Now that the University area is in full swing with thousands of Chilean students, it has been great looking at all the various styles and outfits that they wear. Almost every single person has some bit of 80's/punk incorporated into their outfit, boys cut the necks of their t-shirts so they are more off-the-shoulder, tons of people wear converse sneakers, everyone has an "interesting" haircut, the girls wear a ton of graphic leggings with all sorts of crazy designs, or genie pants, jumpers, weird jeans, facial piercings are very popular.
I'm also still trying to figure out the different "tribos urbanos" or urban tribes that are going on here... I mean with names like pokemones, flaites, pelo lais... what the heck?
I found this video, it's a little long but shows basically a lot of the things I am disturbed to see when I walk the streets of Santiago
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P8EpoFux3A
all in all, I like the Chilean's style because it is very daring and creative, but sometimes I have to do a double take and ask... is she really wearing that??
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
downtown living, etc
So, the past two weeks in the new apartment have been wonderful!!! It's 5 bedrooms in an old building which is instantly 10 degrees cooler when you open the front door, and Rodrigo has great decorating style and the place is funky, cute, and very green! He has lots of cacti growing in pots everywhere (they give off good energy supposedly), maps and pictures of his travels everywhere, and our (me and Jenna's) rooms are painted a happy shade of green with big comfy beds, and my windows open right up on to downtown Santiago! We are basically right next to everything I could ever want, we pass by Starbucks and the Presidential palace on the way to school every day, there are tons of cafes and restaurants, a sushi place around the block with 1/2 price sushi every day 6-close, the plaza de armas (main square), plenty of cafe con piernas (haha), the most fun neighborhoods, parks... everything!!! It's so fun to be in the hustle and bustle of the business sector (note that when I say fun I am looking at it in a positive light and ignoring the fact that outside of my window people think that if everyone honks their horn 20 times the light will turn green). Our apartment is spanish-speaking only (except when our gossip sessions cannot be expressed in spanish). Rodrigo, the owner, is a very down to earth, active, positive, "buena honda" guy; Joe is our age and is from California, quiet yet really fun and funny; Mariella from Germany, also very quiet but so nice; and mi amor Jenna. In the afternoons Jenna, Joe and I will sit around the table watching The Office. And, today I joined the YMCA which is next door, swam laps in the 80 degree water in the lane I shared with 8 people, yet I enjoyed it so thoroughly - felt great to swim laps!!!
So, I am very happy to be in this great space, with great people, and getting to experience living downtown in a big city. It all kinda came together and happened at the perfect time, too.
This week we celebrated Jenna's 20th with a small fiesta at our apartment, and towards the end Jenna, Chicho and I were getting all emotional because we were so happy yet so sad to know that this perfection must come to a close some day... It's an interesting thing, and what I have come to notice through my travels, is that the locals who I meet and grow to love, well we have these amazing friendships and memories, and then I leave and travel on to a new place.. For so many people the whole experience of traveling is outside of their mentality and their reality, and a lot of these people will stay put while I keep moving... (does that make sense?).
So, I am very happy to be in this great space, with great people, and getting to experience living downtown in a big city. It all kinda came together and happened at the perfect time, too.
This week we celebrated Jenna's 20th with a small fiesta at our apartment, and towards the end Jenna, Chicho and I were getting all emotional because we were so happy yet so sad to know that this perfection must come to a close some day... It's an interesting thing, and what I have come to notice through my travels, is that the locals who I meet and grow to love, well we have these amazing friendships and memories, and then I leave and travel on to a new place.. For so many people the whole experience of traveling is outside of their mentality and their reality, and a lot of these people will stay put while I keep moving... (does that make sense?).
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Torres del Paine
DAY 1
We arrived at the park around 11 am after taking the bus from Puerto Natales. The ferry didn't come for an hour, so we walked to this spectacular waterfall and took pictures. Then came the cruise across Lago Peohe, where we got our first views of the cuernos and the torres (2 big geological formations in the park). The water was sea green and the wind was really cold. When we got to the first refugio I was amazed, the lodge was nestled in green grass, on the lake, with the mountains in the background. And this was supposedly one of the worst campsites! After eating lunch I would have been happy to just stay there because to be honest I was a little aprehensive about the whole thing... but willam's motto for the trip was "we gotta get goin"! The first hour was all fun and games, walking through a canyon, and then the uphills started. We had trekking poles which helped lighten the load on my knees and back, but still it seemed like the mountain kept going up and up. Our first break was on a dark blue lake where we realized that though we are sweating while we're trekking, once you stop and sit down and the incredible Patagonia winds hit you, you are freezing cold and it's a little harder to enjoy the views. The know-it-all at the hostel info session told us never to stop for more than 20 minutes at a time, and we actually stuck to that the whole trek. Our first view of an iceburg came about an hour later. It was cool, just floating there in the lake. Really gave me the urge to swim out and float on it.. Then, we got to the first mirador (lookout), where we saw glacier Grey! We were still 3 hours away from it, but from the mirador we had a good view of it, and it was awesome. That was also our first snickers break. But again, the wind! It was almost better to keep walking without stopping than be cold. But as soon as you got up and walked again we started to sweat. 2 hours later we reached the paid campsite, Refugio Grey, and I was so so so tired I wanted to stop and stay there. But william insisted we walk another hour straight uphill to the free campsite. I was seriously lagging behind on the last hour, my knees felt like they were about to break off. We reached the campsite, Campamento las Guardas, and set up camp, boiled some water and headed out to the mirador. It was so worth it! We were basically right above the start of Glacier Grey, which is the 3rd largest glacier field in the world, and this spot in Patagonia is one of the best places to view it. We sat there drinking mate and gazing at the glacier, it was all pointy and jagged in places, and the tops of the peaks would be white, then get progessively more blue until the bottom which was electric blue. I realized then why the blue gatorade is called glacier rush! It was really awesome, turned out to be one of my favorite vistas of the trip. The sun set, but it was so cloudy we didn't see the sun, only the glacier getting progessively more blue. Dinner that night was mushroom pasta and sauce, which turned out to be pretty good. The weather held up all day, until we got into the tent and it started to pour down rain.
