Hola todos!!!
The past few weeks in Lima have been crazy.... here what's happening.
I arrived in Lima and quickly went to Cusco... and guess who I ran into!? Mom and Earle! Ok... that was planned, but still. I spent the day with them and had a not very delicious meal with them, but it was nice to see them!
Mom and Earle left, and I went to Puno, the main town on Lake Titicaca. It was just my luck that when I arrived it was the end of Virgen de la Candelaria Festival, aka the Devil Dancing Festival, which is a parade celebrating the victory of good over evil. The parade was huge and lasted for hours with lots of people in crazy costumes, marching bands, oh yeah, and the people who aren't in the parade partake in a giant town-wide shaving cream fight! Adults, old men, kids, everyone. Totally amazing!
The following day, I took a tour of the islands of Titicaca, include Isla Uros, floating islands that are completely made out of reeds. Everything is made of reeds including the actual island, the houses, the boat, they even eat the reeds. Sadly, because it's become such a tourist destination, it's become rather commercial, but still very cool to see. Then, I hung out for a bit on Isla Taquile which is one of the larger islands and quite beautiful. Its population is under 2,000 and they don't really go to the other islands to "make friends" so there is a lot of inbreeding.
After Lake Titicaca, I returned to Cusco to have my last family encounter: Aunt Sam and Paul! We took a city tour of Cusco which included the ruins on the outskirts of town and went to a very cool market in Pesac to buy lots of baby alpaca goods. Softer than cashmere and cheaper! What could be better? We went went to Macchu Picchu and explored the ruins there and heard about how it was found accidentally, and I ditched the family and guide to climb up Waynapicchu to see Macchu Picchu from a birds eye view, definitely an intense hike, but only an hour up, so it wasn't so bad.
Back in Lima, Aunt Sam and Paul treated me to yet another delicious dinner and a stay in the 5 star Marriott. How could they spoil me so and then expect me to go back to the slumming ways of a backpacker staying in hostels, sharing rooms, sharing bathrooms, wearing flipflops in the shower, having no TV, no cable, and eating cheap food? Easily, but I enjoyed everyone second of my time with them along with the accomodations.
From Lima, I made a detour to head south to a town called Pisco. Pisco was devestated about a year and a half ago by an 8.0 earthquake and there are several organizations there helping to rebuild the homes. I went there intending to spend just a few days, and stayed a week. I dug trenches for homes that would use concrete and helped put a tarp roof on homes that are more like glorified huts. The owners of the soon to be completed homes were so grateful, and it was nice that we were able to meet them. I wanted to stay longer and continue to help, but it was time to get moving. Really, I wanted to stay another week because my arms would have been seriously buff, and I wanted to be there when they poured concrete because apparently, it's fun, oh well. But, all of the manual labor was fun... there were cool people and we were all there for a good cause, but I have other cool things that I want to see.
The pictures of me as a construction worker are coming, sadly, we didn't use hardhats or boots, but I know my way around a shovel, pick, and lots of tie-wire.
While in Pisco, I also tried octupus ceviche. A little chewy, but quite tasty! If you get a chance to go to a Peruvian restaurant, you should definitely try it.
Pictures from Cusco and Lake Titicaca:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2368770&id=907196&l=3dc99
Next stop.... the jungle!
Hope everyone is well.
besos!
Lauren
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Bariloche, aka the most wonderful place in the world.
Something struck me as odd upon entering Bariloche, Argentina. Was it the abundance of chocolate shops? No, but I did love that part. Was it the crystal clear lake that I was actually excited abut jumping into? Was it the fact that it was finally bathing suit weather? No. No. It was that there were traffic lights! Yes, traffic lights! Lindsey and I hadn't seen one in what felt like ages, but was actually 3 weeks or so. Can you imagine only being in such small towns that there wasn't even a need for traffic lights? It was sort of a strange realization.
Bariloche! One of the highlights of our trip! We went kayaking, we went hiking, we went to clubs where there were lots of people, we drank, we ate delicious argentine meals, it was fabulous. There was one day however, we had gone out fairly late the night before, and the following day, we decided we were in Bariloche, we had to continue our outdoorsy activities kick. So, in a slightly hungover state, Lindsey suggests we go on a bike ride. There is a beautiful 35 km circuit that we were told was a great half day activity. I am sort of not up for it, but I decide to go for it anyway. I mean, I am a triathlete! I do that distance in between a mile swim and a 10 km run. No sweat, right? Wrong. I was dying, it was painful, I actually got off and walked the bike up a hill. More than once. It was a sad sad day. Don't ask if there are pictures of me struggling, there aren't any.
Anyway, Bariloche was incredible, but sadly, it was time to cross the Argentina/Chile border one last time. We headed to Valdivia, Chile to go the the Kunstmann Cervezeria. Home to our favorite Chilean beer, the Kunstmann Torobayo. After eating a hamburger piled high with deliciousness, we tried every beer they made and even shared a "column" of beer with some Chileans we met, before quickly getting out of Valdivia (there isn't much to do there) and make our way to Pucon.
Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile! However, I had already done many of the adventure activities that they offered (rafting, hiking, canyoning, kayaking, etc...) throughout the last month, so I just focused on one thing, climbing Volcan Villarica. It was difficult, tiring,and at times a bit painful, but awesome. And once we got up there and saw smoke coming out, we got to slide down the volcano. Very cool stuff.
I made a quick stop in Talca to go to the wine country and then back to Santiago. Below is the link to the pictures from January:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2364757&id=907196&l=968e4
For those keeping track, I am clearly behind on updates, I returned from Patagonia nearly 3 weeks and have now been in Peru for a while. Will write more soon!
besos!
