Long time no see. Sorry it has taken me a while to update. The month of September FLEW by. September is the month of FIESTAS PATRIAS to celebrate Chilean independence. The actual independence day is September 18th (dieciocho), but most people celebrate the whole week. I worked on Monday and a half day on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon I took a bus to Pichilemu, which is a big surf town about 4 hours southwest of Santiago. However, it took me about 6+ hours to get there because so many people were leaving Santiago that there was a lot of traffic and people getting on and off the bus. I spent the week with 8 other gringos and 2 Chileans and we rented a cabin about ten minutes from the beach. The first night, we went to a "Fonda" which is a typical party for dieciocho. They are mostly tents that are in the open air, so it can get pretty cold. There were a lot of people at the fonda and it was a fun time. The next day, we went to the beach, enjoyed the nice weather, and had an asado. You cannot celebrate independence without an asado (BBQ) with lots of meat (Chorizo, steak, chicken, everything). That night, we went to a different fonda which was a little bit more relaxed and had better music. On Thursday, we relaxed during the day, had another asado, and went to Punta de Lobos, which is where all the surfers go and it is a beautiful place to watch the sunset. It was cloudy so the sunset wasn't that great, but it was cool to see the surfers and the big waves. Later, we went to the Casa de Empanadas, and empanadas are also a MUST. This place had a BIG selection and the empanadas were huge and delicious! On Friday, I took a bus back to Santiago to celebrate with some friends in Santiago. I went to Paine and Buin with my friend Sam and her boyfriend. The Buin fonda was HUGE and had carnival rides and a lot of good food. Javier's grandma made homemade empanadas, and we had a really good lunch the next day. Overall, it was a fun dieciocho and Chileans definitely know how to celebrate!
Last year, when I knew I was coming to South America, I knew that I HAD to take a trip to Patagonia. Last year, however, I wasn't able to get around to it. Therefore, when I made the decision to return this year, I thought "There is NO excuse to NOT go!" So, back in August, I asked my boss for some time off from work and planned a trip to Patagonia with my friend Alex (who is also a teacher). Well, actually, we didn't really plan that much. And I think that turned out in our favor and also, not so much. We knew October would be the low season and that the weather could be good or bad. But we decided to risk it. Alex has traveled a lot and she said that she finds the best deals when she doesn't book anything in advance. Also, we tried doing some research but there really isn't a lot of information or details, you just kind of have to go with the flow. On Friday night, I flew from Santiago to Punta Arenas. I arrived in Punta Arenas and met Alex and we talked to the guy in the hostel to get some advice about what to do. We took a bus to Puerto Natales and found a hostel. The guy in the hostel told us that we should camp in Torres del Paine. We were debating about staying in a hostel but it was more expensive and we thought we would make an adventure out of it. So Sunday morning, we took a bus to Torres del Paine and it was VERY cloudy and rainy. We entered the park and found a place to set up our tent. It was raining while we were setting up our tent so we decided to put garbage bags around us to protect ourselves and our bags. We were going to start the trek to see the Torres but it was so cloudy we had heard we should wait. We moved our tent because it was windy and we wanted to be by more people and then we waited. The rain wasn't going anywhere so we decided to not bother making the trek. We went into a refugio to get warm and sit by the fireplace. We met some guides that worked for a Tour group and they were nice enough to give us food. We bought food to make but the tour guides made better food haha. The guides were really nice and helped us make sure our tent was securely placed on the ground. We decided to wake up early on Monday morning to see if the weather had cleared to intend to do the trek again, but it was still rainy and windy. The bad thing about going in October is that the buses are not regular for high tourist season, so there is only one bus a day TO Torres del Paine and one bus FROM Torres del Paine. So since the weather was bad AGAIN on Monday we decided to go back to Puerto Natales and start making our way to Argentina. However, we also knew that we came ALL the way down to Patagonia that we had to at least try ONE more time to see the Torres. We decided to book a private tour guide to drive us to Torres del Paine on Saturday.
On Tuesday, we took a bus to El Calafate in Argenina. We crossed the border which took a while because United States citizens have to pay a reciprocity fee (since the US charges Argentinians to enter the US). I paid the reciprocity fee last year when I went to Buenos Aires with my parents and received a stamp/receipt in my passport saying that I paid. Alex paid her fee when she went in 2009, but she didn't get a receipt and so the Argentinian police barely let her pass. Luckily, she speaks good enough Spanish that she explained her situation and they let her enter, but it was just as difficult getting back into Chile. We arrived in El Calafate, ate some good Argentinian steak, and then took a bus to El Chaltén which is the famous Patagonia hike on the Argentinian side (just like Torres del Paine is famous in Chile). We found a hostel and went to sleep so we could rest up for a big hike the next day. On Wednesday, we woke up, ate a "buffet" breakfast (which consisted of toast, eggs, yogurt, and cereal, NOTHING compared to an American buffet) and began our hike. The first 2 hours of the hike was pretty flat and it was a beautiful, sunny, clear blue sky day. Then, we began the incline part of the hike which took about an hour and a half. It was pretty intense but definitely worth the view when we got to the top. It was colder at top but the view was spectacular. The famous view is called Fitz Roy. We hiked back down which, surprisingly, took almost as long, showered, ate some empanadas, and then took a bus back to El Calafate.
