The Vagrant Gypsy Life

Day 110 18/12/2010 (Sunday) to day 130 07/01/2011 (Friday) Argentina – Buenos Aires, San Martin de los Andes, Bariloche, El Calafate, Puerto Madryn

I took a break from my long, tranquil trip with a short, hectic one. A friend decided to join me over Christmas and New Year´s. We ended up travelling mostly the route I took over the course of 3 weeks, in the span of two weeks! Needless to say, it was hectic. But it was still very enjoyable and good to see my friend after such a long times! I also had better luck with the weather this time.

We ended up spending about 120 hours in the bus, which included a 10 hour stay by the side of the road as the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere on a less-frequented highway or route as they call it (route between Bariloche and Rio Gallegos). A ride scheduled for 27 hours took 37 hours! We broke down around 18:30 and had to sit aorund while the driver tried calling the mechanic for instructions. Of course, it was complicated as he would have to thumb lifts to elsewhere to get a signal on his mobile. He finally gave up around 10:00 and waited for a mechanic to show up at 02:30. It was 04:30 before we left. At least, the sunset was glorious.

Highlights included the 37 hour bus ride, a first time ride in a cama suite bus (luxury bus), New Year´s on a bus, Perito Moreno glacier in sunlight, Cerro Llao Llao in gorgeous weather, Cerro Campanario (which I missed the first time around), whales, penguins and dolphins in Puerto Madryn.

The bus from Puerto Madryn to Buenos Aires broke down, but it was a shorter wait by the side of the road as another bus enroute to Buenos Aires picked us up. The co-operation between the competitors amazed me!

A day of rest in Buenos Aires as my friend headed home on the night of the 5th to do laundry, catch up on emails, decide my next step, wander around aimlessly etc. Montevideo, here I come!

Day 94, Thu Dec 2 El Chalten/ Rio Gallegos

Almost all day on the bus. El Chalten to Puerto Madryn.

El Chalten to El Calafate: 4 hours; El Calafate to Rio Gallegos: 6 hours; Rio Gallegos to Puerto Madryn: 21 hours. The one thing I remember from the busride from Gallegos to PMadryn is the amazing colours of the sunset. I could still see the sun on the horizon at 23:00.

Day 95, Fri Dec 3 Puerto Madryn

Arrival in Puerto Madryn around 15:00. Went for a walk and cooked dinner with a couple of folks from the Navimag.

Puerto Madryn seems to have a lot of stores named after ballenas (whales) and penguins. A lot of tours as well. The town is not very pretty or enticing, but is the place most tourists arrive to go on tours to see sealions, seals, penguins, whales. Peninsula Valdes and Whale-watching tours being the largest draw.

Day 96, Sat Dec 4 Puerto Madryn

The weather forecast was a lot of wind, which meant that tours to Peninsula Valdes were probably not going to run since the boats couldnt get out. We ended up renting bicycles to ride to Punto Loma (17 km each way) to see sea-lions. Had a nice dinner.

Day 97, Sun Dec 5 Puerto Madryn! Bus to BA

Off on a tour to see Magellan Penguins. I arrived at the time of the season that they set up nests and rear their young before heading up to Brasil. It was a grand hour and a half! Enroute to Punto Tomba, the guide stopped whenever he noticed an animal that would be quite unusual to tourists. Ostrich-like creatures and Lama-like animals galore…

Lunch was an apple. However, the treat of the day was tea in a Welsh village called Gaiman, set in a valley. They served us various cakes, sandwiches and some tea, all for an overly exorbitant price. However, the Welsh town was extremely pretty and being on water, an extreme contrast to the stark dry surrounding area!

The tour guide was very intelligent and knew a lot of things: we had some interesting conversations.

Another long bus ride after dinner – sigh, I am a broken man. Argentina is too beguiling and quite big.

About 17 hours to Buenos Aires.

Day 108, Fri Dec 17 Cordoba/ Rosario

Rosario is a lovely small town, north west of Buenos Aires, on the river Parana. It is famous for beautiful women, for being the town where the flag was conceived and for being the birthplace of Ernesto “Che” Guevara and a certain Lionel Messi.

