We arrived to El Chalten and met with Klara and Mitja - our Slovenian friends that we actually got to know during our stay in Munich. They stayed in a hostel where the friendly staff allowed us to use its amenities while actually sleeping in our car at the parking lot (We are saving on every step of our trip :) ). In the next days, we did some warm-up hikes and organised everything for the Huemul Circuit - a four day trekking through beautiful landscapes that gets you right to the edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice field and includes some zip-lining to cross the glacier rivers. Of course we decided to make the already difficult trek even tougher and added a significant detour on our first day. A couple of hours of walking and we arrived to the Laguna Toro where a gale almost blew us of it's shores while we were watching the stranded ice-bergs that broke off from the glacier at the end of the lake. We were accompanied by dozens of people that came for a day-hike from El Chalten. For them it was already time to turn around while for us the adventure just began. We successfully crossed the first zip-line which crossed the river just at the edge of the lake and then continued to cross a mountain pass into the neighbouring valley. The path was unmarked and with some insecurity we managed to find a way to the other side. Pretty tired, we set up our tents, made dinner and collapsed onto our mats keeping our fingers crossed that the strong wind doesn't brake any of the suspicious looking branches above our heads.
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We finished our last blog with impressions of Perito Moreno glacier and the idea of a perfect day in Patagonia. But we quickly found out that perfection is easily found in Patagonia and it is impossible to choose one of the experiences to be the best. In the days that followed the competition would get even fiercer :) We were on our way back to Chile, towards the national park Torres del Paine - one of the most visited places in whole Patagonia. The trails in the park are crowded, the campsites in high-season need to be booked months in advance and the prices are insultingly expensive, but with a little luck and planing one can still enjoy pristine moments in the park. There are legitimate reasons that people from all over the world want to see this amazing piece of land. The panoramic views over the mountain massif with many lagoons and lakes reflecting the beauties are breathtaking. Despite the numbers of tourists, the park still contains plenty of wildlife and has the highest concentration of pumas of all the parks in Patagonia. Unfortunately we didn't see one, but Gašper was delighted to be able to creep-up on a proud condor that was fearlessly showing off on a rock - it's usually impossible to come this close to these magnificent creatures. Wind, mountains, glaciers and wilderness are probably the first thoughts that cross one's mind when mentioning Patagonia - apart from the clothes brand :) In reality, the Patagonian region includes so many different landscapes and climates that a brief description or idea is practically impossible. We have been looking forward to this part of our trip from the very beginning. Around two months in our trip (and still thinking we would only stay for half a year) we had to make a difficult choice between the Amazon and Patagonia. At that time we were just a click away from buying flight tickets to southern Argentina in order not to miss the appropriate climate to see this part of land. In the end we stayed travelling long enough to spend the southern winter in more appropriate places and started the Patagonian adventure with spring in it's full swing. Our next couple of blogs will be all about our Patagonian experience. But let's begin where we left our story the last time. Southwards from Puerto Montt, Chilean coast becomes increasingly complex with large fjords cutting deep into the continent and thousands of islands being scattered all around the place. Connecting these remote places with roads proved to be extremely difficult and expensive. The ongoing and grandious project of the famous Carretera Austral is still under way - for now more than half of the road is still unpaved and several ferry transfers are necessary to cross the larger fjords. We decided to skip the first ferry ride and chose detour making a stop in the valley of Cochamo - a paradise land only accesible by foot or horse ride. The trails lead through lush forests following a beautiful cristal clear green Cochamo river. During our stay, the snow in the mountains disabled us from some additional hiking, but just reaching the campsite surrounded by massive granite peaks was worth the hike. The "heavy snowfall" in the Andes had stopped and the mountain passes were open once again. When crossing the mountain range, we saw around 30cm of fresh snow - in Europe it would probably have been cleaned out in a matter of hours and the international border crossing wouldn't have been blocked for multiple days. We crossed the border and went back to Santiago to pick up some of our gear we had left there for the time of travelling with Manca's parents. Most of Chile we had seen so far was pure desert. The expensive prices of gasoline, tolls and campings and the great time we had had in Mendoza almost convinced us to return and continue through Argentina. But since this also meant a more than 500 kilometer detour we reluctantly decided to continue our way south through Chile. And what a great decision this was! If you look at the satellite picture of Chile you can see that just around Santiago there is a pretty sharp colour change from sandy brown to lush green. Our experience on the ground was pretty much the same. The landscape south of Santiago is full of fertile lands that are filled with dairy farms, wineyards, fruit and vegetable greenhouses and all of it in immense proportions. To top it all, there are forests, beautiful lakes and green grasslands that finish just at the Pacific ocean where we spent some days among the pine-trees and sounds of wild ocean waves. |
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