Patagonias!

Finally, we were getting down to the business end of things. I had been looking forward to the Patagonias (Picasa link) ever since the start of our trip, and after 9 months we got our first taste of it. Coming in to land at Ushuaia, you get a sense of the isolation and remoteness of the town. Miles and miles of islands, fjords and high Andean peaks finally give way to a small bay, a town nestled in between the Beagle Channel and the mountains, and a strip of land flat enough to land on.

Really far from everywhere else

Ushuaia is all about three things; promoting itself as the southernmost city in the world, great hiking in Tierra del Fuego National Park, and the launchpad for all Antartic cruises. Its hard to stay in Ushuaia and not be tempted by all the last-minute cruise deals, but we held firm (or rather our wallets did), and went hiking. One day was spent hiking to a beautiful alpine lake, while the next was spent walking along lake shore trails in the National Park. The next hike was a two day hike to a beautiful alpine lake where camping was permitted, followed by a climb to a pass and down into town. The lady awoke not feeling too great, so I decided to make a go at it myself. The first day was gorgeous - a light shower once in a while but temperatures high enough to feel my extremities. The lake was stunning and I setup camp on its shore and tucked in. Sleep was rudely interrupted around 4AM by a feeling of extreme cold and claustrophobia. Peeking out I saw a wall of white and the realization that the ground was now covered in four inches of snow. The park authorities don't place too much importance in trail markers, which meant I had no idea how to get up and over the pass. So I slept in until I heard a group who was with a guide break camp, and then promptly followed them up the pass. Once over the pass the weather cleared and going was easy, albeit a bit slushy. Back in town, hot food helped warm the innards and we started planning our next hike.

The Towers of Paine

First up though was a 15 hr bus ride to Puerto Natales in Chile. The landscape was bleak and yet stunning - miles and miles of scrub land dotted by the occasional farmhouse, all below the watchful eyes of the Andes. We were headed to Puerto Natales to do the 'W', a five day hike in the Torres del Paine that makes the 'best hikes in the world' etc. lists. Since this was the tail-end of the season, and we didn't have the right equipment, we decided on spending the nights in refugios - mountain lodges built in the park and conveniently placed so that you could do the hike while still living in relative comfort. The setting of the park deserves a special mention. You are driving along the afore-mentioned scrub land when suddenly, you are faced with a set of mountains, rearing straight up from the ground. Given that the surrounding elevation is around 500 feet and the peaks rise to over 10,000 feet, it makes for a dramatic effect. Add to that a couple of glaciers, alpine lakes and you start to see why the hike is so highly rated. We got pretty lucky with the weather, and the next five days were spent hiking up and down valleys, fording mountain streams, and taking a ton of photographs. One phenomenon we could not escape though was the incredible wind. It blows and blows and on two days it was gusting upto 70 kmph. Still, given that the highest recorded for the year was 120 kmph, we got off easy. Having eaten rice and soup for five straight days, we both went all-out and downed pizzas and tiramisus upon our return to Puerto Natales.

That's a big hunk of ice!

The next day it was onto the legendary Fitz Roy mountains in El Chalten, Argentina. These mountains are so hard to climb, that while Everest may see upto a hundred successful attempts on a single day, Fitz Roy might just see one in the entire season. While we aren't into any kind of mountaineering, the park does have beautiful trails that allow you to get right upto the base of the mountains. Fall colors were out in force, and we spent the next couple of days hiking upto glacier fed lakes and enjoying picnic lunches in the shadow of these awe inspiring mountains. Last up in this part of the Patagonias was El Calafate, specifically the Perito Moreno Glacier. As Lonely Planet says, the glacier is tailor made for tourism and the town of El Calafate subsists entirely on this hunk of ice. The glacier is one of the few advancing glaciers in the world (so much for global warming), flows for over 30 kms, and stops only a few feet short of a hill on which a series of walk-ways have been built, allowing one to get up and close to the glacier. We spent the better part of the day staring at this enormous wall of ice, getting excited every time a large piece of ice calved off the face and into the water.


Its getting cold, and having spent a fair chunk of time in the Southern Patagonias, we are headed north. Next up is the lake district, which as you can imagine, consists of a lot of lakes, smoking volcanoes, and even more hiking!

