21 November 2012

Week 9 - Bariloche, Puerto Madryn (Argentina)

This week we’ve been extending our ‘dorm etiquette’ rule book – 1) Do not press snooze on your alarm 10 times 2) Do not treat your dorm bed like a private double if you’re a couple 3) Do get a private if you snore….

Other than that we’ve had a brilliant week, starting with a stunning 7 hour bus journey from Puerto Varas to Bariloche. Leaving Chile behind and heading back into Argentina, the road wound over the Andes to the border then down through the Nahuel Huapi National Park where it continued following the lake shore into Bariloche, a tourist hub.

Trying to find the bus into the centre and failing we got talking to a NZ girl and a German guy and ended up walking about 45 mins with our rucksacks to get to the hostel. It was so worth it. The hostel was amazing. We checked in to a 6 bed dorm but ended up in a private room with a bunk bed, a couch and a stunning lake view. After check-in we met up with the people from the bus station and went for one of our poshest meals yet at a little wooden restaurant. We ended up in a little bar down a back street enjoying happy hour beer and playing drinking games with some foul pepper shots and a spinning top, urgh.

The next day we met up with Pip and Paul again to head to Cerro Catedral, a big ski centre where the mountain peaks resemble cathedral spires. After an expensive cable car ride, a very windy chair lift and a 2 hour scramble across the last of the snow and massive boulders we were at the top. It was breathtaking – the views down to the lake and across the valley were absolutely amazing. We had a picnic at the top before heading down and grabbing a hot chocolate in the après ski bar.

Back at the hostel that night we booked a slot in the free Jacuzzi and spent an hour drinking cheap bubbles watching the sun set over the lake.

When we woke the next day we caught a bus to the start of the Chico Circuit, a 36km ring road out on the peninsula where we hired bikes. Not a single kilometre was flat and 9km was on unpaved tracks – it was hard. Rhys ‘Wiggins’ Kingdom here with his childhood idolisation of Lance Armstrong had me sprinting round the route completing the 6 hour ride in 4.5 hours.

The rest of our time in Bariloche was spent touring the expensive chocolate shops for free samples, playing pool, chilling in our upgraded superior double room with stunning lake views and making the most of the Jacuzzi.

Our next stop was Puerto Madryn, another overnight bus journey away where some super sensitive police dog thought my malaria tablets were worth getting me to empty out my entire bag for.

Puerto Madryn itself is pretty bland, the Patagonian landscape is just mile after mile and hour after hour of scrubland. Puerto Madryn though is a base to explore the wildlife in the surrounding areas including the Peninsula Valdes. We took a tour from the hostel where we stopped at a few points on the peninsula to see elephant seals and a few penguins and took a boat trip out into the golf to see the Southern Right Whales. They were so close to the boat, mums with their calf’s swimming underneath and alongside and so big – 16.5m long for a full grown male with each testicle weighing 500kg (the only fact Rhys actually remembers from the whole tour) – definitely in our top 5 experiences of the trip so far. That night to finish the week we taught some Danish girls and two guys from Essex the rules of trumps while drinking copious amounts of vodka.
 
Jacuzzi, TangoInn Downtown, Bariloche.

Jap snap, Cerro Catedral, Bariloche.

At the top of Cerro Catedral, Bariloche.

Bike ride with fab helmet, Bariloche.

Rhys looking nonchalent at the whales, Puerto Madryn.

Whales!! Puerto Madryn.

Week 8 - Pichilemu, Pucon, Valdivia, Puerto Varas (Chile)


Thursday morning we boarded the Pachamama hop on hop off bus for the southern leg of the lake district route. The bus meant we could cover a lot of ground quickly without missing out on the sites along the way and it was a nice break from having to lug our bags around trying to find hostels and waiting for buses.

Leaving Santiago there were only 5 of us on the bus plus Tanya our guide and Pedro our driver. The first stop of the day was in Pomaire, a small handicraft village known for it's clay pots. After refueling with empanadas we drove to the Rapel Dam, a small hydroelectric dam on route to Pichilemu where we were spending the night. In Pichiemu we found a little drunken man outside our hostel who had horses to rent on the beach. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. The horses just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. Rhys having never been on a horse before was suddenly trotting through the forest being jiggled to death and cantering along the beach holding on for dear life. Back at the hostel we caught up with the van again and two American girls who had 'hopped on' and headed out to Punta Lobos, a rocky point where the surfing national championships are held, to watch the waves crashing in and Brendon falling on his ass (twice). A game of ring of fire later and we went to bed.

The second day we left Pichilemu and headed to Santa Cruz to visit the Colchagua Museum. Even Rhys enjoyed it. The museum displays the collection of Carlos Cardoen, a guy who was on the FBI top 10 most wanted list for allegedly selling arms to Iraq in the 1980's. His collection is incredible, from an F1 car to Incan mummies to the pod used in the Chilean miners rescue and a ridiculous amount of fossils and guns. The drive from Santa Cruz to Pucon skirted along the banks of Villarrica Lake while we played power ballads at full blast and saw away enough beer and spirits to sink a ship before pulling in to the backpacker mountain town. At the hostel there weren't enough beds for everyone so me and Rhys ended up topping and tailing - a great way to save some cash.

