Fri 28th Nov: Torres del Paine

Its raining heavily in Puerto Natales when I get up. Not a good sign for the start of the hike but they do say that the weather down here can bear no relation to whats going on in the park on any given day.

By the time we get to the park entrance three hours later the rain has lifted. It takes a while to pay the entrance fee as there are 5-6 buses in front of us. The bus brings us to a ferry which will take me to a campsite where I´ll stay tonight. Its a half hour spim across the lake and we get our first real glimpse up close of some of the peaks here.

By the time I get the tent up and a quick bite to eat its 1.30pm. I start out on the first leg of the circuit. A hike up to glacier grey. Most people come up and stay at a campsite close to the glacier but because I´m only in for 3 days I´m going to hike up and back in one go. Its a 7hr round trip so I can´t hang about if I want to get back while its still light.

The trail is certainly picturesque. The trail follows a route under some sheer peaks which go up to 3,000m. The trail is at an altitude of 25o-300m so its hard to believe the summits above are nearly 2 miles above us. On the left hand side a lake, which is fed by glacier grey, runs parallel. Up at the head of the valley 11km away sits glacier grey. Between here and there the trail crosses ridges, streams and through plentiful woodland.

It takes over three hours to reach the glacier. Along the way there are plenty of other hikers on the trail going in both directions. But what is striking after a while is just how many blatantly ignore you as if you weren´t there, despete the fact that you´ve just stepped off the trail to allow them to pass. This kind of attitude winds me up. Its only the younger ones that do it. Its as if they´ve come to their "Into the Wild" thang for a week. City slicker who are "going back to nature" this week. Next week when they´re up in El Bolson they´ll be all "peace and love" hippies. And by the time they reach Buenos Aires they´ll be disco divas. But this week they´re alone battling raw nature. I just wanted to say to some of them "Listem, love, get over yourself. Your not really in the wild. There´s hundreds of us in here. So get used to it. Its like a little Disney nature theme park in here. If you really want to be in the wild you should have f****d off to Alaska and not into one of the most heavily marketed national parks in the world."

The glacier itself was nice and the views around it were spectacular. The return journey was fast paced in order to get back to the campsite around 8pm in order to have enough light to get washed and fed before nightfall. There was a kitchen facility on site so half the campsite was in either prparing food or eating. I put something together fast. I had my shower and when darkness fell I, like most people around me went to sleep.

Wed 26th Nov: to Puerto Natales

Caught the 8.00am bus to Puerto Natales. I´m border hopping again back into Chile, a 5hr journey this time. Puerto Natales is the jump-off point for anyone going to hike in the famous Torres del Paine national park. Its also the southern port for the ferry ride down through the Chilean fjiords from Puerto Montt, a 3-5 day cruise. The Torres del Paine are considered one of the foremost national parks on the continent. I haven´t really thought about going into the park. I thought I´d come over anyway and have a wee look around Puerto Natales and perhaps meet up with Fionnuala again. She´s arriving in Puerto Natales around about now as well.

Leaving El Calafate the bus heads back up into the high plains we´d crossed a couple of days earlier. It turns onto a gravel road and rambles along towards the Chilean border. As we cross into Chile we can actually see the distinctive peaks of the torres over in the national park but the road veers south for another 120km to Pto Natales.

It feels very like Norway here. Puerto Natales sits in a sheltered bay with mountains ringing the north and wetern skyline. Its very overcast today and is very reminiscent of Tromso where they run the midnight marathon. I´m staying in ahostel called erratic rock which was recommended to me by a lad up in San Martin. I can stay here for 1 night but then have to make my own arrangements.

