Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hey! I haven't undated in about a month, sorry kids. Lots has happened, but I only have 23 minutes to write right now, so I will write more in a day or two.
So, my friend Caitlin finally made it into Santiago after oodles of delays in New York and Miami, and we settled in to have a nice christmas in the Domingo Savio hogar (after school care place) in the La Granja (literally "the Farm") neighborhood of Santiago. It was great and relaxing for Caitlin I am sure, who had been traveling forabout 2.5 days to get there. On Christmas morning toe family of the friend we were staying with arrived, which means that for the Christmas French toast breakfast that we had there were no less than 7 Alaskans present! Granted we were from all diffrerent cities, but still we were fairly sure that we were the higest concentration in all of Chile.
Christmas afternoon Caitlin and I took the 16 hour bus ride to the town of Puerto Montt, from which we could begin out amazing Carretera Austral adventure. At that point we were a bit nervous about the timing and asked all of the ferry companies in town about the possiblities of taking a ferry for some of the way and then biking. the 1,000 kilometers of very bad dirt road was a little daunting in the about three weeks we had before her flight. The companies we talked to either were far too expensive, didn't actually start untill January (and we were there Dec 26th) or had the exact service that we needed but wasd ONLY FOR CHILEANS. It was the most irritating part: a ferry from where we needed, when we needed, for a good price....... but only for Chileans. Not irritating at all. fed up, we decided to just go for the Carretera and do the whole thing ourselves. How foolish, thinking that we wouldn't be FOLIED at every turn.
Anyways, that day we went through beautiful coastal scenery, very much like the coast of Washington where I go to school. The amazing pavement did eventually give way to dirt, but that was OK, we powerd through it for two gorgeous, difficult and sunny days before arriving at the littl port of Hornopiren. Biking to the dock around 2 in the afternoon, I asked the man at the shop`nearby what time the next ferry was.
His answer? January 2nd. About a week from then.
After sitting with chocolate bars to asses the situtaion, we decided to stay in this beautiful town for a few days (it looked a LOT like southeast Alaska) and then make our way BACK to Puerot Montt and catch the Jan 2nd ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Chacabuco, about 1/2 way down the Carretera. Having experienced what the road was like so close to Puerto Montt... bad, we sadly came to the decision that we couldn't do the rest of thre Carretera in the middle of nowhere in southern Chile... where it would be worse.
More later, gotta go!
OK I'm back! We stayed for four days in Hornopiren, and then got a ride in a truck back to Puerto Montt, wherer we waited for our ferry. This was the ferry that I described earlier as being too expensive. It was, with around 80 dollars per person and 25 dollars per bike. 25! for a bike!!! agh! Anyways, we had to do it, and after squeezing into our cramped quarters with a schoolteacher from Chile we had a very pretty two day cruise after spending the start of the New Year in Puerto Montt. The fireworks were ALMOST as good as at home (Alaska) and the ferry two days later was ALMOST as good as home (Washington) so all in all it was a great trip. We arived into the Port of Chacabuco late on the night of the 3rd, and then camped in abeautiful field with mountains off in the distance. The further south we went, the lighter and lighter it kept getting...Duh, because it is summer here, but it is still strange, the switch of seasons. It is January, and tonigth the sun will not set untill a little before midnight. Crazy! On a side ote, the batteries in my camera were being fickle, so most of the pictures taken during this trip were taken with Caitlin's camera, so whyile I will eventually get pictures, I can't post all of the cool ones. Sorry kids. And another thing, on the ferry ride, which showed a very strange mix of films, from "My Name Is Tutsi" to "Meet the Fockers", Caitlin cut my poofy hair! So its short now, and I look much better. Just in case anyone was wondering.
