Pumpernickel on Tour   … in South America

Internet is really slow in this part of the world, as you may have noticed by the lack of daily updates. Last night I had to leave the laptop in the hotel lounge just to upload a grand total of three photos overnight… Anyway, here’s a quick catch-up to let you know where we are and have been – and that we are still enjoying ourselves immensely.

Friday 24th October 2014

We travel from Trevelin in Argentina to the border with Chile on a regional bus that only runs twice a week (later we hear that this service was cancelled the other day…); then by minibus on to Futaleufú. Here we are extremely lucky again: there is only one connection to Coyhaique per week, scheduled for Friday at a quarter to twelve. We arrive around 10 o’clock and thus still have time to exchange money and get some supplies for the journey. Considering the sparse connections serving the Carretera Austral we decide to do the 10-hour trip to Coyhaique in one go and will not stop in Puyuhuapi as previously planned.

In the end the journey takes over twelve hours, because the Chilenos are working frantically on paving the whole distance of the Ruta 7 from Chaitén to Coyhaique. A major project which will not be completed until 2017 at the earliest, as the road will also be broadened to two lanes and huge amounts of rock need to be blasted and disposed of. While the construction is an admirable effort, it will also take the adventure out of the famous route…

The landscape along the Carretera Austral is absolutely stunning; we are blessed with surprisingly good weather and arrive tired but happy in Coyhaique just before midnight. Luckily we even find a room in the first place where we ask for accommodation. Photos can be found in this gallery, #1 to 118

Saturday 25th October 2014

Rest day in Coyhaique. We move to a hotel where we have more space and a baño privado and explore the town. There is not a cloud in the sky – an extremely rare occurrence in Chilean Patagonia. Photos here; #119 to 190.

Sunday 26th October 2014

Without a reservation we just try our luck and go to the bus terminal for 9 o’clock. We are fortunate enough to snatch the two last seats on the minibus to Cochrane. There is another service half an hour later but we don’t want to risk being stuck in Coyhaique for another day if that bus is fully booked as well. We sit in the last row on the left, where we don’t have the best views of the gorgeous countryside but occasionally we catch a glimpse.

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon we get off in Puerto Río Tranquilo where we want to visit the Capillas de Marmol. While we are searching for accommodation, a young couple approaches us to tell us that they have booked a boat trip for 15.00 hours and we can join them if we want. That accelerates our efforts to find somewhere to sleep and we just make it on time for departure.

The crossing is rough and exciting, the caves are absolutely amazing and we think this experience is the start of a beautiful friendship with Tal and Chen from Israel, who are in the middle of a 2-month trip through South America and freshly engaged since Machu Picchu. After we’ve reached terra firma again they offer to take us to Chile Chico in their hire car the next day.

Photos are in this gallery; #191 to 502

 

 

 

Monday 27th October 2014

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Babbelito! Today is Johannes’s special birthday. The landlady has decorated the breakfast table with a homemade cake and accessories the friendly ladies in the tiny village shop have helped me sourcing the previous evening. Tal and Chen pick us up at 9.30 hrs and we drive along the shore of Lago General Carrera to Chile Chico on the border with Argentina.

Again we are blessed with gorgeous sunshine and stunning views of the biggest lake in Chile – a fantastic birthday present for Johannes. The route is unpaved but mostly well maintained and we would make good progress if we wouldn’t have to stop for photos every other kilometre… We have a nice late lunch in Chile Chico before we cross into Argentina and find accommodation in Los Antiguos.

By the way, we haven’t seen a single minibus the whole day and wonder how long it would have taken us to get here by public transport…

Photos here; #503 to 718 and here (Argentina) #341 to 360.

Tuesday 28th October 2014

Just before they drop us at the bus terminal in Perito Moreno, Tal and Chen ask if we would like to join them on the 700-kilometre journey to El Calafate. Wow, we are gobsmacked by their kind offer and gratefully accept.

Long stretches of the Ruta 40 have been paved since 2010 and the only ripio left are the 174 kilometres between Gobernador Gregores and Tres Lagos, where we lose the hour that Chen has gained on tarmac against the GPS’s estimate. We are lucky that the wind is not half as strong as the last time I travelled this route and was almost blown off the road. Photos here (not fully uploaded yet – please check later).

Wednesday 29th October 2014

When we wake up there are patches of blue sky but on the way to the Perito Moreno glacier the clouds are closing in and it begins to snow. Tal and Chen are hugely excited, as snow is rare in Israel, but the weather also means that the view from the Miradores is zero. Fortunately the sun comes through for about twenty minutes and we get some glimpses of the glacier and all the wonderful blue shades of the ice. Photos here (not fully uploaded yet – please check later).

Thursday 30th October 2014

Tal and Chen take us with them to El Chaltén; it’s their journey back to Bariloche where they have to return the car. Although it is snowing in the morning, the weather improves on the way and grants us the most wonderful views of the Fitz Roy mountain range.

The hotel I stayed the last time is fully booked but we find a lovely room in the excellent Hotel Lago del Desierto which is even closer to all the amenities. Like in El Calafate we have difficulties getting cash from the only cajero in town and find that hardly any business accepts payment with credit card. The season here lasts only four months from the middle of November to March and it isn’t worthwhile for the small enterprises to pay a whole year’s fee to the credit card companies. While this is absolutely understandable it leaves us in a precarious situation and the risk of having to wash dishes for the rest of our stay.

Out of the blue we come across the perfect solution of our problem: the restaurant where we have a delicious dinner takes Euros at an incredibly good exchange rate for us – we will return with more money than we set out with… 😉

Friday 31st October 2014

Today we do the Capital Nacional del Trekking justice and trek to the Lago de los Tres. Thanks to cloudless sky and bright sunshine we have splendid views of the Fitz Roy Massif. The first three hours of the trail are pretty easy going but the last two kilometres it’s a backbreaking climb up to 1,150 metres above sea level. As a reward we see a condor, the frozen Laguna de los Tres and the Fitz Roy in their full glory. We are happy but a tiny bit tired after the 28 kilometres we have covered in 12 hours… Photos to follow.

Saturday 1st November 2014

We think we have deserved a rest day and take it easy: just a little 11-kilometre stroll to the Mirador del Torre, a nice lunch with the leftovers from last night’s Milanesa, a visit to the local Heladeria on the way back, some shopping for presents for the loved ones at home and another attempt at uploading photos to finally post an update here…

Please come back to this post in a day or two – I will keep trying to upload photos and add them to the days in the text. Thank you for your patience.