Posted 10 March 2007
We left Coyhaique early by the arranged transfer minibus. It took about an hour to complete all its pickups, by which time some of the passengers must have been thinking they had been forgotten. The ferry time turned out to be 10am as we had observed from the timetable, though our ticket said 9am. We rushed on to get a seat in the upstairs cabin - fearing a repeat of the cold trip over - but need not have been too concerned for it was warm compared with last time. Deidre who had watched the weather had said that the temperatures had suddenly dropped 10 C, so that obviously explained the cold spell. Transfer Minibuses were waiting at the other side in Chile Chico and took us back through the border posts and on to Los Antiguous in Argentine.
Los Antiguous like nearby Chile Chico had been severely damaged by earthquake in 1991 and looked almost entirely new. We checked in El Argentino for 100A or 17K and to get a basic double room with very comfortable beds, the next night we moved to join friends in Pallida which was 25A or 4K for a bed in a dorm. El Viento a brand new restaurant specialised in two forms of Tapas, Combo1 and Combo 2, the first Spanish with lots of dried ham (what a wonderful change from the usual rubbish) the second Italian featuring good Salami. No-one with any sense comes to this part of the world for the quality of the food (especially Chile because you have to exclude Argentinian beef), though the house wines on both sides of the border are excellent.
Our new friends were Jeffrey and Pilla Liebhilde, the name her father created for her. She was born in Germany of American parents who moved to America at the end of the war. She got the worst of both worlds as a young girl, being the American enemy in Germany during the war and the Hitler girl in America afterwards. Jeffrey, the self declared baby of the group was 56, he had married Pilla 21 years earlier by which time she had 5 children from a previous marriage - quite a brave move. They had both worked for the Post Office and he took early retirement when Pilla retired. Since then they had traveled the world making one trip of 6 to 8 months each year. Their travel quite eclipses our own. Though that is precisely what we envisaged doing when we finished work in extremely fit condition - not dreaming of the rheumatoid arthritis and back injuries which lay around the corner for Joan. Last year they spent 8 months in Austria, Greece, Turkey Egypt, Jordan and Israel. They were obviously particularly thrilled by Turkey, Egypt and Cairo, and the old city of Bethlehem. Their other recommendation was the far southern tip of India , which we have thought about for some time.
They seem to travel extremely light with rear opening rucksacks ( shaped like conventional cases), but carry about a dozen books which would seem to up the density and mislead the onlooker. Over the years since Joan stopped back packing we have cut down a lot, it seems we have more to go - though I have not established where we are in excess, for instance we both carry a pair of shoes in addition to walking boots and four pairs of trousers (normally I have three but but this year have an extra lined pair to deal with the cold). They do not carry towels. Jeff in particular studies his destinations in advance, like us with special interest in old civilisations, Joan does but I must admit to learning on the hoof, but paying more attention to how to get around.
In this respect this part of the world is a nightmare, we haven´t finished weaving from Chile to Argentine because it is inevitable if traveling overland due to the idiotic borders. These two countries do not like each other. Whilst Chile was concentrating on winning territory from Peru in the north Argentina was a doing the same in the south. El Chalten, which by common consent amongst the backpackers seems to be the finest trekking location in the south, was only claimed by Argentina as recently as 1985 when they set up a same military garrison here just to claim the disputed territory. Now it a rapidly growing tourist centre with wonderful trekking into the mountains including Mount Fitzroy (nearly 4000m), named after the Beagle´s captain. Darwin was most definitely here. There are now plans to develop it as a winter resort as well. Just 500 people live here out of the season, when several thousand others appear.
If anyone doubts the basic geographical fact that there is a wet side and a dry side to mountain ranges then they should come here. Chile is beautifully green, covered in trees, very windy at times and with lots of rain but beautiful ever changing skies , though we seem to have missed most of the rain. In contrast Argentina is dry, barren (the pampas is only one slight step removed from desert and that by vegetation with the appearance of long dead sticks) but it is markedly and instead the skies tend to be a boring! plain blue.
