam in the gorgeous pool, ate by candle light as there is no electricity in the canyon, and stayed in wonderful little huts. The next morning we took mules up to the top-- so much fun! We made a few more stops on the way home, and finally arrived in Arequipa just in time to shower, eat, and catch an overnight bus to Puno (after MUCH ado and a great deal of confusion, we ended up in first class- score!).
Finally, a few hours late, I made it to Arequipa to meet Courtney and Eileen who had been waiting all day! We immediately went out for some celebratory food and drinks! The next day we had a ball just running around Arequipa exploring: we went to the Monestary (doesn't sound that exciting but it was lots of fun and gorgeous), all around downtown (including the ... noteworthy ... market (see pictures)), up to the viewpoint, and had an incredible meal sitting in the garden at a great little restaurant. For dinner, we went to a local penas show (live folk music) at a restaurant near our hostel, were the only people there for the whole three hours, and were outnumbered by the band. Luckily a friend of the band, our old pal Javier, befriended us and in our drunken spanish we managed to have a great time laughing and dancing. Unfortunately, because we were the only people there (and tourists) the restaurant decided to make up a 20% tax (food is not taxed in South America), and upon our refusal to pay we were chased down the street (and still refused to pay). That put a damper on an otherwise fantastic night.
We were regretting our 4 or 5 rounds of Pisco Sours at 3 am the next morning when we were getting up for our Colca Canyon trek. After a very touch-and-go bus ride, we stopped and got to see some amazing condors showing off flying above us, then started our trek all the way down ... and right back up ... and right back down, the deepest canyon in the world. We stayed at a fantastic "Oasis" right in the bottom next to the river, swam in the gorgeous pool, ate by candle light as there is no electricity in the canyon, and stayed in wonderful little huts. The next morning we took mules up to the top-- so much fun! We made a few more stops on the way home, and finally arrived in Arequipa just in time to shower, eat, and catch an overnight bus to Puno (after MUCH ado and a great deal of confusion, we ended up in first class- score!).
Monday, May 17, 2010
La Paz, Bolivia
I arrived in La Paz very early (5 am or so), and nervously took an unmarked cab in the dark to my hostel. All was well and I was able to get organized and hang around for a bit until it was light. I had a quick breakfast and met an English girl, Gani, and we set out to explore La Paz. We checked out all the major sites, and ended up spending hours in the Witches market, complete with every tourist souvenir you can imagine, as well as llama fetuses hanging about (and lots of other creepy witchy things). It's amazing how busy La Paz is, even on a Sunday. The streets were small (and very slippery because the stones were so worn) and packed with a thousand times more cars than they can hold. There are more minibusses than anything else, all driving around (trying to hit pedestrians) with their doors open and people hanging out shouting their destinations as fast as they can say them. Gani and I grabbed some street meat and headed back to the hostel in time to go to the Cholitas Wrestling, a very disappointingly sober event (well, we went outside to little stands to buy beers, but couldn't have them inside because people get too rowdy and throw things), but a great experience none-the-less. It began with a two men fighting (all very staged, it's almost like an ice skating act), but then the women came in and it got even better! Unfortunately the bus left us there and we had quite an adventure getting home, but we went out afterwards and it was still a great night.
The next day I got up early to go bike down "Death Road", aptly named as it was the most dangerous road in the world until about 10 years ago when they built another road to replace it. Until then, it claimed over 300 lives per year, and now still there have been 28 deaths in the last 10 years, sadly, one of which was just two weeks before we went. The road is hardly one lane, just a dirt/mud road which is on a cliff the entire time. Some people still use it (stupidly) because it is an hour faster than the new road to La Paz. In the course of a couple hours we dropped 3700 meters-- went from very cold to relaxing by the pool afterwards. Luckily we had great bikes with excellent suspension, so all was well. When we got home we were happy to be in one piece and went out for a verrry long night of celebration, but it was quite a good time!
My last day in La Paz Gani and I just shopped till we dropped, almost literally, feasted in the local food market (gigantic lunch of something unidentifiable for about $.60 USD). I had to buy a new bag in order to fit all my new goods. I really regret not getting more things in Asia, so I'm taking no prisoners now. Finally I went to a mirador (viewpoint) of the city. It was beautiful. The entire city is built almost in the shape of a bowl, with only a few blocks of levelness at the very bottom. Nearly all of the houses are red-brick color so it makes for a gorgeous skyline. We took it easy this night as we had early busses in the morning, but La Paz was a blast!
The next day I got up early to go bike down "Death Road", aptly named as it was the most dangerous road in the world until about 10 years ago when they built another road to replace it. Until then, it claimed over 300 lives per year, and now still there have been 28 deaths in the last 10 years, sadly, one of which was just two weeks before we went. The road is hardly one lane, just a dirt/mud road which is on a cliff the entire time. Some people still use it (stupidly) because it is an hour faster than the new road to La Paz. In the course of a couple hours we dropped 3700 meters-- went from very cold to relaxing by the pool afterwards. Luckily we had great bikes with excellent suspension, so all was well. When we got home we were happy to be in one piece and went out for a verrry long night of celebration, but it was quite a good time!