Lauren
Bariloche! One of the highlights of our trip! We went kayaking, we went hiking, we went to clubs where there were lots of people, we drank, we ate delicious argentine meals, it was fabulous. There was one day however, we had gone out fairly late the night before, and the following day, we decided we were in Bariloche, we had to continue our outdoorsy activities kick. So, in a slightly hungover state, Lindsey suggests we go on a bike ride. There is a beautiful 35 km circuit that we were told was a great half day activity. I am sort of not up for it, but I decide to go for it anyway. I mean, I am a triathlete! I do that distance in between a mile swim and a 10 km run. No sweat, right? Wrong. I was dying, it was painful, I actually got off and walked the bike up a hill. More than once. It was a sad sad day. Don't ask if there are pictures of me struggling, there aren't any.
Anyway, Bariloche was incredible, but sadly, it was time to cross the Argentina/Chile border one last time. We headed to Valdivia, Chile to go the the Kunstmann Cervezeria. Home to our favorite Chilean beer, the Kunstmann Torobayo. After eating a hamburger piled high with deliciousness, we tried every beer they made and even shared a "column" of beer with some Chileans we met, before quickly getting out of Valdivia (there isn't much to do there) and make our way to Pucon.
Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile! However, I had already done many of the adventure activities that they offered (rafting, hiking, canyoning, kayaking, etc...) throughout the last month, so I just focused on one thing, climbing Volcan Villarica. It was difficult, tiring,and at times a bit painful, but awesome. And once we got up there and saw smoke coming out, we got to slide down the volcano. Very cool stuff.
I made a quick stop in Talca to go to the wine country and then back to Santiago. Below is the link to the pictures from January:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2364757&id=907196&l=968e4
For those keeping track, I am clearly behind on updates, I returned from Patagonia nearly 3 weeks and have now been in Peru for a while. Will write more soon!
besos!
Lauren
Friday, January 23, 2009
somewhere between Chile and Argentina....
I have lots of updating to do!!!
We left off in El Chalten, known for the Fitz Roy mountain. Lindsey and I had enough hiking, so we decided to do an excursion to the biggest glacier in Patagonia near Fitz Roy. It was a 5 hour hike to/from the glacier (there is always a little hiking involved). We put these things on our boots called "crampons" (yes, that sounds an awful lot like.... ) and got to walk on the glacier and climb up a section of it too. It was very cool, and very exhausting. 10 hours of hiking is a lot!
Anyway, we stayed in the smallest room ever in the hostel in this little town. The room was so small and it had 2 bunk beds. At this point, Lindsey and I were still traveling with our other friends, Sean and Katie. So S and K are on the top bunks, Lindsey and I are on the bottom. First, the bunk beds are so close together that Lindsey and I are practically spooning. Secondly, the bunk beds were meant for kids so there wasn't much space between the top and the bottom. We had to catch and early bus out of there, so when Lindsey and I were not spooning, she would wake up in the middle of the night thinking we slept late and hit me asking me what time it was. I, of course, would panic, sit up, and hit my head on the bed above me. Sean, above me, was easily amused by these mishaps. I got him back later, read further down.
With all the backpackers in South America during the height of the season, you have to plan fast. As soon as you get to a town, you need to book your bus to the next town before it sells out. As soon as we got to El Chalten we discovered you couldn't get to the next town, Los Antiguos for another 5 days. Well, that's too long to be in Chalten, so we took a round about route to get to Los Antiguos. At 6:30 am on January 14th, we took a 5 hour dirty road path to Piedra Buena, Argentina. PB is a very small town. It's not on any maps that we have seen, not even in their own tourist information office, and you can't wiki it either. It basically doesn't exist. So we have 12 hours to kill in PB before our 12 hour overnight bus to Los Antiguos. While we only spent 12 hours in PB, I do feel the need to write a bit about it. As I said, it was a small town, but it was also very strange. Here are the top 10 reasons why Piedra Buena is a strange town (there are actually 20, but I will give the highlights):
10. There was a park with fake flowers.
9. The park also had fake grass.
8. The park had these weird sculptures that were like those cut outs you stick your face into and take a picture, but the the holes in the sculptures were in weird places, like the armpit.
7. No one was there, but it was really big.
6. Nothing is open except the bus terminal which is open till 2am.
5. It would hail, then rain, there would be some sun, then hail again.
4. There were garbage cans that had painted fish on the sides.
3. The fish garbage cans were every 10 meters, yet there were no people around to need that many garbage cans.
2. The sidewalks were painted blue, white, and yellow.
And the number 1 reason why Piedra Buena, Argentina is strange: we went to another park that was a little island about a 15 minute walk away, and the benches in the park faced a hill. On the other side of the very small island was a beautiful river. Why didn't the benches face the river instead?
So then the night of 1/14, we took an overnight, but very comfortable bus to Los Antiguos. We arrived in Los Antiguos, Argentina, and quickly crossed the border to Chile Chico, obviously in Chile, obviously a small town with nothing to do. Hung out there for a bit, and then the afternoon of the 15th, we took a 3 hour, very bumpy ferry to a town to take a 2 hour curvy nauseating bus ride to Coyhaique. Stayed in Coyhaique for the night and then early on the morning of the 16th, we took what would be the worst, 12 hour, all dirty road, not an overnight bus ride to Futaleufu arriving at 8 pm on 1/16. That summarizes what was roughly 4 days straight of travel. If we aren't doing 9 hour hikes, we are sitting in a bus for hours and hours!
And then the fun continues.... Futaleufu, also known as Futa, is a town that people from all over the world visit just for the river. Seriously, kayakers and rafting experts flock to this place. It's the only thing to do here. The Rio Futaleufu is an absolutely gorgeous light blue river with many Class V rapids. And we did it (with a guide, no doubt). Let's take a moment to talk about the rafting. The rafting was really, really fun. At times scary, but our guides were incredible, and we had 2 guys in 2 other boats as safety precautions. We paddled hard, we saw fantastic scenery, and I saved Sean's life. What could make for a better day? How did I save Sean's life? Sean didn't hook his foot into the boat as well as he should have and as we were finishing a rapid, he fell out. I will allow Lindsey to paint a picture for you, she tells the story better. Just for reference, K and S are sitting shotgun. I am behind Katie, Lindsey is behind Sean. There are 2 guides who are behind us.
