Chile Update (Santiago) and Argentina (Mendoza, Salta)

It`s 4:15am in the morning here in Salta, Argentina. I am sitting in this dingy room next to a fusball table at the Backpakers Soul Hostel. Some guy in the next room is spraying orange Lysol all over the place. Why? I don`t know. I don`t stink but both Argentenians and Chileans have this fascination with cleaning. Hey, it`s 4am...let`s Lysol the sh*t out of this place. Why not right? Salta is in the northwest part of Argentina. Bolivia is about 7 hours from here. It´s a good place to chill before going to Bolivia. Ok, this is sounding repetitive, but Salta is quaint and colonial. You get the gist. Reminds me of Veracruz, Mexico actually. Has some really funky churches for all those that are into funky church perusing.

So anyway, after Pucon, Chile I made into Santiago de Chile - like I said before. Then I disappeared from the blogging scene for a couple of weeks. Why? Because frankly, these freakin sticky keyboards were getting to me. I just couldn't sit down and pump out a blog post. I also attempted to upload pictures to my posts. I managed to post one pic. Check it out from my second post. It´s called sanwiche de vacio (flank steak between two pieces of bread - C$2). Because, unlike some people who have their own computers like Peter freakin Guy, I am relegated to using sticky keyboards that in some cases have the keys in the wrong places. So all I`m saying is be patient for the pics. They will come. Not tonight. But more will come.

Here`s the update...(oh yeah, it`s going to be long...I feel a rambling session coming on...although going forward this blog will be updated on Wednedays and Saturdays...probably)

Santiago de Chile is in a valley and flanked by mountains, like most South American cities next to the Andes. Population of about 5 million. Probably South America`s most Western looking city right now. Temperatures ranged from 10 degress Celcius at night and 31-35 degrees Celius during the day. Blue skies only while I was there.

First couple of days in Santiago were awash. Did some exploring in the centre and some random errands like getting my second Hep B shot (C$22), working out in my condo`s tiny gym and catching up on some needed sleep after Pucon. By day three, I started getting back into the swing of things. Woke up at 6:30am and decided to run around the centre core where all the touristy things are. Rather than going into details, I took some decent pics, which will be posted..some day...of the city´s monuments, landscape, architecture, etc. Had some shellfish (mariscos) - more like a shellfish soup - in a fish market north of the centre. Chile is known for its fish so I had to go authentic. Think St. Lawrence market. Ate most of it, even the stuff I didn`t recognize. Chewy, yet delicious. I probably have something incubating inside me right now but I will deal with that when the time comes.

The things that stood out to me over the first couple of days in Santiago were the yellow buses, the plethorea of school children..not in school, cops everywhere, the noise and the smog. Not only is downtown Santiago jammed with people coming from every direction, but it`s also jammed with big yellow buses that rule the roads. Doesn`t matter where you are. You will find one of these beasts around the corner, probably going in your direction. The drivers get paid by what they bring in, so bus racing is a sport here. It`s amazing how they can come inches of one another, going about 180km in the city centre, and not get into an accident. Good entertainment value for only C$0.75. Just be sure to hang on because you may go flying through the windshield with the driver.

Actually, Chile has a great transporation system. For C$0.75 you can travel the entire city by bus, subway, or collectivo (kind of like a taxi but much cheaper with a specific route - like a bus - bus/taxi let`s say). The subway system is more modern than Toronto`s or Monteal`s and cleaner. Man, if it`s one thing that Chileans enjoy is cleaning. As some of you know my mother is Chilean and I grew up cleaning. It`s in my blood. While our friends were outside playing and listening to Michael Jackson Thriller, I was inside dusting silverware with my sister and listening to Julio Iglesias. I guess I have it in my blood to be a clean freak. That`s neither here nore there. I`m glad my mother raised me the way she did. Just don`t ask me to come over and polish your silver - those days are over. People sweeping or scrubbing the sidewalks with soap and water were common to see as well.

Not as common as all the school kids hanging around downtown however. School kids in Chile where uniforms. Girls where pants or dresses (usually blue or gray) with white shirts, while boys where pants and shirts (same colour scheme). No matter what time of the day it was you would see kids, anywhere from 12 to 18 hanging around downtown. Don`t know why. Police weren`t hard to find either. Although I think I saw five different types of uniforms, Chilean police were all over the place. I think Chile is the only South American country where the police are not corrupt. Don`t take my word for it, but if you even try bribe a cop here...you are going to jail. As I walked and bumped around the city centre, I gasped for air. If you like inhaling diesel smoke, this is the place for you. The altitude, noise, and air all combined to give me a nice throbbing headache upon arrival. I was missing Pucon and the outdoors...that`s for sure.

I decided to visit my mother's old school in Santiago de Chile called Santiago College, located in the Providencia area of the city. My mother was 1 out of 9 children - four sisters and four brothers. She and her sisters (the Sara sisters) went to this private school from grade school to high school. Upon arriving at the school, I was greeted warmly by my Aunt Maria Elena's old classmate from 1961 (woops, sorry Tia), Cecilia Sepulveda who was now the Secretary in charge of the Middle School. She showed me where my mother and my aunts played, went to class and hung out. Nothing had changed for the most part. Only one new building was added since my mother graduated, to handle the overcapacity of children, since Santiago College became a boys and girls college (not just girls anymore).

Talked to the alumni head of the school and then took some pictures. It's hard walking around a school like this because everybody knows everyone. So, here I arrive looking like a complete stranger with camera in hand. Not a good feeling. I tried taking only pictures without children around because I already felt like a creep. However, for some, I couldn't help but have people in the shot (couldn't really ask 100 kids to leave or get out of the way). So it was inevitable that some old dude finally came up to me and asked what I was doing. I said I was taking pictures and that my mother was an alumni. He started interrogating me, asking my name, who let me into the school. Here I am thinking this is the Head Master of the school and he is going to make a big scene. He tells me stop taking photos so I do. It turns out he was a Head alright...of the maintenace staff. F*ckin guy. It was cool to see where my mother went to school. Santiago College is well known throughout the city - doesn't matter who you ask...they all know about the school. I grew up looking at photos and hearing stories about my mother's time spent in Santiago College. She has many proud memories of SC and I now understand why.

