Howdy everybody,
I would love to be able to make a nice long post here, but unfortunately I won't be able to. I wanted to send something out though before I started down south any further, because things are about to get super rural. They're also going to get interesting.
The plan goes something like this. Having reached the end of the panamerican highway, I'll be getting on a boat tomorrow night in Puerto Montt that will take me to the north end of what's called the Carretera Austral - a road in southern chile that doesn't connect with the northern part of Chile and goes through rural Patagonia. I'll spend at least a week traveling this road, and am prepared for what I've been told will be slooooow traveling. Buses in some places only run once or twice a week, hitchhiking generally requires waiting for hours, and the weather can stop all travel for days. I've also picked up on the traveler wire that this road has some of the most amazing scenery there is. Reaching the end of this road, I'll need to cross into Argentina to get down further south in Chile where I'll be trekking the world reknowned Torres Del Paine. Look them up! On passage in Argentina, I'll be visiting the world's last advancing glacier, the Perito Moreno, as well as a town called El Chalten where I'm planning on doing some trekking in the Fitz Roy mountain range. After all this, I'm en route for the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia.
Don't expect too many (if any) blog posts for the next few weeks, but don't forget about me, and be waiting for a killer update when I'm done. In the meanwhile, check out the photos that I've added to my facebook for the island of Chiloe
1st part of link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?
2nd part: aid=97491&l=74b63&id=591556557
(put them together)
Much love, chau!
Stephen
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Land of Lakes
Hey there folks,
Well I finished up in Santiago, and decided to head off South. Mendoza can wait until I visit Argentina later. One noteworthy occurance was that I bought a new harmonica to replace the two that I'd previously spent. It was a start at replacing the things I'd figured out I didn't really need, but still missed. I'd later buy another camera in the town of Temuco, and continue the trend.
All it took to get moving again was to pick up a bus ticket. I've gotten used to arriving in a place without any plans, and making the best of it. Turned out there wasn't much to make of Temuco. The nearby national park looked promising, but since you had to pay for an expensive tour to go see it, I passed. I spent one night there, and then got on another bus for Pucon (with a new camera in my pocket!). Oh, and I also ran out of money here, and had to get bailed out by mom and dad again. They'd sent me some debit cards which I was expecting to be able to start using, but it turned out we'd never received the PIN numbers for them. It was a bit frustrating, but part of traveling is about moving on despite the frustrations, and learning how to not get frustrated by them. With some money from mom and dad to keep going, I told Wells Fargo to go ahead and "send 'em again!" And I arrived in Pucon.
I was glad I did, as I liked the place immediately much more than Temuco. The climate is pleasant, cool; the atmosphere laid back; and the scenery mighty impressive! It's on a lake with a beach, and is surrounded by mountains and the standout Volcan Villarica - a 3,000 meter high volcano. I also found a very charming and not very touristy place to stay. The lady that runs the place really just bends over backwards to be accomodating, and it shows right away by the fact that while she's putting up travelers in her lovely home she's staying in the shed in the backyard. I felt so comfortable here that I cooked something for the first time in my travels - chicken noodle soup from scratch which I've been able to save money by eating every night. Yes, that's right, I've been eating out 3 times a day for months. In Peru and Bolivia it was actually cheaper, and not really that unhealthy.
In the great outdoors, I've only really had one adventure since arriving here. I took a minibus, and hitchhiked (for the first time in my life) out to a place called Ojos de Caburgua. The 'Ojos' or 'Eyes' were a series of small waterfalls surrounding a pool of a surprising shade of green. They were beautiful, and I was happy to be there. It's more satisfying to get somewhere on your own, without paying for a tour to get there. And the rewards in this case were sweet. I was hoping to try the same again today by taking a bus to a nearby National Park where there's hiking to be found, but I missed the bus so it'll have to wait for tomorrow. Of course that's fortunate for you all, because it means I have today to update my blog! Besides the hiking, I am planning on splurging on one tour here, and that's for some intense river rafting. So stay tuned folks, there's more to come. And afterwards, it's time for Patagonia.
There's gonna be action, and I'm gonna bring it to you right here with pictures and blogging.