The lads in the hostel give an introductory talk about the park at 3pm each afternoon. I decide to tag along and listen as they give advice about hiking in the park, what routes to take, what equipment to hire etc. It can take 8 days to hike all the park, the most popular routes take 4-5 days. I get swept along in the talk and by the end I head off with another Irish lad, Mark, to buy food for the hike. From having no intention of visiting the park I´m now preparing for a 3-day trek. I´m not giving it any more than that though. Mark is going in for the 5 days. Mark has been travelling now about 4yrs, working for a while in Asia and Australia and the U.S. to fund his travels. Hes bused it down through Central America from Houston. He semms sound and we appear to have fallen into cahoots without ever really saying anything. It was a case of "Are you heading for food" "Yep". "Right, Lets go so." We donçt have to bring any bottled water into the park as the streams are as pure as it gets. I buy the lightest foodstuffs I can find. Noodles, crackers, pasta etc. We hire the equipment at Erratic rock.

Back in the hostel we stick on a stew for dinner. Mark has a yearning for stew and Içm happy enough to chip in. I start having second thoughts about going in tomorrow. Içve been emailing Fionnuala but havençt recieved any replies yet. Içm thinking of hanging on for a day to see if we can meet tomorrow. Also, Içm very tired and I donçt want to go in feeling the way I do now. I tell Mark Içm going to hang on for a day before going in. In a way its a pity. He would have been good company in there. We have our beef stew and down a bottle of wine with it, my first since arriving in South America. I had to bed aroun 11pm as the rest of the lads finalise their preparations for starting their hike.

More shots of the Perito Moreno

Tuesday 25th Nov: Perito Moreno Glacier

We´re off to see the Perito Moreno glacier today. Its just over an hour away by bus. Deep in the mountains it feeds lago Argentino with its meltwaters. Its one of the largest and most stable glaciers left in the world. Its one of many in this national park but its the most accessible one, and the most visited.

On the bus we followed Lago Argentino for about 50km, running parallel to its brilliant aquamarine waters. We then turned off the main road and meandered into the mountains following the shore of another lake which would take us directly to the Perito Moreno. The first hints that we were getting close to our destination was the sight of icebergs floating in the lake. We turned around a bend and at the base of a panorama of mountains lay the Perito Moreno, a huge craggy field of snow and ice the size of Buenos Aires. Its front end butts up against a narrow shoulder of land which seperates the two lakes it feeds. Huge chunks of ice periodically collapse off the front of the glacier and fall with a thunderous roar into the lake water.

We had a number of hours at the glacier before the bus returned to El Calafate. We took a bus into lago Argentina which brought us quite close to front of the glacier. It was impressive with cold winds sweeping down over us from the top of the glacier. But it wasn´t until another boat came by us and went almost dangerously close to the glacier that you could truly appreciate the sheer size of it. Its enormous. And constantly groaning and shrieking as the ice shifts downwards. The time went quickly as everyone waited for the next big crash of ice into the water. >The biggest one I saw came around 3.30, about 30 mins before we left. A big crack sounded and a roar of ice cascaded from the face of the glacier directly infron of me leaving a fresh scar of skyblue ice.

Back in Calafate as I went to the supermarket I realised my face was burned. I hadn´t put any suncream on and although I wore a hat it obviously wasn´t enough. From the way my face felt I knew I was very red and with big white Panda eyes from wearing shades I made quite a sight. Sure enough I drew quite a few amused glances from some o fthe locals. Served me right.

Making dinner I caught the end of Man U v Villareal. Tomorrow I go to Puerto Natales in Chile so I got my ticket sorted in the bus station. With nothing much to do and a burning face lathered in suncream I went to bed and read. I´m still alone in the room so I looked forward to a long sleep. About 10.30pm a knock came on the door and one of the girls from the hostel brought a lad into the room. (not impressed). Sure enough he was French and sure enough he didn´t stop mooching about until after 1am. Mais oui!!, he had to wash all his clothes...... in the room and hang them up...... all over the f*****g place!!! Oh but petit pois, aujourdhui, monsieur!! By Jaysus when I get home I´ll be teaching Danny K a few french phrases for his next holiday in Provence and it won´t be Bon Jour and Au Revoir!!

Finally I got to sleep. The skies lit up over El Calafate tonight. It wasn´t the Aurora Borealis. Oh no, It was my sunburned face!!