Day three we spent in Pucon. Along with Brendon and John we caught a taxi out to Huequehue national park since the bus from town left stupidly early and we'd been out the night before. Having intended to complete a 5 hour hike to three small lakes we gave up once the heavens opened and the trail became a small river not appropriate for hikers in Etnies and Converse - we may have persevered had the mist we'd had all day not reduced the visibility to about 20 metres. After an extortionately priced coffee to warm up we headed back into town to pick up the van for a lift out to the Pozones hot springs to sit and soak as night fell. Turns out they're very strict on alcohol consumption at the springs and having nearly been thrown out a couple of times we thought it better to continue the party in town.

Leaving Pucon the bus took the seven lakes route (very bumpy but very picturesque) to Valdivia. Once there we stopped at a brilliant little street food market by the beach and filled up on meat skewers and fish stews whilst some country Chilean musician played and locals watched in awe at the tourists at the market. Our next stop was to a fort then on into town to see the biggest sea lions you have ever seen in your life, the highlight being when one sneezed on Rhys.

Our final day on the bus brought us to Puerto Varas where the party broke up with the 3 girls continuing north and the 2 guys flying south. On the last night together Tanya our guide took us to her friends house for an evening of red wine and guitar hero.

Yesterday we spent the day exploring the town and catching up on well needed sleep. It's a bit like being in the Alps, all the buildings are made of wood and there are little coffee shops and chocolate shops all over town with views out over the Llanquihue Lake, the second biggest in South America and to two snow covered volcanoes.

Today rather than take an expensive organised tour, we jumped on a local shuttle bus to the Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, to the Petrohué falls. Despite the hoards of American tourists on coach trips it was beautiful. After the falls we walked to the Laguna Verde where we were alternatively scorched by the sun and hailed on then caught a bus back into town.
 Rhys and Brendon horseriding in Pichilemu.

Pachamama crew, Punta Lobos. 

Me hugging the lighthouse, Valdivia.

Pachamama power ballads, Pucon.

Pachamama crew, Puerto Varas. 

Rhys, Huequehue National Park.

Sealion planking, Valdivia.

Puerto Varas national park and volcanoes.
 

14 November 2012

Week 7 - Las Canas, Mendoza, Santiago (Uruguay, Argentina, Chile)

From Fray Bentos bus terminal no buses went out to Las Canas, a village with a river beach, one shop and 3 bar/restaurants about 8km out of town, so we jumped in taxi. When we got to the hotel it was all locked up with a sign on the door to ring a number to be let in. We’re not carrying a charged mobile phone. While Rhys stayed at the hotel with the bags I walked down to the beach and in my pigeon Spanish managed to get directions to the pay phone. The phone didn’t work. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to explain to a guy at one of the bars that I needed to borrow a phone, all fun and games. An hour after arriving in the village we finally we got let into our room.

The next morning we took a cab back into Fray Bentos to pick up our bus tickets and to visit the Fray Bentos factory museum – not a whole lot of English just photos of tinned pies and corn beef cans. Back in Las Canas the two Belgian guys we met in Punta del Diablo checked into our hotel with a Chilean guy they’d met along the way with a rental car. After a few beers in one of the beach bars we drove into Fray Bentos for dinner then back to Las Canas for a bonfire on the beach.

We had booked tickets to Mendoza on the twice weekly bus and the guys dropped us at the international bridge where we had to sit by the immigration post to wait for the bus to come through. After clearing customs we were out of Uruguay and back into Argentina and had an 18 hour overnight bus journey to look forward to. The buses here serve food and drink, although of very differing quality depending on the bus company. We’ve heard of people getting free wine and even champagne and hot dinners. Our bus served us crackers and biscuits followed by some crisps and peanuts and a choice of either a shot of whiskey or vodka straight to help you sleep, lovely.

Arriving in Mendoza we booked to go up into the high Andes and on a wine tasting trip to some vineyards. The Andes trip was brilliant although involved spending a long time on a mini bus, about a 3 hour drive out of town, stopping at lakes and viewpoints along the way, we arrived at the base of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Southern and Western Hemispheres at 6962m. It was really majestic, the Andes are really rugged and the national park was beautiful.

The wine tasting trip was less majestic. We’d been lucky to have a good group on our trip the day before but the crowd for wine tasting was a lot older and the whole thing was quite ‘conveyor belt’ as in you arrived at the vineyards with loads of other buses, got a quick tour, a dribble of wine and back on the bus to the next one. I can happily say though that we are now more knowledgeable about both red wine and olive oil (and Tim, we hope to visit your parents wine cellar again soon).

That night back at the hostel we discovered Rhys’s bunk had bed bugs. Urgh. Last week he was ready to declare war on the mosquitoes, this week it’s bed bugs, not a happy Rhys. We were moved into a different dorm so they could fumigate and they managed to throw my PJ’s out with the sheets. It’s a good job I have another pair because sleeping naked in dorms really wouldn’t go down too well.