My last day in La Paz Gani and I just shopped till we dropped, almost literally, feasted in the local food market (gigantic lunch of something unidentifiable for about $.60 USD). I had to buy a new bag in order to fit all my new goods. I really regret not getting more things in Asia, so I'm taking no prisoners now. Finally I went to a mirador (viewpoint) of the city. It was beautiful. The entire city is built almost in the shape of a bowl, with only a few blocks of levelness at the very bottom. Nearly all of the houses are red-brick color so it makes for a gorgeous skyline. We took it easy this night as we had early busses in the morning, but La Paz was a blast!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Potosi, Bolivia
We arrived to the highest city in the world around 1 am. We were 9 of us, so thankfully we had already organized our hostel. The bus ride was ... interesting. It wasn't too bad, but for the complete lack of even a foot of paved road the entire time, bar about the last 5 minutes as we got into town. I had my ipod on nearly full blast, and often couldn't hear it because the rattling was so loud ... a considerable draft, as well!
The next morning I set out early to go to Cerro Rico (Rich Hill) to explore the mines that are still in operation from 1671. There are 10,000 miners who work there today. They used to mine for silver (Potosi used to be the largest and richest city in South America), but now the silver is depleted, so there is only zinc left. We arrived to the mines clad in our jumpsuits head to foot, giant rubber boots, face masks and headlamps. We had stopped on the way to buy gifts for the miners: cocoa leaves (chewed for the altitude and suppresses hunger- so they say, didn't work for me!), juice, cigarettes (handmade, unfiltered), 96% alcohol (comes in a flimsy plastic bottle), and last but not least, TNT so we could see an explosion.
The mine has 300 entrances, and we set off into one walking. Within a minute we were already hunched over and spent the next few hours like this, as the tunnel gets very dark and very small very quickly. We were trudging through several inches of muddy water for much of the time, and I was very grateful that my boots didn't leak. Around us the walls varied from grey to brown to tan to red to orange, etc., and were plastered in asbestos ... mmmm. We hit our heads a lot. Inside was like a maze- there were tunnels in every direction, and as we got deeper in, the tunnels got increasinly smaller.
Every few minutes our guide would pull us off into an alcove when she heard a cart coming. A full cart weighs 2.5 tons and needs four men to move it, two pulling it with ropes, and two pushing. Several times they were coming so fast that we had to run to get to a space to get out of their way. In order for us to be able to take pictures, we gave them the "gifts" (bribes, more like). At one point we climbed up a ladder to another tunnel, then climbed straight down 200 meters. It was very hot and stuffy and somewhat hard to breathe, but our guide knew a miner there who stopped to talk to us for about 10 minutes. They work 14 plus hour days, 6 days a week in these backbreaking conditions. Many work in groups, but he was working alone, and then will hire help for a day to haul all of his finds out. We could not stay too long as it was difficult for us to breathe, so we crawled back up out the steep tunnel.
On the way out, we stopped at one of their break spots to see their mining God: "Dios", paid our respects to him by drinking some of the 96% alcohol, and learned a bit more about the mines. Outside we set off the TNT-- it was much bigger and louder than I had expected, but very cool.
In the afternoon I just explored and sampled quite a bit of the local cuisine off the streets and had a great day. I took an evening bus to La Paz.
The next morning I set out early to go to Cerro Rico (Rich Hill) to explore the mines that are still in operation from 1671. There are 10,000 miners who work there today. They used to mine for silver (Potosi used to be the largest and richest city in South America), but now the silver is depleted, so there is only zinc left. We arrived to the mines clad in our jumpsuits head to foot, giant rubber boots, face masks and headlamps. We had stopped on the way to buy gifts for the miners: cocoa leaves (chewed for the altitude and suppresses hunger- so they say, didn't work for me!), juice, cigarettes (handmade, unfiltered), 96% alcohol (comes in a flimsy plastic bottle), and last but not least, TNT so we could see an explosion.
The mine has 300 entrances, and we set off into one walking. Within a minute we were already hunched over and spent the next few hours like this, as the tunnel gets very dark and very small very quickly. We were trudging through several inches of muddy water for much of the time, and I was very grateful that my boots didn't leak. Around us the walls varied from grey to brown to tan to red to orange, etc., and were plastered in asbestos ... mmmm. We hit our heads a lot. Inside was like a maze- there were tunnels in every direction, and as we got deeper in, the tunnels got increasinly smaller.