Afterwards, Senora Sepulveda drove me around Providencia and Vitacura which is considered the wealthier part of Santiago. I felt like I was in Canada or the US. Wide streets, tall buildings, broad sidewalks, boutiques were everywhere and of course everything was pristine and clean. Senora Sepulveda then drove me to her house and introduced me to her daughter Huga (pronounced Ooo-ga and fittingly so). Huga drove me around some more. Compared to where I was, where I had to wear earplugs to sleep in my condo because it was so loud, Vitacura was paradise. So tranquil. The landscape reminded me of a mixture between Las Vegas (mountains), LA (wide boulevards and shops), and Fort Lauderdale (weather). Amazing sunset.

So towards the end of the week, I found out my new Visa credit card would not be arriving until Monday. Great. So I had to stay the weekend. Ok, well that gave me a chance to light it up right? See how Chileans party in Santiago. Knowing that nothing would get going until 12 or so, I took a nap, ate and then grabbed a bus to Vitacura street where all ´the happening´places in Santiago are located. Got dropped off at 12:30am. Not knowing where to go first, I decided to start walking. And walking. And walking. Ok, so now I find an Irish Pub. What day is it? Yep, St. Patrick's Day. What's the cover tonight? 50,000 pesos or C$100 BUT it included a drink. Yeah, ofk for that price I should get a magical leprechaun hallucagenic drink that leads me to a pot of gold. My answer. Ha ha, uh no. I ask the bouncer, where are they playing hip hop. Heep Hop? Yeah, Heep Hop. No, no Heep Hop here or anywhere around here. Only techno. Cool. Where? Las Arracas up the street. Riiiight.

I read about this place in El Mercurio the day before. So I started walking again. And walking. And some more walking. Ah, here we go. What better place to go than the one with the giant guitar on the roof. Cover was $15. By this time, I had my walking fill so I paid it. Grabbed my free drink and scoped out the place. In terms of design and capex into the bar, it was decent. Not huge, but roomy with a good layout. Would I have played ´Pump Up the Jam` by Technotronic at 1am in the morning? Probably not. ***Ok, somebody just had a big caca in the common bathroom here. I`m gonna to yak. Where`s the freakin orange Lysol when you really need it. Who wakes up to have caca at this time!!!??? Probably the Swiss***

Anyway, after one Pisco Sour I am good and drunk. I need to take a rest and `Calling Mr. Vain` just ain't doing it for me tonight. I go to the next room. I am hearing some strong beats. I`m liking it. Nobody on the floor except Eugene Levy and a couple of young girls...dancing with good ol` Eugene. If you are old and like to wear dockers with pastel coloured Polo shirts, you are the king here. After I sober up a little, I decide to join Eugene and his groupies on the floor. After about 10 minutes, I am starting to attract some attention. More people come onto the floor. Before you know it, the floor is starting to fill up. I guess people in Chile had never been privy to someone who can actually dance to techno. Note, I don`t like to toot my own horn but in this case I will. I found the people at the club pretentious and rigid, so I guess it was just my way of showing them how to party. Boo'ya in other words. Danced til about 5am. Found a collectivo...thank god, I was in the middle of nowhere...and was home by 5:30am.

Woke up late the next day and decided to be a vegetable. Pretty much did nothing except walk around aimlessly around the city centre looking for a decent place to cut my hair. I think this may have taken me three hours.

I also called an old family friend of my mother`s who was probably in her late nineties. She knew my grandmother and grandfather and was very close to my mother. Did I realize this at the time? No, it was just on my agenda to do it that day. So I call the house, ring ring. ¨Allo? Si, puedo communicar con Senora Maltide por favor? Aaaaaaaaah, ok....en parte de quien? Alex Farrell. Quien? Um, Alex Farrell, el hijo de Maria Eugenia Farrell Sara y el nieto de Gabriel Sara. Huh¨? Ok, you get the gist. Trying to explain to some stranger over the phone, to put a ninety year old lady on the line, and who has probably never spoken to my mother in over 40 years, was a bit of a challenge. After some more, ahs and huhs?, he leaves me waiting for five minutes and then I hear this little old lady answer. ¨Allo, quien es¨?

Ok, so read a few lines up again...same conversation. Soy Alex Farrell...etc. etc....huh? So now I am in this phone booth where it feels like 80 degrees Celcius, I am dying of thirst, someone is pounding nails through my head, I am sweating bullets, and I have some 90 year old lady on the other line who keeps on asking me...what do I want or what do I need. Realizing that asking her out to Starbucks for a coffee, to `catch up´, was probably not the best idea...I eventually convinced her that I was in fact NOT a maniac and that I was only calling to say hi for my mother. She clued in and remembered (it had been over 40 years since she last heard of my mother´s whereabouts) and sent her love and best wishes to my mother and her family. It was cool that she remembered after all this time. Total conversation time. 5 minutes.

The last two days in Santiago were chill. Checked out some museums, exhibitions, and had some dinner with a friend from hospitalityclub.com...a website dedicated to travelers looking to meet other people in host cities to show them around the hot spots, etc. and in some cases provide free accomodation. Good site. Recommended by my friend Bruce Pon a.k.a. Brucey Bruce.

Checked out Santiago`s largest and most famous vineyard, Concha y Toro (www.conchaytorro.com). Too many Americans and Germans. I got suckered into another tourist trap.

I picked up my credit card at the Canadian Embassy and I also checked out the house where my mother grew up in Macul (suburb of Santiago). Turns out that the house is no more. It is now an elementary school. Took pics of it anyway. I ended up getting lost and it only took 2 hours and 5 people this time to point me in the right direction. Note when traveling in Chile, people love to give you directions. Whether they are right or not, that is for you to find out. Next time, I´ll buy a map.