Lauren: Lindsey, can you please explain to my friends and family that read my blog what happened?
Lindsey: Sure! Katie and Sean were up in the front. Wonderful people though quite the inexperienced rafters. At the end of a pretty intense rapid, appropriately named 'the terminator,' Sean loses his manly grip and proceeds to do what seemed to be a cartwhere out of the raft. Panic? Maybe? Depends what your name is. Katie, the love of Sean's life, sat and stared. ha! I was sitting right behind our beloved sri lankan friend and was therefore, the closest person to him. In my mind I had a great plan to save him, though my actions were not so valient. I tugged at his lifesuit - not so helpful. No problem though, because immediately someone threw me out of the way, launched himself to the other end of the raft and pulled sean in to the boat and on top of him in one fell swoop. For sure it was Cristian, our chilean guide, who skillfully rescued our friend. Nope. It was Lauren Sherwin, New York socialite turned tree-hugging, glacier-trekking, granola-eating champion. Like she'd been doing it for years, she yanked Sean out of the raft, leaving all spectators in shock and leaving Sean indebted and embarassed for life. On this day, I gained a new found respect for my travel pal. Makes me tear up and die laughing every time I think of it.
Lauren: And when I pulled Sean back into the raft, what did you do?
Lindsey: I nearly peed in my rented wetsuit.
Lauren: Muchas gracias, Lindsey.
Ok. So now I will always hold this over Sean's head. In 10 years, I will email Sean and ask him for a favor, and remind him about that time 10 years ago when I saved his life.
After our rafting excursion, we had a super delicious dinner and I ate muscles the size of a golf ball. It was Katie's birthday and the last night the 4 of us, the 2 happy couples, would be together so we danced and ate and had a fabulous time.
January 18th, we took a 15 min. bus ride back to the border of Argentina, and then another 2 hour bus ride to Esquel and then another 2 hour bus ride to El Bolson, this hippy town just south of Bariloche. We went up to a lake to relax and walk around a bit and had dinner with an interesting (but cute) Portugese dentist that sort of followed us from Futa.
We really liked El Bolson, but stayed in by far, the worst hostel EVER. Hospedaje Piltri, the gateway to hell. First, the first and second floor was separated by planks and that's about it. The room lacked windows, the showers lacked curtains, the beds lacked comfort, and the señora lacked a soul. With all due respect, she did have one talent, chain smoking for 12 hours in a room without ventilation. In the morning, we told her we had a bus at 2:30, could she hold our bags until 2 so we didn't have to carry them? Of course, no problem. We return to the hostel at 2, and she isn't there. We called her cell phone, she didn't pick up. We asked her neighbors, we tried to see if we could break in. Finally, the dirty hag shows up at 2:23, and we ask her why she wasn't here. Her response was absurd so Lindsey punched her in the face and stormed out. (NOTE = she actually punched her in the dream she had the following night.) Lindsey runs to the station to see if she can catch the bus, and threw two 50 pound bags on my body, one of the back, one on the front. She runs, I painfully walk. Luckily, the bus was late, and we got the hell out of El Bolson.
Now we are in Bariloche, our last stop in Argentina, where the beer flows like wine and the chocolate shops are more plentiful than the jews in new york city. Don't worry, the bitch didn't follow us and now we're in great hostel with great people and no bitch..yes! Bariloche is awesome and requires its own blog entry. Will update soon!
besos y abrazos,
Lauren
We left off in El Chalten, known for the Fitz Roy mountain. Lindsey and I had enough hiking, so we decided to do an excursion to the biggest glacier in Patagonia near Fitz Roy. It was a 5 hour hike to/from the glacier (there is always a little hiking involved). We put these things on our boots called "crampons" (yes, that sounds an awful lot like.... ) and got to walk on the glacier and climb up a section of it too. It was very cool, and very exhausting. 10 hours of hiking is a lot!
Anyway, we stayed in the smallest room ever in the hostel in this little town. The room was so small and it had 2 bunk beds. At this point, Lindsey and I were still traveling with our other friends, Sean and Katie. So S and K are on the top bunks, Lindsey and I are on the bottom. First, the bunk beds are so close together that Lindsey and I are practically spooning. Secondly, the bunk beds were meant for kids so there wasn't much space between the top and the bottom. We had to catch and early bus out of there, so when Lindsey and I were not spooning, she would wake up in the middle of the night thinking we slept late and hit me asking me what time it was. I, of course, would panic, sit up, and hit my head on the bed above me. Sean, above me, was easily amused by these mishaps. I got him back later, read further down.
With all the backpackers in South America during the height of the season, you have to plan fast. As soon as you get to a town, you need to book your bus to the next town before it sells out. As soon as we got to El Chalten we discovered you couldn't get to the next town, Los Antiguos for another 5 days. Well, that's too long to be in Chalten, so we took a round about route to get to Los Antiguos. At 6:30 am on January 14th, we took a 5 hour dirty road path to Piedra Buena, Argentina. PB is a very small town. It's not on any maps that we have seen, not even in their own tourist information office, and you can't wiki it either. It basically doesn't exist. So we have 12 hours to kill in PB before our 12 hour overnight bus to Los Antiguos. While we only spent 12 hours in PB, I do feel the need to write a bit about it. As I said, it was a small town, but it was also very strange. Here are the top 10 reasons why Piedra Buena is a strange town (there are actually 20, but I will give the highlights):
10. There was a park with fake flowers.
9. The park also had fake grass.
8. The park had these weird sculptures that were like those cut outs you stick your face into and take a picture, but the the holes in the sculptures were in weird places, like the armpit.