The desert here does support families of graceful guanacos (think Bambi), also Rheas a sort of Ostrich. The only other life we saw in 14 hours of bumpy bus riding from Perito Moreno was an Armadillo, the bus driver spotted him, stopped the bus and caught him by the tail - the way to make sure he continues to show himself as he attempts to run away rather than disappear into his armoured shell- two small flocks of sheep, and a group of three horses.
Jeffrey told us that the armadilla is the ikon of Austin Texas where they now live. A third friend shares their house and looks after it whilst they are away and instead of rent he pays the household bills. A fine sounding arrangement.
Today it is cloudy and on the point of rain but we have just had four quite superb days. Two were in Los Antiguous where we did little except talk non stop to Jeffrey having found out that the Chalten Ruta 40 bus for El Chalten in fact starts here. Though we now regret missing out on our intended visit to the UNESCO Cuevas de Los Manos which we could have include by moving on to Perito Moreno. Argentina is by far the more aggressive of the two countries and they can obviously see the importance of wooing tourists south overland (backpackers and motorists) from Coyhaique.
The route south may be bumpy ripio road at the moment but they are developing a new tarmac parallel road which will be complete in a few years and will turn this route into a major tourist path. If it was China then it would be ready for the next tourist season if it was Chile then perhaps for the next generation of tourists. By common consent of the ex-pats working here Chile is going nowhere fast ( but then that is part of its charm). The bus had the same strange mixture of backpackers as before, under thirties and over fifty fives, mostly staying in dormitories. There´s no doubt the oldies are beginning to travel independently - we no longer feel alone.
We shared a room in Los Antigous with a young Frenchman who was surprised when we knew his home area of Poitou Charente, even more surprised when we knew Argenton Chateau very near Bressuire, where he is now studying Agriculture. For his 6 month Stage he had the option of doing it in France or traveling abroad, he chose Argentina - the green fertile area (Mendoza) west of Buenos Aires. It´s a small world for Anne-Marie comes from the same region and her first home with Jim was in Bressuire.
When we arrived in El Chalten at 11pm we had to search
for a hotel, most of which were already full. In desperation I went into a
restaurant which was just closing, who phoned around and found us a room
at a new hotel nearby, though for 200A or 33K double what we have been
spending in Argentina. Like most buildings in Argentina it is built of masonry, (unlike Chile where everything is wooden even to the roof
tiles) but clad internally by rustic trunk work fitted and shaped by an
artistic craftsman, which makes it attractively different to most modern
hotels. We have an excellent large room which will no doubt be even
more pricey when it gets better known - but a very average breakfast and
are once again seeing how little contact there is in a hotel full of
motorists all traveling around encapsulated in their steel boxes.
Yesterday was a fabulous day for hiking but unfortunately we missed out. Joan developed a severe chest infection suddenly followed by, rather than preceded by as usual, a head cold. The result was that she could not lie down without coughing and coupled with the severe diarrhea which we both contracted courtesy of the restaurant in our 5 star hotel she did not sleep or eat properly for two nights. (We observed an American diner of the first night who took nothing but water on his trip to San Rafael). Last night however she slept well and we are hoping the worst is over, although the diarrhea does keep reappearing.
We are hoping for a nice day tomorrow, so she can venture out of the hotel, and for a chance to do some hiking before we leave this wonderful mountain location. We expected the south to be cold, it is after all sitting on by far the biggest non polar ice field in the world, but the temperature here at the moment is perfect. As I finish at 3pm the sun is shining again, but the wind is still howling. Wind strength here is a hazard for hikers and especially climbers.
The less said about our 5 nights at El Chalten the better. Joan was ill with a very severe chest infection the whole time, not helped by severe diarrhoea. In addition with the exception of the beautiful first day, it was very cold, very windy, and with the continual threat of rain. Leaving by bus at 6am in the morning 55A was a treat to watch the sunrise. I was inspired to muse on a theme which may be familiar to some. ´´As the good bus Chalten humped slowly towards Calafate in the cold grey light of the South American dawn a character was seen sitting on a pile of coats wrapped in awe as the snow covered phosphorescent rugged peaks behind changed from cold silver to warm pink. Beagle that man to me said Fitzroy - now said the captain how do you come to be sitting on a pile of coats´.