I said good-bye to Chile and headed back to Argentina the next day. To some more wine country, where 70% of Argentina´s wine is produced, and a great place to relax...the city of Mendoza. I took the 10 hour trip from Santiago to Mendoza at 8:30am (C$20) and arrived midafternoon to my hostal destination. The trip over and through the Andes was amazing. Again, I took some great pics and will post them...soon?

Met up with Andre the German, who I traveled with before, and another Swiss dude Stefan. Walked around and fell in love with place. YES, I LOVE MENDOZA. Of all the places I visited, this is the place I would move to. The weather is dry and hot, yet, every once in a while, it will rain and cool everything off. The city is lush and green, supported by a fascinating irrigation/ waterway system that is naturally supplied with water from the moutain snowcaps (created first by indigenous people in the 1700´s and later fully developed at the turn of the century). It`s basically a utopia in the middle of a desert. Its largest park has two universities, a zoo, a row club, two nightclubs, a man made lake...all inside. Wine country surronds the city, and you could probably hit 4 or 5 bodegas in a day. Most are free and it takes about 20 minutes to get there by bus (C$0.60). The nightlife is incredible as restaurants and bars line the busiest streets, Colon and Villanueva.

Adventure travel is the norm here where one could do rafting, horseback riding, paragliding, mountainbiking and climbing (base camp for Aconcagua - South America`s highest summit - 6900 metres above sea level and one of the seven summits) just to name a few. I ended up doing the body rafting and biking. Great day. Can`t beat having a hot shower outside in the crisp air surronded by moutains all around you. Best of all, people like to take two siestas a day. One at 1pm and then one at 4:30pm. They do it allllllllright. I ended up hanging with a Swedish guy (Niclaus), a Swiss girl (Lori), a German girl Inga) and an Argentenian dude (Ramiro).

After 4 days in Mendoza I left for Salta (18 hours and C$45 from Mendoza). I met a couple of Swedish girls (Jenny and Karina) and we took the bus to Salta together. Used AndesMar this time. The BEST bus company by far that I have taken in Chile or Argentina. Leather captain chairs that recline almost all the way back and a hot dinner. Mmm, NO Jamon y Queso this time. So Stefan, Andre and I decided to meet here again...to party and check out some of the excursions. This a cool little town.

I picked up a cheap rain/ wind jacket for Bolivia...that isn´t going to put me on the cover of GQ but it works. Finally, saw my first Latin American flick here...a Mexican movie called La Mujer de mi Hermano (The Wife of my Brother). Cheesy but brought back some good memories of Mexico City. Freakin almost ten years ago. The days of long hair, earings and second hand clothing. Long gone. Yes, and the dreaded ponch is starting to fill in also. Jamon y queso sandwiches, dulce de lece, fried empanadas, bread every freakin day for breakfast, hot dogs, breaded meat, etc, etc. does wonders for a ponch. Who would have thought that I would actually gain weight on this trip. Yes, I am making my way to the Skinny Men with Ponches Club. Not a good look. I still recall my father telling me, ¨Don`t worry Alex, you soon will have this belly one day. Your time will come¨. Riiiight. So today I ran up this mountain in Salta...over 1000 steps. The permanent ponch is not going to happen. I will go down fighting.

Anyway, I gotz to get to bed. Leaving for some excursion tomorrow. We rented a 4X4 truck (negotiated the guy down to about C$80/day) and are mapping the same route as the Tren de Los Nubes (Train of the Clouds). The train does not run at this time of year because of the rain and the mud. Hopefully, we make it. Should be fun. Going to visit some cool mountain villages and the salt plains. Thanks to all who read this entire blog. Will try to keep my posts more frequent so I don´t have to write a novel next time. Hope everyone is keeping well.

If you want me to send you a postcard, email me at akfarrell@gmail.com with your mailing address. Hasta Miercoles.

Chile - On my Way to Santiago (Punta Arenas, Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas, Valdivia, Pucon)

To all those who stuck it out reading my last blog, thanks. The computers here are too slow to upload my pictures. I will keep trying. Feel free to post your comments. You don´t have to be a www.blogger.com member or anything like that. So here´s the update...

Took a bus to Punta Arenas where I met up with some Brazilians that I met in my hostel. Good guys. Going to Sydney for 6 months to learn English. Gave me some good ideas for future importing of Brazilian goods. I would love to go to Brazil next. In due time of course. Managed to get on the standby flight to Puerto Montt (so I didn´t have to spend another night in the south) in Punta Arenas. The airport was quite nice. Very modern. Note that the reason I took the plane to Puerto Montt was so I could bypass traveling through Argentina again. Why would I go back through Argentina again to get to middle Chile, if I was already in southern Chile you ask? Because there is no road that goes from Puerto Natales (south Chile) to Puerto Montt (middle Chile). None. So you can either do the 40 hour trek through Argentina again (a big u turn through the Patagonia) or fly. I flew. $120/ 2 hours on Sky Airlines. The other airline here is LanChile. I felt crampt. They really jam you in like sardines.

Arrived in Puerto Montt, which is a city of about 150,000 or so. Industrial, blue collar and run down. Reminded me of jelly bean square in Dartmouth/ Peggy´s cove with all the wild variety of colors the houses had. I was bored of taking the plane so I decided I needed some excitement. Jumped on the next collectivo (mini-bus) to Puerto Varas. I heard about this place before. You could do some adventure trekking and see some amazing views of Volcano Osorno. 75 cents and 20km later I arrive in this cute little fishing town. German and dutch influenced (like many places here in Chile). I´m thinking, sweet, I´m gonna be hanging with some locals. Then the tourists started showing up. Across and down the street. In stores on every corner. Schiesse. I was in another f*ckin tourist place. It was 7pm, so I decided to check into HelenHauss. Ha ha Helen. You is funny. Not. Six foot four Dutch lady who also spoke German. She shows me the single for 8000 pesos ($16). It was about half the size of a room on a train car. Maybe smaller. I laughed. No thanks. I took the dorm for 4000 pesos. Met a Canadian girl from Vancouver, Naudia. Was traveling´through South America for three months. Yeah, ok. If you call sleeping in $40/ night hotels and watching tv all day traveling, then I guess she was traveling. I am trying to avoid Canadians on this trip. I like Canadians, but I want to meet people from other countries not hang with my kind. Plus, most of the Canadians I have met are douchebags from Vancouver or Quebec and don´t speak a lick of Spanish which I find kind of strange. Even the Americans that travel here speak SOME Spanish. Note that I do not think all people from Vancouver or Quebec are douchebags, just the ones that flew directly here on DouchebagAir.