DAY 2
When we woke up, my feet, knees, legs, everything was sore and I did not want to move. Even worse was the fact that the day's hike was to return to where we were the day before, so I knew exactly how many ups and downs we were going to encounter. We boiled water for oatmeal, poured jam over the oats, and as I take my first bite..."Cassidy, I think.. you put salt in the oatmeal instead of sugar..." Yup. Salty, inedible oatmeal. It was probably our karma for trying to pilfer sugar from the hostel instead of buying some. Luckily we had soup for backups. It was 5 hours back to Peohe, where we collapsed on the grass and ate our snickers, then we still had 2 hours to the next camspite, Campamento Italiano. That part of the hike was pretty easy, but the wind picked up and kept pushing us over to the side. The wind is the most dangerous animal of Patagonia, it kills people by throwing them over the sides of cliffs while they are taking pictures, and it is actually pretty scary to know that at any second a gust can come and take you away or throw you down. We crossed a rickety bridge at the base of one of the big mountains in to our campsite, and we were kind of late arriving so it was pretty full. We picked a spot over away from the other people and as we are setting up the tent, William says it smells a little like dog poop. But there are no dogs in the park. Moments later we realized we had set up the tent in what was essentially the designated toilet for the campsite, but by that time we were so exhausted we decided to tough it out -- yuck! That evening I was seriously tired, and it was all I could do to make the effort to stir the rice.. We had rice, instant mashed potatoes, and trail mix. Then the three of us pulled out our sleeping mats and sleeping bags and layed underneath the stars, watching the wind move through the trees. From where we were laying it looked like the giant trees were having a big dance party above us. Also, the day before we heard a story about a guy who was killed because a tree fell on his tent while he was sleeping. And all around the forest were tons of felled trees. So that was a little scary.
DAY 3
We woke up with a light rain, which was not a very good sign. Day 3 is supposedly the easiest day, because you leave your tent and your pack at campamento Italiano for the 3 hour hike out and back from Valle Frances. But, as the rain picked up and I found myself scrambling up slippery rocks up the face of a mountain trying to discern some sort of path, all uphill, I realized that today probably wouldn't be as easy as I imagined. The whole way to the lookout was probably uphill, and it was raining, but the forest was incredible. It was very whimsical, all mossy and green and quiet. It seemed as if we would never get to Valle Frances, and even when I thought we had arrived, we still had to climb straight up basically to get out of the tree line. The walk was completely worth it though, Valle Frances is awesome, with three huge mountains on each side of you, and the 4th side is the valley down to the lakes. Unforunately for us, it was so cold and windy and cloudy, we could only bear to spend 20 minutes up at the top admiring the view. Then we scrambled down and headed back towards camp. I was lagging behind and got seperated from the group, and as we got to the part with the unmarked trail, I got pretty lost and disoriented, meanwhile its raining and I know my group is waiting on me, so I paniced a tiny bit, trying to figure out how to get back to the trail. Luckily I made it back, completely soaking wet (despite my parka), and we packed up and William tried to animate us with the fact that we were heading for a refugio where we would have dry clothes! The next 2 hours were miserable, hiking in the never ending rain, compltely wet and soaking, me in my chacos because my hiking boots hurt, we got lost off the trail again, bah! Day 3 was the day where my body hurt the most, it was raining, and I was about ready to throw in the towel (not really, but I was not in a very good mood). Then salvation appeared over the hills, and we saw the Refugio Cuernos. Refugio is a perfect name for these establishments, it is like oh my god civilization! A roof! A kitchen! A bar! We all beelined towards the showers, where a luke warm trickle of water felt like the best thing in the world. Cassidy and I had had such a rough day, that there was no way I was leaving the warm building to go outside and cook instant pasta in the freezing rain. But William refused to pay 20$ for a meal, so Cassidy and I enjoyed it ourselves. It was incredible (because I was so hungry) They had a vegetarian option, and I felt full and wonderful. We then found the woodburning stove and literally sat there for 4 hours, exhausted. It was so lucky that the stove was there because we were able to dry our hiking clothes. Even though "roughing it" in the wilderness is fun and incredible, sometimes it is nice to have a roof over your head and be warm and eat a hot meal. So the crappy day had a great ending.
DAY 4
In the morning we were sitting in the tent, and William sniffs around and says "something STINKS.. what IS that smell???" Unfortunately, it was us. haha! We were out of breakfast food because of the oatmeal fiasco, so we went inside and had breakfast. The two chilean waiters gave us the meal for free, and one was about to give me his horse so I could ride to the next campsite. Day 4 is the longest day of hiking, so I was not particularly looking forward to the endless beating. But, it was actually my favorite day of the trail. I physically felt great, and after the previous day I was just happy to be dry. The hiking was not that hard, and I was jamming the whole time to ozomatli, orishas, jurrasic 5, etc. This part of the trail was more rolling green hills and fields and meadows, with the mountains in the background. Then, as we are walking, we stop to rest a second and we see a rainbow!! How nice. I really did feel good, so we were cruising a long the trail, stopped at the refugio for a cola, and knew we only had 1 more hour to go! As we were walking up there, I noticed that snow flakes were falling down on us! I got really excited, not realizing that snow flakes = cold weather, but we hiked the last hour through a great misty forest, and arrived at campamento las torres, which was maybe the prettiest camp site. By night 4 we had our routine down flawlessly, we set up our kitchen, made two batches of pasta, had brownies, and were actually ready for bed by 8 pm! That night I felt sad knowing that it was our last night, now that we were feeling good and had our groove going. The snow flakes kept falling all night, and that was by far the coldest night of the trip.
