Patagonia and Chile

written by AW

It took me about four gin-tonics and a couple of beers to make the decision. There was really only one reasonable thing to do: Give up and leave. Head down south. Stick my thumb out and get on the road.

I had been wasting my time long enough in Buenos Aires. In three weeks I had gone through nine job-interviews. Most of the places I had applied to didn't even bother answering. That had been the least thing I had expected. No dice. Some of those human resources guys I talked to just smiled at me and said "see, everybody your age is leaving this place, unemployment is close to 20% and you're trying to get a job at a time when MBA's don't get one". Yep, I thought, time to pack my bags.

Don't get me wrong! I haven't had a bad time in BA. It's a great place. Coming down the gringo trail and arriving for the first time, a couple of years ago, I was stunned by it - the reason why I came back. Some have called it Paris of the south and I agree. There probably is no other city in Latin America where the European decent is so ever apparent. Walking through the old parts of town, like San Telmo, I could have sometimes sworn that I had seen that same road in France or Italy before. There isn't much of that famous tango-atmosphere of the twenties anymore, that most travelers seem to be looking for in. But some of those old, run down bars leave it up to your imagination of how it could have been and the music is still played. The nightlife nowadays still is unequaled - If you can afford it. Argentina is expensive. Forget about living cheaply. The peso is fixed one on one to the dollar. The only thing you'll find less expensive and in much better quality than elsewhere is meat. They eat it in abundance, too. Good beef and lamb is everywhere. It's rather impossible, on the other hand, to find a nice veggie dish. Go have an original "parilla" if you get the chance, though.

I left BA on some morning in January and payed for a short busride, hopping off about 100kms to the south. The southern part of the city is poor(Boca Juniors plays there) and I didn't necessarily want to start hitching in the city, since people do get mugged there on a regular basis. I had been mugged at gun-point on arrival, thus I didn't want to go for seconds.

It was hot and humid and I prepared for a long waiting period since there wasn't much traffic coming through. Lucky enough, I got a ride on a truck ten minutes later, taking me all the way to Puerto Madryn, 1300kms south, one of the few northern towns of Patagonia. Quite a place. There certainly isn't much there besides howling winds, grassland and water and still it's breathtakingly beautiful. Located at the bottom of a long bay with clear blue water, which is cold as hell, but one could still take a dip(for about 5 seconds). I met some good people and hung around with them for a couple of days.

Three rides took me to Treleuw where I met another hitcher. An older, wild looking guy who turned out to be a sweetheart. His friends had nicknamed him "El Negro", due to his appearance. He lives in a small village, just north of Comodoro Rivadavia and he was on his way home to pick up his dog, the "Perra Furia". I gladly accepted his invitation to join him for a couple of days and to drink "mate" on the beach in front of his house. This original gaucho drink has high caffeine and argentines, urugayos and southern Brazilian all seem to drink it nonstop. The addicts tip you off, by carrying a thermos around and every single gas-station provides a hot-water-machine to help them stay hooked. Rumor has it, that mean politicians own the mate-fields in order to stay in power, forcing helpless addicted civilians into insane votes, merely by announcing to freeze the mate supplies right before election day. I believe it!

It took only two long rides in 30h to get to Calafate, located four hours north of Rio Gallegos, almost at the southern tip of the continent. The night I had spent behind some gas-staion in RG and the second car picked me up the following morning, right when I stuck out my thumb. The guy turned out to be the philosophy professor from the local university. Four hours, it had seemed like one, he dropped me off in Calafate. From there I took trips to the amazing Perito Moreno glacier and to windy El Chalten, site of the famous Mt.Fitz Roy, where I went trekking for a week. I tried to hitch to EC, but gave up after four hours. About six vehicles had passed and about all of them were commercial buses. To hitch to EC I heard afterwards, you either gotta be damn good or a girl. I wasn't either.

On the way out I got stuck again at the gas-station Rio Gallegos, however this time with about seven other hitchers from argentina. We spent the night partying together. Next morning I got up early to beat the crowds and made it to the chilean border in four rides. Afterwards, it was already afternoon, I got an lucky eight-hour ride all the way into Ushuaia. The guy had a catering service and would provide me with free food and golf lessons for the time I spent. Strike! Ushuaia. What a place! After three weeks in the wind swept patagonian pampa, which consist of nothing but sheep and grassland (besides the mountains of the cordillera), Tierra del Fuego surprised me by a drastic change in scenery about half way through the island. Snow-capped mountains block the way to the south. After crossing a pass the road drops down again to the ocean and right into the town. It is located in a bay on the beagle channel, with the snow-capps in the background and contains a big port with lots of argentine navy and at least 2-3 cruise boats during the season(december through march). Only about twenty thousand people live in the southernmost town of the world, but many travelers pass through on their way to Antarctica. It's a bargain place to find a cheap ticket on one of the russian cruise-boats, by the way. While some people pay up to 5000$ for a ticket back home in europe or the states, one can find a last-minute one with the same services for "only" 1600$. All you need to bring is time and patience for shopping around. Ushuaia has a good, relaxed vibe, but is quite spendy. There is good trekking in the national park close by and I took the opportunity and "finished" route#3. The one that I had hitched down for more than 3000kms, all the way from Buenos Aires and that ends right at the coast of the park.

Punta Arenas, the southernmost chilean city didn't impress me much. Puerto Natales, the take-off spot for Torres Del Paine national park, is much nicer. The park itself is beautifull. Check out the pics!

After the park I wanted to go surfing as quickly as possible and took a long ride up to Puerto Montt and from there to Pichilemu, surfing "capital" of chile, about fours southwest from Santiago. Cold water, few surfers and two of Latin Americas longest lefts at Punta de Lobos and the Puntilla. Pichilemu, a great place if all you want to do is surf and study spanish after a couple of weeks of trekking and hitching. Few gringos, mostly locals and a really tranquile vibe. If you don't want to get hassled, take my word that noone will. Chile is famous for seafood, by the way, and you'd be a fool not to eat clams and fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner 24/7.

I stayed for almost two months and only left the place for quick hitching-trip to the north, when the swell went down. I travelled with two australian friends I had met surfing and we crossed into Bolivia for a couple of days too. I didn't want to stick around La Paz, though, since I had been there before and I thought that it had changed quite a bit since then - for the worse.

Afterwards I only had a couple of days left, headed back south and crossed back into Argentina for my flight out. Now, being back home, I feel like probably most of you: Can't wait to get back on the road!