El Bolson, revisited

So we headed back towards Bariloche were we would have to return the car in two mornings. On the way down, we had stopped off in a small hippy town called El Bolson for 30 minutes or so to check out a fair. We decided since we had another day with the car that we would chill in the quaint outdoorsy town for the night. We came across an amazing cabin that was almost as cheap as the camping was the previous night. It had cable, heat, comfy beds, towels, the works. It even came equipped with some of the cutest puppies to ever walk the earth. We almost stole one, no joke.

After spending a night in luxury, it was much easier to finish the rest of the drive in what was left of our rental car. We were nervous about returning it since the brakes were making and awful noise, and we were hoping we could get some money for the two tires we bought. But we still had one more day with the car, so we decided to use it to our advantage... we went to the chocolate factory/museum. It was an excellent way to spend a cold and rainy afternoon. They gave out samples of the best hot chocolate I've ever had!

Our last endeavor with the car was to find a place to stay that night. We drove all over Bariloche stopping in hostels to ask about pricing, and they were all the same (and too much). So Byron parked the car in front of the tourist office to get a map and ask about cheap hostels while I protected the precious auto. I wasn't expecting for Byron to return with a friend. Byron convinced a nice little hippie man to get us a cheap nice room, and not only did the guy call around to find one for us, but he even got in the car and rode there with us to make sure we got there alright. We were really in a state of no fear by this point in our travels.

That's Bariloche at the end of the rainbow!!!

Remeber we were in Patagonia?

Well, we made our way back towards Bariloche as our week was quickly coming to an end. The car had to be back and we hoped the return journey would not cause the death of the poorly constructed VW. We did decide to take Route 40 the entire way back, and with Byron's now more superior knowledge of how to drive on such piss-poor surfaces, it worked out quite well. The only question marks were when the gas needle edged towards empty and there were absolutely no gas stations nor signs of civilization in sight. Hanna would worry while Byron plodded along putting the car in neutral when necessary to save gas. The random sounds the car started making were quite horrendous, both the drivers and passengers doors were becoming more difficult to open, but the car went forward and there were no more flats.

We stopped the next night at an estancia (like a ranch) in the middle of nowhere. A pristine place which offered camping or a B&B option. We decided to camp even after the owner told us about the pumas that roamed around the grounds at night. We're not quite as meaty as the horses and not quite as easy to bring down as all the chickens that were running around, so we felt safe. Once we got settled in, we walked around the grounds a little bit and took in the scenery and the wonderful stench of horse manure. As darkness decended in our little valley, we lit up the night with a huge bonfire. We started it with some fresh wood that didn't burn extremely well, but when one of the farmhands saw this he let Byron over to a huge stack of wood that was perfectly ready to make this bonfire visible from space.

As Byron was walking back, the owner noticed the crappy donut that was on the front right side of the vehicle. As a self-proclaimed auto mechanic, he took me into his shop and told me what we should do to make it all better. I showed him the tire that had blown and didn't feel comfortable using (since there were a couple major dents in the rim), but he grabbed his hammer and went to work remolding the wheel. I watched as he pummeled the tire with flathead screwdrivers, picks, hammers, mallets, the works. I figured it couldn't get any worse than it already was, so I let him go to town.

He made the rim look presentable and even got the hubcap to fit back on. Things were looking up, especially after we had gotten the sticky doors fixed after a thick application of WD-40. I returned back to the fire and enjoyed the rest of the evening which included some leftover pasta and sauce from the night before with a can of tuna added to the top for man (and Hanna) fuel. We slept well that night, even though we were quite cold in the brisk evening. I thought better about bringing some of the burning embers into the tent to help heat us.

The next morning, we woke up the bossman to help us rotate and change the tires around. He hooked us up perfectly and sent us on our way, but not until he completely inflated the price of the estancia. For the most part, the guidebook we had was a good base. However, many of the owners of the hostels, hotels, restaurants, and National Parks, saw it as an outlet to gouge us. If they got published in the Let's Go, they were 'made'. They could charge whatever they wanted and tourists would flock to their locales and be none to the wiser. In this instance, the only time on the whole trip we didn't investigate the costs involved beforehand, was the time that we got hammered.