DAY 5
The alarm rang at 5:00 am. It was a mad race against the sunrise, because we had to be at the top of the mountain in order to see the torres del paine painted orange by the sun..the path was pitch black and each one of us was alone, not to mention that it was basically a vertical sprint. When we got to the top we got into our sleeping bags and tried to boil water, and waited for the show to start. There were about 30 more people there, and everyone was asking us if we slept up there since we had our sleeping bags and a fire going and everything. The water wouldnt boil, so we ate this disgusting crunchy instant spaghetti and snickers. Then, the sun started to come up!! We had a great view of the towers, and for about 5 minutes the sunrise made them look orange, and I successfully captured a picture. But apparently those pictures of the towers glowing orange are all photoshopped... it was still cool, though! Then we headed down the mountain, packed up camp, and set off for our last hike of the journey. It was supposedly straight downhill, but that was not totally the case. Each time we had to walk uphill, I was getting really irritated because I was hungry and by that time my knees and feet felt like death. But, little by little we made our way down the mountains, through the valley, over a bridge, and back to society. It was exhillirating to finish, and walking into the luxurious hotel was a very strange feeling. Real bathrooms with toilets that flush?? Couches?? A menu with hot food??? The menu turned out to be too many choices for our famished minds to handle so we got bloody marys and french fries, then collapsed onto the couches to sit down for more than 20 minutes for the first time in 5 days. But after 20 minutes I started to feel all antsy and wanted to get back on the trail! It was a bittersweet feeling to have finished, because as soon as we were in the hotel I already missed the wild. It was fun to see all the people who we had been hiking with at the bottom, everyone was very happy and blissed out.
We all passed out immediately on the bus, and arrived back in Puerto Natales where it was raining, turned in our gear, and Cassidy and I sped off to the vegetarian restaurant (El Living). We stuffed ourselves with fresh veggies and tea, relishing the taste of something that was not instant pre packaged trail food.
That night we were watching the news and apparently 90% of the country was experiencing a blackout, oh and we had apparently missed another strong aftershock while we were on the trail. So we were all like, hmm what is it going to be like back in Santiago?? Maybe we should just stay here??
Then we went and had delicious food at a microbrewery called Baguales, where we were entertained by this little trail guide who was wasted and hilarious. That night I slept very well, enjoying the bed and the pillow.
On the flight back to Santiago it was a definite feeling of homecoming. When we landed at the airport, all the airport operations were based under tents due to the roof caving in during the earthquake.
It was wonderful, wonderful experience!! None of us had ever gone treking for more than a weekend, so i'm proud that we were able to figure out this whole thing, cook all our own food (minus one meal), carry everything we needed, and last 5 days with only two sets of clothes. It was hard hiking, but the difficulty made it even better, because at the end of each day it was a big sense of accomplishment and pride. We all had a great attitude the whole trek (except for the rainy day), and everyone pitched in equally to share the work and the load. The guide at the beginning of the trail said that the more days you are out there the better it gets because the first 5 days are lots of aches and pains as your body gets used to the trekking, which I definitely think makes sense now. So, we'll have to come back and do the 10 day circuit, or go find another trek!
We arrived at the park around 11 am after taking the bus from Puerto Natales. The ferry didn't come for an hour, so we walked to this spectacular waterfall and took pictures. Then came the cruise across Lago Peohe, where we got our first views of the cuernos and the torres (2 big geological formations in the park). The water was sea green and the wind was really cold. When we got to the first refugio I was amazed, the lodge was nestled in green grass, on the lake, with the mountains in the background. And this was supposedly one of the worst campsites! After eating lunch I would have been happy to just stay there because to be honest I was a little aprehensive about the whole thing... but willam's motto for the trip was "we gotta get goin"! The first hour was all fun and games, walking through a canyon, and then the uphills started. We had trekking poles which helped lighten the load on my knees and back, but still it seemed like the mountain kept going up and up. Our first break was on a dark blue lake where we realized that though we are sweating while we're trekking, once you stop and sit down and the incredible Patagonia winds hit you, you are freezing cold and it's a little harder to enjoy the views. The know-it-all at the hostel info session told us never to stop for more than 20 minutes at a time, and we actually stuck to that the whole trek. Our first view of an iceburg came about an hour later. It was cool, just floating there in the lake. Really gave me the urge to swim out and float on it.. Then, we got to the first mirador (lookout), where we saw glacier Grey! We were still 3 hours away from it, but from the mirador we had a good view of it, and it was awesome. That was also our first snickers break. But again, the wind! It was almost better to keep walking without stopping than be cold. But as soon as you got up and walked again we started to sweat. 2 hours later we reached the paid campsite, Refugio Grey, and I was so so so tired I wanted to stop and stay there. But william insisted we walk another hour straight uphill to the free campsite. I was seriously lagging behind on the last hour, my knees felt like they were about to break off. We reached the campsite, Campamento las Guardas, and set up camp, boiled some water and headed out to the mirador. It was so worth it! We were basically right above the start of Glacier Grey, which is the 3rd largest glacier field in the world, and this spot in Patagonia is one of the best places to view it. We sat there drinking mate and gazing at the glacier, it was all pointy and jagged in places, and the tops of the peaks would be white, then get progessively more blue until the bottom which was electric blue. I realized then why the blue gatorade is called glacier rush! It was really awesome, turned out to be one of my favorite vistas of the trip. The sun set, but it was so cloudy we didn't see the sun, only the glacier getting progessively more blue. Dinner that night was mushroom pasta and sauce, which turned out to be pretty good. The weather held up all day, until we got into the tent and it started to pour down rain.
DAY 2
When we woke up, my feet, knees, legs, everything was sore and I did not want to move. Even worse was the fact that the day's hike was to return to where we were the day before, so I knew exactly how many ups and downs we were going to encounter. We boiled water for oatmeal, poured jam over the oats, and as I take my first bite..."Cassidy, I think.. you put salt in the oatmeal instead of sugar..." Yup. Salty, inedible oatmeal. It was probably our karma for trying to pilfer sugar from the hostel instead of buying some. Luckily we had soup for backups. It was 5 hours back to Peohe, where we collapsed on the grass and ate our snickers, then we still had 2 hours to the next camspite, Campamento Italiano. That part of the hike was pretty easy, but the wind picked up and kept pushing us over to the side. The wind is the most dangerous animal of Patagonia, it kills people by throwing them over the sides of cliffs while they are taking pictures, and it is actually pretty scary to know that at any second a gust can come and take you away or throw you down. We crossed a rickety bridge at the base of one of the big mountains in to our campsite, and we were kind of late arriving so it was pretty full. We picked a spot over away from the other people and as we are setting up the tent, William says it smells a little like dog poop. But there are no dogs in the park. Moments later we realized we had set up the tent in what was essentially the designated toilet for the campsite, but by that time we were so exhausted we decided to tough it out -- yuck! That evening I was seriously tired, and it was all I could do to make the effort to stir the rice.. We had rice, instant mashed potatoes, and trail mix. Then the three of us pulled out our sleeping mats and sleeping bags and layed underneath the stars, watching the wind move through the trees. From where we were laying it looked like the giant trees were having a big dance party above us. Also, the day before we heard a story about a guy who was killed because a tree fell on his tent while he was sleeping. And all around the forest were tons of felled trees. So that was a little scary.