7. No one was there, but it was really big.
6. Nothing is open except the bus terminal which is open till 2am.
5. It would hail, then rain, there would be some sun, then hail again.
4. There were garbage cans that had painted fish on the sides.
3. The fish garbage cans were every 10 meters, yet there were no people around to need that many garbage cans.
2. The sidewalks were painted blue, white, and yellow.
And the number 1 reason why Piedra Buena, Argentina is strange: we went to another park that was a little island about a 15 minute walk away, and the benches in the park faced a hill. On the other side of the very small island was a beautiful river. Why didn't the benches face the river instead?
So then the night of 1/14, we took an overnight, but very comfortable bus to Los Antiguos. We arrived in Los Antiguos, Argentina, and quickly crossed the border to Chile Chico, obviously in Chile, obviously a small town with nothing to do. Hung out there for a bit, and then the afternoon of the 15th, we took a 3 hour, very bumpy ferry to a town to take a 2 hour curvy nauseating bus ride to Coyhaique. Stayed in Coyhaique for the night and then early on the morning of the 16th, we took what would be the worst, 12 hour, all dirty road, not an overnight bus ride to Futaleufu arriving at 8 pm on 1/16. That summarizes what was roughly 4 days straight of travel. If we aren't doing 9 hour hikes, we are sitting in a bus for hours and hours!
And then the fun continues.... Futaleufu, also known as Futa, is a town that people from all over the world visit just for the river. Seriously, kayakers and rafting experts flock to this place. It's the only thing to do here. The Rio Futaleufu is an absolutely gorgeous light blue river with many Class V rapids. And we did it (with a guide, no doubt). Let's take a moment to talk about the rafting. The rafting was really, really fun. At times scary, but our guides were incredible, and we had 2 guys in 2 other boats as safety precautions. We paddled hard, we saw fantastic scenery, and I saved Sean's life. What could make for a better day? How did I save Sean's life? Sean didn't hook his foot into the boat as well as he should have and as we were finishing a rapid, he fell out. I will allow Lindsey to paint a picture for you, she tells the story better. Just for reference, K and S are sitting shotgun. I am behind Katie, Lindsey is behind Sean. There are 2 guides who are behind us.
Lauren: Lindsey, can you please explain to my friends and family that read my blog what happened?
Lindsey: Sure! Katie and Sean were up in the front. Wonderful people though quite the inexperienced rafters. At the end of a pretty intense rapid, appropriately named 'the terminator,' Sean loses his manly grip and proceeds to do what seemed to be a cartwhere out of the raft. Panic? Maybe? Depends what your name is. Katie, the love of Sean's life, sat and stared. ha! I was sitting right behind our beloved sri lankan friend and was therefore, the closest person to him. In my mind I had a great plan to save him, though my actions were not so valient. I tugged at his lifesuit - not so helpful. No problem though, because immediately someone threw me out of the way, launched himself to the other end of the raft and pulled sean in to the boat and on top of him in one fell swoop. For sure it was Cristian, our chilean guide, who skillfully rescued our friend. Nope. It was Lauren Sherwin, New York socialite turned tree-hugging, glacier-trekking, granola-eating champion. Like she'd been doing it for years, she yanked Sean out of the raft, leaving all spectators in shock and leaving Sean indebted and embarassed for life. On this day, I gained a new found respect for my travel pal. Makes me tear up and die laughing every time I think of it.
Lauren: And when I pulled Sean back into the raft, what did you do?
Lindsey: I nearly peed in my rented wetsuit.
Lauren: Muchas gracias, Lindsey.
Ok. So now I will always hold this over Sean's head. In 10 years, I will email Sean and ask him for a favor, and remind him about that time 10 years ago when I saved his life.
After our rafting excursion, we had a super delicious dinner and I ate muscles the size of a golf ball. It was Katie's birthday and the last night the 4 of us, the 2 happy couples, would be together so we danced and ate and had a fabulous time.
January 18th, we took a 15 min. bus ride back to the border of Argentina, and then another 2 hour bus ride to Esquel and then another 2 hour bus ride to El Bolson, this hippy town just south of Bariloche. We went up to a lake to relax and walk around a bit and had dinner with an interesting (but cute) Portugese dentist that sort of followed us from Futa.
We really liked El Bolson, but stayed in by far, the worst hostel EVER. Hospedaje Piltri, the gateway to hell. First, the first and second floor was separated by planks and that's about it. The room lacked windows, the showers lacked curtains, the beds lacked comfort, and the señora lacked a soul. With all due respect, she did have one talent, chain smoking for 12 hours in a room without ventilation. In the morning, we told her we had a bus at 2:30, could she hold our bags until 2 so we didn't have to carry them? Of course, no problem. We return to the hostel at 2, and she isn't there. We called her cell phone, she didn't pick up. We asked her neighbors, we tried to see if we could break in. Finally, the dirty hag shows up at 2:23, and we ask her why she wasn't here. Her response was absurd so Lindsey punched her in the face and stormed out. (NOTE = she actually punched her in the dream she had the following night.) Lindsey runs to the station to see if she can catch the bus, and threw two 50 pound bags on my body, one of the back, one on the front. She runs, I painfully walk. Luckily, the bus was late, and we got the hell out of El Bolson.
Now we are in Bariloche, our last stop in Argentina, where the beer flows like wine and the chocolate shops are more plentiful than the jews in new york city. Don't worry, the bitch didn't follow us and now we're in great hostel with great people and no bitch..yes! Bariloche is awesome and requires its own blog entry. Will update soon!
besos y abrazos,
Lauren
Monday, January 12, 2009
Hola from Southern Patagonia!!!