Every few minutes our guide would pull us off into an alcove when she heard a cart coming. A full cart weighs 2.5 tons and needs four men to move it, two pulling it with ropes, and two pushing. Several times they were coming so fast that we had to run to get to a space to get out of their way. In order for us to be able to take pictures, we gave them the "gifts" (bribes, more like). At one point we climbed up a ladder to another tunnel, then climbed straight down 200 meters. It was very hot and stuffy and somewhat hard to breathe, but our guide knew a miner there who stopped to talk to us for about 10 minutes. They work 14 plus hour days, 6 days a week in these backbreaking conditions. Many work in groups, but he was working alone, and then will hire help for a day to haul all of his finds out. We could not stay too long as it was difficult for us to breathe, so we crawled back up out the steep tunnel.
On the way out, we stopped at one of their break spots to see their mining God: "Dios", paid our respects to him by drinking some of the 96% alcohol, and learned a bit more about the mines. Outside we set off the TNT-- it was much bigger and louder than I had expected, but very cool.
In the afternoon I just explored and sampled quite a bit of the local cuisine off the streets and had a great day. I took an evening bus to La Paz.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Unuyi (Bolivia) Salt Flat tour
The bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama, in the north of Chile, was a modest 26 hours from Valpariso. The highlight was definitely coming into the desert going West and seeing the most spectacular sunset. Since I had my memory card out and words can't describe sunsets, I´ll just leave it at that it was very nice-- a gigantic horizontal rainbow. I arrived in the tiny, dusty town of San Pedro at around 7 pm at a little hut, apparently the bus station. I found my way to town, got my hostel, and took all of 5 minutes to cover the town to explore. Because I irresponsibly squandered my time, I only had one night there which was a bummer because despite its size, there was a ton to do there.
The next morning I left for the 3-day Uyuni tour with 10 other people (turns out two of whom I knew from Pucon-- the gringo trail is VERY small, you are constantly running into people). We started off going through immigrations; no problem in Chile, the hut in the middle of the desert that is Bolivian immigrations could not issue me a visa, but luckily they just packaged up my passport and gave it to my driver for us to do in Uyuni. We broke up into two jeeps. Next we got whopped with a 150 Bolivianos park entrance fee, up from 30 Bolivianos three days before. We headed to Lagunas Blanco and Verde- Verde was not verde when we arrived, but after about 10 minutes of wind, we watched the whole thing turn green. We continued on in our jeep, rocking out to Bolivian music, passing all kinds of Vicunas (llama-like animals) and bouncing along the very rocky road in the middle of the desert. The mountains were in the distance- they were all multicolored (a lot of red) and topped with snow.
Next we stopped at the termas (hot springs), just one small natural pool with an incredible view. It was at 4500 meters, it was very cold outside, and very hot in the springs, a combination of which gave us all headaches within 15 minutes and we were done. We were out of breath just changing our clothes. The ground was very warm though, as you could feel the hot water below it seeping up.
After the termas we stopped at the geysers, which pretty much just looked like how I imagine the moon to look (except not white, I imagine the moon to be white). There were probably 50 or so crater things, with gurgling and spurting mud/lava type stuff, and an overwhelming rotten egg smell if you got in the way of the steam (it was sulfer). It was pretty scary walking around them because they feel like mines because you never know if they're going to decide to shoot up at that moment. You can hear the gurgling right below your feet, even if you're not next to a geyser-- very unsettling.
Our last stop for the day was sunset at Laguna Colorada, a deep red lagoon filled with flamingos. Finally we made it to our hostel for tea (very welcome because it was exceptionally cold). The hostel strongly resembled army barracks. It was in the middle of nowhere, and just two or three long, concrete, one-story, very basic buildings ... with no heat. We actually had a great dinner (hot dogs and mashed potatoes) and sitting very tightly next to each other with blankets over us, we managed to even play a few games of cards! We promptly put on every layer in our bags, got in our sleeping bags, and piled as many blankets on as we could, and still we were freezing. I literally wrapped ace-bandages around my calves for an extra layer. But we made it.
By sunrise the next morning we were already considerably warmer, and we stripping layers as soon as the sun started coming in the window. Good thing it was warm because one of our jeeps was out of oil, so we had a very long breakfast and had to wait a few hours for them to go get more oil (no idea from where!). Finally we were on our way and stopped at some giant rock formations- one looks just like a tree. Next we stopped at several lagoons, all beautiful, but much like each other. Lots of flamingos and Vicunas. You could see Ollague Volcano in Chile steaming-- still active. Finally we came over a crest and you could see the salt flats (just the small ones to start, Chiguana Salar) and we saw a train crossing it. We drove down, and just after we teetered over the railroad, the other jeep bit the dust. Luckily we were on the flats so it was perfectly smooth, but our drivers hooked up the jeeps with a seatbelt, and we towed the other jeep for about two hours to San Juan, about 45 minutes short of where we were supposed to stay. We arrived into a "town" with maybe 25 houses, maybe 5 of which had internet, who knows for running water. We parked the jeeps and our driver drove around trying to find a place for 13 people to sleep. Finally we came across what I can only imagine is an old hostel, a sight to be reckoned with. Bare bones to put it nicely, but it was warmer than the first night, so we were fine with that.