DAY 3
We woke up with a light rain, which was not a very good sign. Day 3 is supposedly the easiest day, because you leave your tent and your pack at campamento Italiano for the 3 hour hike out and back from Valle Frances. But, as the rain picked up and I found myself scrambling up slippery rocks up the face of a mountain trying to discern some sort of path, all uphill, I realized that today probably wouldn't be as easy as I imagined. The whole way to the lookout was probably uphill, and it was raining, but the forest was incredible. It was very whimsical, all mossy and green and quiet. It seemed as if we would never get to Valle Frances, and even when I thought we had arrived, we still had to climb straight up basically to get out of the tree line. The walk was completely worth it though, Valle Frances is awesome, with three huge mountains on each side of you, and the 4th side is the valley down to the lakes. Unforunately for us, it was so cold and windy and cloudy, we could only bear to spend 20 minutes up at the top admiring the view. Then we scrambled down and headed back towards camp. I was lagging behind and got seperated from the group, and as we got to the part with the unmarked trail, I got pretty lost and disoriented, meanwhile its raining and I know my group is waiting on me, so I paniced a tiny bit, trying to figure out how to get back to the trail. Luckily I made it back, completely soaking wet (despite my parka), and we packed up and William tried to animate us with the fact that we were heading for a refugio where we would have dry clothes! The next 2 hours were miserable, hiking in the never ending rain, compltely wet and soaking, me in my chacos because my hiking boots hurt, we got lost off the trail again, bah! Day 3 was the day where my body hurt the most, it was raining, and I was about ready to throw in the towel (not really, but I was not in a very good mood). Then salvation appeared over the hills, and we saw the Refugio Cuernos. Refugio is a perfect name for these establishments, it is like oh my god civilization! A roof! A kitchen! A bar! We all beelined towards the showers, where a luke warm trickle of water felt like the best thing in the world. Cassidy and I had had such a rough day, that there was no way I was leaving the warm building to go outside and cook instant pasta in the freezing rain. But William refused to pay 20$ for a meal, so Cassidy and I enjoyed it ourselves. It was incredible (because I was so hungry) They had a vegetarian option, and I felt full and wonderful. We then found the woodburning stove and literally sat there for 4 hours, exhausted. It was so lucky that the stove was there because we were able to dry our hiking clothes. Even though "roughing it" in the wilderness is fun and incredible, sometimes it is nice to have a roof over your head and be warm and eat a hot meal. So the crappy day had a great ending.
DAY 4
In the morning we were sitting in the tent, and William sniffs around and says "something STINKS.. what IS that smell???" Unfortunately, it was us. haha! We were out of breakfast food because of the oatmeal fiasco, so we went inside and had breakfast. The two chilean waiters gave us the meal for free, and one was about to give me his horse so I could ride to the next campsite. Day 4 is the longest day of hiking, so I was not particularly looking forward to the endless beating. But, it was actually my favorite day of the trail. I physically felt great, and after the previous day I was just happy to be dry. The hiking was not that hard, and I was jamming the whole time to ozomatli, orishas, jurrasic 5, etc. This part of the trail was more rolling green hills and fields and meadows, with the mountains in the background. Then, as we are walking, we stop to rest a second and we see a rainbow!! How nice. I really did feel good, so we were cruising a long the trail, stopped at the refugio for a cola, and knew we only had 1 more hour to go! As we were walking up there, I noticed that snow flakes were falling down on us! I got really excited, not realizing that snow flakes = cold weather, but we hiked the last hour through a great misty forest, and arrived at campamento las torres, which was maybe the prettiest camp site. By night 4 we had our routine down flawlessly, we set up our kitchen, made two batches of pasta, had brownies, and were actually ready for bed by 8 pm! That night I felt sad knowing that it was our last night, now that we were feeling good and had our groove going. The snow flakes kept falling all night, and that was by far the coldest night of the trip.
DAY 5
The alarm rang at 5:00 am. It was a mad race against the sunrise, because we had to be at the top of the mountain in order to see the torres del paine painted orange by the sun..the path was pitch black and each one of us was alone, not to mention that it was basically a vertical sprint. When we got to the top we got into our sleeping bags and tried to boil water, and waited for the show to start. There were about 30 more people there, and everyone was asking us if we slept up there since we had our sleeping bags and a fire going and everything. The water wouldnt boil, so we ate this disgusting crunchy instant spaghetti and snickers. Then, the sun started to come up!! We had a great view of the towers, and for about 5 minutes the sunrise made them look orange, and I successfully captured a picture. But apparently those pictures of the towers glowing orange are all photoshopped... it was still cool, though! Then we headed down the mountain, packed up camp, and set off for our last hike of the journey. It was supposedly straight downhill, but that was not totally the case. Each time we had to walk uphill, I was getting really irritated because I was hungry and by that time my knees and feet felt like death. But, little by little we made our way down the mountains, through the valley, over a bridge, and back to society. It was exhillirating to finish, and walking into the luxurious hotel was a very strange feeling. Real bathrooms with toilets that flush?? Couches?? A menu with hot food??? The menu turned out to be too many choices for our famished minds to handle so we got bloody marys and french fries, then collapsed onto the couches to sit down for more than 20 minutes for the first time in 5 days. But after 20 minutes I started to feel all antsy and wanted to get back on the trail! It was a bittersweet feeling to have finished, because as soon as we were in the hotel I already missed the wild. It was fun to see all the people who we had been hiking with at the bottom, everyone was very happy and blissed out.
We all passed out immediately on the bus, and arrived back in Puerto Natales where it was raining, turned in our gear, and Cassidy and I sped off to the vegetarian restaurant (El Living). We stuffed ourselves with fresh veggies and tea, relishing the taste of something that was not instant pre packaged trail food.
That night we were watching the news and apparently 90% of the country was experiencing a blackout, oh and we had apparently missed another strong aftershock while we were on the trail. So we were all like, hmm what is it going to be like back in Santiago?? Maybe we should just stay here??