Where to start! I have only been traveling for 9 days and I feel like I have been gone for ages. Right now, I am in El Chalten, Argentina with my friends Lindsey, Katie, and Sean. Let's back up and start from the beginning:
The first few days we were in transit to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Here is where it all begins.
January 5 we started our camping trip for 4 nights and 5 days in the park. With all of our camping gear and food (no, I brought hardly any extra clothes) we started our way from Lago Pehoe up to Glacier Grey. It was a challenging first day with our mochillas (backpacks) at their heaviest. However, the hike was beautiful and the weather wasn't too bad. It was raining a bit, but nothing to cry about. We arrived at the camp site (yes, I camped out) which was on Lago Grey. The campsite was really tranquilo (relaxing) and we were on a beautiful lake where we saw little pieces of broken of glaciers pass by. We rented all the equipment we needed, and by equipment, I mean our home-in-a-bag tent that literally only fits two sleeping bags and there is no way in hell you can sit up straight in there. We basically had to crawl in.
In the morning we woke up and were very lucky to have a gorgeous day! We hiked back down to where we started from and up a little up towards Valle Frances. Since the weather wasn't great the first day, we had a beautiful view on this 2nd day of Lago Pehoe which was absolutely incredible. "Paine" actually means blue in spanish, and all of the lakes are these beautiful shades of blue. We camped out next to a raging river and met tons of people, mostly from Israel and Germany.
Day 3 my knee bothered me a little so I didn't go crazy. We hiked up into Valle Frances and back down to the same camp site. We had incredible views of the cuernos (horns), one of the highlights of the park since again, we had incredible weather.
Day 4, this was the real doozy. We hiked about 16+ kilometers this day (about 10 miles). We started off leaving the valley and hiked alongside another beautiful lake and then up to the part for the grand final, the Torres. However, this hike was the longest and hardest. We had to get over a part of the river where, in lieu of a bridge, they had a wire that you had to hold as you crossed over rocks with some decent current. After passing some fields and feeling like we were never getting to where we were going, we arrived to the hard part. We had to go over the peaks and valleys of some hills with some pretty steep inclines. Everytime we got over the next peak, and we thought we were getting close, there were still more. Finally, we got to our campsite and relaxed.
Day 5, we woke up to rain! How sad! One of the main things to see was completely blocked by clouds and we totally missed it. But, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. We saw the torres very briefly from the campsite the night before, but decided to forgo the hike up to the look out point this morning because we knew we wouldn't see much. We headed back down and returned to Puerto Natales for what was the best shower ever.
Sorry, no photos until I return to Santiago. I will tell you that I think you will see a clear progression in the photos based on the daily grease level of my hair since you wont be able to tell from my outfit. I am wearing the same thing everday.
After our wonderful shower and a very delicious meal, we headed to El Calafate, Argentina. Here we went to Perito Moreno, an "active" glacier. There are viewing platforms since the glacier has pieces that break off mutliple times a day, and then it re-freezes over time. Apparently, it's one of the few glaciers that continues to grow.
Today, we left El Calafate for Chalten, Argentina home to the Fitz Roy Mountain. This town is just about to be paved so imagine how small it is and that the main road is still a dirt road. We leave on the 14th and are still deciding exactly where we want to go from here. We will end up in Bariloche around January 20th, because we will probably be sick of these small towns by then!
Anyway, hope everyone is well! Next time I write, I will probably be in the Lakes District... maybe in Argentina, maybe in Chile. Who knows?!?!
besitos!
Lauren
The first few days we were in transit to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Here is where it all begins.
January 5 we started our camping trip for 4 nights and 5 days in the park. With all of our camping gear and food (no, I brought hardly any extra clothes) we started our way from Lago Pehoe up to Glacier Grey. It was a challenging first day with our mochillas (backpacks) at their heaviest. However, the hike was beautiful and the weather wasn't too bad. It was raining a bit, but nothing to cry about. We arrived at the camp site (yes, I camped out) which was on Lago Grey. The campsite was really tranquilo (relaxing) and we were on a beautiful lake where we saw little pieces of broken of glaciers pass by. We rented all the equipment we needed, and by equipment, I mean our home-in-a-bag tent that literally only fits two sleeping bags and there is no way in hell you can sit up straight in there. We basically had to crawl in.
In the morning we woke up and were very lucky to have a gorgeous day! We hiked back down to where we started from and up a little up towards Valle Frances. Since the weather wasn't great the first day, we had a beautiful view on this 2nd day of Lago Pehoe which was absolutely incredible. "Paine" actually means blue in spanish, and all of the lakes are these beautiful shades of blue. We camped out next to a raging river and met tons of people, mostly from Israel and Germany.
Day 3 my knee bothered me a little so I didn't go crazy. We hiked up into Valle Frances and back down to the same camp site. We had incredible views of the cuernos (horns), one of the highlights of the park since again, we had incredible weather.
Day 4, this was the real doozy. We hiked about 16+ kilometers this day (about 10 miles). We started off leaving the valley and hiked alongside another beautiful lake and then up to the part for the grand final, the Torres. However, this hike was the longest and hardest. We had to get over a part of the river where, in lieu of a bridge, they had a wire that you had to hold as you crossed over rocks with some decent current. After passing some fields and feeling like we were never getting to where we were going, we arrived to the hard part. We had to go over the peaks and valleys of some hills with some pretty steep inclines. Everytime we got over the next peak, and we thought we were getting close, there were still more. Finally, we got to our campsite and relaxed.
Day 5, we woke up to rain! How sad! One of the main things to see was completely blocked by clouds and we totally missed it. But, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. We saw the torres very briefly from the campsite the night before, but decided to forgo the hike up to the look out point this morning because we knew we wouldn't see much. We headed back down and returned to Puerto Natales for what was the best shower ever.