The weather forecast for both Cordoba and Rosario was in the upper 30s! I was almost glad to have been in the bus that long.

Headed to the river and walked along the river for a bit. Then heeaded into town – Monumento a los Banderas, Catedral, Plaza San Martin (the man square).

There was a big crowd surrounding a stage at the main square. The Memorial Museum was being inaugurated. Memorial museum deals with the people who disappeared during the military regime from 1970s to early 1989s, till the Falkland war lead to the military being overthrown. There were a few speeches and some music. Speech from the founder of Madres y abuelas de Plaza de Mayo drew a lot of applause. It was a moving speech from her.

Day 109, Sat Dec 18 Rosario

Woke up to pouring rain! Went for a walk all the way down to Parque de la Independencia and then to the Plaza de Che Guevara to see the memorial to Che. Walked then to the other end of town to see the Che mural. I was extremely hungry by the time I got back to the hostel.

I decided that I had enough of the rain and ended up at the cinema to watch the movie “Devil”. It was pretty awful! The weather forecast for the next day had more rain listed for the next day. Decided that I was better off in Buenos Aires than in rainy Rosario.

Day 92, Tue Nov 30 Puerto Natales/ Perito Moreno glacier/ El Calafate/ El Chalten

A long day. A early start as we have breakfast at 06:30 and get on the van at 07:00. It is a bit of a squeeze. Among the other people, I remember with dread, an extremely ill-tempered duo from Austria. They complain about things that nobody can control and all I can think is that I never turn quite so cantankerous when I become old.

The formalities at the border between Chile and Argentina take but little time and we arrive in El Calafate around noon. The wind did cause problems along the way. There was one moment where I was scared that the van was going to topple over!

Perito Moreno is the reason most people come to El Calafate. El Calafate is an extremely expensive tourist town. Perito Moreno is well worth the hassle it takes to get there. The weather has turned bad. Overcast conditions make it hard to see the mountains nearby, but Perito Moreno still manages to capture one´s imagination. One can only imagine how beautiful the place would be in nice sunny weather. An hour of walking around is all I could handle in the pouring rain. Spent the next hour sitting in a cafe, looking at the glacier from a distance.

14:30 finds us all back in the van, headed back to El Calafate. Time for goodbyes as most of my fellow-W-folks are staying in El C while I head off to El Chalten, for some more hiking. It is a 4 hour ride to El Chalten and the scenery keeps one´s eyes glued to the window!

Day 91, Mon Nov 29 Puerto Natales

The same spoilt girls whom I was able to ignore the night before, managed to wake me up early Monday morning around 5:30. They were back in the common area packing and chatterng away, without any regard for a person curled up on the sofa or for that matter the other guests in the hostel! Ah, the fun of staying in hostels! I am ashamed to say I wished them bad weather on their hike. I was especially irritated when one of the gang started talking at me, instead of to me, that too without an “excuse me”. People forgetting their manners on the road…

Quiet day after another lovely breakfast at Erratic rock! Had a nice lunch, did some shopping, walked around P Natales, planned the trip to Perito Moreno glacier – I decided to continue all the wy to El Chalten instead of spending the night at El Calafate, which is a small little expensive tourist town. The group got together again for an extravagant dinner at Afrigonia, a restaurant place run by an African immigrant and his Chilean wife. Best food in ages, without a doubt!

Got back to the hostel and ran into a new batch of people going on the W the next day.Among them were two girls, who were so nice and extremely pretty that I was tempted to change my plans and do the W again!

Photos of the trek. I offer the link at the beginning since I am no poet and will not be able to do justice to the scenery and the trek. I ran out of adjectives to describe the scenery by the second day of the hike!

Backpack contents: A pair of trousers, a shirt and thermals, tins of tuna, packages of pasta, salami, crackers, apples and a lot of dried fruits and nuts. Add to it a tent, a mat, and a sleeping bag. My first camping experience would see me sleep in a tent for the first time in my life, forsake a shower for 5 days, quite a hard thing for someone accustomed to a couple of showers a day. Food is all about survival: pasta, tuna, crackers, salami, apples and dried fruits and nuts. The return to civilisation never tasted sweeter.

