Adventuras De Patagonia
About this blog
I don't even know where to begin. Patagonia is beautiful beyond words. We've been here a week, although we only intended to stay 5 days. It's an Argentinean holiday, so when we went to the train station to book a bus to Pucon, Chile for the next day, we were flustered to find that nothing could be booked for another 3 days. If you're going to be stuck anywhere, Patagonia would be the best place.
One thing that I have learned: NOTHING goes as planned. Nothing. Also, time takes on a whole different meaning. You have it in your head that you are going to do a quick trip to the station, buy some tickets, and be back in a half hour with the rest of the day to hike. Nope! 4 hours later it's all taken care of and you need a nap. What's that cheesy thing people say? It's not the destination but the journey. Whoever said that was on quaaludes. Jokes. I really actually like the slower pace. I like that when I planned on going on a solo hike and stood in the pouring rain waiting for my bus for an hour, I ended up drinking 10 espressos in a ski lodge and making friends with the old man bartender. I didn't mind when we missed our bus stop (because Sierra Lopez sounds way too much like Cerro Lopez) and ended up in a Swiss Mountain Village drinking the best beer I've ever had.
Another thing I've learned: rat tails are alive and well. All kinds. Dread rat tails, multiple groupings of rat tails, curly ones, straight ones, rat tails with beads, rat tails wrapped in colorful thread. They are alive and well here. Can't be mad about that.
Today we went to Lago Gutierrez for a hike around the lake, up to a waterfall and then up to a peak. I'm Pretty sure Rachel and I scaled that mountain in record time. When we got to the top, we found the scariest point to post up and fall asleep. When I came to, some Argentinean fellows offered us some mate'. It was awesome, sitting there with the view, talking broken Spanish, laughing more than talking, conversing about Jimmy Hendrix, teaching each other slang, and sipping mate'. We learned how to order coffee, which involves noises and hand motions (see video). Top notch.
Next stop: Pucon, Chile. We plan on hiking an active volcano (Villarrica) and ice hiking to the top. The real treat is when we get to slide down it. Hoping to hit some hot springs as well.
Stay tuned.
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1Adventuras de Patagonia
San Carlos De Bariloche, Argentina on Jan 17, 2011
5 pictures
1 comment
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2Playa Ritoque: My Dirty Slice of Heaven
Quintero, Chile on Jan 28, 2011
5 pictures
0 comments