So Naudia and I go out for dinner with another German girl. The German orders salad. Naudia says let's order some Parilla (bbq). Sure, why not. I let her order without looking at the menu figuring we´ll spend about $20 max. $40 later, I´m thinkin´f*ck, this girl has already broken my budget for the next few days. Oh well. Lesson learned. Always order for yourself. I still need to budget for Asia and Europe which is going to hit me hard. Naudia suggested we order some wine and watch tv. I suggested, good-bye. Next morning I managed to get hold of the Canadian Embassy in Santiago, and made them call and transfer me to TD CanadaTrust Visa. I ordered a new credit card to be sent to the Embassy this coming Friday. My card expired at the end of April which made me feel like less of a dumb-ass for losing it.

Took a bus to Valdivia that day (still in Middle Chile) and checked into some old man´s house named Roberto. His daughter and her bad breath recruited me at the bus station. I guess I was the one wearing the sucker hat. Actually, the place wasn´t that bad. 5000 pesos ($10), more than I would like to have spent but decent. I had the house to myself and then a Swiss couple showed up. They showed me how to play this game called Carcasonne which I guess is popular in Europe these days. These guys made the game out of a beer box and some beach stones for playing pieces. They had also made a chess board out of beach driftwood. Riiiight. Number of things I have made out of driftwood while traveling...zero. Anyways, took a nap and hit the town at around midnight. Lonely Planet advertised this place as "one of Chile´s most attractive cities if not the most attractive, with a killer night scene". Um, no. It´s nice but not the most attractive. Found the street where all the bars were. Went into Dance Bar. Listened to Bob Markey and ordered a Pisco Sour ($3.5). Pisco tastes kind of like tequila but is actually a grape brandy extract. Chileans consider it their national drink. Funny, so do the Peruvians. Ordered another one. This time with gingerale ($3.75) - equivalent to about 10 ounces of tequila...no joke. Chileans like to drink. The guy filled it a quarter of the way and gave me a mini ginerale can I guess for flavour. I'm wasted. Go down to the 'dance bar' where I see a bunch of Chileans making weird arm movements to the rhythms of Keeping You Warm by Sean Paul. I sober up. I'm home by 2:30am.

Took a bus to Niebla ($0.75) and then a ferry to Isla Corral ($1.50), which has one of Chile's largest and most intact fortresses, Fuerte Corral. Conquistador Pedro de Valdivia a.k.a. Spanish douchebag founded Valdivia (gee, really?) and also founded Santiago in 1540 when he came into the Mapocho Valley after leaving Peru. Anyways, the Island of Corral with its 5,000 inhabitants was something to see...I felt like I was in another era, with its cobblestone streets and tiny houses perched on the mountainside. Reached the fort. Only person there. Sweet. Saw a bunch of horse poo. Why all the horse poo. Found three stray horses on the fort's grounds. Tried to give them some of my lunch. They run away. A little kid (can't be more than 9) lassoos one of the horses and jumps on it (no saddle) and continues to round up the other two. Cool. Gaucho in the making. Take a nap on the grass as I gaze at the condors flying overhead in circular formation. Wake up to the sound of tourists. Look around. Hundreds of toursits. Chileans. This time I run.

Take a bus to Pucon that night (3.5 hours and $6). Think Banff but less touristy and less bastardized. Arrive at 11:15pm with no place to stay. This is getting to sound familiar. Walk around. All the places are double of what I paid everywhere else in Chile ($20-$22). Look at the crappy Lonely Planet for ideas. Find Hotel Donde Germaine ($14). Clean, tv, big living room, well-kept kitchen, and decent bathrooms. I take it. Ask about the trek to the volcano. $70 and they leave at 7am. I take it. Go to bed. Wake up at 6am to take a shower. No hot water. Sweeeet. Arrive at the agency (also owned by the cool hotel owners, Germaine and Maria Elena) to get fitted with gear at 7am. Oh wait, it's not 7am but 6am. Woops, time change. F*ck. Anyways, get fitted and 5 others (young american couple, 23, two old retirees from England and another retiree from USA) and me go to climb Volcano Villarica (one of Chile's few volcanos that is still active), accompanied by two tour guides (Germaine and Marcos). The volcano is 2800 metres above sea level and 1400 metres from the base of our ascent. Most people reach the top in 5 hours. We take 6. Don´t ask me why. We used ice axes and were fitted with space boots to make the ascent. Pretty smooth overall. One mentally challenging part - 300 metres of 45 degree snow covered plain - just before reaching the summit. The women cried. I waited and ate my raw bacon. Not bad actually, tastes like prosciutto (sp?). The first 5 hours were in sunglasses and t - shirt. The last hour was in hard hat, micro fleece, hats, gloves, and windprotecter. Upon reaching the top, take a huge breath of sulfur chlorite. Start going crazy. My eyes begin to sting because of the chlorine. Put on the gas mask. It's all good after 5 minutes. Take snaps and begin the descent which included sliding on our butts down the snow for the most part (think bobsledding or luge). Good day overall. I'm liking this adventure travel thing. Hit the hotsprings that night ($20), natuarlly heated by the volcanic rock surronding the town. Get home at 1am and have an excellent sleep.