Sure enough, the next morning our company had brought us a new jeep by 5 am, but as the drivers were up drinking all night (awesome) we didn't leave till about 5:45 am. Shockingly, we made it to the flats in time for sunrise. The flats are spectacular-- endless white that if you didn't know better you would think it was a sea of snow. It was absolutely freezing and we were running (as much as we could at that altitude, not much) around to try to keep our toes from falling off. We were stopped for about an hour or so and took ungodly amounts of pictures playing with perspective as it's not often you get an endless flat plain to play around in. Finally when our hands were about to stop moving altogether, we got in the jeep and headed for Isla de los Pescaadores (Fisherman Island), a small mountain randomly in the middle of the flats where we had a great pancake breakfast. We took some time to explore and climb the cactus-clad isle and were rewarded with 360 degree stunning views of gorgeous white salt in every direction, as far as you could see. We spent a couple hours having more fun with perspective and made a great video that I can't wait to see! By this time the sun was full-on (another perfect, cloudless day), and we were in tshirts.
Next we raced (80 mph over just salt- smoother than a road) over to the old salt hotel (which is now a salt musuem because they were not able to manage their waste, so you can't stay there anymore). Aside from the thatch roof and the windows, the entire thing is made of salt, including all the furniture in it. After we headed toward the Colchani settlement (30 families) where they have the little salt mines (little piles of salt about 2 feet high that look like miniature volcanos) which they pile up and then use to export.
After this we continued to Uyuni and stopped at the Cemetario de los trenes (Train Cemetery) where several very old and very rusty trains have been put to rest. It was pretty cool to climb around in them and read the graffiti. On the way we saw the flats from a distance and there was a bit of water making a perfect reflection of the mountains. We had a spectacular sunrise, but I've seen some photos from the rainy season when the flats are covered with a very thin layer of water, and you can't even see where the flats stop and the horizon begins. Next time I'll go in summer!
In Uyuni we dropped our bags at the tour office, explored what little of the town there is, and a few minutes later we had covered it. I had to go to the tiny, one room immigration office as I was the only American and had to pay $135 USD to get in, but then we all headed to a great pizza place and enjoyed a few beers before catching an evening bus to Potosi, 7 hours away. Great tour!!
The next morning I left for the 3-day Uyuni tour with 10 other people (turns out two of whom I knew from Pucon-- the gringo trail is VERY small, you are constantly running into people). We started off going through immigrations; no problem in Chile, the hut in the middle of the desert that is Bolivian immigrations could not issue me a visa, but luckily they just packaged up my passport and gave it to my driver for us to do in Uyuni. We broke up into two jeeps. Next we got whopped with a 150 Bolivianos park entrance fee, up from 30 Bolivianos three days before. We headed to Lagunas Blanco and Verde- Verde was not verde when we arrived, but after about 10 minutes of wind, we watched the whole thing turn green. We continued on in our jeep, rocking out to Bolivian music, passing all kinds of Vicunas (llama-like animals) and bouncing along the very rocky road in the middle of the desert. The mountains were in the distance- they were all multicolored (a lot of red) and topped with snow.
Next we stopped at the termas (hot springs), just one small natural pool with an incredible view. It was at 4500 meters, it was very cold outside, and very hot in the springs, a combination of which gave us all headaches within 15 minutes and we were done. We were out of breath just changing our clothes. The ground was very warm though, as you could feel the hot water below it seeping up.
After the termas we stopped at the geysers, which pretty much just looked like how I imagine the moon to look (except not white, I imagine the moon to be white). There were probably 50 or so crater things, with gurgling and spurting mud/lava type stuff, and an overwhelming rotten egg smell if you got in the way of the steam (it was sulfer). It was pretty scary walking around them because they feel like mines because you never know if they're going to decide to shoot up at that moment. You can hear the gurgling right below your feet, even if you're not next to a geyser-- very unsettling.
Our last stop for the day was sunset at Laguna Colorada, a deep red lagoon filled with flamingos. Finally we made it to our hostel for tea (very welcome because it was exceptionally cold). The hostel strongly resembled army barracks. It was in the middle of nowhere, and just two or three long, concrete, one-story, very basic buildings ... with no heat. We actually had a great dinner (hot dogs and mashed potatoes) and sitting very tightly next to each other with blankets over us, we managed to even play a few games of cards! We promptly put on every layer in our bags, got in our sleeping bags, and piled as many blankets on as we could, and still we were freezing. I literally wrapped ace-bandages around my calves for an extra layer. But we made it.
