We went hiking in Torres del Paine a very famous National Park in the Chilean Patagonian region. We went from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales on a four hour bus ride and stayed in a hostel for days making sure that we were prepared to go and hike for seven days. Every bus station in Punta Arenas told us that there were no buses to get to the park from Puerto Natales and that we would have to hitch-hike. Then we arrive in Puerto Natales and find out there is a mini-bus that goes to Torres del Paine every morning at 8am, which made us really happy knowing we had a reliable ride to get there. It also added to our frustration of the South American people who lie to us all the time and say they know\don´t know something when they really have no idea!
Jason and I bought fleece neck warmers from outside the supermarket the night before we left which was an amazing purchase because our ride in the morning and all our days camping were so super cold! We rode in to the park on the mini-bus with two other girls traveling by themselves and we hiked the first day with them. The first two nights we stayed in a camping area that had a covered gas stove for the campers to use and flushing toilets, it was nice but extremely cold and the camp site area never saw sun all day and had a permafrost! Our first day we hiked from the Administration center, the second day we hiked without our packs to glacier Grey and saw icebergs floating in the lake it was Amazing!! On our third morning we were supposed to hike up to camp Britannico but we had to hike up a super steep iced over river it was too scary and steep for my liking so we went a bit lower and camped in a different site. That day we witnessed three avalanches and heard nine all throughout the night. On the fourth day we woke up and there was gas in our stove and Jason came to the conclusion that our container leaked gas into the stove and we now had less gas then what we need for three more days. We then decided to cut our seven day trip down to a six day trip, because I wanted to be able to eat food and boil water for warm soup, the only thing I look forward to when camping in below freezing temperatures!! On the last night we were in the park we were in an organized camp site and during the night there were mice everywhere they pooped on our tent. We had our trash and food tied up in a tree but the mice were all over the place and Jason even got out and tried tramping one particular mouse under the trash can he was so serious and set on trapping the mouse I almost peed my sleeping-bag laughing so hard. Hiking Torres del Paine was a rewarding gorgeous experience and was very hard at some points but I am glad we did. Now I know that I can hike in below 25 degrees and enjoy doing so. Life is good in Chile and now we have made it to Argentina where EVERY bathroom has a bidet! Who uses a bidet ?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Patagonia
Southern Chile has been beautiful full of lakes, mountains, volcanos, trees, and the most beautiful sky I have every seen. The clouds are so low it looks as if you could reach up and touch them. The sunset looks like fiery orange and hot pink crayons melting, in between the fluffy pearl clouds. I absolutely love the sky here!!!
Jason and I have made it to the Punta Arenas which is on the Strait of Magellan it is as far south as were able to make it and is technically as far south as you can go while still being on the continent. All the people in Punta Arenas were incredible nice and I have decided that I cannot wait to move to Chile. Life is good :)
Jason and I have made it to the Punta Arenas which is on the Strait of Magellan it is as far south as were able to make it and is technically as far south as you can go while still being on the continent. All the people in Punta Arenas were incredible nice and I have decided that I cannot wait to move to Chile. Life is good :)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Southern Chile
Life in Chile has been really easy. It is nothing like traveling in Peru. The food is delicious, most water is potable, and you can even flush your toilet paper in some cities. We spent about a week and half in Northern Chile in Arica and National Park Lauca. We decided to take a 31 hour bus ride from Arica to Santiago because there was not much that we were interested in see in between. We loved Santiago it is a wonderful city everyone is nice and very helpful. The metro is clean and safe and walking around you wouldn´t know if you were in DC or Santiago everyone smokes cigarettes. Since leaving Santiago we took a 4 hour train to Talca, because that is as far as the train goes due to the earthquake that did some damage to the tracks about 6 months back. We did not stay in Talca, there is not much there, we then took a bus for two hours to Chillán. Which is the birth place of Bernardo O´Higgins the Hero of Chile.
