Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires! We walked around lots, went out to eat delicious food and drink cheap wine, and generally enjoyed the good things in life.

Congreso de la Nación Argentina.

A lot of the streets look like this, but often with more trees!

Happily, when we first got to BA a couple other friends (yes you, Ben and Arden) were also vacationing there. We went out for good dinners (including one where we actually sat down to eat at a nice restaurant at 1:30 AM... crazy city...) and visited Tierra Santa, purportedly the world's only religious theme park. When Ross arrived we all met up in San Telmo, wandered the huge flea market (I think Arden almost fainted) and drank lots of beer!

Friends!

The day after my birthday was a bit of a slow one. We spent a while lounging in the big parks of Recoleta, and then decided we needed a choripan. Virginia and I had gotten one next to the zoo a few days earlier, and we knew it was just what was required. And Ross had to try one of course. The choripan (chorizo + pan, ie sausage and bread) is the South American equivalent of the hot dog, except with a lot more gristle and more like a sandwich. After some wandering (and asking) a friendly security guard gave us excellent directions to a small parilla that might satisfy our needs.

Open up! Please!

It looked closed up, but with a bit of pestering, Ross managed to get the owner to open for us! Hurrah!

Mmm choripan.

Choripan completo: with onions, lettuce, tomato and a fried egg.

We also took a walk around the Recoleta cemetary, where lots of the Argentine rich and famous are buried. Although the two photos below look kind of empty, it was fairly packed with tourists and stray cats.

On our last night in BA, we took the metro out to a neighbourhood called Belgrano. We had read about an outdoor tango dance in a park near here, and we (or at least I) wanted to see some tango before we left. I thought we might have a chance to learn a few moves and try it ourselves, but once things got going it was clear we were out of our league. Still, it was great watching couples,  young and old, casual and dressed up, spin around the floor.

Tango in the gazebo.

Road trip part 2: Ruta 40

After crossing into Argentina, we passed through Los Antiguos and reached Perito Moreno, on Ruta 40. Here we started the long drive south towards Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, in the hopes of seeing Cerro Torre and Monte Fitz Roy.

Los Antiguos has delicious cherries.

The pavement petered out soon after we turned south and things got empty and flat. It was impressive how quickly (within a day) we had gone from being next to the Andes to all of a sudden being right in the pampas.

Our friends the guanacos. (Photo cred: Virginia)

We camped out just next to the road, and the next day started driving around 9am to arrive in El Chalten at 7pm. Our fairly small selection of CDs was starting to run out by the end, but we made it managing to stay mostly sane.

First view of the mountains!

El Chalten is a pretty odd town. After driving through hundreds of kilometres of emptiness we were all of a sudden surrounded by hordes of quick-dry pant wearing European tourists. Slept one night in town and then hiking! We were ridiculously lucky with the weather, since the mountains are almost constantly cloud covered. Our two days of hiking were both blue-bird skies.

Cerro Torre (pointy one on the left) and Fitz Roy (on the right).

Cerro Torre from Mirador Maestri.

Self-timer photo in front of Laguna Sucia and the glaciar that drops icebergs into it.  We ate lunch here.

The mountains were really big, and quite astounding after lots of FLAT (see below).  After this brief stay, it was back to the pampas. We drove up to Bajo Caracoles, this tiny (tiny!) town on the way back north. There are 30 people who live there. And lots of cats.

 A sweet sunset, so we stopped to take "artistic" photos.

Sunset #2.

THE ONLY tourist attraction between El Chalten and Esquel, a LOT further noth - Cueva de las manos.
It was cool, there were paintaings of all left hands from 8000 years ago, they were everywhere!

After numerous hours of driving, about 12 more from the Cueva de Las Manos, we arrived at Parque Nacional Los Alerces, and drove on scary windy roads, stopping for lunch at a really nice beach next to a glacial lake. It was really hot out so the water felt refreshingly ice cold.