Next day it rained. So I packed up and decided to go to Santiago that night. The rain outside was deafening. Haven´t seen rain like it since Caracas, Venezuela. Gets like this in Chile in the winter time. Although there is another week of summer left, winter is around the corner (i.e., lots of rain). One of our tour guides mentioned that when he was a kid he would have to wear full on rain gear and take a bike to school even though his school was only a kilometer away. He still got soaked. Grabbed lunch at a typical Chilean restaurant. Reminded me of my mother's excellent homecooking. Caught up on some emailing and chatted with the people in my hostal. Mostly oldies but that's neither here nor there. I really admired them. Some had been traveling for 3 years or more. Wow. Left for Santiago on the night bus. I prefer the buses in Argentina. In Chile, I seem to get seated by the most annoying people on the bus. This time it was the yogurt-eating-every-five-minutes, crazy-looking, with-a-handsome-tango-hat wearing German-looking lady. She kept on passing wind. On my other side was the six foot four, 250 pound military freak with a screaming kid. Family plays an important role in Chile and it is quite common for parents to let their kids run around and scream. I don't think I grew up that way. Did I? Anyways, thought I was going to die.

Made it into Santiago 6:15am. Went to the apartment that I am renting from the young American couple that I met in Pucon (while they are in Buenos Aires for the week). In the centre of town. New building with pool and gym. I check out the town in the barrio where I am located. Santiago is very modern. A lot cleaner than Buenos Aires but smaller (5 million versus 13 million). Tons of people walking around. Lots of shops where I am. The cathedral, post office, and municipal buildings are all around. I plan on checking out where my mother went to school (Santiago College) tomorrow, and the house she grew up in. I will also hit a winery or two. We shall see. Anyway, I gotta bounce and stop this monkey punching madness. It's sunny and hot outside. Pictures to come...soon...I promise!

Argentina to Chile (Puerto Mardryn, Rio Gallegos, El Calafate, Puerto Natales, Torres Del Paine)

It´s 8:30pm and I am in pueblito nowhere. In this town called Puerto Natales. Town of 19,000. It´s pretty far south in Chile - almost at the end of Chile (Punta Arenas which is even more boring is about 3 hours south of here). I´m going to Punta Arenas tomorrow, so I can go south and catch a plane that goes north to Puerto Montt. Yeah, transportation here is limited and if there is no bus, then there is no bus. Feeling a little exhausted from the last few days.

This town wouldn´t be so bad if it weren´t for all the tourists. I´m not a tourist of course with my Molson Canadian trucker hat. Ok this may be a long post. I will try to keep it short. Here we go...

Arrived in Puerto Madryn after a long 17 hour bus ride. Highlight was waking up to a collage of pinks, oranges, yellows, and reds along the Patagonian horizon - absolutely nothing around. You just see sand and shrubs for miles and miles. The Patagonina in Chile and Argentina makes up 1/3 of the land but only 5% of the countries´populations. Ok back to Puerto Madryn. Sleepy port town in Argentina - more like a deserted ghost town. So I thought. Walked around a bit and found a youth international hostal. Clean and spacious. I said why not, I´ll take a bunk. Met an English dude, cool guy, who was climbing the Andes from Venezuela to Chile. I may join him at some point in Bolivia. Met my roommates, ¨the Austrians¨ who were as interesting as paint. When I asked where they were from, they looked at me like I had three heads...¨We are from AUSTRIA¨. Riiiiiight. Of course I should have recognized your German accent. Went to a local bar with some Irish dudes I met in the Hostal (the town is actually quite lively) full of Argentenians watching a soccer game. The Irish asked to watch the Irish-Wales match. It was changed. Yeah, way to make a first impression.

Went exploring the next day. Started running - very windy - ate a bucketful of dirt and sand. Ended up running/ walking 15km along the coast line. Beautiful views of the Patagonian desert. Saw some dead penquins but that was about it. Nothing around. Had to walk 15km back. Decided to run back as my hands were starting to turn a nice purplish hue from the sun burn. 30km - 5 hours of walking and running - two burnt hands.

Next came the Germans. Three girls, Daniela, Claudia, and Katherine - and one guy, Andre. We decided to fire up some parilla (bbq) using the grill that hadn´t been used in 30 years - Argentenian style. The meat in Argentina is O.K. People go crazy, blah blah blah, it´s the best but I would say it´s about a 6-7 out of ten. Rented a car with the three German girls to Peninsula Valdes - the main reason people come here - to see armadillos, sea lions, penguins, guanacos (part of the llama family), and elephant whales. I went mainly to sea orca whales swallow up some sea lions. Apparently, they come up on the beach and swallow them up. Plus, I never saw penquins or elephant whales up close...so why not. Car rental was $50/ day. Not bad if you split the cost. Took off the next day to Peninsula rip-off. After getting jammed another $10 for the park entrance, we drove and drove and drove and drove. 12 hours total. Had some heated ham and mozarella sandwiches in the hot sun - mmm yummie and saw some penguins up close and hundreds about 200 metres. Couldn´t get any closer. Same with the sea lions. Llamas took off every time I approached them but I did pet an armadillo. Cute little guys. They were all over the parking lot. Saw an elephant whale that didn´t move. Looked like a giant piece of pooh lying on the beach. No orcas. Scheisse. Went out with the Germans for dinner that night. Good times. Their English was excellent for the most part with the occasional, ¨I have to blow my nose, can you get me some asspaper from the toilet¨? Ok. After killing about 50 bloody mosquitos in my dorm, because my Austrian friends left the windows open, I went to bed. Woke up to some thunderous flatulance. Thought it was the male Austrian. Turned out to be the female who had a 46¨width shoulder span. She almost gassed out the poor Englishman.

Took a bus the next day to El Calafate with Andre the German a.k.a. Music/ French Teacher/ Classical saxophonist sans the Kenny G jerry curl/ Opera Singer. On a ten week vacation here. Master of languages. One minute he´s talking English, then French, then Spanish, then German. It´s actually quite funny to see. Likes to end sentences with ¨Of course¨in all languages. Good guy. 17 hour bus ride to El Calafate which is almost the most southern town in Argentina next to Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego). That title belongs to Rio Gallegos or Armpit of Argentina (I was mistaken in my previous post). Made a brief stop before connecting to El Calafate.