- Ashish

More or Less

Streets of Salvador

'More or less', is the standard refrain we hear every time we ask someone in Brazil or Argentina (Picasa link) if they know English. More OF less, is how I would put it personally, given the time even simple conversations take. Guess I shouldn't be complaining though, given that I know even less of Portuguese or Spanish. Having successfully navigated the Carnival in Rio, wallets and organs accounted for, we next headed on to Salvador for some peace and quiet - or so we thought. We checked in at our hostel just in time to see the start of a huge street concert. Figuring if you can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em, we headed down and spent the next few hours listening to surprisingly good music and downing delicious Caipirinhas, Brazil's national cocktail. The next day, after sleeping in a bit, we headed out to explore Salvador. Salvador is the capital of Bahia, Brazil's 'black' state. Descendents of slaves bought over from Africa over three centuries ago, now constitute a majority of the population and has led to a town unlike any other in Brazil. The historic town center is all cobble-stones, cute houses, and churches - everything a bit run-down though, which I felt added to the charm.

Water-slide!

After spending two days wandering around the steets of Salvador, we headed to Chapada Diamantina, a national park set in the interiors of Brazil. The plan was to hike in the national park for the next couple of days, a plan that was immediately nixed after we heard what they charge to guide you into the park. A complete lack of any kind of infrastructure meant that you are beholden to these guiding agencies and they ensure things stay this way by refusing to signpost any trails or even allow the publication of even the most basic of maps. Thumbing our nose at them, we decided on doing some simple walks around town and hanging about town drinking gallons of fruit juices. One thing that astounded us as first-time visitors to Brazil, is the sheer number of fruit juice shops. There's one on every corner, sometime one on each corner of a single intersection, as if to prove that I'm not exaggerating. These range from simple mom-pop operations, to chains that operate throughout the country. What they do have in common, is the multitude of fruits stacked behind the counter and the variety of juice mixes they offer. Brazil grows a stunning variety of fruits and at the fruit juice shops each and every one makes it through the blender.

Foz de Iguazu

From Diamantina, it was back to Salvador to catch our flight to Iguazu falls. We failed to account for the Continental and United merger taking place that day, which obviously meant our tickets had been inexplicably canceled and we were only informed so at check-in. A frantic hour later, most of which was spent on Skype threatening United customer reps., we missed our flight, were finally issued new tickets on the next flight and got to Iguazu Falls at 2AM. Frankly, I was a bit skeptical about the hulla (what's the term? Hype?) surrounding the Falls, but since even 5-day Brazil itineraries included it, we thought we should too. Now don't get me wrong, I like a nice roaring waterfall just like anyone else and will even hike a couple of miles out of my way to check one out. But to fly half-way across a country for one seemed a bit excessive to me. How wrong was I! The Falls stretch across and can be viewed from both sides, Brazil and Argentina, and the next morning we headed to the park on the Brazilian side. My first view of the Falls and I knew we were dealing with something special. Its hard to describe just how big and intimidating the Falls are, but suffice to say, the trip was worth it. The next day we headed over into Argentina and checked out the Falls from the other side. The Argentinians have built a walk-way, aptly named Devil's Throat, at the end of which you are pretty much standing over the throat of the Falls and watching the river pour over the edge below you. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Tango in BA!

From Iguazu it was onto Buenos Aires. We'd decided to take a bus for this leg of the journey and got to experience Argentinian bus travel for the first time. The Argentinians have elevated bus travel to a luxury experience and our seats were the equivalent of business class seats on a flight. Think stewardess, hot dinner, wine, semi-flat seats, and you begin to start seeing the picture. Thoroughly rested, we reached Buenos Aires 17 hours later (did I mention that distances here are insane?!). The next six days were spent exploring Buenos Aires (BA). BA is an extremely likable city and the feel is quite European, just a lot cheaper. BAers, or Portenos, as they are called, love their cafes and bakeries, and there's one to be found every time you feel the hankering for a cuppa and cake. Spending an inordinate amount of time at a cafe soon became part of our routine too. The city lacks any major sights, but more than makes up for it in interesting neighborhoods, their love for tango and the aforementioned cafes. Our daily routine consisted of picking a neighborhood or two, walking the length of it, looking and immediately spotting a cute cafe, consuming cake and coffee, and then walking home. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable, if slightly fattening stay.





Ushuaia's next, and for those of you who can barely pronounce it, its the southern-most city in the world. World-class hiking awaits!

- Ashish