Chau,
STEPHEN
Well I finished up in Santiago, and decided to head off South. Mendoza can wait until I visit Argentina later. One noteworthy occurance was that I bought a new harmonica to replace the two that I'd previously spent. It was a start at replacing the things I'd figured out I didn't really need, but still missed. I'd later buy another camera in the town of Temuco, and continue the trend.
All it took to get moving again was to pick up a bus ticket. I've gotten used to arriving in a place without any plans, and making the best of it. Turned out there wasn't much to make of Temuco. The nearby national park looked promising, but since you had to pay for an expensive tour to go see it, I passed. I spent one night there, and then got on another bus for Pucon (with a new camera in my pocket!). Oh, and I also ran out of money here, and had to get bailed out by mom and dad again. They'd sent me some debit cards which I was expecting to be able to start using, but it turned out we'd never received the PIN numbers for them. It was a bit frustrating, but part of traveling is about moving on despite the frustrations, and learning how to not get frustrated by them. With some money from mom and dad to keep going, I told Wells Fargo to go ahead and "send 'em again!" And I arrived in Pucon.
I was glad I did, as I liked the place immediately much more than Temuco. The climate is pleasant, cool; the atmosphere laid back; and the scenery mighty impressive! It's on a lake with a beach, and is surrounded by mountains and the standout Volcan Villarica - a 3,000 meter high volcano. I also found a very charming and not very touristy place to stay. The lady that runs the place really just bends over backwards to be accomodating, and it shows right away by the fact that while she's putting up travelers in her lovely home she's staying in the shed in the backyard. I felt so comfortable here that I cooked something for the first time in my travels - chicken noodle soup from scratch which I've been able to save money by eating every night. Yes, that's right, I've been eating out 3 times a day for months. In Peru and Bolivia it was actually cheaper, and not really that unhealthy.
In the great outdoors, I've only really had one adventure since arriving here. I took a minibus, and hitchhiked (for the first time in my life) out to a place called Ojos de Caburgua. The 'Ojos' or 'Eyes' were a series of small waterfalls surrounding a pool of a surprising shade of green. They were beautiful, and I was happy to be there. It's more satisfying to get somewhere on your own, without paying for a tour to get there. And the rewards in this case were sweet. I was hoping to try the same again today by taking a bus to a nearby National Park where there's hiking to be found, but I missed the bus so it'll have to wait for tomorrow. Of course that's fortunate for you all, because it means I have today to update my blog! Besides the hiking, I am planning on splurging on one tour here, and that's for some intense river rafting. So stay tuned folks, there's more to come. And afterwards, it's time for Patagonia.
There's gonna be action, and I'm gonna bring it to you right here with pictures and blogging.
Chau,
STEPHEN
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Blog Liveth
Hey there folks,
I haven't touched this thing in so long that I think it's going to be more of a recap than anything. I could dig up revelations about places past visited, but something would be lost with my energy in discussing them. I've had new experiences and revelations which occupy me more now.
After I got things straightened out in Bolivia for me to leave, I decided to stay. I wanted to be somewhere special for Christmas, and still had some friends that I'd met traveling in Bolivia. I'd stay in La Paz for a couple days, and then head off to the town of Potosi to visit some mines. These were basically surprising for the outright terrible working conditions that people put up with; conditions that had them on average not living past the age of 40. Suddenly no job that I've done seems all that bad. After this, I made my way to Sucre where I'd meet up with a couple of Canadians that I'd become good traveling companions with, as well as some new Australian friends that they'd met. There we would bunker down for Christmas, and try to make the best of our first away from home.
The town was a warm, festive little place - perfect for the occasion. Christmas dinner wasn't the same. Neither was visiting with my family through a webcam. But really for what it was, it was quite nice. I appreciated the time I spent with my friends there. On the afternoon of the next day, I'd set off towards Chile with the rushed plan of making it to the famed New Years celebration in Valparaiso, just outside of Santiago.