The next tourist attraction that we saw: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid´s Patagonian hideout.  They lived here for a few years before eventually robbing banks again.  This nice dog showed us around.  It was cool because there wasnt anything there, so you could explore all on your own.

Canine tour guide.

Note the overlapping log construction, rarely seen in South America!

After visiting Butch and company we followed some signs towards a teahouse, the Casa de las Piedras. There was a lot of Welsh immigration to this area (says Lonely Planet...) and so there is a tradition of big afternoon/evening teas. This place was a beautiful stone farmhouse, where we served unlimited tea and cakes upon cakes by a warm elderly couple. A more calm relaxed afternoon would be hard to imagine.

'Te Gales' in Cholila valley.

Next day it was back to Chile for a couple days recuperating in Osorno, and then a 27 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires where we are enjoying life, eating lots of cheesy pizza, choripans, and, best of all, Klubbin' with Kurtner (see rock climbing posts).  Love, Virginia and Oli.

Road trip part 1: Carretera Austral

Hello world! It's been a while, but I hope you're all still there. We (Virginia and I) are recently arrived in Buenos Aires, and before doing any sightseeing I've promised myself I need to get some more photos and stories online. We spent the last two weeks driving through Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia (using a car borrowed from my grandma, gracias Omama!) and saw a ton of things. Driving is an expensive way to travel but the flexibility it gives you makes it possible to do a lot in little time. We started by taking an overnight ferry from Puerto Montt (an hour south of my grandmother's, in southern Chile) to Chaitén, a semi-ghost town in the wake of a huge eruption of the nearby Volcan Chaitén in 2008.

 El transbordador 'Don Baldo'. 

 Empty street in Chaitén. (Photo cred: Virginia) 

On the advice of my uncle, we headed straight to the 'Termas de Amarillo' (hot springs) to relax after a so-so night sleeping on the floor of the ferry. Eventually we managed to tear ourselves away, grab a slice of raspberry küchen, and hit the road. First destination Futaleufu for rafting! This is an incredible river with bright blue-green-turqoise water and supposedly some of the best whitewater in the world. Really fun! Continuing south we drove through beautiful valleys with views of mountains, glaciers, pastures, and ocean. Sometimes all at once.

 Usual view out of the car. 

 Virginia made fun of me for taking this, but wind turbines are cool, right?

We passed through Coyhaique, a 50,000 person municipality, which felt like a huge city because of the emptiness of the previous couple days. In retrospect, Chile was crowded compared to the vastness waiting for us in Argentina. More on that later. Next on the agenda, 3 day hike through Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. Beautiful hot sunny day when we started, although by second day, when we were close enough to actually see the mountain, it was all clouds and rain. Oh well!


First day was mostly hiking through old farms along 4WD tracks.

 Looking back at 'Paso Peñon'. 

 Over the pass we go. Snow! (Photo cred: Virginia) 

Hitchhiking back to where we left the car.

After the hike we kept driving south, passing around a huge lake, Lago General Carrera. The mix of shadows from clouds and bright sun on the surface of the glacier fed lake was incredible. Amazing colours.

'Canopy' is a catch-all term for high ropes courses and zip lines through the forest etc. Somebody obviously needs to have a word with the marketing department at this one. Awkwardly hanging limp mannequins do not inspire confidence.



We took a turn off the main highway, heading towards Argentina along the south side of the big lake. Apparently this was the most expensive portion of the 'Carretera Austral' (southernly highway, as the system of roads is called) to build, since they basically dynamited 30km of it out from the side of the very steep shore. It was incredible to drive, going through tiny gaps in the rock, and then with huge views of the lake.


Lago General Carrera. You can just see the road on the left near the top.

After reaching the town of Chile Chico, it was on to Argentina! Which I think merits its own post.