Day 86, Wed Nov 24 Torres del Paine National Park

While Patagonia is a popular destination for tourists for its abundant natural beauty, it is also well-known for the unpredictable weather. As someone put it, one could have all 4 seasons within an hour. All of us were hoping for 5 days of good weather, as it could otherwise make it 5 cold and extremely long days. A cloudy day would also mean one would miss some of the views.

Woke up the morning to gale-like winds. Shower, breakfast at 6:30, final check and into the bus at 07:00. We arrive at administration, pay our 15000 Chilean peso entrance fee and then it is a wait for the catamaran to Paine Grande. The wind makes walking difficult and I was almost scared I would get blown away at times. Bright and sunny and afforded some stunning views otherwise.

The catamaran is late by 30 minutes, presumably due to the winds. The first day of the W is the hike to Grey from Paine Grande. The plan is to camp at Refugio Grey (camping fee 3500 Chilean pesos)for the night.

The backpack weighs well over a quarter of my weight and I find it hard going. I was worried after a while that I might not be able to finish the trek. However, more glorious views, some tough spots of fairly slow hiking and about 4.5 hours, we make it to Mirador Glacier Grey, a viewpoint over Glacier Grey. Refugio Lago Grey is but 5 minutes away. The folks at Refugio Grey are extremely friendly and welcoming. Refugio Lago grey is on a sandy beach by Lago Grey (lake grey). Huge blocks of ice, which dropped off from the glacier, float on the lake, as if to warn anyone foolish enough to fancy a dip.

Setting up tent first time on my own, cooking dinner over a portable gas stove in the cold and wind, was quite the experience. But one couldnt but feel happy after the views and the hike. The water at the wash basin is cold, but it is my turn to clean the dishes.

Off to bed at 10, after playing cards at the refugio and warming ourselves at the fire. One is not allowed to make camp-fires, with good reason, as the carelessness by some camper caused a part of the park to be burned down a few years ago.

Day 87, Thu Nov 25 Torres del Paine

Woke up early, as is my norm and woke everyone up. I would continue to act as alarm clock for the group over the next 4 mornings.

Porridge for breakfast and we are off again. Back to Paine Grande before heading over to Campamento Italiano, a free camping site. I always find hiking downhill harder than hiking uphill. It is slow go for me, but we still make it to Refugio Grande for lunch at noon. Aftera hearty lunch of crackers, salami and apple, we are off to Italiano. This stretch proves to be beautiful again, as we are fortunate enough to have another sunny, clear day. I feel it hard going still, but feel that my body is getting used to carrying such weight around and it seems a little easier than the first day.

Arrival at C Italiano in about 3 hours. It is a decent camping group out in the woods, surrounded by big trees. The facilities are a bit minimal, but they do have a few toilets and a place to cook, sheltered from the elements.

Set up camp, cook, eat and wait for the rest of the Navimag crowd, the ones who opted for the 3 day hike. It is cold and we all call it a day at 21:00.

It rained quite hard at night. I woke up a few times during the night due to the wind and the rain. But, luckily, the weather gods smiled again and the rain stopped around 04:00 or 05:00.

Day 88, Fri Nov 26 Torres del Paine

Breakfast of champions again: porridge and some hot water. But we are all quite looking forward to it as the hike to Campamento Britanico along Valle the Frances will be without a backpack. I felt quite buoyant, almost quite literally. It was a bit cloudy when we started, but the views again were stupendous.

A 6 hour roundtrip, including a stop for lunch and waiting for members of the group who lost their way and followed an alternate trail that led to nowhere. Back to to Campamento Italiano, take down tent, and off to Refugio Cuernos. We also hit by snow for about 30 minutes. It was cloudy on the hike back to Italiano, but cleared up soon enough to make the hike to refugio Cuernos quite enjoyable, even with the backpack back on.