El Calafate is a beautiful town. I mean this town is the reason I would live in Argentina. Huge lakes are flanked by mountains. It´s really picturesque. Touristy yet quaint. Most people come to see the Glacier Moreno which is why I came. President of Argentina has a summer home here. Stayed at an International Youth Hostel again. Met some Dutch, English, Israelis, and Americans and a Che Guevera look alike from Peru (lots of those here). Cooked up some pasta and did my laundry in the sink for the first time. Good times. Rented a car with Andre for $50 again. This thing was built like a firefly. We took the most damaged car because the road to the glacier was unpaved and full of rocks. Went to the bus terminal to recruit some people so we could split the cost. An American, who had one too many red bull in his lifetime, joined us named Mike. I also ran into a guy that was my neighbour in Toronto 10 years ago, while I was on a 4 month work term. We lost touch but apparently he remembered my voice. Great memory. We saw the Glacier Moreno. Was it cool? Yeah. Ice falling all over the place and making thunderous splashes. I´ll load up the pics soon enough. After wiping tar off the car (Andre drove through fresh tar on one of the roads) with gasoline we returned the car.

Went horseback riding the next day. Andre and I found the place the day before and we asked the Gaucho (cowboy) dude...how much. My horse was the oldest, Mentira (which means ¨a lie¨ in Spanish). Jessie, an English bird, joined us. Claudio, was an old school vaquero. These are the guys that founded Argentina back in the day, when it was a poor colony. Locals, lacking in natural resources to sell/ develop, would go out to the countryside and skin cows (leaving the dead carcases behind) and bring them back to the main port, Buenos Aires, where they would be shipped off to Europe. They later figured out that they could actually use the whole cow (i.e., meat) to sell. These were the cowboys of the land. This is how Argentina initially built it´s economy and trade business. Argentenians from Buenos Aires are still referred to as Porteños today. Ok, enough boring talk. We continued on, over rough terrain, through lakes (at one point, we had to lift our feet above the horses´ heads so we wouldn´t get soaked) and marsh land. We galloped along the beach which was pretty funny - and a very sore experience. Climbed up a small mountain and overlooked the entire town. Took some more pics and rode back down to safety. All told, $12 and two hours later, best bang for your buck. Skip the Glacier. Buy a postcard instead. Made a decent dinner that night and shared some good wine with some interesting characters from all over the world. A good bottle will run you almost $3.

Ok, go take a break now. I am almost finished. Next day I took the 8:30am bus to Puerto Natales, Chile a.k.a. buttf*ck nowhere with Andre. It turns out we share the same sense of humour and although Old Man Klaus can occasionally go off on rants (I never met anybody who complained more than I) he´s a good traveling partner. After two hours of border checks, etc. we made it into Chile. Ok, now I really started to notice, it´s a little ¨Chil-ee¨ down here. Ha ha. Riiiiiiiiight. Ok so movin on, we arrived and got harrassed by local hotel/ hostal owners. Come to my place no come to my place. Finally, we saw a price for $5, offered to us by some guy who looked like, you guessed it, Che Guevera. Got to the door. Is this it? Opened the door into somebody´s living room. Hippie and pot head freaks lying around watching a plasma tv. Riiiiiight. Greeted by another Che Guevera again. Looked around for about 2 minutes, after checking out the urine stained beds and said, ¨No gracias Che¨. We decided to grab some cash at the bank (500 Chilean pesos is about CAD$1) and checked into Patagonia Aventure or Patagonia Jam U. This place looked straight out of a tourist magazine - rustic, antique with a cabin feel to it. The walls and ceilings were all wood paneling. I think it was built for the first Smurf settlers of South America. Chileans aren´t very tall. We checked in anyway.

Grabbed an excellent meal (Menu Del Dia - Menu of the Day) for $4. Reminded me of my mother´s homecooking, but not as good of course. I was getting sick of the Argentenian diet which consists of pizza, ham and cheese sandwiches (without the crust), meat, baby croissants, dulce de lece, and stale toast. I´ll talk about dulce de lece in a later blog. Ok, the reason I came here was to go trekking in the Andes to the National Park of Torres del Paine (Towers of the Pines) or Towers of Pain. Number of times I´ve been trekking in my lifetime? Um, 3...maybe. So we decide to rent a tent and cooking gear from Patagonia Jam U and buy some food...Mr. Noodles, cookies, some beans, some bread, crackers, vodka, pure de papas and about 10 kilos of bratwurst for the German. We´re all set to go so I decide to go buy a place ticket to fly from Punta Arenas to Santiago. But wait...where is my credit card. Oh oh...it´s sitting in the ATM machine in Banco de Chile where I forgot it (when we first arrived). In the midst of looking at the ¨new¨form of money I had forgotten to grab my card after I grabbed the bank slip. So, I´m freaking. What am I going to do on a Sunday night. Nothing, so I go to bed.

Next morning, I´m off to the bank for the 9am opening. Go directly to the bank manager and explain the situation. He says, ¨sorry sir, nothing I can do until 2pm when we do our regular replenishing/ checking of the bank machine¨. My bus to Torres del Paine is at 2:30pm. I go and pack. It´s now 11am. I decide I am going to block my card just in case I don´t get my card back. I get the toll free number for Visa International from the bank manager. Go to a locutorio and dial the number (here where there are limited supplies of everything, it can be very expensive to have your own phone number so people use the phone in private locations called locutorios. They are all over the place here in Chile and in Argentina. You walk in and ask to use a booth. You go in booth number 1, etc., dial your number and then pay the person at the front when you are finished. It´s all computerized so they know what number you dialed and how long you talked for. It´s easier than using a payphone sometimes and safer). Wrong number. Ok, to make a long story short, I finally managed to call Visa International and block my card after almost 3 hours running around town, trying to figure out how to make a collect call. Apparently, collect calls are unheard of and you still have to pay the locutorio the money to use the phone. Here, you just can´t dial zero for the operator. ¨Can you connect me to the operator¨. Huh, is all I heard until I asked the 15th person, who said, oh yeah, no problemo. All said, it cost me $1.25 to cancel my card.