By sunrise the next morning we were already considerably warmer, and we stripping layers as soon as the sun started coming in the window. Good thing it was warm because one of our jeeps was out of oil, so we had a very long breakfast and had to wait a few hours for them to go get more oil (no idea from where!). Finally we were on our way and stopped at some giant rock formations- one looks just like a tree. Next we stopped at several lagoons, all beautiful, but much like each other. Lots of flamingos and Vicunas. You could see Ollague Volcano in Chile steaming-- still active. Finally we came over a crest and you could see the salt flats (just the small ones to start, Chiguana Salar) and we saw a train crossing it. We drove down, and just after we teetered over the railroad, the other jeep bit the dust. Luckily we were on the flats so it was perfectly smooth, but our drivers hooked up the jeeps with a seatbelt, and we towed the other jeep for about two hours to San Juan, about 45 minutes short of where we were supposed to stay. We arrived into a "town" with maybe 25 houses, maybe 5 of which had internet, who knows for running water. We parked the jeeps and our driver drove around trying to find a place for 13 people to sleep. Finally we came across what I can only imagine is an old hostel, a sight to be reckoned with. Bare bones to put it nicely, but it was warmer than the first night, so we were fine with that.
Sure enough, the next morning our company had brought us a new jeep by 5 am, but as the drivers were up drinking all night (awesome) we didn't leave till about 5:45 am. Shockingly, we made it to the flats in time for sunrise. The flats are spectacular-- endless white that if you didn't know better you would think it was a sea of snow. It was absolutely freezing and we were running (as much as we could at that altitude, not much) around to try to keep our toes from falling off. We were stopped for about an hour or so and took ungodly amounts of pictures playing with perspective as it's not often you get an endless flat plain to play around in. Finally when our hands were about to stop moving altogether, we got in the jeep and headed for Isla de los Pescaadores (Fisherman Island), a small mountain randomly in the middle of the flats where we had a great pancake breakfast. We took some time to explore and climb the cactus-clad isle and were rewarded with 360 degree stunning views of gorgeous white salt in every direction, as far as you could see. We spent a couple hours having more fun with perspective and made a great video that I can't wait to see! By this time the sun was full-on (another perfect, cloudless day), and we were in tshirts.
Next we raced (80 mph over just salt- smoother than a road) over to the old salt hotel (which is now a salt musuem because they were not able to manage their waste, so you can't stay there anymore). Aside from the thatch roof and the windows, the entire thing is made of salt, including all the furniture in it. After we headed toward the Colchani settlement (30 families) where they have the little salt mines (little piles of salt about 2 feet high that look like miniature volcanos) which they pile up and then use to export.
After this we continued to Uyuni and stopped at the Cemetario de los trenes (Train Cemetery) where several very old and very rusty trains have been put to rest. It was pretty cool to climb around in them and read the graffiti. On the way we saw the flats from a distance and there was a bit of water making a perfect reflection of the mountains. We had a spectacular sunrise, but I've seen some photos from the rainy season when the flats are covered with a very thin layer of water, and you can't even see where the flats stop and the horizon begins. Next time I'll go in summer!
In Uyuni we dropped our bags at the tour office, explored what little of the town there is, and a few minutes later we had covered it. I had to go to the tiny, one room immigration office as I was the only American and had to pay $135 USD to get in, but then we all headed to a great pizza place and enjoyed a few beers before catching an evening bus to Potosi, 7 hours away. Great tour!!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Santiago and Valpariso, Chile
I arrived in Santiago on a Sunday morning, and there is not a whole lot going on in Santiago on a Sunday morning. I showed myself around a bit with a walking tour, but aside from some nice buildings and a little climb I did to get a view of the city, there really was nothing to do. I was planning on spending a couple days there, but by the afternoon I felt like I had pretty much covered it. Granted it was overcast, but it just seemed pretty dull to me, and the whole city is covered in smog most of the time. There are a few places where you can see damage to the cityfrom the earthquake, but other than that it looks just fine. I hopped a bus to Valpariso.
Valpariso is a whole different animal from Santiago. It was bright and sunny, and far and away the most colorful city I've ever seen. I got into the bus stop and got a local bus to my hostel- it was possibily the most frightening bus ride I've ever had. The whole city is built on a series of little mountains (looks like one giant mountainside, though), and because it's had so many earthquakes, the roads and houses have been repaired and rebuilt very haphazardly, all teetering on the edge of cliffs. The entire town looks like it would come crumbling down with one little shake. The bus whipped around very uneven and tiny, twisty roads, all the while on the edge of the mountain. Luckily it was just barely still daylight.
There was no one around at my hostel when I arrived, so I set out to explore a bit. Not one to miss the local cuisine, I made sure to march myself right down to the seaside for some straight-out-of-the-water seabass ... yum!
The next day I again gave myself a little walking tour, making sure to wander up and down as many streets as possible to see all the different graffiti-- the city is COVERED in it. I have never seen a city with so much character. La Boca in Buenos Aires is very colorful, but now it is only for tourists- Valpo is real and with very few tourists. The houses are every color under the sun, each one totally unique, and the graffiti is amazing. I went up to Cerro Panteon to see the old cemetery perched on the cliff, and I was surprised to see that most of the graves were written in English- strange. Then I went to Museo a Cielo Abierto (open sky museum) where certain murals are specifically noted. I took the ascendors (little gondola-sized rail/trolley lifts that zip you up the hills) whenever I could, and made sure to take Ascensor Concepcion, the oldest one (but not by much), built in 1883. Before I left I headed down to the port and jumped on a little ferry boat and took a cruise around the harbor to see the city from the ocean- beautiful. Turns out the Pacific Ocean from South America looks much like it does from North America.