After that night, the 3rd, we went through the town of Coyhaique Chile getting supplies (chocolate) and camped next to a waterfall a bit out of the city. The times that were not actually foiled in Chile and were able to camp luckily in very beautiful places, and this one was no exception; waterfall, trees, grassy knoll. We had pasta for dinner (sup`rise suprise) and slept great. The next day we had to climb through the Cerro Castillo Nation Park, the castle Mountain Park. It was quite a long and windy climb, with the wind thankfully at our backs...for now. The water was fresh, the cows on the billboards were drinking mate, and as we climbed higher we could definately understand why it was called Castle Mountain. As I said, which Caitlin immediately made fun of me for, I was expecting Orcs to come sprinting out at any turn. Getting to the top of the pass, some 1,400 meters above sea level, we were able to glide down into the Rio Ibañez Valley, with the REAL cerro Castillo looming above like some kind of fairy tale evil fortress. The valley below brought some more stupid movie remarks, such as "Its like the Land Before Time" and "This is a fertile land..." Yeah... Anyways that night we slept in a field with perfect views, and were ready for an easy day in the morning.
And it was! We got into Puerto Ibañez around 11 in the morning, not wanting to miss the ferry that leaves daily to the other side of the lake. Lago Buenos Aires Ç(in Argentina) or Lago Comandante..Something (in Chile) is right on the border, and the Chilean border town of Chile Chico is about 3 hours away by boat, or several days by car, so we were waiting for that. The gboat was going to leave at 6 pm, so we wasted the day away napping, eating ice cream, and worrying about our ability to get on the boat. This was because the woman at tourist information (why a tiny town in the middle of nowhere needs a lady manning the station on a Sunday I have no idea, but whatever) said that they only sold 10 tickets each day, and that they were all sold out yesterday. BUT if we went to the boat and asked the capitan, we could probably get on. Many other locals confirmed this informaiton,and at 5:30 we obediently went to wait at the dowck...with 50 other people wanting to get on. We freaked out a little, needing to get on this boat, and when the capitan himself told me no, and a crew member literally told me to "go home", we took decisive action: We asked the biggest truck that we could find if we could put our bikes on and go on with him? He said sure, threw our bikes on and tied them securely, and then when we were sitting in the cab with him and his friend he offered us a beer. We declined, and were settling in for a Loooooooong boat ride, when it got longer. After getting another car on the back of his flatbed, he told us to get in the back and not move. Oh. So we did, Caitlin taking a little more convincing that this was actually what was happening, and so we crouched together under a blanket for more than an hour while the truk backed in and out of the boat, TWICE, before it was finally ready to go. When the boat was underway our slight6ly drunk driver closed the curtains so we could ge out and move, which was maybe one iota more comfortable. Peering through the curtains we could see the capitan looking down and steering the boat, looking right at our only route to the bathroom. Three hours and many games of hangman later we finally got to Chile Chico, dove off the boat, got off our bikes, paid the driver (actually saving money than if we had been officially on the boat) and biked like bats out of hell to get away form the boat, and to get to a hostel with a toilet. Having found both, (the hostel and the toilet) we went to bed. Whew.
In the morning we harassed the workers of the hostel for more bread. and more, and more. We didn't have very much food, and if we could only have explained that that night we were going to sleep in a rock quarry, I think they would have been a little more understanding. Anyways, we left, crossed into Argentina (where, if it is possible there are even MORE mullets and fanny packs, yikes) and after buying groceries and getting some money from an ATM, started for Route 40. The 80 kilometers (almost 50 miles) or so to the next town, Perito Moreno, went by in less than three hours, because we had amazing pavement and the wind at our backs. So fast, so exciting, so easy, I actually coasted up a hill because of the wind. Fantastic!