We walked around Chillán, looked at the tile mosaic that depicts O´Higgins life and wanted to see murals that were donated by the Mexican government in 1923 after an earthquake, but due to the recent earthquake 6 months ago, the murals were being fixed and the upstairs of the building was closed. We were only able to see 2 paints they were very large and the one that was crumbling was gorgeous a large man, a compus and a rainbow with something else that I can´t remember. We ate at an amazing vegetarian buffet called Arcoiris which means rainbow in Spanish. Our first hostel in Chillán was absolutely terrible, it smelled of cigarettes, was really dirty and was freezing cold, plus they were charging way to much. The next hostel we stayed in was much better smelled clean but was still a bit a cold and expensive, 21,000 pesos, which is about $40. From Chillán we took a four bus to Temuco, where I paid a bit too much for first class seats because I thought I was getting deal. Then from the bus terminal in Temuco we had to take a taxi to the other bus terminal where the Jac bus took us to Pucón about an hour and a half away.
We have been in Pucón for five days and we are leaving tomorrow to Valdivia. Since we have been here we have walked and biked around town, had espresso (which can be hard to find because the only coffee here is instant), people watched, took pictures of Lake Villarica and Volcano Villarica and today we went on a tour of Pezones Hot springs and a few waterfalls it was a great day. I was sick for almost two days with some sort of upset stomach. I went to the pharmacy to buy Pepto Bismol, but of course that does not exist here so I ended up with some sort of if we were in the USA would be prescription medicine. I had to put 35 drops in to a glass of water and drink it, it tasted horrible, but made my stomach feel better. I cannot figure out what made me sick other then a random bug that I contracted. Everyone says the water is pure and is as good as it gets and Jason has been drinking it and feels fine, though he does not drink as much water as I do. But I now have a new rule that any town where you cannot flush your poo-paper and have to throw in the trash it is the best bet to not drink the water.
Traveling around has been great, it can get a bit stressful purely because dealing with money is stressful, not speaking Spanish as first language, and constantly being on the move is not easy. Jason and I have become much better at getting around. Life is good.
Sending all my love from South of the equator
We walked around Chillán, looked at the tile mosaic that depicts O´Higgins life and wanted to see murals that were donated by the Mexican government in 1923 after an earthquake, but due to the recent earthquake 6 months ago, the murals were being fixed and the upstairs of the building was closed. We were only able to see 2 paints they were very large and the one that was crumbling was gorgeous a large man, a compus and a rainbow with something else that I can´t remember. We ate at an amazing vegetarian buffet called Arcoiris which means rainbow in Spanish. Our first hostel in Chillán was absolutely terrible, it smelled of cigarettes, was really dirty and was freezing cold, plus they were charging way to much. The next hostel we stayed in was much better smelled clean but was still a bit a cold and expensive, 21,000 pesos, which is about $40. From Chillán we took a four bus to Temuco, where I paid a bit too much for first class seats because I thought I was getting deal. Then from the bus terminal in Temuco we had to take a taxi to the other bus terminal where the Jac bus took us to Pucón about an hour and a half away.
We have been in Pucón for five days and we are leaving tomorrow to Valdivia. Since we have been here we have walked and biked around town, had espresso (which can be hard to find because the only coffee here is instant), people watched, took pictures of Lake Villarica and Volcano Villarica and today we went on a tour of Pezones Hot springs and a few waterfalls it was a great day. I was sick for almost two days with some sort of upset stomach. I went to the pharmacy to buy Pepto Bismol, but of course that does not exist here so I ended up with some sort of if we were in the USA would be prescription medicine. I had to put 35 drops in to a glass of water and drink it, it tasted horrible, but made my stomach feel better. I cannot figure out what made me sick other then a random bug that I contracted. Everyone says the water is pure and is as good as it gets and Jason has been drinking it and feels fine, though he does not drink as much water as I do. But I now have a new rule that any town where you cannot flush your poo-paper and have to throw in the trash it is the best bet to not drink the water.
Traveling around has been great, it can get a bit stressful purely because dealing with money is stressful, not speaking Spanish as first language, and constantly being on the move is not easy. Jason and I have become much better at getting around. Life is good.
Sending all my love from South of the equator
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