So now it´s 2pm. I run to the bank to grab my card. Señor rent a cop is there to greet me. I have to wait until the place is empty - no customers - before they can open the ATM. Riiiight. Tick tock tick tock. C´mon, c´mon...It´s now 2:25pm. They open up the machine...¨Alexander Kevin Farrell¨? Yes, that´s me. ¨Ok¨. Um, ok can I have my card back? Here is a photocopy of it. ¨No, we are going to destroy it. Those are the rules. Redbanc, who is the transfer and processing agent for all the ATMs in Chile has instructed us to do this for all cards that are left in the ATM machine. We cannot change the rules for you¨. 2:27pm. Although, I would have liked to, I had no time to argue. I said forget it and run to my bus.

The trip to Torres del Paine is a bumpy and swirvy road. The Andes are truly impressive and magnificent. Right out of a picture book. Anyway, we arrive pay the entrance fee. It is raining...I mean pouring...gatos y perros. I strap on my handsome green rain gear ($6 poncho and $7 rain pants) and start the ascent. A French girl has joined along with another French dude. Both from Paris but not together. The wind is blowing really hard and I´m thinking ok, this is going to be harder than that trip I took to Peggy´s Cove with my grade 5 class. Up the hills, over the slippery banks, and through the rivers we go. We start climbing the mountain. I´m thinking what did I get myself into. Only 10 minutes have passed. Up, and up and up we climb. Along cliffsides with huge drop offs. Seriously, one step and you are toast. Although, it was rainy the mountains were so beautiful. I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings. Hard to describe. Almost two hours later in the distance, I saw our oasis, the Refuge where we ended up warming up, eating and grabbing some hot showers. We arrived around 8pm at the Refuge and camped outside. It never stopped raining. I almost froze to death. My sleeping bag was supposed to be for up to -10 temperatures...more like +10. We woke up and had breakfast. I grabbed the expensive breakfast that the Refuge offered while the others ate toast and coffee. I needed something hot after the brutal night. We left our bags at the Refuge and decided to climb up to see the Mirador Las Torres, which is basically a lookout point where you see these three moutain towers lined together. This is why most people come here. The hard core trekkers camp on the Glaicer and do the whole 9 day circuit. Um, yeah, I´m still in Kindergarten. Check it out if you are interested http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/torres.html

So we walked along the marked path. Much easier without packs and the rain had let up. The final leg of the path consists of boulders which you have to climb. It´s about 1km of just rock climbing and scrambling. Nothing crazy but still difficult. I managed to get up before the others. Took some snaps before the Towers of Pain clouded over. It then began to snow. I got out of there and began my descent while all the other suckas were still busy climbing. The rain had stopped but I still decided to head back that day to Puerto Natales. I could have continued on for three more days but they were expecting three more days of rain and snow. I wasn´t prepared for that nor did I want to be. It´s not very much fun, hanging out in a tent all day and night while the weather is crappy. So Andre and I came back and ditched the Frenchies. On the way back, it was beautiful sunny day. A little chilly but pleasant nevertheless. If you ever saw the movie Alive and remember the ending where they climb over the wintery peaks of the Andes and reach the lush green valleys of Chile, you will know the feeling that I had that day. Truly amazing.

So today I did nothing here. Just chilled and tried to catch up on my journal. Tomorrow I have a bus to Punta Arenas. Hopefully, I can grab a flight to Puerto Montt. I hear that there is less to do in Punta Arenas. Sorry for the long blog. I´ll try to keep them shorter going forward. Hope all of you are well. I´m still working on replying to my emails so please bear with me. Miss you guys.

Argentina - On the way to Puerto Madryn

I'm in El Calafate, in the southern most part of Argentina, just before you hit Tierra del Fuego and the end of the world. It's a small town of 15,000 that grew by 2000% over the last ten years because of the tourist trap created by the Moreno Glacier discovered by Francisco "Perrito" (little dog) Moreno in the late 1800's. Actually, I don't really know when he discovered it but let's just say the late 1800's. Won't talk about that today however. Today, I am going to talk about Argentenians.

I said good bye to Mar del Plata after a nice leisurely day of suncooking, reading, running to go to Puerto Madryn. Sat beside an 18 year old Argentenian kid named Mariano on the bus. Mariano lived in Puerto Madryn but was doing summer school in Mar Del Plata to get his grades up so he could play basketball. It so happened that he was the godson of Manu Ginobili's mother (an All-Star in the NBA who plays for the San Antonio Spurs). Not that I really cared but I was the one who brought the name up...hmm...basketball + Argentina + San Antonio Spurs = something to talk about with an Argentenian basketball player. Ok, after we made useless basketball small talk for about 5 minutes (the depth of my basketball knowledge) Mariano asks if I want half of his sandwich. I don't even know this kid and he is offering me his sandwich. I was taken aback. Here is a kid that has to take this crappy 17 hour bus ride with this cracker Canadian he doesn't even know and he's offering me his dinner. I wasn't that hungry, I mean one can only have so many ham and cheese sandwiches a day. More on food later.

Time and time again, Argentenians have shown me their generousity and kindness. This is a country that was considered one of the wealthiest countries in the world at one point (8th) and after the devaulation of its currency in 2002 has undergone some serious change. People are happy and proud here. Their peso might not have much purchasing power (CDN$1 is a little more than 3 pesos) these days but they make the most of it. Just imagine if our Canadian dollar went from 87 cents/ US dollar to 27-30 cents. Good times? Um, no. He knew he couldn't finish the sandwich and probably figured I was hungry. Most people I know would have probably saved the other half for later (including me). Just made me think, that's all. We talked in English the whole way. He was just learning English and although we could have talked in Spanish, I wanted to give him something in return...help a brotha out knowwhaddaimsayin? He asked if I liked Linkin Park, Green Day or Linkin Park - I said, yeah sure - and so he was insistent on offering me his cd player to listen to any of those cd's. I didn't want to eat up his batteries (they can be expensive here), but after about 20 reminders/ pleas, I listened to Linkin Park.