On my way out of town I stopped in Vina del Mar (30 mins away) to check it out. It is beautiful in its own way, but a stark contrast to Valpo. It is an impeccibly clean and new-looking resort town. Everything is perfectly manicured and not a blade of grass out of place. After Vina I hunkered down for another 26 hour bus ride up to San Pedro.
Valpariso is a whole different animal from Santiago. It was bright and sunny, and far and away the most colorful city I've ever seen. I got into the bus stop and got a local bus to my hostel- it was possibily the most frightening bus ride I've ever had. The whole city is built on a series of little mountains (looks like one giant mountainside, though), and because it's had so many earthquakes, the roads and houses have been repaired and rebuilt very haphazardly, all teetering on the edge of cliffs. The entire town looks like it would come crumbling down with one little shake. The bus whipped around very uneven and tiny, twisty roads, all the while on the edge of the mountain. Luckily it was just barely still daylight.
There was no one around at my hostel when I arrived, so I set out to explore a bit. Not one to miss the local cuisine, I made sure to march myself right down to the seaside for some straight-out-of-the-water seabass ... yum!
The next day I again gave myself a little walking tour, making sure to wander up and down as many streets as possible to see all the different graffiti-- the city is COVERED in it. I have never seen a city with so much character. La Boca in Buenos Aires is very colorful, but now it is only for tourists- Valpo is real and with very few tourists. The houses are every color under the sun, each one totally unique, and the graffiti is amazing. I went up to Cerro Panteon to see the old cemetery perched on the cliff, and I was surprised to see that most of the graves were written in English- strange. Then I went to Museo a Cielo Abierto (open sky museum) where certain murals are specifically noted. I took the ascendors (little gondola-sized rail/trolley lifts that zip you up the hills) whenever I could, and made sure to take Ascensor Concepcion, the oldest one (but not by much), built in 1883. Before I left I headed down to the port and jumped on a little ferry boat and took a cruise around the harbor to see the city from the ocean- beautiful. Turns out the Pacific Ocean from South America looks much like it does from North America.
On my way out of town I stopped in Vina del Mar (30 mins away) to check it out. It is beautiful in its own way, but a stark contrast to Valpo. It is an impeccibly clean and new-looking resort town. Everything is perfectly manicured and not a blade of grass out of place. After Vina I hunkered down for another 26 hour bus ride up to San Pedro.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Pucon, Chile
I arrived in Pucon at night and met a few people on the bus who were going to my same hostel which was nice because I hate getting into new places at night by myself. Unfortunately, it was even colder there than Bariloche and our hostel hadn't turned on the heat yet, so we spent a few hours all huddled in front of the fire.
The next day I explored a bit in town which was very nice (a lot like Calafate, really), except there's a huge volcano towering over the town. It's kind of touristy, but it's impossible not to be with such a huge attraction. I went for a long run on the beach though which was black sand and totally deserted- beautiful. In the afternoon we went to the "canopy" (a section of the woods with 17 zip lines) and we spent a few hours there doing the course going back and forth over rivers, etc. Then that evening we stocked up on some wine and took a minibus to the hot springs (open 24 hours) and had the place to ourselves for most of the time. It was very different from the Mendoza hot springs- much more natural, the pools are real and the bottoms are sand and rocks, not tiles. They have put lights around and made paths between the pools, but other than that they were pretty untouched. The only downside of going at night (aside from being really cold, which was good, actually) is that all you can see in my photos really is steam. Oh well.
The next day was pretty overcast, and as we had had a late night we took it easy and pretty much just hung out by the fire all day. I went for another great run- it was a perfect place for it. We spent the entire afternoon and evening making the biggest asado I could possibly imagine ... we had a Danish guy who had sold his restaurant to go travelling- you can imagine the menu!
The climax of the trip was the last day. I got up early and went to climb the volcano. The beginning is supposed to be a chairlift to take you up the first hour's worth of hiking, but it is low season so it wasn't running, so we just had to hike up dirt in these boots they make you wear (not at all unlike ski boots), and they were very tough to walk in (we were also in full gear for the snow). We walked the whole first hour under the chairlift (not a single step of down or even level ground, and the lift is a giant tease) and then at the top of the lift we started going through the clouds. Around the top of the cloud line we stopped to put on our crampons and add our extra layers. A few minutes later we hit the crest about halfway up (total climb of about 4.5 hours) and suddenly just got slammed with a WALL of wind. I was literally walking doubled over and would not have stayed upright I don't think without my icepick. I felt like I was one Everest, although I'm quite certain those who have climed Everest would strongly disagree.
