Back to "Real Life"

So it's been one week since I arrived back in the states. After Jer left, I spent my last day in Buenos Aires doing a whole lot of people-watching, eating, and time-killing. I even went to a movie in the afternoon. I definitely could have explored more of the city, but I felt that my world traveler hunger had been satiated and I was ready to return to the world of the familiar. After so much guidebook reading, bus riding, hostel reserving, etc etc, I was ready to go home, eat a huge burrito, and relax in my La-Z-Boy. The trip was the perfect length, since I just started to feel all of this at the very end.

Looking back on the trip as a whole, I am simply amazed at how well it all went. I'm really proud of how Jer and I managed to "improv" so much of the trip, yet still see everything that we wanted to. We connected the dots between cities that seemed un-connectable, endured countless hours of bus rides, and hiked for miles through rough terrain. All of this we did together, and not once during the whole month did we ever get sick of each other! That's pretty rare to have a friend like that, andI feel so lucky to have had such a great travel companion.

I've had some mild culture shock over the last week. Adjusting to the office life has been a challenge--mostly the "sitting still" part. However, I am really happy to be back. Gabriel García Márquez summed up my feeling pretty well in his poem "Viajar". Below is the last stanza, with my translation after.

Viajar es marcharse de casa,

es vestirse de loco,

diciendo todo y nada

con una postal.

Es dormir en otra cama,

sentir que el iempo es corto.

¡Viajar es regresar!

To travel is to leave the house,
to dress crazily,
saying everything and nothing
with a post card.
To sleep in another bed,
to feel that time is short.
To travel is to return!

Indeed, the returning (and reflecting) part is really what makes the travel experience so wonderful.

--Dave

P.S. A small subset of the 2200+ pictures that Jer and I took are now online here: http://picasaweb.google.com/argentinadventure

Frozen Toes

My toes just about froze as I walked up the jet bridge yesterday wearing my chacos. Buenos Aires to Denver, quite an extreme change. Although it was sunny, it was about 2 degrees. Apparently, here in Colorado the snow has not stopped since I left. We've had several storms and no warm weather like we usually do to melt all of the snow. So the roads are all bumpy with left over ice and snow and all I want to do is drink tea and stay in bed. Speaking of bed, I finally got to sleep in my own bed last night. I love travel for all of the amazing adventures it brings, as well as the appreciation you gain of the simplest things like sleeping in your own bed. I also had good pizza yesterday, something I was also missing in Argentina.

Getting here was almost as fun as getting to Argentina. After the first day of trying to fly out on standby, it became very clear that I wouldn't be getting out for several weeks. So I bought another ticket, this time to Toronto for Friday night. That was one of the best decisions because then Dave and I had one more stress free day together in Argentina. We stayed at a nice place near the hotel, had yummy food, dropped our stuff off at the airport in the morning, and headed into town. We went to La Boca, an area of town with bright and colorful buildings and lots of tango dancers trying to get tourists' money. There was also quite a bit of good, cheap shopping where we found things we had been looking for all month. I found a skirt and fell in love instantly. Dave asked the shop owner if I could try it on by dancing in it. So we did a bit of Lindy to tango music in the middle of this little shopping area, and I knew I had to have it. While I was getting my things together, Dave sneakily purchased the skirt for me. What a wonderful friend I have. :) We took a city bus over to San Telmo and had a nice lunch, and then headed back to the airport.

We made our goodbye as quick and painless as possible and I headed to my plane. I had terribly mixed feelings the entire way back home. I was sad our time in Argentina was over, sad I wouldn't be hanging out with Dave all the time, but also happy to be going home with all of indescribable memories we had created over the past month. Thanks to all of you for your comments and your good thoughts for our travels. May we all have many opportunities like this in our lives...

Lakes, Chocolate, and Dulce de Leche

Sorry for the long space in between blogs for those of you who have been living vicariously through our vacation. We are currently in yet another small touristy (yet not obnoxiously so) town called San Martin de los Andes on a blustery summer day. Beginning in Bariloche, this town marks the end of the famous "Seven Lakes Route", a beautiful and very dusty stretch of road that snakes through some of Argentina's most beautiful lakes and mountains. Along the way from Bariloche, we stopped to camp at Lago Espejo. Although this campground was full of families and sounds of construction, we were lucky enough to find a trail to our own lake. Lago Correntoso was a mere 20 minutes through the forest, but seemed like a million miles away.