I spent a few days in San Pedro de Atacama Chile, and did a few tours of the local sights while I was there; hooking up with a really great Brazilian crowd from Sao Paulo who I'll no doubt meet up with again when I get to Brazil. The place was neat. I was getting a bit tired of deserts and high altitudes by this point (The 'vamos a la playa?' or 'are we going to the beach now?' joke never got old), but the Valley of the Moon was one of the coolest places that I've seen. As such, it's impossible to describe, and the one picture I got with my mostly broken camera is entirely insufficient. Anyways, after a couple days I got on what would be the longest bus ride I've had so far - 23 hours and 30 minutes to Santiago. I'd skip over the whole of Northern Chile, and be thrown from a small tourist town into the bustling city.
That said, it wasn't really so bad. I loved getting onto the subway near the bus station, and getting zipped along to right up near my hostel. Before I did I picked up some bus tickets that would take me to Valparaiso the next day, and then bring be back the following morning.
Ever since then, I've had almost no kind of normal with regards to eating and sleeping schedules; among other things.
The evening of the 31st I'd arrive in Valparaiso alone for the celebrations. This would turn out not to be much of a problem at all, as I was quickly adopted by a group of young and exuberant Chileans who were more than anxious to share their drinks and shishkabobs with me. This is one of the things that I love about Latin America. In a very short time you can become part of a family. And while that happened, the crowds just poured in all around us. As it got closer and closer to 2009 the energy of the place picked up more and more. One person would start singing a song in Chilean and the crowd around them would all loudly join in. It didn't matter that they had come as part of different groups. For this party, everyone was together.
A countdown started up at one point, and the place just erupted once it ran out. Shortly afterwards, an absolutely massive fireworks show took place, which was undoubtedly the best one that I've ever seen or may see for a while. Afterwards the place was just crazy. The people in my group all walked around trying to find each other, and it was practically impossible. This small little town whose streets had looked nice and clean when I had arrived, now looked like a battle had taken place. And there were people, lot's of people. I'd leave the craziness behind at some point, and get on a bus back to Santiago, since there hadn't been any place for me to stay in Valparaiso that night. Arriving at 7:00 in the morning, I'd find that the subway which had been so useful for getting me to my hostel last time to be closed, and I´d walk. Once I finally got there, I was utterly exhausted, and slept through the middle part of the day.
I spent those next couple days just hanging around in the hostel and that part of town. It was a nice cozy little hostel with a couch, a tv, a balcony, a stereo, what would turn into a dance floor. I made a group of friends here, and we would stay up exceptionally late also; to match New Years. By the third day, I was exhausted, and part of me was relieved that this group started breaking up as it would give me a chance to recuperate from now 3 days of staying up into the late morning, and maybe about 1 proper night's sleep between them. It's easy to adopt an attitude that spending time with people is better than maintaining a healthy routine, but it had caught up with me. It was nice to sleep in the next day, and then just go on a leisurely walk around the city. It doesn't do all my friends justice that I don't talk about all of them individually here, but so it goes.
I've since decided that I agree with everyone who says that Santiago is quite like any US city. Lima had it's frantic drivers and colorful bohemian markets, La Paz had it's unnatural placement and sometimes bizarre happenings. Santiago has modern buildings, and people jogging through the parks with their ipods. For me still, though, the city--any city--is more about the people you meet and the time you spend with them than it is about the city itself and what's there.
For the moment, I'm still waiting on some credit cards, and pondering a trip over to Mendoza, Argentina. I reckon I'll be quite ready afterwards to set off into the desolate and breathtaking south; the land of mountains, and maybe some solitude.
Don't give up on my blog writing folks, it still lives! Just had a bit of an absent stretch there. And I still love and miss all of my friends back home.
Sincerely,
Stephen
I haven't touched this thing in so long that I think it's going to be more of a recap than anything. I could dig up revelations about places past visited, but something would be lost with my energy in discussing them. I've had new experiences and revelations which occupy me more now.
After I got things straightened out in Bolivia for me to leave, I decided to stay. I wanted to be somewhere special for Christmas, and still had some friends that I'd met traveling in Bolivia. I'd stay in La Paz for a couple days, and then head off to the town of Potosi to visit some mines. These were basically surprising for the outright terrible working conditions that people put up with; conditions that had them on average not living past the age of 40. Suddenly no job that I've done seems all that bad. After this, I made my way to Sucre where I'd meet up with a couple of Canadians that I'd become good traveling companions with, as well as some new Australian friends that they'd met. There we would bunker down for Christmas, and try to make the best of our first away from home.