After Perito Moreno, the road turned more south, the wind turned slightly more against us, but was still manageable, and we slept soundly through the gales in the gravel pit. The next morning the pavement dissapeared, but in its place came winds to our faces! fantastic. After going 20 km per hour on the paved part, and the very bad gravel road (camino ripio muy feo) we were going 5 km an hour, or less. A little slower than walking. Two and a half bumping and bruising days later we came to the next town on the map, and the only town for 400 more kilometers, Bajo Caracoles. It was a gas station, but by far the most happening place for many miles around, even though it was missing a crucial thing: gas. Aparently there was a strik-ish thing (we were told not a strike, but a "political situation" in the Province o Santa Cruz, and there is hardly any gas. Thank goodness that wasn't our problem. Our problem was that we didn't think we could get to El Calafate in time for Caitlin's flight, which was about a week away. So we were going to give in a bit and take a bus just so we could be sure she could get back in time. So we waited all day for the bus that "might" show up, and then finally it showed up around 8:30, and many chocolate bars later. BUT then the driver and the steward kept telling us that there was no room. We could SEE into the bus and knew that there was enough room, but when he was convinced on that point he said that there were only three enpty seats. Whay would that have been a problem? Because he needed two of those seats to sleep on. Oh. Great. Not stressful. After pleading and saying we would sit on each other's lap all night long, we finally were allopwed to quickly take apart our bikes, pay, and rush into the bus...where there were 4 empty seats all in a row. Whatever, we slept thorugh the night and arrived in the trekking capital of Chile, El Chaltén.
In the morning it was so cold that we couldn't feel our fingers as we put together our bikes, and we were so tired that we could bareyl function. We rode in frigid circles through the tiny town, finally finding a coffe shop open that early (around 7:30) where we thawed out for a few hours, and met another cycling pair. this couple had been biking for about 2.5 years, and appeared a little bit more hardcore than us at that moment; Caitlin and I knitting and reading, respectively. It was still pretty cool to swap stories.
Stayed that nght in free camping, went on a gorgeous hike, and started the journey to El Clafate, about 220 km away. That day we stayed close to Lago Viedma, and camped by its rocky shore that night, finding yet another rock pile (our third actually) sheltering us from the wind. The shore was covered in rocks of every color of the rainbow (granted a lot of gray rocks covering most of them up) which entertained us for a lon time...maybe a little bit too long. The next day was spent biking through MORE pampa, the flat dry desert scrub-stuff that most of Patagonia is, and that few people care to mention. For good reason, its windy and dry and boring, but at times can be amazingly beautiful. Nothing was superbly spectacular that day: Dirt road sometimes, wind at our front most of the time, but a passing car gave us a bag of 12 little cakes (eaten before the day was out) and right before we camped we saw the neon blue Lago Argentino, and we camped by the aquamarine blue Rio La Leona, which feeds into it. These lakes and rivers are so blue because of the glaciers which cause them.
The following day, the 13th, we got up late and made the easy 60 km to el Calafate before it was too late, finding a good campsite and getting some more food. We are providing a lot of economical support to this one ice cream shop here in town, having gone 3 times in only two nights here, and we are going to go again in a few minutes. We spent yesterday sort of exploring town and the wetland park nearby, and today we went to the Perito Moreno glacier, around 80 km away. We weren't sure if the road was paved or not, and so being lazy we hitchhiked, which is pretty fun anyways. Got to the glacier, very pretty and huge and falling all the time, and also very touristy and crowded. A lot of the trails that looked like they went to very intersting places were very explicitely blocked off, and sort of guarded, so we were confined to the boardwalks like the peons, sigh.
So Caitlin and I will be together for two more night untill her flight leaves on the 17th. Maybe. Of course we are being folied untill the very end. The company she is flying with is having a strike (for sure this time) which they apparently do every six months or so, which results in none of the flights leave, or only maybe 1 in 10. Fantastic, except she hs work the day after she is scheduled to arrive. Weeeee. So, we are both stressing out a bit about that, but this town is very nice, and the puppies at our campsite sort of make up for it, a bit. When she goes, if she goes, then I will go down through southern Patagonia nd Tierra del Fuego untill Ushuaia, where I need to be on the 11th for a flight to Buenos Aires. It isn't that far, so I think I will be able to go slowly and have a relaxing time. Go slowly for sure, if the winds are as bad in the south as they were in the north. whew, I think that is it. I will maybe post the few pistures that I have in the coming days, but I hope that for everyone the first two weeks of the nex year have been great!
Ciao----Collin
- comments