On our way to the catch the bus from Bariloche at 6:30am we saw a guy on his motorcycle - who was obviously wasted from the night before - try to overtake a taxi, swerve and crashed right into the back of the taxi... hard. The bike toppled on him and the seat was ripped off the bike in the process. Luckily we were right downtown where other people could assist him and soon after a police truck down the road spotted the guy lying on the road and went to help. We had an interesting day yet again on a bus! We went from Bariloche, Argentina to Osorno, Chile (very strict border control with dogs checking for fruits and vegetables) then had a 2 hour wait for our bus to Valdivia, Chile. After arriving in Valdivia we walked around to find a hostel; all the ones we checked were either way too expensive or really dingy. We were sort of tired and frustrated so we went to McDonald's for the WiFi and fries and found a bus to Pucon. After walking around Valdivia for a few hours with all our crap we decided that we'd get on our third bus in one day and head to Pucon. We were greeted at the bus station by a really nice hostel owner and were shown to his Hospedaje (Hostel Wohlenburg http://www.wohlenberghostel.cl/ ) We decided to visit Parque Nacional Huerquehue for a bit of day hiking and we had some pretty decent weather. A girl from Finland who was staying at our hostel came along with us for the day. The National Park was really beautiful like all of the Patagonian areas we've visited but this was a little different than what we had seen already. The park resembled a rainforest than a forest you would find in the mountains of Patagonia. There were huge trees, very lush green undergrowth and stands of bamboo growing all over the place. As we ascended higher into the alpine more snow was sticking to the ground and it was very weird seeing bamboo covered in snow. But the mix of white, freshly fallen snow sitting on lush green vegetation with the sun pouring through the trees made portions of our hike appear as if our surroundings were painted on canvas. It was really cool. After our day in the National Park we hung around Pucon and killed some time enjoying the sunny weather for one more day. To learn more about Pucon check out its Wikipedia page.
2 Comments
The airport door opened and a gust of cold air whipped in, we looked at each other and thought oh no... WINTER! We had thought we would bypass all cold weather this year but after hearing how beautiful Patagonia is we thought OK, lets tough it out and go! We decided to fly in to Ushuaia instead of taking the 40 hour bus from Buenos Aires. We were very happy with our decision. The cold was a bit difficult to get used to at first but after the purchase of warmer jackets we were happy to be at the end of the world! Ushuaia is the Southernmost city in the world and is very beautiful. White, snow-capped mountains surround the city with the Beagle channel on the south side creating a pretty waterfront. Our second day in Ushuaia we spent hiking up to see Martial glacier.The walk started from our hostel through the town and up into the outskirts of Ushuaia. The hike follows a small highway with hotels strategically placed along the sides with beautiful views of the Beagle Channel and mountains. The actual hike is at the bottom of a small ski hill where a chair lifts takes people up to the top. The chair wasn't working so we hiked up the snowy mountain until we reached the glacier, approximately 1.5 hrs. The next day we took a shuttle van from our hostel to Tierra Del Fuego National Park! The van dropped us off near the main gate and we hiked along the shoreline for about 8 km. It was very peaceful walking along the water. Unfortunately the clouds were low so our views of the mountains were reduced. We had a nice picnic lunch at one opening and watched ducks swim around. We also saw different types of birds and then two woodpeckers at work. There are 3 main channels near Tierra del Fuego that ships can use to Navigate between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Beagle Channel, the Straights of Magellan and the Drake Passage. The latter is used the most because of its size. When the passages were discovered sailors noticed many fires burning along the shores of the channels and aptly named the area Tierra del Fuego. The fires were used by the Yaghan peoples, who settled the area some 10,000 years before the arrival of European settlers. Don't quote me on this but there are about 1600 Yaghans remaining in Chile as of 2002. In 1949 50 Canadian beavers were introduced into Tierra Del Fuego, to improve the fur trade, and because there are no natural predators the beaver population continued to grow out of control. They have destroyed large sections of the park and are now considered an invasive species. We didn't see any but got some good views of their "work". Go Canada! Ushuaia is largely supported by the tourism, car and electronic industries. Many products are made in Ushuaia and sent to Buenos Aires where the people in BA have to pay an additional tax. We noticed that the cars in the town were mostly all new; when we asked why a local told us that the government gives a tax incentive so that the people almost have to buy new cars every year. He also said it is the most expensive place to live in Argentina and difficult to buy property even though they get higher wages. The new cars do make the city seem classy but it's so wasteful.
We enjoyed our time in the hostel making homemade meals and meeting new people. One really nice couple from Australia are on a similar trip to ours except they are on route to Canada! We told them they could stay with our friends and family, so heads up! After 4 days in Ushuaia we took a 12 hr bus to Puerto Natales in Chile, the town closest to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. |
Get updates by email!
Archives
January 2014
Categories
All
|