It is a 2.5 hour hike to Cuernos, but it was for me the roughest section, with stones on the trail that made it hard to walk, steep sections going downhill. I was happy to make it to camp. There were even a couple of hearty souls who managed a dip in Lago Nordenskljöld, a beautiful aquamarine lake, but awfully cold.

Refugio Curenos costs more than Grey (5000 Chilean pesos), but the facilities are poorer than Grey and the service bad. It didn’t help that the camping ground was a bit rocky and that we were sharing space with horses. The camping ground was crowded as it is the meeting point of all the different alternates that one has for hiking Torres del Paine.

Off to bed surrounded by a lake on one side and gorgeous views of mountains on 3 sides!

Day 89, Sat Nov 27 Torres del Paine

This would prove to be the best day of the trek for me. My body having accustomed to the weight, I was quite able to take off at my normal walking pace. Most of the trail was uphill in the hills to Campamento Torres. I was off at a fairly frantic pace, leading the pack for the first time. The weather was gorgeously sunny, making most of us shed layers, and the views the best of the trek.

We make good time and get to Camp Torres in 6 hours, passing Camp Chileno on the way. Set up camp and then head up to mirador Torres, scrambling over rocks as the trail is quite steep in places. The view at the end of the tough hike is well worth the 4 days of carrying 15-20 kgs.

We head to bed early as it would need an early start to the day to catch the dance of colours on the torres during sunrise.

Day 90, Sun Nov 28 Torres del Paine

Wake up at 04:30 and hike up. Luckily the moon lights the trail. It is bitterly cold. The towers look beautiful, bathed in the moonlight, but wrapped up in sleeping bags as we are, we still cant wait for the sun to rise. We get about half an hour of sunrise before it turns cloudy. We leave the mirador around 06:30 to rush back to camp. Huge dark clouds loom threateningly over us. Fortunately, it doesnt start raining till we start walking. The wind makes parts of the hike quite difficult and treacherous. One could only feel sorry for the folks who were starting their trek.

Hosteria Torres in 2 hours and end up waiting for the bus to Laguna Amarga for a few hours at the posh hotel. The horde of backpckers in the lobby of a hotel which costs a few hundred dollars per night causes consternation to the folks whowork there. After a few hours of waitng and a 2 hour bus ride, it is back to Puerto Natales around 16:30.

Ah, the delights of civilisation. A loong shower, dinner with the group and a bed. Well, rather, a sofa since the hostel was fully booked. A horde of ill-prepare American girls packing at midnight cannot keep me awake!

I could only feel fortunate that while we faced the whole spectrum of Patagonian weather, we had great weather for most of the trek and that we only had to trek in the rain for 2 hours on the last day. It would have been quite depressing to have to hike in the cold, being wet and unable to see the glorious canvas on display.

I decide that I will buy camping gear and make use of what Seattle has to offer when I finally get back home- which is, hopefully, not for quite some time!

Day 85, Tue Nov 23 Puerto Natales

I liked Puerto Natales. It is a nice little town with some gorgeous views of fjords. It is also the starting point for most people who trek in the Torres del Paine national park. Most of the people either do what is called a “W”; the heartier souls do the full circuit.

After a hearty breakfast at Erratic Rock hostel (great home made bread), it is time to wander around a bit before meeting together to decide the plan over the next few days. The group of 10 split into two as some folks have time constraints and fancy doing the W in 3 days instead of 5. The afternoon is spent putting together a shopping list for the 5 days, visiting the supermarket, renting equipment (tent, sleeping bag, mattress, cooking material). The erratic rock is also famous for the lectures they give on trekking: they focus on what to take, how to pack. Pretty informative talk and well attended.

Busy evening getting everything organised and packing. After packing, it is a late dinner with the entire group of 10. We went to a small restaurant run by two women, who were run ragged by attending to the 10 of us. They were very nice and offered us a few different dishes to try for free to make up for the delay. They had some good wine as well.

I went to bed looking forward to the next few days with excitement and some trepidation as well, since this would be my first real camping trip.

Day 81 – 84 Navimag

I get on the Navimag ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. 3 nights on a ferry was a new experience for me. One got to see fjords, a seal, a glacier, lots of rain and water and experience a 12 hour turbulent period in the open sea, Golfo de Penas, as it is appropriately named.