Then we went and had delicious food at a microbrewery called Baguales, where we were entertained by this little trail guide who was wasted and hilarious. That night I slept very well, enjoying the bed and the pillow.
On the flight back to Santiago it was a definite feeling of homecoming. When we landed at the airport, all the airport operations were based under tents due to the roof caving in during the earthquake.
It was wonderful, wonderful experience!! None of us had ever gone treking for more than a weekend, so i'm proud that we were able to figure out this whole thing, cook all our own food (minus one meal), carry everything we needed, and last 5 days with only two sets of clothes. It was hard hiking, but the difficulty made it even better, because at the end of each day it was a big sense of accomplishment and pride. We all had a great attitude the whole trek (except for the rainy day), and everyone pitched in equally to share the work and the load. The guide at the beginning of the trail said that the more days you are out there the better it gets because the first 5 days are lots of aches and pains as your body gets used to the trekking, which I definitely think makes sense now. So, we'll have to come back and do the 10 day circuit, or go find another trek!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Argentina
FRIDAY
Unfortunately we did not make it out of bed until later in the day, but we managed to get some shopping and sight seeing in. Buenos Aires is really beautiful!! All of the buildings are really old, a lot of baroque (sp?) facades, lots of parks, and lots of shopping to do. Since the minute we crossed the border the three of us have been giggling non stop at the Argentine accent, it´s all ashhhjjja, la cashhjee. So who would have thought that we´d have gotten so used to Chilean spanish that a supposedly easy spanish is hard to understand, I don´t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Everybody everywhere all the time here is drinking mate out of their gourds, passing it around, looking all cool. So we bought mate cups and have been trying to fit in.
In the evening, we met up with William´s family friend Joe who has been living in Buenos Aires, and he was sharing some hilarious stories and sharing his impressions of what its like to live in BA. He took us to a very posh club called Crobar, where they served tapas, and there was this awesome soul band with the hottest pregnant lady we´ve ever seen. Of course we got invited up on stage and danced with her, and it was really fun.
SATURDAY
Despite the fact that none of us felt very good in the morning, we were determined to make the most of our day. And let me tell you, there is nothing that makes you feel better like getting your picture taken while riding a miniature horse.. We couldnt help ourselves. Then we went to the zoo, which was pretty big and in downtown BA. My favorie animals were the sealions. But the whole time we were so jealous of all the animals because they all got pools of water to lay in and we were so hot. After the zoo, we walked over to a big park and rented rollerblades! While blading around the park, we saw tons of people doing every sport or activity you could think of. The park had a big lagoon in the middle, and after our rollerblading session we sorta swam in the fountains. Then we went back and took a nap. I was hungry, so I walked around Avenida Florida, and was desperate so I hopped in to Burger King. And... they had a veggie burger on wheat bread!!!??? What?? Do they have that in the US right now? I was super surprised and happy. Then we walked to the port/ waterfront area where there are lots of restaurants. After much searching we found Siga La Vaca, the all you can eat meat fest, But they actually had a great salad bar so I was happy.
3 days in Buenos Aires was not nearly enough, but we had an incredibly fun time while we were there. The biggest differences were- the accent, BA is much more humid than Santiago and there are more mosquitos, the food is much better in BA because they have chimichurri sauce everywhere, in Argentina they use the vos form instead of usted, santiago´s metro is much nicer and more modern, and I forgot what other differences I thought of.
SUNDAY
We arrived at the airport early, and continuing with the theme of our journey, William´s ticket was apparently not in the system. Of course. So we argued for a while with the people, and by the way this spring break trip has improved my spanish 100% because of all the companies Ive had to haggle with to get us where we are supposed to be.. But we finally got on the plane and 3 hours later arrived in El Calafate which is in Argentine Patagonia. It is a very remove town with no tall buildings on the edge of lago Argentina which is a turquoise, carribbean looking lake bordered by mountains. Patagonia could be the windiest place on earth. We tried to get bus tickets to get to Chile asap, but of course they were sold out, so we spent the night in Calafate. I had a great veggie burger at a cafe called Borges and Alvarez, then we embarked on our calbalgata (horse back riding). We rode alongside the lake where surprisingly there were pink flamingos, up the hills which are brown grass, and then the purple mountains in the background as well as snow covered mountains where you could tell it was storming. It was seriously windy!! We also saw a lechuza (horned owl). Im not sure what I imagined patagonia to look like, but it was acutally really warm and we were in shorts and tshirts (except the wind is cold).
Our guide was an authentic Argentine Gaucho (cowboy), with a serious machista attitude, he was ragging on another vegetarian at the table, making her squeeze his muscles that could only be from eating meat, telling us how he drinks cows blood for iron, how all europeans are incredibly closed minded but Americans are the worst (while we´re sitting at the table), how he would never ever travel to Europe because he would never pay 50 euros for meat, how the gauchos´s diet is 80% meat, etc... I just sat there because I didn´t want to feel his carnivorous rant either.
We watched the Oscars dubbed over in Spanish, which was... not as good as the Oscars in English. But I thought Sandra Bullock looked beautiful, then my loves Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem looked great as well. Now I need to watch The Hurt Locker. Mommy I very much missed watching the oscars with you. It was one of those few moments where I really wish I was home!
MONDAY
I had the morning to my self in Calafate while the other 2 went on to Chile early, so I ate lunch, did a little bit of souvenier shopping, then caught the bus back to Chile!! Woohoo! The drive was beautiful.
TUESDAY
Today we prepared for our Patagonian adventure. There was a lot of stuff to prepare for!! We went to an info session where a very experienced guide took us through the whole thing, basically he said we are going to be wet for 5 days, all 4 seasons of the year happen in one day in the park, and some of us in the room wont make it back alive... hmm.. It sounds intense but totally doable. I am a little scared but more excited. Today we rented all our gear, bought all our food, and are preparing to head out to mother earth!!!!! Cant wait to post my pictures when I get back to Santiago!! Google images of Torres Del Paine parque nacional.
