Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
PUCON & VILLARICA VOLCANO, CHILE
Bariloche was the last stop on my trip through Argentina, the next stop on my journey was Pucon in Chile.
Villarica Volcano
Pucon is a small village on a beautiful lake, surrounded by several volcanoes. I had heard that you could climb one of these volcanos through some tour agencies and that it was a reasonably easy climb. I arrived in town and found a hostel to stay at, the owner of the hostel also ran one of the tour agencies so I was able to book my climb through him.
When I arrived at the hostel I found that I would be sharing a room with Anna, the girl I had met at Puerto Madryn.... she was also climbing the Volcano the next day, but with a different agency.
The next day was a very early start at 6am when it was still dark. I had to get dressed in special clothing to protect me from the cold as we would be climbing to 2900mtrs above sea level.
The Volcano in the background
We arrived at the starting point of the climb and it was still dark.... and it was pretty cold, but that didn't last as once we started walking with all the layers on we quickly warmed up.
We followed a path beside where a chairlift went up the side of the Volcano. During winter the volcano is used for snow skiing.
The chairlift wasn't operating when I was there as they were maintaining it before the ski season started and it had ice all over it.
Every 30 minutes we would stop for a ten minute break to catch our breath and to have a snack for energy.
Between the first and second stop the sun came over the horizon, it was very beautiful to watch and we got to stop briefly to take pictures. At this stage we were already walking in snow.
At our third stop we reached an old chairlift station. It was originally built between 1962 and 1969. It then operated for two ski seasons until in 1971 the Volcano erupted and swallowed half of the building and snapped all the cables that used to carry the skiers to this spot.
When we got to our next stop the sun had finally started to shine and we got a chance to take some very cool pictures above the clouds. We were already at 2000 mtrs above sea level.
When we got to 2200mtrs above sea level we had to put crampons onto our boots. At 2300mtrs the Volcano becomes a glacier and you need the crampons to grip the ice.
The view from 2200mtrs
The wind had picked up at this stage and when I got about 100mtrs further up the Volcano we had to climb onto a narrow ridge to start walking across the glacier part of the volcano.
Thats me, the last one in Yellow
I was the last person in the group and in front of me was three girls. The first girl stumbled a little so the guides told her she would have to stop climbing as they didn't think she would be able to make it to the top of the volcano. The two other girls decided to also stop climbing and the three of them turned around to go back down to the ledge at 2200mtrs. I continued on and started walking across the glacier. The wind off the glacier was very cold and it made breathing very difficult, after about 200mtrs more climbing I decided it was probably better if I stopped too.
That is the top of the Volcano, 500mtrs but still 1.5 hrs away
The guide told me that we still had 1.5 hours of climbing to do if I was to continue and I knew that I did not have enough energy and could not breathe well enough to continue to the top. So the guide who was waiting with the girls had to come up to me and help me back down to the 2200mtr ledge where the girls were still waiting.
So after I had a few minutes to catch my breathe the girls and I started our decent with our guide. As we started our decent Anna's group came up past us. They continued on up the mountain.
The rest of my group only made it another 200mtrs up the Volcano before the other guides told them it was too risky to keep going due to the wind. Anna's group however went a slight different way and ended up making it to the top.
She told me later that they got to see Lava spurting up inside the crater of the volcano, but it was very windy and there was alot of ash smoke... Anna told me it was very difficult to breathe up at the top of the Volcano.
When we got near the bottom of the volcano we got to slide down the snow on our backsides, it was a lot of fun...
And at the bottom there was a ski lodge that was being renovated. There were toilets sitting out on a deck, I couldn't resist.....
The following day Anna and I decided to spend the day wandering around the village of Pucon and seeing the sights.
We went down to the lake where we took some funny photo's before going for lunch.
I had a very yummy sushi lunch.
One of the strange things I saw in Pucon was at the supermarket. They had pigs heads for sale... they were a bit spooky all looking out of the glass window at me!
Villarica Volcano
Pucon is a small village on a beautiful lake, surrounded by several volcanoes. I had heard that you could climb one of these volcanos through some tour agencies and that it was a reasonably easy climb. I arrived in town and found a hostel to stay at, the owner of the hostel also ran one of the tour agencies so I was able to book my climb through him.
When I arrived at the hostel I found that I would be sharing a room with Anna, the girl I had met at Puerto Madryn.... she was also climbing the Volcano the next day, but with a different agency.
The next day was a very early start at 6am when it was still dark. I had to get dressed in special clothing to protect me from the cold as we would be climbing to 2900mtrs above sea level.
The Volcano in the background
We arrived at the starting point of the climb and it was still dark.... and it was pretty cold, but that didn't last as once we started walking with all the layers on we quickly warmed up.
We followed a path beside where a chairlift went up the side of the Volcano. During winter the volcano is used for snow skiing.
The chairlift wasn't operating when I was there as they were maintaining it before the ski season started and it had ice all over it.