Watched about 3 Will Smith movies in a row, in Spanish, after that and then called it a night. We woke up at 7am or so and made it into Puerto Madryn shortly after. The bus ride sucked (felt more like a tropical rain forest on wheels) but I survived because of Mariano. I'm gonna bounce. Long day today. I am going to Chile tomorrow to climb some mountain thingy with all the other Lonely Planet touring monkeys. It's called Torres del Paine. More on that later. I still have to get a bus ticket. Ciao for now.

Argentina - Atlantic Coast (Buenos Aires, Pinamar, Mar Del Plata)

Hola from Argentina. I am in Puerto Madryn right now, an old Port Town originally settled by Welsh settlers back in the 1800´s. Pretty little town in the Patagonia. I am making my way to El Calafate today, to see the Moreno Glacier (a 60 meter glacier that regularly cracks with ice debris falling into the water). Don´t know why I am doing this because it seems too touristy but oh well, I have never seen a glacier so I guess I will join the rest of the chicken heads and take lots of pictures and say ooooooooooh aaaaaaaah. 17 hour trip. My second one since I have arrived (10 days ago). Ok, I don´t want to bore you to tears with details and dear diary stories (although I have been keeping a separate daily journal - each day is a new record) so here´s a brief recap.

Arrived in Buenos Aires. Didn´t know where I was really going. Ended up in San Telmo, the birthplace of Tango in Buenos Aires. Figured I could see BA on the way back before I fly out on April 19th, so I headed south the next day. Buses here are excellent and cheap. 5 hour trip...3 bucks. They are double decker, recline all the way back (if you choose), and are kind of like business class seats on an airplane (in terms of comfort and room). Clinchers...bathrooms, A/C and breakfast. Bathrooms can get pretty nasty after 5-17 hours. Go before and try to hold it until the next town. A/C is either on or off. No level in between. So if you like the mixture of 40 celsius electric heat combined with air conditioning every once in a while to cool things off, you´ll love the buses here. For breakfast, the custom is to look for those silly people who are sleeping at 6am and shake them and wake them up ¨Desajuno"?

Ok, so I went to Pinamar, luxury beach town for upper class Argentenians (5hours south of BA). Sandy dunes and beautiful forests. Originally settled by Belgians. Think Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Stayed at the cheapest hotel I could find ($9), and enjoyed the fabulous rainy weather. No sun tanning. Met a cool guy from Chicago who owned 60% of the hotel. Spoke perfect spanish (parents were from Aregentina) and was also an ex-marine. He fought in Iraq, got out and is now living in Argentina. We talked about the war and life in general. Never judge a book by its cover I guess is what I learned...again.

After some exploring and trekking in Pinamar, I went to Mar del Plata a couple of days later. Another beach town. I wasn´t supposed to be there but hellooooo I missed my connecting bus there to Puerto Madryn, because the bus ("El Rapido" which means the fast one) broke down. Two for two on buses that broke down for me. So after El Crapo finally made the 10 hour journey (should have been 5 hours), I arrived in Mar Del Plata to connect. But wait, no bus. Good times. So I run around looking...where is that f´n bus. Go to the booth of the bus company (Patagonica) and ask if it´s late. They tell me it left a half an hour ago. Ok, great when does the next one leave. 10:30pm the next day. Riiiiiight. So I´m thinking, ok well then give me my money back. ¨No sir, nothing I can do. Not my fault. Other company´s fault¨. So I decide maybe I can catch the bus in a cab. Jump in a cab and off I go. Cabs here are safe and reliable but they sound like a lawn mower and are as fast as a golf cart. So I go back to the terminal after I realize that there is no hope in h*ll to catch the bus. Go to the booth again, argue in Spanish, play every card in the book (even though the sign says, if you miss your trip...too bad) and manage to pay 30% more for another ticket to Puerto Madryn. It´s now 11:30pm. Tell Mr. Cab Driver to take me to the cheapest hotel. Takes me to Hotel Niza, looks more like hotel Nazi. Old, run down, but cheap and clean. I´m not a big fan of white fluorescent lighting on white cement walls, so I grab a shower (most toilets and showers are in the same 4foot space here in Argentina), and head out. It´s 12:30. People are out. Shops are still open. It´s Monday night. I realize, oh great I hit Arengentina´s most popular tourist destination for Argentenians. I walk around and find a bar. Order a drink, sit down and start chatting to some Argentinians. Hola, blah blah blah. They love North American music here. And Air Guitars and Air Drums. Before you know it´s 5am so I head back to the hotel.

Wake up go for a run around the city (Mar Del Plata - Sea of Silver which I think it means because the sea has a brilliant silver colour from the sun´s reflection or Sea of the Plate - i.e., located in the River Plate, kind of like the Canadian Shield). Get burnt on one side of my body, hands and lower for arm. Weird. I later find out that this is common because of the ozone layer - or lack of it. When you tan here, you tan in blotches. Good times. Go to a cool tango show that night with the Argentinians I met the night before (one of them was in the show). It was basically a Lyrical/ Tango Dance performance to the music of Madonna. Cost for me. Free. Sweet. We go get something to eat with the dancers in the show. Ok, I will talk about food later but for now, Argentinians love their pizza and ham and cheese sandwiches. So what do you get when you combine them both. A cheese pizza with slabs of ham on it. This place turns out to be a Karoke place...great...maybe? Not unless you look to hear love song, after love song in Spanish for 3 hours combined with children songs in between. From 13 years to 60 years. They were all there at this place, with synchronized singing and dance moves. And so was I, trying to stay awake and contain my headache...but with a smile on my face of course. We leave at 3:00am and my friends tell me, "Ok, now we go dance to some BOOM BOOM music". I says pardon? Nope, this sucka is going to his hotel and grabbing some z´s. I hit the beach the next day and grab my bus for Puerto Madryn. I´ll talk about this later.

Ok, so that´s it for now. Sorry for taking so long to write but in all honestly, it´s tough to find a decent keyboard that works without wanting to smash after a while. I will write more in a few days. I´ll talk more about stories, culture, and incidents in Argentina rather than my day to day itineary going forward. I am going to hit Chile in a few days. Hope all of you are well and hablo pronto...lo prometo!