Complete the story yourself - No prizes!
We left Coyhaique early by the arranged transfer minibus. It took about an hour to complete all its pickups, by which time some of the passengers must have been thinking they had been forgotten. The ferry time turned out to be 10am as we had observed from the timetable, though our ticket said 9am. We rushed on to get a seat in the upstairs cabin - fearing a repeat of the cold trip over - but need not have been too concerned for it was warm compared with last time. Deidre who had watched the weather had said that the temperatures had suddenly dropped 10 C, so that obviously explained the cold spell. Transfer Minibuses were waiting at the other side in Chile Chico and took us back through the border posts and on to Los Antiguous in Argentine.
Los Antiguous like nearby Chile Chico had been severely damaged by earthquake in 1991 and looked almost entirely new. We checked in El Argentino for 100A or 17K and to get a basic double room with very comfortable beds, the next night we moved to join friends in Pallida which was 25A or 4K for a bed in a dorm. El Viento a brand new restaurant specialised in two forms of Tapas, Combo1 and Combo 2, the first Spanish with lots of dried ham (what a wonderful change from the usual rubbish) the second Italian featuring good Salami. No-one with any sense comes to this part of the world for the quality of the food (especially Chile because you have to exclude Argentinian beef), though the house wines on both sides of the border are excellent.
Our new friends were Jeffrey and Pilla Liebhilde, the name her father created for her. She was born in Germany of American parents who moved to America at the end of the war. She got the worst of both worlds as a young girl, being the American enemy in Germany during the war and the Hitler girl in America afterwards. Jeffrey, the self declared baby of the group was 56, he had married Pilla 21 years earlier by which time she had 5 children from a previous marriage - quite a brave move. They had both worked for the Post Office and he took early retirement when Pilla retired. Since then they had traveled the world making one trip of 6 to 8 months each year. Their travel quite eclipses our own. Though that is precisely what we envisaged doing when we finished work in extremely fit condition - not dreaming of the rheumatoid arthritis and back injuries which lay around the corner for Joan. Last year they spent 8 months in Austria, Greece, Turkey Egypt, Jordan and Israel. They were obviously particularly thrilled by Turkey, Egypt and Cairo, and the old city of Bethlehem. Their other recommendation was the far southern tip of India , which we have thought about for some time.
They seem to travel extremely light with rear opening rucksacks ( shaped like conventional cases), but carry about a dozen books which would seem to up the density and mislead the onlooker. Over the years since Joan stopped back packing we have cut down a lot, it seems we have more to go - though I have not established where we are in excess, for instance we both carry a pair of shoes in addition to walking boots and four pairs of trousers (normally I have three but but this year have an extra lined pair to deal with the cold). They do not carry towels. Jeff in particular studies his destinations in advance, like us with special interest in old civilisations, Joan does but I must admit to learning on the hoof, but paying more attention to how to get around.
In this respect this part of the world is a nightmare, we haven´t finished weaving from Chile to Argentine because it is inevitable if traveling overland due to the idiotic borders. These two countries do not like each other. Whilst Chile was concentrating on winning territory from Peru in the north Argentina was a doing the same in the south. El Chalten, which by common consent amongst the backpackers seems to be the finest trekking location in the south, was only claimed by Argentina as recently as 1985 when they set up a same military garrison here just to claim the disputed territory. Now it a rapidly growing tourist centre with wonderful trekking into the mountains including Mount Fitzroy (nearly 4000m), named after the Beagle´s captain. Darwin was most definitely here. There are now plans to develop it as a winter resort as well. Just 500 people live here out of the season, when several thousand others appear.