Sorry, no photos until I return to Santiago. I will tell you that I think you will see a clear progression in the photos based on the daily grease level of my hair since you wont be able to tell from my outfit. I am wearing the same thing everday.
After our wonderful shower and a very delicious meal, we headed to El Calafate, Argentina. Here we went to Perito Moreno, an "active" glacier. There are viewing platforms since the glacier has pieces that break off mutliple times a day, and then it re-freezes over time. Apparently, it's one of the few glaciers that continues to grow.
Today, we left El Calafate for Chalten, Argentina home to the Fitz Roy Mountain. This town is just about to be paved so imagine how small it is and that the main road is still a dirt road. We leave on the 14th and are still deciding exactly where we want to go from here. We will end up in Bariloche around January 20th, because we will probably be sick of these small towns by then!
Anyway, hope everyone is well! Next time I write, I will probably be in the Lakes District... maybe in Argentina, maybe in Chile. Who knows?!?!
besitos!
Lauren
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Let the real adventure begin!
Hola!
I am heading down south to Patagonia today and working my way up the Argentine/Chilean border until I return to Santiago. I plan to post messages as I go, so blog postings will be more frequent than in the past.
Highlights of the trip include:
Torres del Paine
Perito Moreno
Bariloche
Valdivia
Pictures will be posted when I return at the end of the month!
Happy New Year
Feliz Año Nuevo!
cuidase,
Lauren
I am heading down south to Patagonia today and working my way up the Argentine/Chilean border until I return to Santiago. I plan to post messages as I go, so blog postings will be more frequent than in the past.
Highlights of the trip include:
Torres del Paine
Perito Moreno
Bariloche
Valdivia
Pictures will be posted when I return at the end of the month!
Happy New Year
Feliz Año Nuevo!
cuidase,
Lauren
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tanto Tiempo!!!
Ok.... I know, I am a terrible blogger, I apologize. So where have I been since my trip to San Pedro at the end of July? Here is the update....
August I met Mom and Earle in Buenos Aires. We had a fabulous time, and I took every advantage of the fact that I was staying in a reputable hotel and not some crappy hostel where you have to rent a towel. The food was outstanding, there was no such thing as too much meat. The city, absolutely gorgeous, very hip. The tango, unbelievable. We then headed back to good ol' Santiago and to Valparaiso before they went went back home. It was some G rated fun for all. Pictures from that:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343496&l=d0544&id=907196
When and where was my next trip? Only to the greatest city in South America! Back to Buenos Aires to hang out with Nicole and Rachel, for some... um. PG-13 fun. Just as much meat, but more going out.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343509&l=e4af4&id=907196
2 weeks later, 18 de septiembre! Fiestas Patrias. The July 4th of Chile, except bigger and better. Lots of drinking, lots of dancing the cueca, and lots of kites (some with razors to knock out other kites.... that's not a joke). I was invited to my friend Carolina's parents house. In typical Chilean fashion, we had super late lunches, with lots of beer and lots of meat. All fun things.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343514&l=d4a58&id=907196
Did I tell you that I learned how to surf? For those privy to surf culture, I went to Pichilemu, the best surfing in Chile is here. In fact, the national championships are held here at Punta de Lobos. I took a lesson (not at Punta de Lobos, at a place with baby waves), I was up for about a half a second once, and that's questionable. Was I successful? Not quite. Was it fun? Hell yeah. The lesson was kinda funny. The instructors held the board for you so you didn't have to bother doing the turn and the paddle thing. It felt like back in the day when I had to use chopsticks with the rubber band on top to hold it. I wasn't really using the chopsticks, but I felt like I was. When I was "surfing", I didn't have to think about which wave to take or anything. They held the board with me on it, we would sit there chatting, and when there was a wave worthy of attempting, they would say "ok, go!" The super sexy pictures of me in a wet suit aren't on my camera, I apologize.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2342062&l=bb22b&id=907196
And finally, the most recent trip: Puerto Varas and Chiloe with Jamie and Horner. Jamie and her boyfriend, Horner, came down to Chile for a little visit to see me (ok, they also had a wedding to go to...) anyway, so the three of us, and a bunch of Horner's friends headed down to the Chilean Lakes District and had a great great time. We went hiking on the Volcan Osorno, which was so damn windy and cold and it was hailing. Mind you, the weather that day wasn't bad, but high up it was a little problematic. Then we went down to the island of Chiloe, which is absolutely gorgeous, very picturesque. I kept wanting to jump out of the car and pretend I was Julie Andrews for a moment, and sing at the top of my lungs, "The hills are alive with the sound of music...!!" Seriously, look at the pictures, you will understand. Gorgeous scenery, old wooden churches that are all brightly painted, good fish, AMAZING ceviche. We saw Palafitos, houses built on stilts in the water, and cemeteries with more color than you would possibly consider normal for a cemetery, which by the way, faced the water. For a cemetery, it wasn't dark or sad, it was very "tranquilo".
Then, we went rafting and canyoning in Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales which which was awesome. I highly recommend canyoning, this included natural water slides down little waterfalls, jumping into pools of water, and also repelling down a 100 foot cliff next to the main waterfall. We had crappy weather most of the time, and then the day we went rafting and canyoning it was gorgeous and warm. What luck!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2342055&l=6c00b&id=907196
What's happening with me aside from my travels? I just finished giving finals, and now I am just hanging out in Santiago, saving up a little more money, working a bit in my other jobs, and getting ready for New Years Eve in Valparaiso and my trip to Southern Patagonia. I am going to Torres del Paine and then working my way up north through Patagonia crisscrossing between Chile and Argentina.
I promise, once I am traveling I will post lots of updates! Hope everyone is well.
Besos!