Cochamó to Valparaíso

After our getting back to Osorno we spent a quick day running around interneting and buying supplies for the next journey. The plan was one week for me, and two weeks for Ross, in Valle Cochamó. This is a beautiful valley about a four hour hike up from the town of Cochamó which is actually on an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. We had warnings about rain and extreme mud, so we bought rubber boots, a tarp, and called to arrange for a horse to carry up our gear and food. This was the right idea!



Christian leading the way.

As we made our way up, the huge rock cliffs started appearing in the distance, albeit generally through a shifting layer of cloud and rain. Without any load we made it to the fogón (cooking shelter) in good time and were welcomed there by 'Pato' (nickname for Patricia) who showed us around the camping area and suggested a camping spot. The walking lawn mowers (horses) kept the whole camping area proper looking and the views all around were spectacular.


Cerro Trinidad as seen from our tent. Close to 1000m from the base of the cliff to the summit.

Being a climber is a nice way to visit somewhere, since you are immediately welcomed into the community of fellow escaladores. Especially when it's been raining for ten days and everybody is happy to have some new company! We found four Germans, two Americans, two English, a few Brazileans and a mix of other Argentineans/Americans/Brazileans who were living there for the whole summer.


Kiel, one of our German friends, making his daily espresso.



Grant and Chris (the American camp) cross Río Cochamó heading towards the refugio.

 
Finally the sun came out a few days after we arrived, on the same day as one of the German's birthdays. The best present he'd ever received he said. Flo (the birthday boy) had gone down to town to buy meat and beer, so it was asado time! A real asado al palo, with sticks cut from bamboo and everything.

Birthday asado for Flo, another German!

The next day we headed up to the base of Trinidad, another two and half hours further up.


Looking down from Valle Trinidad.

Ross and I started climbing 'Bienvenidos a mi Insomnio' bright and early the next day. We made it up a couple pitches but felt we were a bit over our heads so didn't make it up any further from there. One more short climb the next day, and then I headed back down, while Ross stayed. Hopefully he can fill you in with some good stories and photos!

Now I was back to Osorno and then on a bus to Santiago where I was meeting Virginia who had been volunteering and traveling in Peru for the last two months! We went straight from the airport to the beach, which was beautiful and sunny, but definitely a bit of a culture shock, especially for Virginia. Here are some photos from our stroll through Valparaíso.

Bright colours!



Cute!



Typical view in Valparaíso.

One of the murals of the 'open-air museum.'

Tonight Virginia and I start the Carretera Austral, a highway running south through the Chilean Patagonia. We have a ferry from Puerto Montt to Chaiten at midnight!!

Cerro Catedral 2: now the big ones!

Very brief stop in Osorno en route from Bariloche to Valle Cochamo. Don't have time for many stories since we gotta run to the hardward store before it closes, but trust me there are lots of good ones! 



Sunset, with Torre Principal visible (the biggest one, duh)

Me starting up La Vieja (see last post!)

Just another resting spot...

And up the chimney he goes! Interesting second pitch, starting with some great steep 6a+ climbing, but then you just get devoured by that offwidth finish. Woohoo!



As I mentioned in the last post, we decided to stay in Bariloche for one night. Unfortunately all the hostels were full (seriously) so we had to get a double in a hotel. What a shame!

 

Campanile Eslovena. Very impressive spire, and almost 200m tall.



At the top of 'Campanile Eslovena' with view of the Torre Principal in the background. Taken by our nice Brazilean friends.



Third pitch of 'Lost Finger' 6b. AWESOME! (others climbing it after us)



Lost Finger again.

From the top of Torre Principal, with Monte Tronador and Puntiagudo in the background (you can see to Chile!)

From Torre Principal, looking back at the laguna and refugio.



A #6 camalot, compared to our largest piece of gear. Pathetic...

Hanging out at the refugio. We did lots of this the last few days there!

Hiking back down to Bariloche.

All the buses to Osorno were sold out, so we stick out our thumbs. Literally the first bus that passed us by picked us up anyway!

The only seat left was up in the front with Carlos and Sergio.