Every 30 minutes we would stop for a ten minute break to catch our breath and to have a snack for energy.
Between the first and second stop the sun came over the horizon, it was very beautiful to watch and we got to stop briefly to take pictures. At this stage we were already walking in snow.
At our third stop we reached an old chairlift station. It was originally built between 1962 and 1969. It then operated for two ski seasons until in 1971 the Volcano erupted and swallowed half of the building and snapped all the cables that used to carry the skiers to this spot.
When we got to our next stop the sun had finally started to shine and we got a chance to take some very cool pictures above the clouds. We were already at 2000 mtrs above sea level.
When we got to 2200mtrs above sea level we had to put crampons onto our boots. At 2300mtrs the Volcano becomes a glacier and you need the crampons to grip the ice.
The view from 2200mtrs
The wind had picked up at this stage and when I got about 100mtrs further up the Volcano we had to climb onto a narrow ridge to start walking across the glacier part of the volcano.
Thats me, the last one in Yellow
I was the last person in the group and in front of me was three girls. The first girl stumbled a little so the guides told her she would have to stop climbing as they didn't think she would be able to make it to the top of the volcano. The two other girls decided to also stop climbing and the three of them turned around to go back down to the ledge at 2200mtrs. I continued on and started walking across the glacier. The wind off the glacier was very cold and it made breathing very difficult, after about 200mtrs more climbing I decided it was probably better if I stopped too.
That is the top of the Volcano, 500mtrs but still 1.5 hrs away
The guide told me that we still had 1.5 hours of climbing to do if I was to continue and I knew that I did not have enough energy and could not breathe well enough to continue to the top. So the guide who was waiting with the girls had to come up to me and help me back down to the 2200mtr ledge where the girls were still waiting.
So after I had a few minutes to catch my breathe the girls and I started our decent with our guide. As we started our decent Anna's group came up past us. They continued on up the mountain.
The rest of my group only made it another 200mtrs up the Volcano before the other guides told them it was too risky to keep going due to the wind. Anna's group however went a slight different way and ended up making it to the top.
She told me later that they got to see Lava spurting up inside the crater of the volcano, but it was very windy and there was alot of ash smoke... Anna told me it was very difficult to breathe up at the top of the Volcano.
When we got near the bottom of the volcano we got to slide down the snow on our backsides, it was a lot of fun...
And at the bottom there was a ski lodge that was being renovated. There were toilets sitting out on a deck, I couldn't resist.....
The following day Anna and I decided to spend the day wandering around the village of Pucon and seeing the sights.
We went down to the lake where we took some funny photo's before going for lunch.
I had a very yummy sushi lunch.
One of the strange things I saw in Pucon was at the supermarket. They had pigs heads for sale... they were a bit spooky all looking out of the glass window at me!
BARILOCHE, PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA
The bus to Bariloche was a tough ride. Not only was it 28 hours from El Calafate, but the heating was broken. It was broken but it was on and couldn´t be turned off! So the whole journey felt like it was spent in a sauna. It was almost impossible to sleep.
The whole bus was full of backpackers and everytime the bus pulled up to drop off or pick up people everybody on the bus got off. This was the first time this had happened the whole trip.
Luckily everyone had a good sense of humour and it made the very long bus ride more enjoyable.
When we finally arrived in Barilcohe we were all very glad to get off the bus. I pretty much did nothing that day even though it was a lovely day outside. I was too tired to do anything. Which was lucky as it was a public holiday for Bariloche´s birthday!
A Gaucho, Argentina cowboy, carved from a log
The drive took us all day, but was nice just to be out and about.
The weather was a bit overcast but we took some food with us and just enjoyed the scenery around the different lakes.
We stopped at a mirador, which is spanish for look out, and saw a beautiful waterfall.
At one stage we were driving down a dirt road when a giant cow stepped out from behind a bush and stopped right in front of the car. Luckily we were able to stop in time and didn´t hit the cow. I think the car would have come off second best. The cow then moved to the otherside of the road and just stood there looking at us. It was a bit spooky, but also very funny.
We drove a bit further and got out at one of the lakes.
Two of the girls being silly, one pretending to fish and catching the other one on her fishing line!!
We took some photo´s of the lake and surrounds when next thing another cow came charging onto the beach beside the lake. It was only about 4 or 5 metres away from us. It stood there and ate some leaves off a tree.
A few minutes later a whole group of cows ran onto the beach and knocked into the other cow. Then they went to the waters edge for a drink.
We were feeling out numbered by the cows so we quickly went back to the car and kept going.
At the next town we decided to stop and have some icecream, there were lots of different flavours and they were super bright colours. I had cookies and cream and chocolate... it was delicious.
Around the corner from the icecream store we found a funny sign that had holes for you to put your head in, so of course we took some pictures!
On our way back to Bariloche we found a long stretch of road that had no cars on it, everyone needed to go to the toilet but there wasn't one so we pulled up at the side of the road and went behind some bushes.... since there were no cars coming we decided to try and take some funny pictures in the middle of the road.