The next day, we set out on our adventure to one of the largest and only advancing glaciers in the world. The bus arrived at Lago Argentina and we could see the glacier from a distance. It looked MASSIVE. Then, we took a boat to cross the lake to be able to see the glacier up close and walk on it. We saw the glacier on the boat and as we got closer it got even bigger. We got off the boat and were placed into a group to learn more about the glacier and how we would be walking on it. We learned that the glacier is actually made up of a TON of accumulated snow, and it actually isn't ice. The glacier advances about a meter per day. It is about 50+ meters above surface and 120 meters below the water. Since it is advancing, it continuously hits the land that is blocking it from moving any further. Every once and a while, the glacier ruptures and forms an arc. Also, the snow builds up and is so heavy that big chunks of it fall off the glacier and it literally sounds like thunder. It was so loud hearing the snow fall. Later, our tour guide explained that we would be wearing "crampons" that attach to our shoes and would help us grip while we were walking on the snow. We began to climb the glacier and it was literally like a winter wonderland. There were puddles and little streams of glacier water. We drank the water and it was literally so fresh and cold and delicious. The water and the snow were so blue. I couldn't believe I was literally walking on a glacier. Later, the tour guide gave us some whiskey on the "rocks" (rocks being glacier snow!) and some alfajores (typical Argentinian cookies with dulce de leche). Then, we ate a BIG sandwich that our hostel made for us and then went and got a different view of the glacier. Each time I saw the glacier I was more and more in shock with how big and vast it was. Later that night, we returned to our hostel, and the hostel employees cooked an "asado" BBQ for us. They cooked chicken, steak, blood sausage, sausage, and it included wine and bread and salad. It was sooooo good!
The next day, we took a bus back to Puerto Natales to attempt to do Torres del Paine round #2. We spent the day in Puerto Natales and went to sleep early. We woke up at 5:30 on Saturday and our personal driver picked us up at 6. We got a personal driver because the bus only leaves once a day and we both had to be back that night to catch flights the next day and it wouldn't have worked if we wanted to hike. Our driver drove us and it was cloudy and sunny, so we weren't sure what to expect. We were able to see a good view of the Torres from a distance so we pulled over and took some great shots. We also some animals called guanacos that are similar to llamas and we also saw condors which are huge birds. Next, we entered the park (and luckily we didn't have to pay again since we saved our ticket from the last time (Also, thank goodness I have Chilean residency because for Chileans you only pay $10 to enter the park and for foreigners you pay $36!). The sky was still partially cloudy and sunny. We hesitantly decided to start the trek. The first part was fine. It was uphill and pretty warm. We could see the clouds in the distance. We got about half away and it was SUPER incredibly windy. It was about 60 mph winds and there was a very narrow path that curved around the mountain that we thought we were going to fall off. Also, it looked like it was snowing and the clouds were super intense. Therefore, we made an executive decision to turn around and not risk the rest of the trek. Of course, as we got down to the bottom, the clouds cleared for about 5 minutes and you could see the Torres. TYPICAL! Such bad luck! But the clouds only cleared for a very short amount of time and we weren't the only people who turned around so we felt better about that. It just stinks that we attempted to see the Torres twice and we had NO luck!! After, our driver took us to a famous cave which was pretty cool. We arrived back in Puerto Natales and took a bus to Punta Arenas. That night, we had a DELICIOUS "parilla" mean which consisted of steak, chorizo, blood sausage, chicken, pork and vegetables. We also bought wine and Chilean meals always come with bread and butter. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but Chileans are OBSESSED with mayonnaise. The waiter brought us bread with MAYONNAISE! I have lived in Chile for almost 2 years and I have NEVER had mayonnaise brought with bread. I was shocked and disgusted haha. So typical Chilean. The rest of the meal was spectacular.
The next day, Alex left to continue her adventures through Patagonia. I stuck around Punta Arenas because my flight was at night. I went to the Strait of Magellan and saw some penguins. They were so little and cute, but there weren't very many of them. Then, I walked around Punta Arenas, ate a King Crab empanada (YUMM!), saw a beautiful view of the city, and went to the cemetery which was beautiful. I flew back to Santiago and had to work the next day. Overall, the trip was wonderful. We were super bummed about Torres del Paine (especially now that it was named the 8th world wonder of the world and one of the main attractions in Patagonia), but at least we got to see it from a distance. That just means I will have to come back a different time! El Chalten and Perito Moreno glacier were incredible. I took some amazing photos and ate some delicious food. I am so glad I got to experience this with Alex! She is a great travel buddy and a better friend.
