Puerto Natales as a town is a small, relatively out of the way kind of place. There's not a whole lot going on there, and it's not the sort of place you'd visit for the town alone. People come to Puerto Natales for Torres del Paine National Park. It's undoubtedly the most popular hike inPatagonia. There are two options for hiking, the 4-5 day 'W' circuit or the 8-9 day full circuit. Since we were on to the third hike in 3 weeks we opted [...]
After the hike and the bed bug saga of El Chalten I was ready to move on. We decided not only to move hostels, but to move town... A three and a half hour bus ride south from El Chalten is a town called El Calafate, about 5 times the size of El Chalten and home to Perito Moreno Glacier. As it turns out, every tourist within a 500km radius had also decided to head to El Calafate, so it was Goodbye sacred quiet of the [...]
After 32 hours on the road we staggered off our Route 40 bus at 6am into the rain, fog, and icy cold winds of El Chalten. El Chalten is a small town in Patagonia in Argentina, about 3.5 hours north of El Calafate. It is set at the top end of Parque Nacional de Los Glaciers and is famous for Monte Fitz Roy, the jagged peak of which can be seen stretching skyward out of the national park on a clear day. I had been told [...]
This blog post is dedicated to the original Doughnut. You and your pink sun visor would have made this ride that little bit more special. Route 40, Patagonia, Argentina. The long and winding road... very long and very winding. Route 40 stretches south from Bariloche, hugging the Chilean border. Its a long stretch of winding road through flat desert, most of the road is dirt track. I'd been warned about Route 40, everything from it being the slowest and most boring bus ride known to [...]
"A bit of snow maybe, but you should be fine if you've got some hiking experience", was the information from the guy at Club Andino Bariloche, the local hiking association. A great resource and the place to visit before hiking in the local area. He also gave us a map, a route, and gave me a concerned look…. "ah, you hike before?"…. "Not much…. well actually I have zero hiking experience…. but my friend here, he is the most experienced hiker I have ever met, I'm [...]
There's one way into Argentina by road from Pucon in Chile. And it consists of a 4 hour bus ride south to a town called Osorno, a 3 hour wait, then a 5 hour bus ride to Bariloche and one border crossing. Being so use to travelling by night, I initially wasn't too keen on having to do it all during the day, but I hadn't taken into account the the views. The drive from the Chilean border through to Bariloche was absolutely stunning. Snow capped mountains, [...]
Heading out of Santiago we ventured south towards Patagonia, stopping at Pucon in Chile along the way. Leaving the sunshine and in-pool bar of La Casa Roja in Santiago was difficult. It would be the perfect place to get stuck for a while, but the mountains were beckoning me. Our plan in Patagonia was to do a few hikes, and I was lucky that my travel buddy was a hiking superstar. So with zero hiking gear on us, we had the brilliant idea of purchasing gear in Santiago [...]
Travelling from the Atacama Desert in the north of Chile to Santiago has been a beautiful trip down the Chillean coast. Heading out of San Pedro we decided to head for Bahia Iglesa going on a tip from a local lady in San Pedro, it turned out to be a small beachy town about 11 hours down the coast in a cosy semi-cama night bus. I had asked the driver to let us know when we got to the closest stop to Bahia Iglesia. It was 6am [...]
San Pedro de Atacama Street, Chile Ever since I was a child I’ve been enchanted by Chile. Maybe it was a past life, who knows, but I have always longed to visit the Atacama desert in Northern Chile. Driving into Chile the the stark contrasts with Bolivia are immediate. The first thing I noticed was sealed roads. Then there were the public toilets - clean, toilet paper, seat... free. There's more than BBQ chicken with chips on the menu. You require some sort [...]
We drove into Uyuni on our small chicken bus from Potosi. Driving into Uyuni I noticed rubbish... rubbish as far as the eye could see scattered all through the desert. Beyond the rubbish there was a vast, barren dry landscape. From what I'd heard about Uyuni, it's a 'get in get out' scenario, so we had planned for just that. Arriving in Uyuni, Bolivia Uyuni is a tiny town in a desert area of Bolivia. There are dirt streets and not much more, [...]