We were ready to leave Mendoza after that and the next day took the most scenic road ever to Santiago so yet another border crossing but only a 7 hour journey. The road winds through the Andes past all these little ski resorts to the border and then it’s all hairpin bends the other side.

The hostel here is brilliant, pool table, big TV room, foosball, great people and right in the centre of Bellavista, a really cool area with hundreds of bars and restaurants lining the streets. Last night, after a few drinks on the roof terrace we headed out to a bar. We had intended to do a walking tour of the city today but it didn’t happen so I have to say we haven’t really seen much of the city but since we weren’t planning to come at all and the last hostel was such a dive it’s been nice to just chill out – the couches here are so comfortable and having a couch at all is a novelty!
Beach bonfire for Mathieu's birthday, Las Canas.

Rhys at the Fray Bentos factory.

Rhys in the Andes, Mendoza.

Aconcagua Nacional Parque, Mendoza.

Rhys wine tasting. Mendoza.

The road to Santiago.

7 November 2012

Week 6 - Punta del Diablo, Cabo Polonio, Colonia (Uruguay)

On our second day in Punta del Diablo we wandered through the sand dunes to the beach accompanied by two of the dogs from the hostel. The beach was a huge expanse of windswept white sand with no one else around for miles. Walking along the coast we passed through the centre of the village. It was a shame we were there in the shoulder months as the village was full of bars and restaurants in shacks lining the beach but everything was either shut or being painted and given a new lease of life ready for peak season in January/February - one of the locals told us about 80% of the town is rental and even the cash point only opens for the two summer months. Having picked up another three dogs to add to our pack we carried on along the coast for a couple of hours and then cut inland and back to the hostel. We stayed up that night playing pool with some Belgian guys, a group of Belgian girls and some German girls - it's weird, atleast 75% of the travellers we've met have been either Belgian or German, I don't know where all the Brits are.

The next day we caught a bus up to Nacional Parque Santa Theresa about 12km along the coast. We strolled through palm tree lined tracks watching the parakeets in the eucalyptus trees, checked out the botanical garden and the bird hide over a lake and walked back to the hostel along the beach. Dinner that night was the cheapest T-Bone steak ever followed by more pool with the Belgian guys. UK 3, Belgium 1. Rhys is training me to be a pool shark.

We were supposed to be leaving the following day but as the hostel was so nice we decided to stick around for an extra day to spend some time planning our route - South America is so big that we don't have enough time to just wing it especially when some buses only go once a week and things like the Inca Trail and Navimag have to be booked months in advance. We headed to the beach for a break in staring at a computer screen, dogs in tow, and walked for a couple of hours to the lighthouse and back.

The following day we caught a bus to Castillos, a second bus to Cabo Polonio ticket office, then a 4WD truck for 40 mins across the sand dunes to the village. Far more remote than Punta del Diablo the only electricity in Cabo Polonio comes from solar panels and there are no cars or running water. When the truck pulled up it was like arriving in a corner of Glastonbury with shacks selling tie-die trousers and handmade jewelery sold by guys with dreadlocks and bare feet. We checked in to a shack on the beachfront, dropped our bags and walked to see the colony of sea lions on the rocks by the light house. Rhys headed back to the hostel to catch up on sleep and I sat on the beach watching the world go by. As we'd spent an extra night in Punta del Diablo our cash reserves were running low so dinner was a carton of red wine, a family bar of chocolate and a banana.

Out of cash we headed back to civilisation the following day to Colonia, a beautiful UNESCO colonial town on the Rio de la Plata facing Buenos Aires. Our first full day we borrowed the bikes from the hostel and cycled the 5km along the beach to the 1907 bull ring, only used 8 times before it closed. It wasn't the prettiest cycle along a main road, and the saddle was so hard on my bike that i'm still in pain but nice to do something other than walk. That afternoon we wandered into the old town, other than all the mosquitoes it's really pretty with cobblestone streets, city gate and wooden draw bridge and lighthouse. For the first time since we've been away we went out to a smart restaurant for a candlelit dinner on the waterfront.

Yesterday Rhys stayed at the hostel to watch TV and I headed back into the old town to explore some more. After visiting the yacht club, a photography exhibition, art gallery and cultural centre I climbed the lighthouse for views of the town, it was all very peaceful and serene, lots of old people riding golf buggies around and people eating ice cream in the shade in the tree lined plazas. It was stupidly hot last night so we're both abit tired today from lack of sleep. We walked into the old town this morning to change some Brazilian cash Rhys had stashed in a secret place and forgotten about and to book our bus tickets to Fray Bentos where we're heading in a couple of hours to find out who ate all the pies.

Beach, Punta del Diablo.

Parque Nacional Santa Theresa.

Cabo Polonio.

Punta del Diablo, with Walls and Kenneth.

Sunset, Cabo Polonio.

Sea lion colony, Cabo Polonio.

Colonia.