Glaciers and Steaks

Before

Back on the blogging train and of course we are way behind again!

After our amazing time hiking in Chile, we were excited to see another part of Patagonia but after our last bus travel nightmare we weren't excited for the travel day.  Luckily for us (and specifically for Julie's sanity) everything worked out just fine.  We caught our taxi to the bus station, the bus people actually had our reservation, and the immigration/customs process was a breeze.  The bus ride was long though and it was after 2:00 when we pulled into El Clafate.

After a huge piece fell

To itinerary told us that the afternoon was ours to enjoy, but the guy handling our transfer from the bus station to the hotel informed us that we would be heading out to see Perito Moreno glacier at 3:00.  We hadn't eaten yet and were a little tired from the bus ride but we. Dropped off our stuff, found a sandwich shop, and headed out again.  As we drove to the glacier our guide told us about the history of the area and the national park.  When we arrived at the first viewpoint things got much more exciting since we could see the massive glacier and we were getting less and less frustrated with the busy day.  Perito Moreno is one of the few glaciers in the world that is not currently receding and therefore it is very common to see the glacier cav large chunks of ice into the lake beneath its face.  When we got to the main viewing area we realized how much better it was to be there lane in the day as most of the other tourists were gone for the day.  We actually got to share the place (which receives around 2,000 visitors a day) with only about 50 other people, and as large as it is we felt like we had it to ourselves most of the time.  We could constantly hear ice breaking and falling into the water as we walked around and got to see two different chunks over 100ft tall and 60 - 90 ft wide crash into the water.  

The drive back into town was uneventful but our guide suggested a place close to the hotel for dinner called La Tableta.  Since Argentinians eat late we were some of the first patrons when we sauntered in, starving, at 8:00 and were quickly seated.  The place was a kind of steak house with a good selection of meats and also a great wine list to go along with alacarte sides.  We ordered a combination platter for two which included a rump steak, a tenderloin, and several pieces of Argentinian lamb which is cooked on a spit over an open fire.  We chose a Malbec to go with our meal since that is the wine the region is known for and were not disappointed by it or the quality of our meal.  This was one of the first "nice" meals we had treated ourselves to since we left the states and we were extremely pleased with our choice.  We waddled back to the hotel and went to bed early knowing that we would leave again the next day for three nights of camping and four days of hiking in the northern part of the national park.

Torres del Paine, Chile

Minus the extremely long day getting from Ushuaia to Puerto Natales, our first 3 days in Patagonia proved to be absolutely amazing.  We were met by our guide Sandra at the bus station and after the transfer to our hotel she filled us in on the plan for our time in Chile, which was of hiking.  We were very excited about that, and as an unexpected bonus we found our group would just be Julie, me and the guide.  Sandra showed us where we could get some dinner, which we did before re-packing all of our crap so we could leave a bunch of things at the hotel.

We left town at 8:00 am headed to Torres del Paine National Park with plans to day hike most of the W track over the course of the next three days.  Our first hike was was up to the towers of granite that the park is named after.  We dropped our things at the Refugio (similar to a hostel) where we would be spending the night and headed out with our day packs.  The trail was 9.5 kilometers one way and climbed steadily to the viewpoint with a very steep section to finish it off. We had amazing weather, with just a few clouds moving around the towers giving us intermittent views of our goal from the trail.  Just before we got to the top, the clouds lifted and we were able to take in the full glory of three huge rock pillars.  We ate lunch at the top before heading back down the same way.  We got showers and dinner at the Refugio before heading to bed.  We were glad to finally be doing some real hiking but 7 hours definately wore us out!

The next day started with a boat ride across a lake which took us to the next Refugio we would stay at as well as the starting point for the next two hikes.  We once again dropped off our things and headed out.  Today we were hiking the French Valley which would be the longest of the three days.  It took two and a half hours to get to the camp where we turned north and actually started up the valley.  From there we could see several large hanging glaciers on one side and the horns (another geographical feature of the park) on the other.  We made it to the first viewpoint and had to make a decision to continue to the second or stay there.  If we were to continue we had to leave right away - we had already been hiking for 3.5 hours and it would be at least one more to get to the next point.  We decided to push for it and weren't disappointed.  Our guide was going very fast so that we wouldn't have to turn around right away, and that meant we spent a half hour soaking in the scenery and the sunshine.  Four and a half long hours later we had retraced our steps, completing 30 km, and were back to the Refugio.  We were all starving so we grabbed dinner before showering and then had a quick beer before going to bed.  I went to bed before anybody else staying in the room (6 total) and fell asleep with the lights still on!

Surprisingly Julie and I both awoke the next morning without any soreness in our legs.  This would be our final hike in the park and it would take us to a point overlooking glacier grey.  The hike was 11 kilometers each way and we had to be back to catch the boat across the lake before 6:30 pm.  We decided to leave at 8:30 to give ourselves plenty of time and had the trail pretty much to ourselves for the first hour or so.  We were walking on the west side of the largest mountain in the park so we had shade the entire way up, which actually made it very chilly - there was still frost on some of the plants at 11:00. Although our legs weren't sore, they were tired so we didn't walk quite as fast.  We still made it to the end with plenty of time to spare so we ate a leisurely lunch while staring at the huge glacier across the lake.  Even after we left the viewpoint we weren't in a hurry so we stopped for a coffee and a hot chocolate at one of the newer lodges in the park and sat outside soaking up the sunshine.  