Mon 24th Nov: To El Calafate

My bus to El Calafate wasn´t until 12.00 so I had a few hours to kill. I found an internet cafe and posted a quick happy birthday to "Él Senor" himself, Danny K, the little prince of Fingal. It took so long to upload I thought I was going to miss my bus. Thankfully that didn´t happen and by midday I was on the bus rolling northwest for the 350km to El Calafate.

I half watched a terrible Pierce Brosnan film, dozed and looked out the window. Soon the snowcapped peaks of the Andes appeared on the horizon, far away on the edge of the plain. They looked small and distant. We´ve been travelling through what feels like high plains, the clouds and sky appear very close. Sometimes, as the land and clouds stretch away into the distance they create a tunnel effect as the gap between land and clouds appears to narrow gradually until they meet on the horizon.

As we near El Calafate the landscape finally changes, and changes abruptly. The high plains end at a cliff edge and drop down to low ground. 100km away the mountains rear up to sharp craggy summitsa lot closer and a lot larger now. A lake comes into view, its waters a bright aquamarine. As we come close to this lake, lago Argentino, El Calafate suddenly appears from under a fold in the land. It doesn´t look to be much, a scattering of houses stretched out across a sloping ridge. We don´t see the centre of town from the road. Its hidden down in a hollow between the base of the ridge and the lake shore.

At the bus terminal I see a lady holding a sign for the hostel I intend staying at. I go over to her check the price. Its ok so I wait as she rounds up a scatter of backpackers, brings us over to a minibus and drives us to the hostel. This was handy. I pay for a dorm bed in a 3-bed room but tonight I´m the only one in the room. Happy out!!

I don´t do much this evening. I´m tired after three days on buses. I have a quick look around. El Calafate is very touristy. It is thriving off the big attraction of the Perito Moreno glacier. Its the only reason I´m in this town and, presumably, the only reason most others arrive here. Its not cheap. Almost everything in town is more expensive than elsewhere. Its the typical tourist trap. There´s nowhere else around to stay so they can charge what they like here. There´s not a whole lot of interest in the town. Its in an odd location 90km from the glacier.

Sun 23rd Nov: The Atlantic coast to Rio Gallegos

I got a few hours sleep. I was awake by 5am and dozed on for a bit, catching a brief glimpse of the sunrise. We were due in to Commodoro Rivadavia at 6am. Outside the landscape had changed. We´d left the lake district with its picturesque mountains and valleys far behind. Dawn revealed a flat sparse, dusty landscape. A gorse covered plain.

I snoozed for a little longer expecting we´d arrive in Commodoro very soon. The bus arrived nearly an hour late, around 7am. I didn´t realise this at the time until a little later after we´d left the bus. The bus station here was rough looking. It was busy, a lot of ´characters´hanging about. Indeed the town its self didn´t look much. There was nothing appealing about staying here any longer than it took to get the next bus out of the place. I wasn´t looking forward to hanging around here for the next two hours. Its not that the place was dangerous. It just wasn´t appealing at all. I looked at my clock and saw that it was 7.20. Great!! only another 40 mins to hang around this kip. I now realise we were late arriving and its an unexpected bonus. The terminal was clammy, smelled of engine fumes and had too many greasy looking honchos. I just wanted to be on the next bus.

Soon enough we boarded and the bus rolled south at 8am. For over an hour, perhap two, we followed the coast. The sea was calm and flat. Long stretches of deserted beach passed by. Above the sky was blue, mottled with a scattering of light clouds. On the right hand side of the bus the parched, dusty plain stretched away inland. We left the coastline at some point and quickly the flat plain stretched out all around. The journey down to Rio Gallegos was something over 800km. We were due there at 18.30 this evening. On the tv screens Blood diamond was being shown. Its the first time I´ve watched a dvd at 8am in the morning. Great film!!

Throughout the rest of the day the landscape changed very little. Mostly it was flat, sometimes interrupted by low hills or ridges. Sometimes it dipped into a low plain for a while before rising again to a high plain. Towns were few and far between. The big distractions came with the sight of llamas and then ostriches/emus and then the biggest surprise of all.... pink flamingos!! I wasn´t expecting to see these. We stopped twice to break up the journey. We got to stretch our legs for a few minutes, then it was back on the bus to watch the land and sky pass by.