We reached a small break point hidden behind a big rock and our guide said we would have to go down because the wind was too strong, making it not only a danger of getting blown over, but also it would blow the snow off the top, leaving only ice. After our protests, he agreed to wait a bit, and 45 minutes later we were able to keep going. It took us an exceptionally long time to climb not that far. We were above the cloud line though, so the sun was bright as can be and absolutely spectacular against the snow. You could see other volcanos peaking up above the clouds-- stunning. As we were reaching the top, we had to put cloths over out noses and mouths because the sulfer burns your throat and lungs so badly it is almost impossible to breathe without it.
Finally we crested the top at 3000 meters and the snow stopped and it was just a giant crater-looking hole. You could hear the lava gurgling and it was very menacing. The ground was too unstable to get too close, but every once in awhile the lava would spurt up and splash the sides with bright red lava that just glowed-- wow. We could only stay a few minutes because of the sulfur, so we headed down.
After climbing back down the rocky steep part, we were able to take off our crampons and put on these little canvas mats over our butts for the best part ... sliding down!! You just sit on the snow, and start going. You actually go really fast and it´s kind of scary at times because you only have your ice pick to slow you down. You stop every so often so you don't go too fast, then just keep going down down through the clouds again until the snow stops. At one point there was a giant boulder in the middle of someone´s tracks and our guide had us go down a different route because he said that area wasn´t safe as that boulder had clearly just fallen--- ummmm.
All in all and pretty worthwhile trip to Pucon!
The next day I explored a bit in town which was very nice (a lot like Calafate, really), except there's a huge volcano towering over the town. It's kind of touristy, but it's impossible not to be with such a huge attraction. I went for a long run on the beach though which was black sand and totally deserted- beautiful. In the afternoon we went to the "canopy" (a section of the woods with 17 zip lines) and we spent a few hours there doing the course going back and forth over rivers, etc. Then that evening we stocked up on some wine and took a minibus to the hot springs (open 24 hours) and had the place to ourselves for most of the time. It was very different from the Mendoza hot springs- much more natural, the pools are real and the bottoms are sand and rocks, not tiles. They have put lights around and made paths between the pools, but other than that they were pretty untouched. The only downside of going at night (aside from being really cold, which was good, actually) is that all you can see in my photos really is steam. Oh well.
The next day was pretty overcast, and as we had had a late night we took it easy and pretty much just hung out by the fire all day. I went for another great run- it was a perfect place for it. We spent the entire afternoon and evening making the biggest asado I could possibly imagine ... we had a Danish guy who had sold his restaurant to go travelling- you can imagine the menu!
The climax of the trip was the last day. I got up early and went to climb the volcano. The beginning is supposed to be a chairlift to take you up the first hour's worth of hiking, but it is low season so it wasn't running, so we just had to hike up dirt in these boots they make you wear (not at all unlike ski boots), and they were very tough to walk in (we were also in full gear for the snow). We walked the whole first hour under the chairlift (not a single step of down or even level ground, and the lift is a giant tease) and then at the top of the lift we started going through the clouds. Around the top of the cloud line we stopped to put on our crampons and add our extra layers. A few minutes later we hit the crest about halfway up (total climb of about 4.5 hours) and suddenly just got slammed with a WALL of wind. I was literally walking doubled over and would not have stayed upright I don't think without my icepick. I felt like I was one Everest, although I'm quite certain those who have climed Everest would strongly disagree.
We reached a small break point hidden behind a big rock and our guide said we would have to go down because the wind was too strong, making it not only a danger of getting blown over, but also it would blow the snow off the top, leaving only ice. After our protests, he agreed to wait a bit, and 45 minutes later we were able to keep going. It took us an exceptionally long time to climb not that far. We were above the cloud line though, so the sun was bright as can be and absolutely spectacular against the snow. You could see other volcanos peaking up above the clouds-- stunning. As we were reaching the top, we had to put cloths over out noses and mouths because the sulfer burns your throat and lungs so badly it is almost impossible to breathe without it.
Finally we crested the top at 3000 meters and the snow stopped and it was just a giant crater-looking hole. You could hear the lava gurgling and it was very menacing. The ground was too unstable to get too close, but every once in awhile the lava would spurt up and splash the sides with bright red lava that just glowed-- wow. We could only stay a few minutes because of the sulfur, so we headed down.
After climbing back down the rocky steep part, we were able to take off our crampons and put on these little canvas mats over our butts for the best part ... sliding down!! You just sit on the snow, and start going. You actually go really fast and it´s kind of scary at times because you only have your ice pick to slow you down. You stop every so often so you don't go too fast, then just keep going down down through the clouds again until the snow stops. At one point there was a giant boulder in the middle of someone´s tracks and our guide had us go down a different route because he said that area wasn´t safe as that boulder had clearly just fallen--- ummmm.