This whole journey has been quite an adventure, at times it seemed like it would be impossible to make it down to patagonia because of the earthquake and everything, but we kept perserviering, and finally have made it down to the end of the earth!! And seriously it is very warm!! (there is a giant hole in the ozone layer right above us by the way)
Unfortunately we did not make it out of bed until later in the day, but we managed to get some shopping and sight seeing in. Buenos Aires is really beautiful!! All of the buildings are really old, a lot of baroque (sp?) facades, lots of parks, and lots of shopping to do. Since the minute we crossed the border the three of us have been giggling non stop at the Argentine accent, it´s all ashhhjjja, la cashhjee. So who would have thought that we´d have gotten so used to Chilean spanish that a supposedly easy spanish is hard to understand, I don´t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Everybody everywhere all the time here is drinking mate out of their gourds, passing it around, looking all cool. So we bought mate cups and have been trying to fit in.
In the evening, we met up with William´s family friend Joe who has been living in Buenos Aires, and he was sharing some hilarious stories and sharing his impressions of what its like to live in BA. He took us to a very posh club called Crobar, where they served tapas, and there was this awesome soul band with the hottest pregnant lady we´ve ever seen. Of course we got invited up on stage and danced with her, and it was really fun.
SATURDAY
Despite the fact that none of us felt very good in the morning, we were determined to make the most of our day. And let me tell you, there is nothing that makes you feel better like getting your picture taken while riding a miniature horse.. We couldnt help ourselves. Then we went to the zoo, which was pretty big and in downtown BA. My favorie animals were the sealions. But the whole time we were so jealous of all the animals because they all got pools of water to lay in and we were so hot. After the zoo, we walked over to a big park and rented rollerblades! While blading around the park, we saw tons of people doing every sport or activity you could think of. The park had a big lagoon in the middle, and after our rollerblading session we sorta swam in the fountains. Then we went back and took a nap. I was hungry, so I walked around Avenida Florida, and was desperate so I hopped in to Burger King. And... they had a veggie burger on wheat bread!!!??? What?? Do they have that in the US right now? I was super surprised and happy. Then we walked to the port/ waterfront area where there are lots of restaurants. After much searching we found Siga La Vaca, the all you can eat meat fest, But they actually had a great salad bar so I was happy.
3 days in Buenos Aires was not nearly enough, but we had an incredibly fun time while we were there. The biggest differences were- the accent, BA is much more humid than Santiago and there are more mosquitos, the food is much better in BA because they have chimichurri sauce everywhere, in Argentina they use the vos form instead of usted, santiago´s metro is much nicer and more modern, and I forgot what other differences I thought of.
SUNDAY
We arrived at the airport early, and continuing with the theme of our journey, William´s ticket was apparently not in the system. Of course. So we argued for a while with the people, and by the way this spring break trip has improved my spanish 100% because of all the companies Ive had to haggle with to get us where we are supposed to be.. But we finally got on the plane and 3 hours later arrived in El Calafate which is in Argentine Patagonia. It is a very remove town with no tall buildings on the edge of lago Argentina which is a turquoise, carribbean looking lake bordered by mountains. Patagonia could be the windiest place on earth. We tried to get bus tickets to get to Chile asap, but of course they were sold out, so we spent the night in Calafate. I had a great veggie burger at a cafe called Borges and Alvarez, then we embarked on our calbalgata (horse back riding). We rode alongside the lake where surprisingly there were pink flamingos, up the hills which are brown grass, and then the purple mountains in the background as well as snow covered mountains where you could tell it was storming. It was seriously windy!! We also saw a lechuza (horned owl). Im not sure what I imagined patagonia to look like, but it was acutally really warm and we were in shorts and tshirts (except the wind is cold).
Our guide was an authentic Argentine Gaucho (cowboy), with a serious machista attitude, he was ragging on another vegetarian at the table, making her squeeze his muscles that could only be from eating meat, telling us how he drinks cows blood for iron, how all europeans are incredibly closed minded but Americans are the worst (while we´re sitting at the table), how he would never ever travel to Europe because he would never pay 50 euros for meat, how the gauchos´s diet is 80% meat, etc... I just sat there because I didn´t want to feel his carnivorous rant either.
We watched the Oscars dubbed over in Spanish, which was... not as good as the Oscars in English. But I thought Sandra Bullock looked beautiful, then my loves Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem looked great as well. Now I need to watch The Hurt Locker. Mommy I very much missed watching the oscars with you. It was one of those few moments where I really wish I was home!
MONDAY
I had the morning to my self in Calafate while the other 2 went on to Chile early, so I ate lunch, did a little bit of souvenier shopping, then caught the bus back to Chile!! Woohoo! The drive was beautiful.
TUESDAY
Today we prepared for our Patagonian adventure. There was a lot of stuff to prepare for!! We went to an info session where a very experienced guide took us through the whole thing, basically he said we are going to be wet for 5 days, all 4 seasons of the year happen in one day in the park, and some of us in the room wont make it back alive... hmm.. It sounds intense but totally doable. I am a little scared but more excited. Today we rented all our gear, bought all our food, and are preparing to head out to mother earth!!!!! Cant wait to post my pictures when I get back to Santiago!! Google images of Torres Del Paine parque nacional.
This whole journey has been quite an adventure, at times it seemed like it would be impossible to make it down to patagonia because of the earthquake and everything, but we kept perserviering, and finally have made it down to the end of the earth!! And seriously it is very warm!! (there is a giant hole in the ozone layer right above us by the way)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Viva Argentina!!
THURSDAY
The bus ride was incredible, we were served a two course dinner, wine, champagne, and the movies were awesome- avatar, the ugly truth, and the hangover. And I slept through the night. Not bad at all. And we got to ride on the top story of the double decker bus!!!! woo woo!!
We arrived in Buenos Aires with no idea where we were staying or going, and I forgot to bring the Argetina travel guide. So after a few tries we got a room at Hostal Suites Florida, an awesome hostel downtown. Had lunch, then we downed a bottle of rum and huge beers and we were ready to go to the futbol match!!! Oh my gosh, it was so much funnnnn! The fans were singing the whole time, and of course we didnt know any of the words so for some reason we thought they were saying something like ´porque soy chilenooooo´ so we were li ke oh we are playing against chile!! sweet! then later we found out that line was really ´porque soy un gallinero, y tengo los huevos´, we were way off. But it was super super fun and awesome.
Then we got back and contined our party mode which ended at 5 am in a sweaty club. but it was really fun, the club was 50% gringos and 50% threatening ghetto argetines with doorags who were having all these dance competitions. Some times guys just dont understand that I highly enjoy myself when im dancing alone, and i dont need someone all up behind me ...