There was a small beach, just the right size for 2 blankets, and a perfect swimming area. The water was a little icy at first, but we quickly got used to it with the hot sun blaring down on us (really, we're not TRYING to flaunt our opposite hemisphere weather). The top of Dave's head got a little burned, but he certainly wasn't complaining at the end of the day.

After spending a few more hours on the seven lakes route, we arrived in San Martin and followed Lonely Planet's advice for dinner: a cute little restaurant called "Pura Vida" specializing in vegetarian cuisine. As Dave told the owner, it was heaven in the form of food. It surpassed any other eating experience of the trip. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere enhanced every bite. Gabriella, our waitress and the restaurant owner, radiated positive energy and was completely present with each table she was working. When we told her how much we loved the food, she brought out the chef, who insisted that it was a group effort. We promised to come back the following day because I really wanted to try the quiche that had been recommended in my guide book. We went back for lunch so we could once again enjoy the atmosphere, the food, and company of Gabriella. She greeted us with smiles a kiss on the cheek. It was the first time Dave and I had been recognized and welcomed into a place in Argentina-what an amazing feeling! Lunch proved to be just as spectacular as dinner and the chocolate mousse and icecream with fruit sauce topped it off. As we left, Gabriella hugged us, wished us well, and gave me a little candle as a parting gift.

Our plans to go to the hot springs changed as the bus schedule was not condusive to our time schedule. Also, we found out that the trail leading to the hot springs was a four hour trek through a poorly marked path. We decided to leave the rough trekking back in Torres del Paine and choose something easy. Instead, we took a pleasant boat ride to a campground on Lago Lacar. It was quite windy and dusty, but beautiful nonetheless.

Tonight is our last bus ride of the trip, back to Bariloche. Tomorrow, we are keeping our fingers crossed for low winds so that we can go Paragliding. If not, perhaps a snorkel in the lake will be in order. On Thursday, we fly back to Buenos Aires. Hard to believe that almost a month has gone by!

Sitting, sitting, and more sitting...

Greetings from Bariloche, Argentina! Jer and I just arrived this afternoon, and we're anxiously awaiting the "siesta" hour to be over so that we can grab some dinner from a well-reccomended Mexican place around the corner (yeah, I know we're not in Mexico but we're REALLY craving a burrito!) We've spent the better part of the last two days sitting on a bus, as it's quite a long way from Puerto Natales to here, and all the flights were really expensive. Luckily, we broke up the trip into two legs of about 16-17 hours each, separated by a long afternoon in Puerto Madryn, a beautiful beachside town with the first warm weather we've felt in awhile.

Tomorrow we're hoping to do some paragliding around the spectacular mountains and lakes around here, then hit the trails the next day, camping out along the "Seven Lakes Route" and arriving at a small town called San Martin de los Andes, which has some great natural hot springs (the perfect way to relax after a few days of trekking).

In one of Jer's last posts, she mentioned our last day in Torres del Paine, and I wanted to add some comments to that. We were both exhausted after 5 days of hiking on the "W" route, and the last part of the journey was an hour-long knee-popping scramble up a very steep bouldery hill to a lookout point for the famed "Torres" which the park is named after. The torres are giant granite towers that were thrust upwards some 8,000 feet a long long time ago, and are simply breathtaking to see in person. As much as I've seen pictures like this one, there really is nothing like seeing them through anything other than your own eyes.



Jer noticed a certain "twinkle" in my eye, and snapped this photo of me, which I think deserves the photo of the year award. Look closely at my eye, and then look at the close-up picture below....


Can you see the torres reflected in my eye? (Click the photo to see it enlarged even more)


Anyway, we're very happy to be in Bariloche, partly for the nature and partly because of its famed status as the chocolate capital of South America. Also, we scored a cheap return flight to Buenos Aires next week on an airline called LADE, run by the Argentine military.

That's all for now... drop us a line and give us an update on what's new with you!

The W

The main question when entering Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is are you doing the circuit or the w? With time and physical ability considerations, we decided to do the w. The park is huge and is accessible in many different ways. The w is a series of paths that resemble a w in the center of the park. You may be able to see some of the campgrounds and areas mentioned in this map, sorry it´s not a great one.

We both consider ourselves very lucky in many ways with this trip. First of all, we were told it would be very crowded and because it was high season, we would not have tre trail to ourselves. However, we had many opportunities when we didn´t cross another person for a couple of hours. Also, the weather cooperated with us every step of the way. On the glacier the guides said it was usually windy and cloudy, but we had a calm sunny day. It rained in the middle of the trip, which was probably the best time for it to rain. Then we had clear sunny skies through the valley and up to the Torres and saw the most spectacular sunset.

