Much pain in Torres del Paine

One of Patagonia’s most famous hiking areas is Torres del Paine almost at the very bottom of Chile. What possessed Pascoe and I to embark on the world famous ‘W’ walk, a 4 day hike through the park is beyond me. Perhaps it’s not very surprising then, in this completely altered state of mind, that we should go on to decide to be totally self sufficient, carrying our own tent, sleeping bags, food, and cooking equipment for the duration of the trip.

Naming the park Paine is oh so appropriate.

Taking the amazing views as a given, below is a short synopsis of some of the other challenges we encountered.

Day 1: A beautiful sunny morning greeted us as we registered at the park entrance, humped our packs to the first day’s camp site, set up tent, and then headed out for an afternoon hike up to the spectacular Glacier Grey. We were warned about how quickly the weather can change in the mountains, and sure enough half way back the heavens opened. It was at this point we both realised item 14 on the check list – good wet weather gear – was still in the rental company’s store room. Doh!

Two pathetic shivering drowned rats floated back into camp where thankfully there was a cabin with heating, enabling us to narrowly escape full blown pneumonia.

Day 2: A 6 hour hike down Valle Frances to see the amazing snow covered mountain bowl. Sunny all the way there then as we approached, rain, 90 km/h winds, and low cloud. Sunny again once we´d turned back for camp. Muy divertido.

Day 3: The longest hiking day up to the world famous Tres Torres. Nothing to report other than what a beautiful day it was to be in the mountains.

Day 4:A 4am start to see the first rays of the sun set fire to the famous Tres Torres. Yes you guessed it, a blanket of cloud. But for once the fast changing weather worked in our favour, and by dawn (5.21) the sky was clear and we were presented with yet another amazing panorama. A bit like Hounslow Heath.

Camping shamping, can’t see what all the fuss is about. More pics here.

Hasta Luego

Where the pucon is Pucón

In Chile as it happens. After Bariloche the plan was to head straight down to the very South of Argentina, so how we ended up further North and in a different country I’m not quite sure.

I vaguely recollect a drunken conversation with some other travellers who talked about a snow capped active volcano that could be climbed by novices, and even better, after looking into the crater you could toboggan down the other side.

Too much fun to be missed so two days after not kayaking in Bariloche we found ourselves in Pucón signing various disclaimers, donning our climbing gear, and heading up Volcan Villarrica.

The bits we didn’t know about were the 4am start, the 7 hour vertical slog (Crampons were needed to stop ourselves falling off the cliff face … or maybe it’s a rude term for what was happening to my buttocks), and the suffocating sulphur fumes once we’d reached the summit. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting the fumes to be like, something else I hadn’t really thought through.

And then for me the best bit of the adventure, a one hour slide back down the volcano on our bums. Snow in every orifice by the bottom. Just another amazing, non neutral, South American experience. More photoshop pics here

Hasta luego

Beautiful Bariloche

Apologies in advance for the lack of smut and seediness in this post, but Bariloche really is incredibly beautiful.

As mentioned previously I escaped to Bariloche, in the middle of Patagonia, with my mate Pascoe, our bodies telling us an immediate detox was needed to prevent massive organ failure following Buenos Aires. And so we ‘planned’ three days of energetic physical activity, biking, hiking, and kayaking.

Day 1 was the biking, a 45 Km ride acerca los lagos y los bosques de Bariloche. Trust me, no excitement, just good healthy exercise and amazing scenery. If you’re still interested here are a few pics.

Day 2 was hiking, an 4 hour schlep to a frozen lake arriba Cerro Catedral. Still no excitement and more amazing views, although a fresh set of knees would have come in handy on the 1000 metre ascent. More ‘nice’ pics here.

Day 3 and ready for the kayaking. Well not exactly. Pascoe’s left knee had finally given out and he couldn’t move. What he doesn’t know is that I smashed it with a sledge hammer during the night, because my ailing body was in even worse shape. Of course I was very sympathetic and didn’t comment endlessly during the day about how my 46 year old body had lasted longer than his 29 year old version. You’ll be pleased to hear no pics to bore you with.