The bus ride was incredible, we were served a two course dinner, wine, champagne, and the movies were awesome- avatar, the ugly truth, and the hangover. And I slept through the night. Not bad at all. And we got to ride on the top story of the double decker bus!!!! woo woo!!
We arrived in Buenos Aires with no idea where we were staying or going, and I forgot to bring the Argetina travel guide. So after a few tries we got a room at Hostal Suites Florida, an awesome hostel downtown. Had lunch, then we downed a bottle of rum and huge beers and we were ready to go to the futbol match!!! Oh my gosh, it was so much funnnnn! The fans were singing the whole time, and of course we didnt know any of the words so for some reason we thought they were saying something like ´porque soy chilenooooo´ so we were li ke oh we are playing against chile!! sweet! then later we found out that line was really ´porque soy un gallinero, y tengo los huevos´, we were way off. But it was super super fun and awesome.
Then we got back and contined our party mode which ended at 5 am in a sweaty club. but it was really fun, the club was 50% gringos and 50% threatening ghetto argetines with doorags who were having all these dance competitions. Some times guys just dont understand that I highly enjoy myself when im dancing alone, and i dont need someone all up behind me ...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Off with a bang!
Thursday night we left Santiago to begin our spring break. The bus to Puerto Varas was a comfy, overnight bus, and as the sun was coming up the whole green valleys were covered with a mist. When we got to PV, we went and had a coffee near our hostel, and the whole town seemed eerily quiet for being a Friday morning. But, while we were waiting for our 2 friends at the hostel the sun came out, and surprise surprise from the edge of the big lake you can see 2 snow capped volcanoes!! The sun made all the difference and the town transformed into a sunny, german-esque adventure sport town. We rented bikes and headed out on a road alongside the lake, riding towards the volcanoes. The landscape was picturesque, with green fields, flowers, horses, and burnt orange cattle dotting it. I was also suffering from serious house/property envy for all the people who live on the edge of that lake. We pulled off on a dirt road and went all the way down, and tadaaa a beautiful beach on the edge of the lake with the volcanoes in view!! We sat there drinking our cervezas bien heladas, took out the paddle boats without the permission of the lifegaurd. The water is ice cold but so clear, and the whole lake was dark blue with some light patches. So pretty. After that, the boys cooked rice, veggies, and fish. After sitting on the pier for a few hours, we decided to call it a night and we went to bed around 2;30 and fell fast asleep.
In my dream, the walls were shaking and things were crashing down, then I heard JJ screaming and yelling for us to get out of our beds and get under the door frame. I got up, disoriented and half blind, and they pulled me to the doorframe where we huddled for what seemed like forever as everything was shaking and rumbling. Having never been in an earthquake, I really had no idea what was going on, but it was super scary, although tommy says I was laughing the whole time. The funniest part is that while all of this ruckus was going on in the dorm room, William and Cassidy remained peacefully sleeping, and we didn´t even think to wake them up. So we woke up without power and were talking about the earthquake, William and Cass had no idea what we were talking about, they thought we were kidding..
SATURDAY
Since we woke up with no electricity, all we knew is that there had been an earthquake, and that we felt it pretty strongly. We got a hold of someone in Santiago who told us that the earthquakes epicenter was near there, but that they were fine in Santiago and just without power or water. So, since we didn´t know any reliable information (someone said the earthquake was a 14.5..), we continued on with our plan to go canyoning. We drove 1 hour to a national park, and hiked up to the top of the start of a series of waterfalls. We had to wear full wetsuits with a head covering because the water was coming straight from glaciers. The different pools of water that we were jumping and sliding in to were beautiful, from light green, turquoise, dark blue, and the water was so pure and clean that we were drinking it straight from the pools, best water ive ever tasted. So we were frolicking in the mountain streams and jumping off cliffs, with no idea as to what was going on in Santiago or anywhere.
When we got back to PV the power had just returned, and we opened our emails and saw that tons of people were very worried about us back home, and we hadn´t even seen any of the news yet so we we really had no idea what was going on. But as we read, we realized that the situation was prettty bad, and if we had felt it as strongly as we had 12 hours south of Santiago, imagine how bad it felt up there. We got a hold of most of our friends and host families in Santiago and everyone seemed ok.
I had an early flight the next morning, so I went to bed early.
SUNDAY
I woke up at 5 so that I could catch my flight to Patagonia. When I got to the airport, it was basically deserted except for people sleeping in their sleeping bags, and it was literally freezing inside. The airport people didn´t even show up until 7 am, and before that no one knew anything and none of the departure screens had been updating. Maybe I was dumb to think that I could still fly out the morning after an 8.8 earthquake, but I figured we were so far south that it would be fine. The airport people basically had no information to tell us except go home, call this number, and I dont know anything else.
So, 60 dollars later I was back in bed at the hostel. That day, we realized that our plans were not going to work out like we thought they would, so we set off to figure out what the heck we were going to do. Of course, it being Sunday, all of the bus company offices and airline offices were closed, no matter that the country was in disaster mode. So we finally found a bus company that was open, and we waited in line for an hour only to hear that the next bus for patagonia wouldn´t be leaving for a week. The airline companies weren´t picking up the phones, and when they did, it was ¨call back at 2, call back at 5, call back tomorrow, at 12 we´ll know something¨, very frustrating. So, what else is there to do except go drink ron piñas at the beach? we went to a beach near the nice one where we were the other day, and drowned our sorrows and swam in the lake. A while later, we tried to hitchhike for about another hour, finally convinced a taxi to take us to... the mexican food restaurant!!!!!! Never have I anticipated food so strongly before.. My enchiladas were amazing, with corn tortillas, salsa roja, mushrooms, and black beans!!! oh so so so good!!!! So that was a beautiful day, and after that we went out with our new Scottish girlfriend and had a great night in PV.
MONDAY
We still needed to figure out our new plan since the airlines didn´t give us any new information and they still had no idea what was going on. We were searching online for several hours, getting more and more anxious, trying to figure out how to get to Patagonia or anywhere for that matter, but none of the websites worked, none of the phones were the right numbers, etc. Then I talked to my parents and they gave me good advice and said that i´m already in paradise, so stop worrying about it and trying to get to another paradise. After hearing that, we went to the beach again to relax and enjoy our time in PV. Tommy and JJ cooked dinner, then we had a laid back night.