We finally reached Rio Gallegos, a port town and none too appealing either, at around 7pm. We had been delayed a few miles outside town for 40 mins while police officers stopped all traffic. An officer took details of everyone on board. From the bus terminal I limped for 10 mins to the hostel I wished to stay at and checked in. My hip was very stiff this evening after 36hrs on buses.

We´re far south in Patagonia now. I expected it to be cold but its very pleasant and the roaring winds I´ver heard about are merely blustery on this particular evening. Its very brigh and mild as the sun begins to lower in the sky. I´m in a room with an American lad, a german girl and an Italian guy, all heading for Ushuaia. I´m the only one going to El Calafate. Making my dinner I eat with a very jovial Israeli couple in their early 20´s. They´re quite different to other Israelis I´ve seen so far who can be quite distant as they generally travel in packs. This couple, however a ver friendly, slightly on the rotund side and with no airs or graces about them. It was enjoyable talking to them as they teased one another. At around 11pm the elctricty went off so there was nothing else to do but go to bed.

Sat 22nd Nov: South to Patagonia

Got up at 7am for a 7.45 bus to Bariloche. This is the first leg of the journey to El Calafate, a 36hr trek to Rio Gallegos in southern Argentina. The journey to Bariloche was a 4hr bus ride through some pretty spectacular landscapes of the lake district. Most of the road through here consisted of a gravel surface. It wound its way over ridges, through valleys and sometimes through thick woodland. By the time we got to Bariloche it was cool, breezy and overcast. The heavy jacket was definitely needed today.

I had 5hrs to kill in Bariloche before my bus to Commodoro Rivadavia, and then Rio Gallegos, departed at 17.15. I got some money, bought the bus ticket and tried to find a place showing the Ireland v Argentina rugby match. I went to an Irish pub in town but it doesn´t open until 6pm. Everywhere else in town was showing the Davis cup final between Argentina and Spain which was on up in Buenos Aires. Frustrated in my efforts to see the rugby I retired to a cheap local restaurant and watched the tennis while I ate.

I spent a couple of hours on the blog in an internet cafe and saw there that Ireland had beaten Argentina and, indeed, cov had won as well. So all in all a fairly successful day on the sporting front. I got back to the bus station under heavy skies. The wind was whipping up small white rollers on lake Nahuel Huapi. It felt chilly. As the bus pulled away from Bariloche the rain began to splatter on the windows.

This second leg of the journey was an overnight trek to Commodoro Rivadavia on the Atlantic coast. We were due to arrive at 6am in the morning with a 2hr stopover there before another 10hr journey to Rio Gallegos. Through the failing light of the evening the bus passed through valleys framed by high mountains whos upper slopes were obscured by heavy cloud. Rain fell intermittently.

We passed through a small town and watched as the locals went about their daily activities. While the town and its buildings looked different to home and the ancient cars that chugged around certainly looked different. It struck me that activities I was watching were no different to what you´d see everyday at home. People were going about their daily in the very same way we do. People were coming and going from the supermarket. A couple of neighbours stopped in the street to chat. An old lady in an apron sweeps away dirt off the footpath in front of her home. A man finishes plastering a garden wall as acouple of youngsters pass by walking a dog. In a tattered old car stopped at traffic lights a parent a the steering wheel turns to attend to a child on the backseat.

Mostly when you go travelling you look for the differences between places and think of far off places as being so alien from life at home. Then, on the odd occasion, out of the blue, the similarities between life in remote places strikes you and you realize the differences between here and there very often only exist in the smaller more visible details of a different life. The overall picture of life between places is very much the same. Its funny how striking that realization is when it does occur to you.

By 9pm it was dark. The shawshank Redemption was on the tv screens in spanish. We were served spaghettis Bolognaise for dinner and soon after that I tried to get some sleep.