Day 1

On Christmas morning, we had an early breakfast and took a 2 and a half hour bus ride to the park. We then took a catamaran ride with incredible views of the park across to Pehoe where our hike began. After several readjustments to the pack (mainly Dave taking a lot of my weight), we were on our way. Our first spotting of Glacier Grey astounded us and we had to stop to take it all in. The glacier, the lake, and windblown trees kept our eyes busy on the way to our first campground. We arrived to find a little cove by the lake with several tents set up on the sand. We set up camp, made some slimy pasta, listened to some Christmas music on my ipod, and went to bed.

Day 2

What is svelty you may have asked? The moment you've been waiting for has arrived... Our breakfasts consisted of instant oatmeal that we had mixed with svelty, or dried milk, and some dried peaches or pears. Day 2 was glacier day, as I have given more details about already. What an amazing experience. After the glacier tour, we played a game of speed scrabble in the refugio (some of the campgounds had these buildings where they had overpriced food and places to sleep). Then we munched down some totellini to get rid of the weight of the pasta sauce.

Day 3

Of course we started the day with oatmeal and svelty. We headed back down to Pehoe from Grey through some tough winds. Luckily, the sights were still beautiful. We then headed to the next part of the w up towards Italiano. The walk was gorgeous as we had views of lakes of different colors of blue the entire way. When we arrived at Italiano, we found a lovely campsite under a tree. It was pretty rainy throughout the evening and into the night, and we were glad to have a nice tent. Dinner consisted of some really nasty instant rice. I tried to cover the flavor with green pepper and cheese and Dave added some sausage and cheese to his. We were tired, wet, and very ready for bed.

Day 4

Good morning svelty! Although it was still rainy (and continued through most of the day) we decided to hike up to Britanico. It was a steep and rocky climb along a river with views of the mountains and glacier when they decided to peak though the clouds and fog. When we got about half way to a lookout over the lake in one direction and the mountains in the other, we were told it was icky further on. We decided to it in the wind and snow/rain for a few minutes and take it in and then headed back down. We packed up and headed to Campground Cuernos. It rained off and on, but the views were still incredible. We found a nice cozy site for our tent, made some dinner and ate inside the refugio to get out of the drizzle. We splurged and got a bottle of wine and then headed back to the tent. Thanks to the wine, I had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and when I did I saw the southern cross! It was cold and rainy outside, but well worth the effort!

Day 5

Early early wake up of 5:15 to get on the trail before the "crowds" hit. We only saw a couple of people for the first couple hours. We stopped at a river to make our breakfast and have a nice break. The weather cooperated perfectly. The hike from Cuernos to Refugio Chileno was spectacular. A lot of the walk was through a valley that was surrounded by turquiose lakes, green roling hills, snow capped mountains, and beautiful flowers. Part of this hike was rather steep, but because we had started early, we had plenty of time for little stops. We stopped at the regugio for a coke, which jolted me for the remaining hour and a half to our campsite. We eventually got to the site, set up our tent after airing it out a bit, and had a snack. Then it was off to the Torres, according to the signs it was only another 45 minutes. However, due to my muscles giving out on me, it took quite a bit longer. It took a lot of encouragement from Dave to get me to the top, but once we were there it was incredible. Dave´s entry later will be more detailed about this day, as it was certainly a major highlight of the trip. Around 9:00 we made it back to the tent and fell quickly asleep.

Day 6

The day started with neither one of us wanting to get out of our sleeping bags as we were both very cold. Instead, we planned what we would eat when we got back to the land of non dehydrated foods. The prospect of a hot shower, yummy food, and a nice warm bed eventualy motivated us to get going. We made it back down the mountain through some drizzle. We felt so bad for the people on their way up as their views were nothing like what we had had the day before. We crossed the finish line, had some ice cream and some lunch and waited to be transported out of the park.

Our trip to Torres del Paine achieved 2 outcomes. We had an intense outdoor experience, enjoying all the beauty that nature has to offer. And it made us appreciate the day to day commodities such as good food, showers, and comfy beds.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Rewinding a little, just wanted to share a story from Christmas eve. We had plans to depart for Torres del Paine on Christmas Day, but nothing to do the night before. We overheard some people in the hostel talking about making a big dinner, and Jer asked if we could contribute anything and join in.