3 nights on the ferry, meals included cost USD 430 for a 4 person cabin. I was looking forward to the ferry and more so, Puerto Natales and Parque Torres del Paine.

The difficult things was that I had no internet access for 3 days.

Day 1 : Breakfast in Puerto Varas; rain all day in P Montt; sighting a seal

The day began with a drunk Chilean making his presence known to the rest of us staying in a 4 person dorm, as he fell from the bunk bed onto the floor and across the bed of a girl sleeping in the dorm. The 3 of us sat up on our beds with a look of utter surprise on our faces. It was funny and would have made quite the photo. He then apologised to the girl, and tried to crawl into bed with me, forgetting his bed was the bed above mine. Had to politely, but firmly, push him out of bed. I do not mind company in bed, but a man has some standards! He left the room saying that he would sleep on the sofa in the common area; a minute later, we hear a thud from the common area as he announced his arrival at the sofa.

At breakfast, as we sat discussing our plans for the day, we realised that there were about 10 of us heading to Puerto Montt to get on the Navimag. I wasnt to know then, but the folks from the Puerto Varas hostel formed the nucleus of a group about 10 people with whom I would spend most of my time over the next two weeks! I bond over the experience of the night, with the two girls in my room, who are also headed to P Natales.

Pouring rain as I got on the micro to head to P Montt, about 30 minutes away. There is no change in the weather as I get to the office of the Navimag to check in. After check in, I head out to town with my two new found friends from P Varas to get some lunch. Walk around town in the pouring rain, have a pleasant lunch and head back to Navimag only to be told we will be two hours late! Got talking to another person sitting next to us to find out that he was sharing the cabin with me.

The weather cleared up just enough for us to all congregate on the deck of the ship and take photos of the ship and Puerto Montt, as we left P Montt at about 17:30.

The only eventful thing to happen was that I managed to see a seal. Decent dinner, more walking on the deck, card games and it is bed time. First night on the boat passes by uneventfully.

Day 2 : Patches of decent weather; Lecture on Fauna in Patagonia; Open sea

Rain greeted me in the morning as I ventured out after a shower. I am glad I spent the money I did on the rain jacket I bought from REI.

We had some patches of decent weather amidst the sea, as the bad weather prompts most of us to stay in the common area, reading, playing games, talking, while popping out on to the deck for some fresh air and to battle the rain and wind.

We were all invited to a lecture on “Fauna in Patagonia” by a Chilean who spoke about 4 languages. He gave lectures in Spanish and English. German is his first language since his parents immigrated to Chile from Germany, but after listening to the lecture in Spanish and English, I decided to head out to the deck. He was charming, funny and extremely knowledgeable and held the group enthralled as he discussed the birds and animals one might come across in Patagonia.

We hit the open sea about 15:00. A group of us gathered at the helm of the deck to watch the boat break the 3 to 5 m waves. I am glad I took a sea sickness pill as the wind, waves and rain make it extremely unpleasant for some. The pill made me extremely drowsy and I struggled through dinner. The common area is mostly deserted as most people skipped dinner and made their way to bed and/ or frequent trips to the bathroom.

Day 3 : Great weather with patches of rain; Puerto Eden, Glacier Pio XI

Wake up to a calm sea, fjords and gorgeous weather. I spend a good hour in the open deck, enjoying the view. Rain hit us again after breakfast, but we had the best day of the trip.

We stopped in Puerto Eden, an island of about 160 people and it was a relief to be on terra firma, even if only for about an hour and a half.

Glacier Pio XI (Pio Once) was the highlight of the day. It was jaw droppingly stunning. We got quite close. The blue colours, the height of the glacier as it towered over the ship held us all captive as we were all huddled together on the deck in the cold snapping away. Some of the more adventurous folks in our group decided they would strip down to their bathing suits in front of the glacier.

Since it was the last night on the boat, most people had a party, with alcohol flowing, music playing and some dancing. I tried to stay awake, but couldnt keep up with the young ones and was in bed by 11:00.