Bossman decided his arbitrary amount for us would be 17. It surprised us because that's exactly what it said in the Let's Go. Maybe someone didn't raise their prices, what a welcome change! When we got out the pesos and began to pay, he went and got a calculator to figure out our 'favorable' exchange rate. He was going to make us pay in DOLLARS. We could have rented a cabin in the woods or gone out for a ridiculous steak dinner, but alas, our backs were a little achy from sleeping on our hammocks (we used them since we didn't have any pads) and we were still thawing out after the chilly night. Lesson learned...

Last days in BsAs

So, Byron is leaving today and I'm following suit on Wednesday. It's sad to leave here, but we had a great time with our friends last night and wanted to wish everyone here a beautiful life. Besos!

Oh, and we will still be posting blogs from back home when we try to catch up on our adventures. Haha.

-H & B

Day 3 in Patagonia – We actually get somewhere!

After a few more hours of early morning driving, which also consisted of naptime on the side of the road) we finally made it to the city of El Calafate. It's a gorgeous place, surrounded by snowcapped mountains and decorated on all sides by tourist dollars. Fancy street lamps, nice cottages and lodges, and restaurants abound. Determined to see what we came for, we headed straight to the tourist center for a map of the Parque Nacional de los Glacieres.

The short 30 minute drive from the city to the entrance of the National Park affords many breathtaking views of the lake, mountains, estancias (ranches) and other beautiful scenery. Camping is possible and would be quite exciting, we were not prepared for with a four wheel drive vehicle. Upon entering the National Park, and paying the hefty entrance fee for non-nationals (60 pesos), there is a nice drive through the park which leads you directly to the walking paths around the glacier. You can't stray from the paths, and they're made of grates. Needless to say, when Hanna missed a step and fell she created a cool new scar for her knee.

Once in the park you wind around the roads leading you towards the glacier. Occasionally you catch a glimpse of the breathtaking mass of ice nestled between two snowcapped mountains. Keeping in mind that the rest of the terrain is devoid of ice and snow, the experience is truly unique. There are two places to stop along the road to get great pictures and to enjoy the great scenery. Also, it is pretty neat to see gigantic chunks of the glacier, that have broken off, floating in the lake.

When we came back into town, we located a nice little campsite next to a babbling brook that had hot showers and a SHEEP tied to a fencepost baaahhing its little heart out. We set up camp and set out for to find dinner. After which we decided to get some traveling snacks from the grocery store. When we were about three blocks out of the store, we realized that a dog was totally trailing us. She wouldn't leave our side. She followed us all the way into the campground and whined when one of us would go to the bathroom or get inside the tent. She ended up sleeping there outside the tent by us the entire night. Driving away in the morning was a very very sad experience.

We headed off for our next journey into the Patagonian wilderness. It was a quaint little 'outdoorsy' town called el Chalten. It was everything and outdoor enthusiast would ever need. A small little village that didn't overtake the wonderful views of nature and green mountains. Oh, and there was this gigantic thing that kept appearing during our drive and getting larger and larger as we approached el Chalten. A little mountain called Fitz Roy. Just check out the picture of it from over 60 kilometers away. Completely dominates the vista, and we got withing a kilometer or two of it. People, of course, have climbed it, but we were scared standing on firm ground just close to it.

We entered the little town which was a total of 120 kilometers from Calafate, after stopping by the ranger station for our free maps and trail 'guides' (Father Pittam, you're going to have a killer time with all these maps that we're bringing home). We headed to the trailhead with our sandwiches packed, shoes tied, water bottles full, zinc on our noses, walking stick, and huge jackets. It was quite cold at the bottom, but we realized within 15 minutes walking straight uphill is a pretty good way to get and stay warm.

The hike was absolutely phenomenal. The 'trail' and the 'map' didn't lead or help us too much, but our superior navigation techniques we learned from our Inca trek helped us survive. We walked a total of 6 hours or so that day, treading through brush, wading through puddles, attempting to stay on or near the path, all while taking in the surrounding scenery that was basically devoid of other people.