Lauren
August I met Mom and Earle in Buenos Aires. We had a fabulous time, and I took every advantage of the fact that I was staying in a reputable hotel and not some crappy hostel where you have to rent a towel. The food was outstanding, there was no such thing as too much meat. The city, absolutely gorgeous, very hip. The tango, unbelievable. We then headed back to good ol' Santiago and to Valparaiso before they went went back home. It was some G rated fun for all. Pictures from that:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343496&l=d0544&id=907196
When and where was my next trip? Only to the greatest city in South America! Back to Buenos Aires to hang out with Nicole and Rachel, for some... um. PG-13 fun. Just as much meat, but more going out.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343509&l=e4af4&id=907196
2 weeks later, 18 de septiembre! Fiestas Patrias. The July 4th of Chile, except bigger and better. Lots of drinking, lots of dancing the cueca, and lots of kites (some with razors to knock out other kites.... that's not a joke). I was invited to my friend Carolina's parents house. In typical Chilean fashion, we had super late lunches, with lots of beer and lots of meat. All fun things.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343514&l=d4a58&id=907196
Did I tell you that I learned how to surf? For those privy to surf culture, I went to Pichilemu, the best surfing in Chile is here. In fact, the national championships are held here at Punta de Lobos. I took a lesson (not at Punta de Lobos, at a place with baby waves), I was up for about a half a second once, and that's questionable. Was I successful? Not quite. Was it fun? Hell yeah. The lesson was kinda funny. The instructors held the board for you so you didn't have to bother doing the turn and the paddle thing. It felt like back in the day when I had to use chopsticks with the rubber band on top to hold it. I wasn't really using the chopsticks, but I felt like I was. When I was "surfing", I didn't have to think about which wave to take or anything. They held the board with me on it, we would sit there chatting, and when there was a wave worthy of attempting, they would say "ok, go!" The super sexy pictures of me in a wet suit aren't on my camera, I apologize.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2342062&l=bb22b&id=907196
And finally, the most recent trip: Puerto Varas and Chiloe with Jamie and Horner. Jamie and her boyfriend, Horner, came down to Chile for a little visit to see me (ok, they also had a wedding to go to...) anyway, so the three of us, and a bunch of Horner's friends headed down to the Chilean Lakes District and had a great great time. We went hiking on the Volcan Osorno, which was so damn windy and cold and it was hailing. Mind you, the weather that day wasn't bad, but high up it was a little problematic. Then we went down to the island of Chiloe, which is absolutely gorgeous, very picturesque. I kept wanting to jump out of the car and pretend I was Julie Andrews for a moment, and sing at the top of my lungs, "The hills are alive with the sound of music...!!" Seriously, look at the pictures, you will understand. Gorgeous scenery, old wooden churches that are all brightly painted, good fish, AMAZING ceviche. We saw Palafitos, houses built on stilts in the water, and cemeteries with more color than you would possibly consider normal for a cemetery, which by the way, faced the water. For a cemetery, it wasn't dark or sad, it was very "tranquilo".
Then, we went rafting and canyoning in Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales which which was awesome. I highly recommend canyoning, this included natural water slides down little waterfalls, jumping into pools of water, and also repelling down a 100 foot cliff next to the main waterfall. We had crappy weather most of the time, and then the day we went rafting and canyoning it was gorgeous and warm. What luck!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2342055&l=6c00b&id=907196
What's happening with me aside from my travels? I just finished giving finals, and now I am just hanging out in Santiago, saving up a little more money, working a bit in my other jobs, and getting ready for New Years Eve in Valparaiso and my trip to Southern Patagonia. I am going to Torres del Paine and then working my way up north through Patagonia crisscrossing between Chile and Argentina.
I promise, once I am traveling I will post lots of updates! Hope everyone is well.
Besos!
Lauren
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Vacacion Parte III - Atacama Power!
The day before I went to San Pedro de Atacama (SPDA), I went to Zapallar, a beautiful town on the beach. Think Hamptons, but more hilly and with small but beautiful cottages. I went for lunch with my friend Caira, and her aunt and uncle and we had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold (it is after all, still winter here)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296780&l=d6741&id=907196
SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA
Monday.
Coincidentally, I was on the same flight as another volunteer and her family. I hung out with them for the first few days. We walked around San Pedro, and when I say walked around, I mean we walked up and down the one main street there. And we planned our first few days in the desert.
Tuesday.
I woke up very early on Tuesday to go on a tour of the lagunas in and around the salar de atacama. The first stop was Chaxa, the lagoon inhabited by flamingos. There were tons of them and right after they wake up they fly from one part of the lagoon to the other so we got there in time for that. The scenery was incredible and the water was so still you could see perfect reflections in them. Next, we went to another lagoon, Laguna Miscanti. This was at an altitude of 4,200 meters, and I was definitely feeling it. We were walking on a flat area and my heart was pounding! After the tour of the lagoons, we went to a few small towns in the area and ate some lunch. Once we arrived back in SPDA, I took a very long siesta and then another delicious meal at the best restaurant in SPDA, Todo Natural.
Wednesday.
Back to Todo Natural for breakfast. I am a creature of habit, what can I say? Then Katie's family and I went on another tour to the Valle de la Muerte and the Valle de la Luna. Excellent scenery and lots trekking at a lower altitude.
Then, my friend Caira arrived. Following our delicious dinner (guess where?!) we decided we definitely wanted to go out. However, my long excursion and her day of traveling to San Pedro left us too weak to do anything. We decided to take a nice siesta and then rally at 11:45 at night to then go out. Bars in San Pedro close earlier and we were determined to at least make last call! What an experience that turned out to be! We went to the bar and after last call, all the locals and tourists went off the beaten path and started a bonfire where we hung out and chatted till it was time to go home.
Thursday.
Katie and her family went to the geysers which I wasn't prepared for (the temperature was -15 degrees Celsius!), so Caira and I hung out in San Pedro and spent the day taking silly pictures and catching up on our vacation adventures.