All in all and pretty worthwhile trip to Pucon!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
Yay Bariloche. I will admit that Bariloche on paper was one of the reasons I wanted to come to South America. Though I was dubious at first, it did live up to my expectations. It's a very nice little town set on the shore of one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen (actually second only to Fairview, of course). It boasts its chocolate, wine, and skiing ... very much so. This place has my number. It is like a little Swiss town with more flowers (especially roses) than I have ever seen in one town, and everything was very well kept. The first few days were a bit overcast, and being that it is such an amazing place because of the unbeatable scenery, a cloud cover can be a big downer. This is also part of the reason I ended up staying 7 days instead of 3 ... that and the people. Oops.
Immediately as soon as I walked into the hostel my roommates made (I put up a good fight I swear) me go ou, snow capped for ice cream ... how can you go wrong in this place?? For the next couple days we just kind of bummed around the town and hostel and ate and drank ... a bit (possibly more than a bit??). We watched sunsets from the beach almost every night and froze our butts off during the day and then came back to a warm hostel. It was great.
Once the weather cleared up, some people moved on, but a Welsh guy named Neill and I somehow got trapped and kept ending up getting sucked into more days. The first day we went biking around Circuito Chico and took a walk to Lago Escondido (hidden lake) and had a picnic lunch. The next day we tried to hike up to Refugio Frey, but we took the wrong gondola to start off with, so we were hopelessly lost after that, and basically just climbed to the highest peak we could find and hung out there and had lunch for a few hours in the sun (and snow-- plenty on the ground, and started coming down a bit too) and enjoyed the amazing view. Next day we went up to National Geographic-deemed "Top 10 Best Views in the World", Cerro Campanario-- steep climb but the view was indeed worth it a thousand times over. You can see Nahuel Huapi and many other lakes going as far as you can see, broken only by green, snow-capped mountains popping up all over the place. The lakes literally just glisten. Again, we hung out for a few hours and couldn't tear ourselves away (and had another picnic lunch!).
The next day I went paragliding off of Cerro Otto, and I would argue that that view was even better than Campanario. We started at the very top and then ran down a very steep slope and were suddenly gliding in the air. We had the most perfect day for it, and it was the smoothest most peaceful ride I could have asked for. I'm so glad I waited for Bariloche because I couldn´t imagine a more magestic place to have done it. We sailed out over the water for a bit and finally landed on the beach. Incredible. I would give my left arm for one of those perfect log cabins on the shore of that lake. They are impeccible.
When Neill and I had finally convinced ourselves that we were definitely going to leave the next day, somehow it was Friday night again and we couldn't say no, so we got caught up in more sunsets and red wine and gave in to "one more day"-- who can pack on Friday night-- it's really not fair to have only 9 am busses. That's Finally we resolved the next day to actually make it to the bus station and get out, unfortunately:(.
Off to Chile again (not without a sack full of chocolate for the road, though)!
Immediately as soon as I walked into the hostel my roommates made (I put up a good fight I swear) me go ou, snow capped for ice cream ... how can you go wrong in this place?? For the next couple days we just kind of bummed around the town and hostel and ate and drank ... a bit (possibly more than a bit??). We watched sunsets from the beach almost every night and froze our butts off during the day and then came back to a warm hostel. It was great.
Once the weather cleared up, some people moved on, but a Welsh guy named Neill and I somehow got trapped and kept ending up getting sucked into more days. The first day we went biking around Circuito Chico and took a walk to Lago Escondido (hidden lake) and had a picnic lunch. The next day we tried to hike up to Refugio Frey, but we took the wrong gondola to start off with, so we were hopelessly lost after that, and basically just climbed to the highest peak we could find and hung out there and had lunch for a few hours in the sun (and snow-- plenty on the ground, and started coming down a bit too) and enjoyed the amazing view. Next day we went up to National Geographic-deemed "Top 10 Best Views in the World", Cerro Campanario-- steep climb but the view was indeed worth it a thousand times over. You can see Nahuel Huapi and many other lakes going as far as you can see, broken only by green, snow-capped mountains popping up all over the place. The lakes literally just glisten. Again, we hung out for a few hours and couldn't tear ourselves away (and had another picnic lunch!).
The next day I went paragliding off of Cerro Otto, and I would argue that that view was even better than Campanario. We started at the very top and then ran down a very steep slope and were suddenly gliding in the air. We had the most perfect day for it, and it was the smoothest most peaceful ride I could have asked for. I'm so glad I waited for Bariloche because I couldn´t imagine a more magestic place to have done it. We sailed out over the water for a bit and finally landed on the beach. Incredible. I would give my left arm for one of those perfect log cabins on the shore of that lake. They are impeccible.
When Neill and I had finally convinced ourselves that we were definitely going to leave the next day, somehow it was Friday night again and we couldn't say no, so we got caught up in more sunsets and red wine and gave in to "one more day"-- who can pack on Friday night-- it's really not fair to have only 9 am busses. That's Finally we resolved the next day to actually make it to the bus station and get out, unfortunately:(.
Off to Chile again (not without a sack full of chocolate for the road, though)!
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