We got back with plenty of time to spare before the boat and eventually rolled back in to Puerto Natales at about 9:45.  We didn't have any information waiting for us, and Sandra didn't know anything about our transfer the next morning, so to be sure we got to the bus station she asked the hotel folks if they would call us a taxi.  This made us feel a little better but we were still dreading the travel day after our last experience.  We went to dinner and then to bed hoping for the best.

I don't think I explained just how outstanding the weather was during our three days of hiking.  We had sunshine, little to no cloud cover, and no wind - which is supposedly unheard of this time of year in Patagonia, I'm sure our pictures won't do it justice.  It felt good to be doing something active again and I was reminded how much I really enjoy hiking.  Depending on which map you believe we hiked either 65 or 71 kilometers in 3 days and enjoyed every minute of it.

Check out all of our pictures here

Bumps in the Road

 Maybe cheapest isn't always easiest.  You would think I would know that by now.  Prior to coming to Argentina I booked our entire Patagonia travels with a company.  They were by far cheaper then some of the big tours out there and they were able to customize our trip to include trekking, fishing and wine tours.  I knew going into it that it probably wouldn't be totally smooth with all the transfers that we would have to make, and knowing that we wouldn't be with one group the whole time. Prior to our Antarctic trip we had 2 days arranged and they went off without a hitch, maybe we would get lucky.  Today I'm questioning that.....

It started last night, at 7:30pm when our guide called and said our bus ticket couldn't be prepaid from Ushuaia to rio grande , so we needed to go by 8:30 to pay so they would pick us up at the hotel in the morning (at 5:30, not 7 like our itinerary said).  Ok, no big deal.  We walked down to pay for our tickets and were told that the 6am bus wasn't an option.....hmmm that is the one we were supposed to be booked on.  With our lacking spanish we were unable to communicate and ended up with a ticket at 8:30 am.  Back at the hotel we struggled to get a hold of our travel agent, but were eventually able to thanks to google voice and us leaving a message on some French answering machine.  The agent called the bus company and got everything straightened out...crisis avertered, we think!

While we were packing our bags we realized that we had left both of our duffles on the Antarctica ship...they are probably enjoying more icebergs as I type this.  We had to buy some extra gear and were planning on carrying it all in a duffle....now we had to mash it into our already stuffed bags and wear our huge snowboots on the bus travel tomorrow.  Once we finished getting everything in our backpacks, a minor miracle in itself, we headed across the street to eat ice cream for dinner.  Adam then used a knife to open our bottle of wine because there was NO room left to take it with us.  We enjoyed the bottle and set the alarms for much to early in the morning.  

Much to my surprise the bus actually came and picked us up at 5:30.  We bid adou to Ushuaia and drove 3 hours to the rio grande bus station.  There we were supposed to pick up our tickets from a bigger bus company.  We went inside and found their booth to be unattended.  After waiting around for about 30 mins we pieced together enough spanish to ask when they opened and when the next bus to Puerto Natales was.  Boy were we shocked when the answer to both was tomorrow!  Ummm my itinerary says I go today, not tomorrow!!!  We asked for a phone but they didn't have one we could use, luckily they did have some Internet they were willing to give us the password to.  Just as I was loading up google voice to hopefully once again save the day a guy walks in the door. He has a scrap of paper with our names and asks something in Spanish and then says Puerto Arenas.  We assume this means he is driving us to Puerto Arenas, which was one of the stops that our bus (which apparently leaves tomorrow) was supposed to make.  So here I sit in the back of a random pickup, much more somfortable then those in Nepal, hoping to end up somewhere in Chile and meet someone else that knows how we can get to Puerto Natales tonight.  This might be a little more adventure then I bargained for. 

So the pickup worked out great.  We got to puert arenas about two hours faster then we would have by bus.  Once there it took a little while for the driver to find the right bus station, but eventually he did.  He even went inside to double check it was were the buses to Puerto Natales leave from.  We said chow and headed inside with our bags.  While looking at the schedule the ladies at the counter pointed to the back room and started laughing....they also said something in Spanish but we have no idea what.  We hung out in the back room for a few minutes and then went back out front to check the schedule and get our tickets, that were supposed to be prepaid.  We had about 90 minutes until the next bus and of course they said they have no record of our tickets.  I tried to log onto the wifi there but the girls in the front said they didn't he any...yes they did i could see the network, I just don't think they cared to help me any.  About that a time a guy from Virginia started talking to us.  He said he was having issues too.  We felt mildly better after learning that he spoke Spanish and still couldn't get a ticket.  I decided to venture out inseach of Internet while Adam stayed behind to guard our bags.  I found a unlocked wifi and was able to send an email, but soon lost signal. I roamed around town some more in search of an ATM and Internet.  When I saw a Best Western hotel I thought it might work out since the name was in English.  Luckily the guy at the counter was extremely helpful.  He let me use the hotel computers, they didn't have wifi.  With about 40 minutes remaining until the bus departure I gave up on contacting our travel agent and set off for the ATM that the guy told me about.  I made it back to the bus station fully prepared to buy new tickets if we needed.  I handed the lady ate the desk our passports, which they had refused to take earlier and she said " ok, seats 33 and 34". She then handed back our passports and a scrap of paper with 33,34 written on it.  We boarded the bus with our "ticket" and headed out of town.  About 20 minutes into the ride a guy comes down the aisle collecting tickets.  We look at each other and Ali, then hand him our scrap of paper.  He looks concerned for a second and then says, ok and moves on to the next person.  Right now we have two hopes: that we are on the correct bus (they never announced a destination), and secondly that when/if we arrive there is someone there to meet us and that they know what the heck we are doing the net 4 days.  That's not too much to ask for right?!?!