If anyone doubts the basic geographical fact that there is a wet side and a dry side to mountain ranges then they should come here. Chile is beautifully green, covered in trees, very windy at times and with lots of rain but beautiful ever changing skies , though we seem to have missed most of the rain. In contrast Argentina is dry, barren (the pampas is only one slight step removed from desert and that by vegetation with the appearance of long dead sticks) but it is markedly and instead the skies tend to be a boring! plain blue.
The desert here does support families of graceful guanacos (think Bambi), also Rheas a sort of Ostrich. The only other life we saw in 14 hours of bumpy bus riding from Perito Moreno was an Armadillo, the bus driver spotted him, stopped the bus and caught him by the tail - the way to make sure he continues to show himself as he attempts to run away rather than disappear into his armoured shell- two small flocks of sheep, and a group of three horses.
Jeffrey told us that the armadilla is the ikon of Austin Texas where they now live. A third friend shares their house and looks after it whilst they are away and instead of rent he pays the household bills. A fine sounding arrangement.
Today it is cloudy and on the point of rain but we have just had four quite superb days. Two were in Los Antiguous where we did little except talk non stop to Jeffrey having found out that the Chalten Ruta 40 bus for El Chalten in fact starts here. Though we now regret missing out on our intended visit to the UNESCO Cuevas de Los Manos which we could have include by moving on to Perito Moreno. Argentina is by far the more aggressive of the two countries and they can obviously see the importance of wooing tourists south overland (backpackers and motorists) from Coyhaique.
The route south may be bumpy ripio road at the moment but they are developing a new tarmac parallel road which will be complete in a few years and will turn this route into a major tourist path. If it was China then it would be ready for the next tourist season if it was Chile then perhaps for the next generation of tourists. By common consent of the ex-pats working here Chile is going nowhere fast ( but then that is part of its charm). The bus had the same strange mixture of backpackers as before, under thirties and over fifty fives, mostly staying in dormitories. There´s no doubt the oldies are beginning to travel independently - we no longer feel alone.
We shared a room in Los Antigous with a young Frenchman who was surprised when we knew his home area of Poitou Charente, even more surprised when we knew Argenton Chateau very near Bressuire, where he is now studying Agriculture. For his 6 month Stage he had the option of doing it in France or traveling abroad, he chose Argentina - the green fertile area (Mendoza) west of Buenos Aires. It´s a small world for Anne-Marie comes from the same region and her first home with Jim was in Bressuire.
 |
| EL CHALTEN, an excellent hiking opportunity lost to sickness |
Yesterday was a fabulous day for hiking but unfortunately we missed out. Joan developed a severe chest infection suddenly followed by, rather than preceded by as usual, a head cold. The result was that she could not lie down without coughing and coupled with the severe diarrhea which we both contracted courtesy of the restaurant in our 5 star hotel she did not sleep or eat properly for two nights. (We observed an American diner of the first night who took nothing but water on his trip to San Rafael). Last night however she slept well and we are hoping the worst is over, although the diarrhea does keep reappearing.
We are hoping for a nice day tomorrow, so she can venture out of the hotel, and for a chance to do some hiking before we leave this wonderful mountain location. We expected the south to be cold, it is after all sitting on by far the biggest non polar ice field in the world, but the temperature here at the moment is perfect. As I finish at 3pm the sun is shining again, but the wind is still howling. Wind strength here is a hazard for hikers and especially climbers.
The less said about our 5 nights at El Chalten the better. Joan was ill with a very severe chest infection the whole time, not helped by severe diarrhoea. In addition with the exception of the beautiful first day, it was very cold, very windy, and with the continual threat of rain. Leaving by bus at 6am in the morning 55A was a treat to watch the sunrise. I was inspired to muse on a theme which may be familiar to some. ´´As the good bus Chalten humped slowly towards Calafate in the cold grey light of the South American dawn a character was seen sitting on a pile of coats wrapped in awe as the snow covered phosphorescent rugged peaks behind changed from cold silver to warm pink. Beagle that man to me said Fitzroy - now said the captain how do you come to be sitting on a pile of coats´.
Complete the story yourself - No prizes!
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