Hasta Luego

Escape from Buenos Aires

What can I say about Buenos Aires. I don’t think it’s well suited to the super organised, hyper efficient traveller like me. For example:

1. My 3 hour excursion to Pilar to watch polo ended in disaster because the train took so long the match had ended by the time I arrived. (No I didn’t check the timetable)
2. I delayed my bus out of BA so I could go to see the football match between River Plate and Arsenal on Thursday. It was while watching footy in the pub late on Wed evening I noticed the two teams on the TV were wearing the same kits as River and Arsenal. How dare they change the day without telling me?
3. Last Saturday I planned a day of sport, with the national polo championships in the morning, and Argentina vs Bolivia in the afternoon. When I arrived at the polo the kind lady at the box office kindly informed me that the match was actually in the afternoon at the same time as the footy.

Ahhhhh, get me out of here.

There were however a few successes. I did make it to the Argentina vs Bolvia game (organised by someone else of course), finally did get to see a polo match last Sunday, visited Eva Peron’s grave, and had a tour of the governor’s offices. Not bad for 10 days.

A few other nearly interesting statistics about Buenos Aires:
- Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz
- Annual rainfall: 950mm (37 inches)
- Total time I spent there: 10 days, 9 nights
- Earliest time to bed: 1.30 am
- Number of times leaving a club after 7am: 4
- Successful attempts to go sight seeing before midday: 1

1. I blame Ronen and Ruben

Thank goodness I’ve managed to escape to the tranquility of Bariloche in Patagonia, more of which later, but in the mean time comments please on this road sign spotted as the bus left town.

Hasta Luego

Buenos Aires by Carlos Pellegrini

It took a bit longer than expected to cover the 660 miles between Iguazu and Buenos Aires. Four days infact, but for once this was as planned.

Stopped off in Carlos Pelligrini to visit Los Esteros del Ibera a huge nature reserve, providing the oppotunity to infuse my body with a healthy dose of nature and reality, in readiness for the madness of Buenos Aires. Two excellent days of horse riding, boating on the marshes and walks.

1. I’m leading by an ‘ed

And so on to BA. The weekend of 10th November was proving to be a vortex for almost every traveller I had met over the last three months, and every conversation reiterated how crazy the Creamfields concert was going to be. I arrived on the Thursday before and immediately went to bed for the next 48 hours.

Saturday came and went, it’s Monday now, no idea what happened to Sunday, but I’m still alive. Yippee I’m still alive.

River Plate game this Thursday, back onto familiar and safer territory. I’m told there are museums, great architecture, and fantastic parks here too, but think I’ll save those for next visit.

Hasta Luego

Iguazu falls

So after 5 days of licking my wounds in Salta I finally left for Iguazu falls. Of course the trip was not without incident.

With a 12 hour lay over in Resistencia, I checked my rucksack into the left luggage office at the bus station and went to look around the not very interesting town. I’m sure the man assured me the office was open 24 hours, but when I returned for the midnight bus to Iguazu he was nowhere to be found and the office very locked. With 2 minutes to bus departure I eventually persuaded (with the help of a few pesos of course) one of the baggage handlers to break into the office and rescue mi mochila.

And so to the spectacular Iguazi.

1. Iguazu from a a speedboat moments before we plunged into one of the waterfalls. Please send new waterproof camera.

2. One of the many spectacular falls that combine to make up Iguazu

3. Even Victoria Falls gets a mention on the famous river Zambele. I wonder if that’s anywhere near the Zambezi.

Just one word of advice. If you go and visit the falls from the Brazilian side you must remember to ask the bus driver to stop at Brazilian immigration. Otherwise he continues straight through, and you find yourself in Brazil without any record of having entered.

If in this position I suggest you do your best to look like a local and use a local bus to cross the border. (Locals get waived through for some reason). This worked perfectly for me, but not so for the 3 fair skinned extranjeros sitting at the other end of the bus, and who I believe are just starting to get used to prison food. Very very squeaky bum time.