The main course was a giant locally-caught king crab, which we already knew would be delicious from our culinary adventures in Ushuaia. We figured that some salmon would be a nice accompaniment, so we followed a recommendation and checked out an old woman's little seafood shop around the corner.

We were in luck! We bought a kilo and a half of beautiful salmon for about ten bucks and a few bottles of wine from the market next door. Like a bunch of busy bees, we all went to work in the kitchen. Jerica chopped up ingredients for a roasted mixed veggie dish, and I minced garlic for about half an hour straight (thanks to my roommate Mike for making me a garlic-a-holic). I fried up the salmon in some olive oil with a little salt, pepper, oregano, and a whole lotta garlic. The king crab came out delicious, the veggies were super tasty, and the salmon was a hit! The whole experience was great, as we spent several hours cooking in the kitchen with our new friends, drinking wine, and (eventually) dining together. One of the women at dinner, Claudia, had baked a whole bunch of German-style sugar cookies which she shared with all of us. Jerica told her about how her grandmother used to bake cookies like that, and how it made her so happy to be eating them. She told Claudia "you made my Christmas!" Claudia was so happy to hear that, and we heard her repeat those words to her friend later with a big smile on her face.

For dessert, we had apple-filled empanadas, chocolate ice cream cake (with a melted dark chocolate topping thanks to Jer who graciously donated a huge chocolate bar from her stash). It was a true "hostel" experience of travelers gathering together like close friends before parting ways the next day.

ice age 3

Our hostel friend, Andy, gave us great advice about the park. One thing he mentioned was the glacier trip, which we decided we would like to do. The first day of the trek, we hiked to the campground by Lago Grey and signed up for the trip the following day. The next morning we were glad we had signed up before because there were a few people waiting and hoping that someone wouldn´t show up. Our guides gave us our packs which were equiped with crampons, a harness, a mug, a chocolate bar and a cereal bar.
We hopped on the smaller motor boat that took us out to the boat. The boat ride took about 45 minutes and took us past large pieces of the glacier that had fallen off and close to the face of the glacier. There is an island in the middle of the face of Glacier Grey that creates 2 very different looking appearances. On one side the face was sharp and jagged, which would have been like the white water of a river. The other side was more like rounded rolling hills, the eddy of the river. Big pieces of ice fell off as we were passing; it was the most incredible sound. We handed Dave´s little digital camera that I had been using to a woman to take our picture. She turned to us to see how to use the zoom, and the camera fell out of her hands. In slow motion, the camera bounced on the upper deck of the boat where we were standing and slid towards the edge. There was a chorus of gasps from everyone, including us. Unfortuntely, it appeared that the lens had been bent, and I was unable to take pictures for the rest of the trip unless I borrowed Dave´s camera. Fortunatly, on the bus on the way out of the park 4 days later, Dave was able to fix the camera. If only we could tell the woman who dropped it that she didn´t break it. So that put a short damper on our trip out to the glacier. Thankfully, Dave is always a positive person, and was able to put the disaster behind us.
We took the little boat to the edge of the glacier and climbed up on the rocks. Our guides gave us a quick intro to the glacier and helped us into our crampons. Stepping out onto the glacier was incredible- we had perfectly sunny beautiful weather and the glacier seemed to go on forever. The beginning of the walk got my heart beating very quickly when I looked down into some of the crevaces that were extremely steep. However, most of the walk was along a more rolling landscape. There were beautiful bright blue streams that meandered through the glacier. We learned about erratic rocks (also the name of our hostel here in Puerto Natales). If I understood correctly, a small rock gets thrown up to the top of the glacier and the sun warms it, which causes it to melt a small hole through the glacier. With the help of the sun and the intense winds, these holes grow bigger and bigger and make a moulin, a deep hole in the glacier. Pretty interesting stuff. We also got to go into a small cave in the glacier. At the end of our trek, the guides rigged the ropes on a wall of ice and we had the opportunity to climb. I struggled at first, but once I got a rhythm down, I loved it! I can´t wait to try it again.

(when you get to the top, you have to kiss the caribeener, or else you have to kiss the guy who's holding your rope when you get back down... and i forget what he's called... but it's a funny saying)

We really enjoyed our day out on the glacier. I kept thinking maybe we´d see the little guy from ice age, searching for his little morsel of food.

Dave filling up a cup of delicious glacier water.

more updates to come... for now we have to figure out where to go next!