The town was a warm, festive little place - perfect for the occasion. Christmas dinner wasn't the same. Neither was visiting with my family through a webcam. But really for what it was, it was quite nice. I appreciated the time I spent with my friends there. On the afternoon of the next day, I'd set off towards Chile with the rushed plan of making it to the famed New Years celebration in Valparaiso, just outside of Santiago.
I spent a few days in San Pedro de Atacama Chile, and did a few tours of the local sights while I was there; hooking up with a really great Brazilian crowd from Sao Paulo who I'll no doubt meet up with again when I get to Brazil. The place was neat. I was getting a bit tired of deserts and high altitudes by this point (The 'vamos a la playa?' or 'are we going to the beach now?' joke never got old), but the Valley of the Moon was one of the coolest places that I've seen. As such, it's impossible to describe, and the one picture I got with my mostly broken camera is entirely insufficient. Anyways, after a couple days I got on what would be the longest bus ride I've had so far - 23 hours and 30 minutes to Santiago. I'd skip over the whole of Northern Chile, and be thrown from a small tourist town into the bustling city.
That said, it wasn't really so bad. I loved getting onto the subway near the bus station, and getting zipped along to right up near my hostel. Before I did I picked up some bus tickets that would take me to Valparaiso the next day, and then bring be back the following morning.
Ever since then, I've had almost no kind of normal with regards to eating and sleeping schedules; among other things.
The evening of the 31st I'd arrive in Valparaiso alone for the celebrations. This would turn out not to be much of a problem at all, as I was quickly adopted by a group of young and exuberant Chileans who were more than anxious to share their drinks and shishkabobs with me. This is one of the things that I love about Latin America. In a very short time you can become part of a family. And while that happened, the crowds just poured in all around us. As it got closer and closer to 2009 the energy of the place picked up more and more. One person would start singing a song in Chilean and the crowd around them would all loudly join in. It didn't matter that they had come as part of different groups. For this party, everyone was together.
A countdown started up at one point, and the place just erupted once it ran out. Shortly afterwards, an absolutely massive fireworks show took place, which was undoubtedly the best one that I've ever seen or may see for a while. Afterwards the place was just crazy. The people in my group all walked around trying to find each other, and it was practically impossible. This small little town whose streets had looked nice and clean when I had arrived, now looked like a battle had taken place. And there were people, lot's of people. I'd leave the craziness behind at some point, and get on a bus back to Santiago, since there hadn't been any place for me to stay in Valparaiso that night. Arriving at 7:00 in the morning, I'd find that the subway which had been so useful for getting me to my hostel last time to be closed, and I´d walk. Once I finally got there, I was utterly exhausted, and slept through the middle part of the day.
I spent those next couple days just hanging around in the hostel and that part of town. It was a nice cozy little hostel with a couch, a tv, a balcony, a stereo, what would turn into a dance floor. I made a group of friends here, and we would stay up exceptionally late also; to match New Years. By the third day, I was exhausted, and part of me was relieved that this group started breaking up as it would give me a chance to recuperate from now 3 days of staying up into the late morning, and maybe about 1 proper night's sleep between them. It's easy to adopt an attitude that spending time with people is better than maintaining a healthy routine, but it had caught up with me. It was nice to sleep in the next day, and then just go on a leisurely walk around the city. It doesn't do all my friends justice that I don't talk about all of them individually here, but so it goes.
I've since decided that I agree with everyone who says that Santiago is quite like any US city. Lima had it's frantic drivers and colorful bohemian markets, La Paz had it's unnatural placement and sometimes bizarre happenings. Santiago has modern buildings, and people jogging through the parks with their ipods. For me still, though, the city--any city--is more about the people you meet and the time you spend with them than it is about the city itself and what's there.
For the moment, I'm still waiting on some credit cards, and pondering a trip over to Mendoza, Argentina. I reckon I'll be quite ready afterwards to set off into the desolate and breathtaking south; the land of mountains, and maybe some solitude.
Don't give up on my blog writing folks, it still lives! Just had a bit of an absent stretch there. And I still love and miss all of my friends back home.
Sincerely,
Stephen
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