Next stop Buenos Aires and the Creamfields music festival this Saturday

Hasta Luego

Monumental cock up

I can only describe what followed the Uyuni trip as the most monumental cock in which I took my own incompetence to a new level. Since leaving Cusco nearly 20 days ago everything has been geared around getting to Salta, in Northern Argentina, by the 25th November for the start of the world acrobatic paragliding championships.

It was midday on Wed 24th November when I crossed the border from Bolivia into Chile at the end of the Uyuni trip. Wait, isn’t Chile a different country from Argentina? Well never mind San Pedro de Atacama is only 3 hours from the Argentine border, get the afternoon bus out of town and I’ll be in Salta by midnight.

Oh you mean the bus that only runs on Tue, Fri, and Sun. (Insert many expletives in many languages here)

Still travelling with Sandeep and Ruben, the three of us resigned ourselves to 2 days in San Pedro which I’m sure would have been fine had I not wished to be anywhere else but there. At least I’d still get to see Sat and Sun of the championships.

So we filled the days with visits to Valle de la Luna, Valle de la Muerte, and midnight sandboarding, eventually getting into Salta on Friday evening.

- A 7 am start on Sat to get the bus to the launch site of Dique Cabra Corral,
- Except the first bus arrived at 9.30, took 1.5 hours to get there and ……
- It was the wrong place. The launch site had been moved 30 mins back towards Salta.
- By 11:30 I had been dropped off by the bus driver at the correct place but ….
- Still faced a 1.5 mile walk down a country lane to the event site.

What excitement when I finally rounded the last bend, saw people milling about everywhere, and ran down to the landing zone just in time to catch …….. the **@*$@# PRIZE GIVING.

The competition was actually a day shorter than published on the web site, and due to a forecast of strong winds they’d stopped flying at midday on Sat.

I’m too upset to write more and will remain here in Salta until I love the world again.

Hasta luego

3 days in Uyuni

To recap, I left Peru a while back, got stuck in La Paz for a few days, did a 3 day tour of the pampas of Northern Bolivia, before returning to La Paz to organise this 3 day tour of the Salar de Uyuni.

The tour strated in the town of Uyuni a very uncomfortable 12 hour bus ride South of La Paz. At least we could pass the time by watching the excellent Police Dog 2 on the bus’ TV screens.

The next 3 days were spent in the back of a Toyota Land Cruiser with 4 other extranjeros, our guide, and his wife who did all the cooking. (Natural order resumed). In total we covered something like 700 miles but in some truly spectacular terrain.

Much easier to tell the story through pictures. Click on the link for each day below.

Day 1: Arrival in Uyuni and a day in the salt desert

Day 2: Real desert, rock forest, lava forest, and Laguna Colorado

Day 3: Geysers, Laguna Verde, thermal baths and into Chile

Hasta luego

Back in La Paz after the pampas

Continuning the animal theme from the pampus, below is a typical zebra crossing in La Paz. Yup, the crossings really are manned by people dressed up in zebra costumes. I just wish they had pelican crossings too.

Hasta luego

Birthday bash in Bolivia bush

The choices for getting to Bolivia’s jungle are a 20 hour bus ride or 50 minutes by plane. Easy, plane it was and this time I remembered to buy a fully flexible return ticket. How disappointing then, as due to extreme thunderstorms inRurrenabaque the plane didn’t actually take off for another 48 hours.

Still FAB 92, a little Fokker, eventually left La Paz and so started the 3 day Pampas tour. We were told the camp was remote, but 1 hour by plane, 3 hours by jeep, and finally 3.5 hours by motorised canoe. Now that’s remote.

For three days we endured the daily trudge of dawn awakenings, jungle walks, anaconda wrestling, and swimming with pink dolphins. Noagua caliente though. It’s a hard life.

I’ll leave these photos to tell the fuller story

Hasta Luego