It was a very fun day out and a great way to see the country side in Bariloche.
The whole bus was full of backpackers and everytime the bus pulled up to drop off or pick up people everybody on the bus got off. This was the first time this had happened the whole trip.
Luckily everyone had a good sense of humour and it made the very long bus ride more enjoyable.
When we finally arrived in Barilcohe we were all very glad to get off the bus. I pretty much did nothing that day even though it was a lovely day outside. I was too tired to do anything. Which was lucky as it was a public holiday for Bariloche´s birthday!
A Gaucho, Argentina cowboy, carved from a log
The drive took us all day, but was nice just to be out and about.
The weather was a bit overcast but we took some food with us and just enjoyed the scenery around the different lakes.
We stopped at a mirador, which is spanish for look out, and saw a beautiful waterfall.
At one stage we were driving down a dirt road when a giant cow stepped out from behind a bush and stopped right in front of the car. Luckily we were able to stop in time and didn´t hit the cow. I think the car would have come off second best. The cow then moved to the otherside of the road and just stood there looking at us. It was a bit spooky, but also very funny.
We drove a bit further and got out at one of the lakes.
Two of the girls being silly, one pretending to fish and catching the other one on her fishing line!!
We took some photo´s of the lake and surrounds when next thing another cow came charging onto the beach beside the lake. It was only about 4 or 5 metres away from us. It stood there and ate some leaves off a tree.
A few minutes later a whole group of cows ran onto the beach and knocked into the other cow. Then they went to the waters edge for a drink.
We were feeling out numbered by the cows so we quickly went back to the car and kept going.
At the next town we decided to stop and have some icecream, there were lots of different flavours and they were super bright colours. I had cookies and cream and chocolate... it was delicious.
Around the corner from the icecream store we found a funny sign that had holes for you to put your head in, so of course we took some pictures!
On our way back to Bariloche we found a long stretch of road that had no cars on it, everyone needed to go to the toilet but there wasn't one so we pulled up at the side of the road and went behind some bushes.... since there were no cars coming we decided to try and take some funny pictures in the middle of the road.
It was a very fun day out and a great way to see the country side in Bariloche.
EL CHALTEN, PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA
Another small town I went to in Patagonia was El Chalten. It is the youngest town in Argentina and is the gateway to some mountain trecks.
When I arrived on the bus it was raining and very windy. I was not sure if I was going to be able to do much in this town because the weather was so bad. I made my way to the hostal and checked in.
I was staying at the same hostal as Pierre and Elio who had been on my glacier tour the day before. We sat around and played games all afternoon while we watched the weather go from bad to worse. We met alot of the other people staying at the hostal as well.
We decided to brave the weather and go out for dinner that night. We went to a local Paradilla. They do BBQ´s but inside. I decided to have a steak and it was huge. It came with a big lump of mash potato on the side. I was very happy as the chef new how to cook it medium/rare (he had worked in Australia)... most places in Argentina just cook well done.
They served wine in funny porcelain penguins. I just had to take a picture of that!
The next day we woke up to find it was not raining and there was some blue in the sky. Mother nature had decided to be nice to us and put on a good day.
We all hurried to get ready and head off. We walked into the national park over a small hill, which was still getting battered by strong winds.
We passed through a small forest and walked about an hour to the first look out. It was still cloudy around the mountain tops, but we could see the hillsides and the valleys. It was very pretty as it was autumn and all the leaves on the trees were changing colour to beautiful reds, yellows and oranges.
We continued on for another hour to a fork in the path. One of the girls in our group had sore feet from the hiking boots she had hired. We had two options. One was to go another five hours in a circuit or we could go back.
Three of us wanted to keep going, so she went back the way we had come and we continued on. There was plenty of other people out on the trails that day so she said she didn´t mind going back alone.
So on we went over another mountain pass that was a bit challenging as I haven´t been doing much exercise before I came on my trip.
But the effort was rewarded as we came into another beautiful valley.
This valley had two amazing lakes in it called Madre & Hija (mother and daughter).
The only problem was the wind that swept over the snow capped mountains and down through the valley. It was so strong that it blew one of the girls over onto her bottom. We were leaning at 45degree angles against the wind and not falling over.
Everytime we went around a corner on the path we kept seeing even more beautiful scenery. We couldn´t quite see themain attraction clearly as the clouds kept hiding the mountains, but I took some pictures anyway.
These mountains are quite amazing and one of them had a glacier coming down the side of it.
It was a very long walk, very tiring. I thoroughly enjoyed it and just before we got to the end we got to see two woodpeckers... funny birds that peck into the trees to find warms and bugs. They were black with bright red heads.
So after two nights in El Chalten it was time to start heading north again. But the bus along Ruta 40 was no longer running. So I had to go back to El Calafate (4hrs), spend 2 hours there and then catch a bus for 28hrs to Bariloche. This would be my longest bus journey yet.
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