TUESDAY
We decided to flip our schedule, and go to Barioloche, Argetina first. We took an awesome tour to get us there, that started at 7 am on a bus where we went to Frutillar, then Puerto Octavo, both cute German towns, then through the misty forests across the border to Argetina! Then, we got on the catamaran on this incredible lake to continue the journey. The scenery was absolutely incredible, the water was emerald green to turquoise, to dark blue, all different shades. This area is almost disturbingly beautiful. It was a seriously great ride, and we got off twice on two different islands to walk around. One island was full of giant sequoias, and we frolicked around there, went down to the beach, and had a cup of tea. It was really very nice. Then, we got to Barioloche which is on the same beautiful lake. It is a very posh ski town, and we walked around, and William got his meat fill finally, a huge platter of it.
Now, wednesday, we are boarding a bus at 2 pm to go to Buenos Aires. The bus ride is only 24 hours long...
It is super strange to be here in a country devastated by an earthquake, but we are so far removed from it right now with our limited access to the news, and how far we are from the epicenter. So im sure it will be a shock when we get back to santiago.
In my dream, the walls were shaking and things were crashing down, then I heard JJ screaming and yelling for us to get out of our beds and get under the door frame. I got up, disoriented and half blind, and they pulled me to the doorframe where we huddled for what seemed like forever as everything was shaking and rumbling. Having never been in an earthquake, I really had no idea what was going on, but it was super scary, although tommy says I was laughing the whole time. The funniest part is that while all of this ruckus was going on in the dorm room, William and Cassidy remained peacefully sleeping, and we didn´t even think to wake them up. So we woke up without power and were talking about the earthquake, William and Cass had no idea what we were talking about, they thought we were kidding..
SATURDAY
Since we woke up with no electricity, all we knew is that there had been an earthquake, and that we felt it pretty strongly. We got a hold of someone in Santiago who told us that the earthquakes epicenter was near there, but that they were fine in Santiago and just without power or water. So, since we didn´t know any reliable information (someone said the earthquake was a 14.5..), we continued on with our plan to go canyoning. We drove 1 hour to a national park, and hiked up to the top of the start of a series of waterfalls. We had to wear full wetsuits with a head covering because the water was coming straight from glaciers. The different pools of water that we were jumping and sliding in to were beautiful, from light green, turquoise, dark blue, and the water was so pure and clean that we were drinking it straight from the pools, best water ive ever tasted. So we were frolicking in the mountain streams and jumping off cliffs, with no idea as to what was going on in Santiago or anywhere.
When we got back to PV the power had just returned, and we opened our emails and saw that tons of people were very worried about us back home, and we hadn´t even seen any of the news yet so we we really had no idea what was going on. But as we read, we realized that the situation was prettty bad, and if we had felt it as strongly as we had 12 hours south of Santiago, imagine how bad it felt up there. We got a hold of most of our friends and host families in Santiago and everyone seemed ok.
I had an early flight the next morning, so I went to bed early.
SUNDAY
I woke up at 5 so that I could catch my flight to Patagonia. When I got to the airport, it was basically deserted except for people sleeping in their sleeping bags, and it was literally freezing inside. The airport people didn´t even show up until 7 am, and before that no one knew anything and none of the departure screens had been updating. Maybe I was dumb to think that I could still fly out the morning after an 8.8 earthquake, but I figured we were so far south that it would be fine. The airport people basically had no information to tell us except go home, call this number, and I dont know anything else.
So, 60 dollars later I was back in bed at the hostel. That day, we realized that our plans were not going to work out like we thought they would, so we set off to figure out what the heck we were going to do. Of course, it being Sunday, all of the bus company offices and airline offices were closed, no matter that the country was in disaster mode. So we finally found a bus company that was open, and we waited in line for an hour only to hear that the next bus for patagonia wouldn´t be leaving for a week. The airline companies weren´t picking up the phones, and when they did, it was ¨call back at 2, call back at 5, call back tomorrow, at 12 we´ll know something¨, very frustrating. So, what else is there to do except go drink ron piñas at the beach? we went to a beach near the nice one where we were the other day, and drowned our sorrows and swam in the lake. A while later, we tried to hitchhike for about another hour, finally convinced a taxi to take us to... the mexican food restaurant!!!!!! Never have I anticipated food so strongly before.. My enchiladas were amazing, with corn tortillas, salsa roja, mushrooms, and black beans!!! oh so so so good!!!! So that was a beautiful day, and after that we went out with our new Scottish girlfriend and had a great night in PV.
MONDAY
We still needed to figure out our new plan since the airlines didn´t give us any new information and they still had no idea what was going on. We were searching online for several hours, getting more and more anxious, trying to figure out how to get to Patagonia or anywhere for that matter, but none of the websites worked, none of the phones were the right numbers, etc. Then I talked to my parents and they gave me good advice and said that i´m already in paradise, so stop worrying about it and trying to get to another paradise. After hearing that, we went to the beach again to relax and enjoy our time in PV. Tommy and JJ cooked dinner, then we had a laid back night.
TUESDAY
We decided to flip our schedule, and go to Barioloche, Argetina first. We took an awesome tour to get us there, that started at 7 am on a bus where we went to Frutillar, then Puerto Octavo, both cute German towns, then through the misty forests across the border to Argetina! Then, we got on the catamaran on this incredible lake to continue the journey. The scenery was absolutely incredible, the water was emerald green to turquoise, to dark blue, all different shades. This area is almost disturbingly beautiful. It was a seriously great ride, and we got off twice on two different islands to walk around. One island was full of giant sequoias, and we frolicked around there, went down to the beach, and had a cup of tea. It was really very nice. Then, we got to Barioloche which is on the same beautiful lake. It is a very posh ski town, and we walked around, and William got his meat fill finally, a huge platter of it.
Now, wednesday, we are boarding a bus at 2 pm to go to Buenos Aires. The bus ride is only 24 hours long...
It is super strange to be here in a country devastated by an earthquake, but we are so far removed from it right now with our limited access to the news, and how far we are from the epicenter. So im sure it will be a shock when we get back to santiago.
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