There were crystal clear lakes, crisp air, water and streams bubbling everywhere, and beautiful forests that loomed with trees that almost seemed alive. The landscape would change without warnings. The paths would lead you inadvertently to a small lake or other impassable obstacles that would force you to create a new route or some adventurous way of passing. There was one point where we followed a little stream bed for a solid kilometer or so to avoid being up to our knees in marshy bogs. There were instances where we had to jump from rock to stump to river bank to rock, then other times we would have to straddle a washed out area and rock back and forth like a cowboy who had spent the last two weeks riding a horse.

We spent the remainder of our day in El Chalten warming up in the hostel, cooking, playing cards, and looking at the map for a safter rout back to Bariloche. Everyone we asked said that Ruta 40 is just fine. Just drive slowly, they said...

Film festival

Hanna and I are volunteering for a Human Rights Film Festival that began yesterday. We talked about it before, but the time has arrived and we're in the thick of it. We've been doing translating, helping plan dinners and guiding the producers and directors of the documentary films around the city.

We still promise that we'll catch up on the blog postings, as we have left the blog hanging with our first ridiculous days driving out of Bariloche.

Also, we have officially changed our plane tickets to return to the states. Hanna arrives in Atlanta Thursday, June 18 and I get back to DC on June 15. I think I'm hanging out in DC for a couple days at least until I either catch a ride home with a stranger (who's visiting his girlfriend....craigslist.org rideshare really works) or fly back on airtran.

Hanna plans on having a crazy busy summer traveling all over the east and west coasts, going to, locating old friends and giving them wonderfully thoughtful gifts from our travels, and of course preparing herself for Berkeley.

I, however, am a bum and plans on living with my lovely parents in Atlanta (if they'll have me) for the majority of July and some of August, depending on when the plans materialize for a move out west. AMPED! Maybe someone will do a cross-country bike ride with me...or maybe I should get a job. Interesting options.

Anyways, we can't wait to see everyone, especially our lovely parents who haven't had any heart attacks while their children have gallivanted around South America the past months. We love you!

-B&H

How to do Patagonia in a Week (We don't recommend it)

(This trip was actually a month ago. We apologize. It has taken this long to recover.)

After a few relaxing days in Bariloche, we decided it was time to head further south to see the real Patagonia. Considering Byron had been carrying a tent in his pack for over a month, and I just bought a new sleeping bag, we figured a camping trip was finally in order. Of course, we chose one the coldest parts of the globe to do it.

We went to the most popular bus/tour company to start to plan our trip, but it turned out to be the last day of the season for this trip and it sounded a little too pricey. The road closes for the winder due to ice and snow, so the buses stop running in April. Rental car companies are abundant in Bariloche because the entire province is a very popular tourist area for Argentines and foreigners alike. In the winter, it's a ski haven and gorgeous mountain/lake community in the summertime. Anyway, we went to about 7 different rental companies to compare prices. Some of the companies refused to give us anything but 4-wheel drive vehicles after we told them we plan on driving down Route 40 to El Calafate. They said there are parts that you need a good car for; however, other companies were more than happy to give us their cheapest model and send us on our merry way. Which option do you think we went with??

You got it! The cheapest car possible. A Volkswagon Gol. No airbags, no frills, just right. And on a chilly morning in mid-April we hopped in and off we went! We were recommended by the car company to go for 9 or 10 days, but who has the money for that?! We decided to go with just a week and go really heavy on the daily driving.

The only map we had was in the Lonely Planet guidebook and a few words of advice from the hostel owners. Our first stop was a 10 minute stroll through El Bolson, the hippie haven of Argentina and an artisan locale. The town is really nice, but we had no time to waste so we vowed to return to it on our way back. The entire trip is 2.000 km each way, so we wanted to get as far as possible in the first day.

This is where the real adventures began... about 3 hours into the trip, I began to doze off. Did I mention the car was a stick shift and I don't know how to drive one? So Byron was just happily weaving down the highway when he felt something go wrong. We got a flat, and for no apparent reason. Needless to say, Byron wasn't thrilled to be changing a tire so soon into the trip, and I was worried that this meant bad news for the rest of the week. However, when we got to the next town (in a few more hours) we found the “gomeria” (tire store) and were able to get a used tire for $150 pesos. We kept the receipt, and were determined to get this money back since the tire was obviously bad when they gave us the car.

