Argentina and Chile are the best places to hike, with breathtaking views, jagged mountain peaks and sapphire blue lakes. I’ve made it to Torres del Paine, hiking the infamous “W” trail before it snowed the next day. I’ve hiked the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina with crampons (special shoes for ice hiking). I’ve hiked and seen Cerro Fitz Roy in the cutest mountain town of El Chalten. I’ve wondered aimlessly around the 7 lakes of Barriloche, Argentina. I’ve seen the highest peak of the Western and Southern Hemispheres, standing at 6959 meters (22,841 feet). I’ve tasted amazing wine from the Mendoza region. I visited an observatory with a telescope measuring 40cm, enough to see Saturn and it’s rings, along with Mars and the full moon. I’ve rafted rivers, ziplined, practiced yoga and meditated. It’s been truly a unique and wonderful experience!
However, along with all of these mesmerizing and incredible sights comes many hours on buses. Throughout this amazing experience, I’ve traveled close over 100 hours via “autobus”. One that comes to mind, is the 25 hour bus ride from El Chalten to El Bolson. We left at 4am on a Friday morning, therefore getting very little sleep. The bus was supposed to have “service” meaning breakfast and dinner. We were in a regular bus with limited reclining seats. Breakfast consisted of 4 crackers and 2 of the teeniest cookies I’ve ever seen. We stopped a couple of times for “food” but the gas station only housed chips, cookies and ice cream. We were in the middle of literally nowhere. If anyone knows that area, they can concur, there are no towns/cities/pueblos in between. The bus was overheating, so every 30 minutes or so, we had to stop to pour water in the engine. They couldn’t get the temperature right, so it was either blasting heat (during an already sunny and hot day) or absolutely freezing at night (when temps can reach down in the 30’s). I had my gloves, hat and 2 coats on and was still freezing. I had to cuddle up to the person next to me to get some body heat - hey we all have to survive one way or another! We stopped at one point, trying to get more water in the engine and as I looked out the window, I saw some sort of power plant or chemical plant or something. There, hanging on the fence, was a filleted dead rabbit upside down. People were taking photos, as it was disgusting. But then a local man came over and started rubbing the rabbit fur with both hands, making an odd noise. The “service men” on our bus, looked like characters in a horror film, slightly deformed and grunted instead of speaking to us. We were not informed of any timing as to when we were going to get there, let alone what was for dinner. Which was, by the way, processed slices of ham and white bread. Nice and healthy for a vegetarian. I basically ate crackers and opened a much needed bottle of wine for the duration of the ride.
As we arrived to the destination, it was 4am the next day. I got off the bus with 7 others. No one had thought ahead enough to make reservations for a hostel/hotel, so we wandered the dark, empty streets trying to find something that was open. After 2 hours of carrying 40lbs of stuff on my back, I finally made the decision to take a taxi to the nearest hotel that had 24 hour reception, which was ironically the place I had been recommended to. 4 others huddled in an ATM room to keep warm before their bed and breakfast opened at 8am and come to find out, they got kicked out by the police and escorted to a cafe. I, on the other hand, was with 2 Australian guys and an Israeli. We were warm on the couch, next to a fire, eating a home cooked breakfast, which seemed like heaven after the hellish last 26 hours.
We all seemed to bond right away after that horrid bus ride. We spent the next 3 days hiking through various rock formations, rivers, waterfalls, while eating homemade chocolate and drinking local cervezas (beer). It was a great little town. I traveled with the OZ guys for the next 2 weeks, exploring more trails, mountains, lakes and wine tastings. The 3 of us got along great! It was nice to spend some time traveling with the same people, versus meeting new folks at each town and having the same “Where are you from, where are you going, how long have you been traveling?” conversation.
Mendoza, Argentina has a wonderful small city vibe to it. It parties all night and since the sun doesn’t rise til 8am, the parties go that long, if not longer! People sleep all day, drink wine for lunch, and siesta til about 6pm. Then it’s dinner and more wine til they hit the dance floor around 2am. Argentina reminds me a lot of Greece in the way of the relaxed and party schedule.
I had a choice to continue on with Argentina and go north then over to Iguazu Falls then Buenos Aires and spend a ton of money (it’s not a cheap country) OR continue up north to Bolivia and Peru where it’s much more economical. I chose to go up north.
I’m in a small village in the Elqui Valley about 2000 meters high, surrounded by the Andes 360 degrees around me. It’s the smallest village without even a bank or supermarket. However, it does have a church, school and soccer field. I’ve seen countless tiny villages and trust me, those 3 items constitutes a community. ;) Because of it’s location, it’s one of the best places in the world to view the stars (limited light pollution). I went to an observatory and saw constellations, the full moon and even Saturn!! It was really cool. It’s trippy to see how little and insignificant we really are in this world...
All this travel - sleeping in numerous beds and buses, meeting loads of international people, learning many cultures and seeing places that many others will never see, is quite humbling and for that I feel forever grateful. However, there’s one thing that will always be missing and it grows stronger as time passes...friends, family, home. When this trip is over, I will look forward to sleeping in my OWN firm, down feather bed (not a cheap, thin mattress) and drink my OWN dark roasted coffee (not nescafe) and shower in my OWN good pressured, hot shower (not a cold drip) and drink wine with my OWN true and cherished friends. I miss the laughs and experiences of a simple “home” life. I will cherish those even more after being gone for 2 years...
On the other hand, It’s been quite a pleasant experience. Today I’m taking another 21 hour bus ride up to a surf town called Iquique, Chile (very north) to paraglide, meet some surfers and lay on the beach for a couple of days. From there, it’s San Pedro (the driest desert in the world) for amazing sunsets and hiking and then crossing into Bolivia to see the infamous Salt Flats. I have several friends in Bolivia that I will meet up with after the Salt Flats to continue this incredible journey.
Lots of love...
No comments:
Post a Comment