Day 4 : Lecture on Torres del Paine; arrive P Natales

The weather was really bad and there wasnt much visibility either. Which meant that the only thing of note that day was the lecture on Torres del Paine, the national park. Most people on the boat were headed there, for day trips, and multi day treks. The lecturer talked about the National Park and the various options available to trekkers: what hikes, camping sites, refugios, transportation were available and how much each option would cost. He also told us what to expect in terms of flora and fauna.

Arrived in Puerto Natales a good 3 hours after we were due. The sky had cleared up and we were met by a pretty town in a beautiful setting, surrounded by fjords on 2 sides and water on one. Settle in and the 10 of us head out to dinner. We decide to meet the next day to to plan for the trek.

Day 80, Thu Nov 18 Pucon/ Puerto Varas

Rain is back. I didnt relish the walk to the bus station.

6 hours in the bus, most of which were spent listening to an old Chilean lady talk in Spanish about various things – her children, towns in Chile, her experiences travelling in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt. She didnt even seem to stop for breaths. I did enjoy the conversation, even as I was battling sleep. I do manage to catch twenty winks when she ran out of steam.

Back to Puerto Varas. I feel like a local and the rain doesnt dissuade me from taking a walk. I also get some snacks for the ferry ride on Friday. Make a salad for dinner and settle down for a chat with the pretty Chilean who works in the hostel.

Day 76, Sun Nov 14 Villarrica

Off to Villarrica, which derives its name from the smoking volano which can be seen looming over the town on sunny days or the lake nearby; I am not sure. Check into Torre Suize. The rules drawn up in the hostel room surely will remind the trvellers the owners are Swiss! The language was very precise and military. “Check out 12:00 SHARP!” I meant to take a photo of the rules, but it slipped my mind.

Off to a village called Lican Ray, on lago Calafquen. 30 minutes by micro from Villarrica. Lovely views of volcan Villarrica. Nice sunny day to spend an hour at Playa Grande, which isnt all that big. It is very pleasant! The sand was black and volcanic. The volacno villarrica continues to throw off copious amounts of smoke. There are signs posted of routes of evacuation in case of an eruption. The folks didnt seem too concerned that they are so close to a live volcano. I guess the town is quite far away.

Dinner is fish at a local restaurant. Good food on the beach! Back to Villarrica and off to a walk on the lake. Time to try out some chocolates as well. Another pleasant day in Chile. Back at the hostel, I meet a Catalan who is travelling around Chile and Argentina on his bike. He has managed to give me ideas on my next trip. Surely it would be a fun way to see a country! I tell myself that I can do it. Maybe a month on the road in the US will give me the confidence.

Day 77, Mon Nov 15 Pucon

Pucon is the main tourist hub. It is also a fairly small town: the major attraction is climbing the volano. I am giving my body time to recover from the sunstroke and decline all offers from tour operators.

Rented a bike from the hostel and it is a 30 km bike ride to Ojos de Caburgua, a pleasant waterfall. The lago azul is more alluring than the waterfall. It is a nice ride through some nice neighbourhoods. I am glad I got the bike ride in, as I have been itching for a day on a bike. On nice sunny days, I do miss my bike, nestling in my friend’s basement in Seattle.

Arabic food for dinner. Falafel and hummus; yummy!

Day 78, Tue Nov 16 Pucon

The hostel owner has two huge dogs for pets – Newfoundland breed? They bark most of the night and keep me awake. Opt for a quiet day, reading in the sun.

A walk to the beach and an hour walking around town is the only activity of the day.

Day 79, Wed Nov 17 Pucon

Off to a 4 hour hike in Parque Nacional Huerquehue – lagos chico, verde and el toro form the lagos circuit. A very nice hike. Well worth the entrance fee of 4000 Chilean pesos.

Back to town and I manage to catch about 20 minutes of the Brasil – Argentina football game. Messi scores in the dying minutes of the gme and give the Argentines their first win over Brasil in ages. I am not very happy with that result. Off to bed to wake up early for my 6 hour bus ride to Puerto Varas.