After dinner, before we hit the bars Caira, Katie and I took it to the streets for some dancing, drinking and singing-filled merriment (but not too loud, we aren't THAT ridiculous). Think "So You Think You Can Dance" but better because one person recorded (yes, this is on video somewhere) one person sang, and one person did their dance. I think it was a 3-way tie, but my Bill Cosby dance killed. Then back to the bars, but only for a little bit.
Friday.
Ladies and gentlemen, I found my new sport: SANDBOARDING!!! It's super fun, exerts lots of energy so it's super strenuous, and if you fall, you fall into soft sand so injuries are hard to come by and if you know me, I get injured. A LOT.
In the morning we had our lesson followed by a few runs on the "bunny slope" and then on to the bigger runs. But Lauren, sandboarding doesn't sound like it's such a physically challenging sport? It isn't, but it's not like skiing at a resort, there are no ski lifts, so you have to hike up the sand dunes... OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH! yea, I definitely earned whatever delicious meal I ate afterwards.
Following sandboarding, Caira and I hung out with our instructor, Jorge and we had a delicious lunch accompanied by a well deserved cerveza. Back to the hostel for our siesta and then we headed just to the outside of town for our astronomy tour. If anyone gets a chance to visit the southern hemisphere, make sure you can go to a clear area because there are so many more stars down here.... it's incredible. Just as nyc's sky is flooded with city lights, Santiago is flooded with pollution. Stars are hard to come by. When you are finally able to see them down here, it's amazing! We had a great experience on the tour with a ridiculously funny french astronomer who has been living in Chile for years as a guide.
Back to SPDA for dinner where Caira and I were too exhausted and it was too late to start a siesta, so sadly we called it a night.
Saturday I woke up super early to head back to Santiago...
Here are some pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296782&l=e5549&id=907196
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297131&l=d1dd2&id=907196
Coming up, the final leg of my vacation: Buenos Aires with Mom and Earle!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296780&l=d6741&id=907196
SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA
Monday.
Coincidentally, I was on the same flight as another volunteer and her family. I hung out with them for the first few days. We walked around San Pedro, and when I say walked around, I mean we walked up and down the one main street there. And we planned our first few days in the desert.
Tuesday.
I woke up very early on Tuesday to go on a tour of the lagunas in and around the salar de atacama. The first stop was Chaxa, the lagoon inhabited by flamingos. There were tons of them and right after they wake up they fly from one part of the lagoon to the other so we got there in time for that. The scenery was incredible and the water was so still you could see perfect reflections in them. Next, we went to another lagoon, Laguna Miscanti. This was at an altitude of 4,200 meters, and I was definitely feeling it. We were walking on a flat area and my heart was pounding! After the tour of the lagoons, we went to a few small towns in the area and ate some lunch. Once we arrived back in SPDA, I took a very long siesta and then another delicious meal at the best restaurant in SPDA, Todo Natural.
Wednesday.
Back to Todo Natural for breakfast. I am a creature of habit, what can I say? Then Katie's family and I went on another tour to the Valle de la Muerte and the Valle de la Luna. Excellent scenery and lots trekking at a lower altitude.
Then, my friend Caira arrived. Following our delicious dinner (guess where?!) we decided we definitely wanted to go out. However, my long excursion and her day of traveling to San Pedro left us too weak to do anything. We decided to take a nice siesta and then rally at 11:45 at night to then go out. Bars in San Pedro close earlier and we were determined to at least make last call! What an experience that turned out to be! We went to the bar and after last call, all the locals and tourists went off the beaten path and started a bonfire where we hung out and chatted till it was time to go home.
Thursday.
Katie and her family went to the geysers which I wasn't prepared for (the temperature was -15 degrees Celsius!), so Caira and I hung out in San Pedro and spent the day taking silly pictures and catching up on our vacation adventures.
After dinner, before we hit the bars Caira, Katie and I took it to the streets for some dancing, drinking and singing-filled merriment (but not too loud, we aren't THAT ridiculous). Think "So You Think You Can Dance" but better because one person recorded (yes, this is on video somewhere) one person sang, and one person did their dance. I think it was a 3-way tie, but my Bill Cosby dance killed. Then back to the bars, but only for a little bit.
Friday.
Ladies and gentlemen, I found my new sport: SANDBOARDING!!! It's super fun, exerts lots of energy so it's super strenuous, and if you fall, you fall into soft sand so injuries are hard to come by and if you know me, I get injured. A LOT.
In the morning we had our lesson followed by a few runs on the "bunny slope" and then on to the bigger runs. But Lauren, sandboarding doesn't sound like it's such a physically challenging sport? It isn't, but it's not like skiing at a resort, there are no ski lifts, so you have to hike up the sand dunes... OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH! yea, I definitely earned whatever delicious meal I ate afterwards.
Following sandboarding, Caira and I hung out with our instructor, Jorge and we had a delicious lunch accompanied by a well deserved cerveza. Back to the hostel for our siesta and then we headed just to the outside of town for our astronomy tour. If anyone gets a chance to visit the southern hemisphere, make sure you can go to a clear area because there are so many more stars down here.... it's incredible. Just as nyc's sky is flooded with city lights, Santiago is flooded with pollution. Stars are hard to come by. When you are finally able to see them down here, it's amazing! We had a great experience on the tour with a ridiculously funny french astronomer who has been living in Chile for years as a guide.
Back to SPDA for dinner where Caira and I were too exhausted and it was too late to start a siesta, so sadly we called it a night.
Saturday I woke up super early to head back to Santiago...
Here are some pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296782&l=e5549&id=907196
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297131&l=d1dd2&id=907196
Coming up, the final leg of my vacation: Buenos Aires with Mom and Earle!
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