It was about 8pm when we finally got the the small town we were heading towards for our first camping experience. The town is a little scary because there is a huge military base there and soldiers all over the place. As it turned out, there was no campground, and the only hotel was about $70US a night, so we decided we'd try to make it to the next town, which is much bigger and was sure to have somewhere to sleep for cheap. We were both hungry and a little cranky, but we gassed up the car and headed out of the creepy tiny town.

Route 40 goes directly down the western side of Argentina, along the Andes. Although it is a very popular journey, large swaths of it remain unpaved. So at about 10 pm we realized that we had been driving on rocks for just a little too long. The biggest hint was when we popped tire #2 on a boulder in the road. The entire part was 120 km, and we only managed to go 20 in the first hour! It was very late, completely dark around us, and the only other cars on the road were huge semi trucks leaving us in the dust, literally. I begged Byron to go back, since we had no more spare tires and the road ahead was ominous. So we drove the same treacherous hour back to the town, hoping not to be blown off the “road” by Patagonian winds. We parked the car on an inconspicuous street, pulled out our sleeping bags and slept all night long covered from head to toe so no one would be the wiser. We didn't wake up until 9am!!!! because it stays dark there for so long!

That was day one.

Hanna and Byron Enter Patagonia (April 12, 2009 and onward)

In Salta, we decided that we were tired of traveling and purchased our next bus tickets to go directly to Bariloche. We promised some friends we would meet them there and had two or three days to spare. A bus from Salta to Bariloche is approximately 36 hours long and costs about $130US per person. They use the term “direct” loosely. The bus makes all it's usual stops along the way in every small town. The only thing that makes it direct is that it gets there eventually, as opposed to us having to change buses along the way. So we set out for what we hoped would be our longest bus trip ever...

Thirty-five hours later, after eating the same meal three times and our bones permanently stuck in a sedentary position, we started driving through the oasis of northern Patagonia. Bariloche is the “Aspen of South America.” We coined that phrase, but nothing could be more accurate. It's beautiful, overpriced, covered with stores selling outdoor equipment and fancy chocolates, and it revolves completely around the tourism.

Luck was on our side when we discovered that the hostel recommended by the guidebook was completely full. I consider this lucky because we ended up staying in an old hotel, converted to a hostel for half the price with a huge shared kitchen and got our own bathroom to boot! Unfortunately, they didn't have Wifi which is another reason we are so behind on these blog entries. We literally sat on the curb outside of another hostel to steal their wifi for emergency email check-ins.

After a few relaxing days of cooking, shopping, and enjoying the clean fresh air we met up with our friends Sasha and Alex. Our first adventure together was dinner at an “tenedor libre” (all you can eat buffet). The food was excellent, mostly Asian cuisine, but not lacking in freshly grilled meats and five different types of flan for dessert. Another culinary excursion we took was Byron's first experience with fondue – delicious meat and the chocolate was amazing!!! Enough about the food...

Our first big Patagonia excursion was a trip to one of the national parks in the area to see the glacier Trenador. We drove for about 2.5 hours each way to go on a 20 minute hike to vantage point from which you can no longer see the glacier itself. Just one more confusing Argentine experience.

On the way back from the “hike,” Byron decided he needed to take a stranger's rowboat out for a ride in the river. It was parked ashore next to a nice bridge and a huge campground/restaurant. Clearly, I advised Byron against it, and even more clearly, he did it anyway. Needless to say... we were no-so-politely asked to get out of the boat and leave immediately. The conversation went something like this for those of you who know some elementary Spanish:

Señor Boatowner - El barco es tuyo?
B – No. Lo siento.
Señor Boatowner – Porque estas en el barco?
B – Lo siento.
Señor Boatowner – Sala el barco ahora mismo!
B – Lo siento!
Señor Boatowner – Quieres que yo tomaria su coche?!
B – No.

And we ran out of the boat!
(It was parked just the left of where I'm sitting)