Salta & Cafayate - North West Region of Argentina

Salta is a city in the north west region of Argentina, getting there required another long 20hr bus ride from Mendoza. The city of 500000 sits just west of the Snow capped Andes mountain range, in a valley with San Bernardo Hill looking over the city to the east (which like any town in south America that has a cable car to the top). It's quite a nice city but not too much to do apart from check out shops, churches and restaurants. We only spent one night here before heading 4hrs south to the town of Cafayate.

We didn't really know what to expect on the drive to Cafayate but it was spectacular and for once we scored the front row top seats. The drive takes you through Quebrada del Rio de las Conchas (Canyon of the river of shells) and Calchaquíes Valley. The valleys are full of massive cacti, and red dusty eroded hills and rock formations. It looked like we had driven to mars. The valley near by apparently features in Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back. The river running through the valley must have been experiencing a large amount of rain fall further up on the Andes range as it was pumping, and had eroded away part of the road in a few sections.

The town of Cafayate is regarded as the Tuscany of Argentina, surrounded by winyards, and large rocky dry mountains covered in cacti. The town is small and dusty, but with plenty of restaurants, shops and a nice plaza. We stayed at this pretty nice hostel which had a cool out door area to sit around in, covered by grape vines. We tried to hire a car as it seamed like the easiest way to explore the region but found out we should have done this back in Salta..

The following day we hire some bikes and caught the bus back out the the Valleys we had driven through the day before. The bus dropped us off about 50km out of town at this big dry canyon called Devil's Throat. The ride from here just headed back along the main road which was a fairly easy ride with only a few hills, however we did climb from 1300m to 1800m to where the town sits. The ride was amazing and by the end my neck hurt more than my legs from continually looking around at the different rock formations and eroded landscape. The last part of the ride was pretty tough, as by now it was bloody hot, with no shade, and long straight and boring.

The next day we headed out on foot along this dry, boring road to Rio Colorado. From here you head up the river, rock hopping and wading through the river as there isn't really a track. We got caught by a group being lead by a guide at one stage and tagged onto the back. The walk brings you up to a 10m waterfall and swimming holes. Really nice.

That evening we ate out near the plaza. We were joined by a local donkey who really wanted to share my steak... He got a few chips but still wasn't happy... I don't blame him it was delicious.

 

Mendoza - Argentine wine district

With the highest part of the Andes Mountain range to the West of the city, Aconcagua (highest mountain in the Western hemisphere at 6960m and one of the 7 summits), Mendoza is Argentina's wine district, With Malbec being the grape of choice. Wine is everything to this city, which is surrounded for hundreds of kilometres by vineyards. Even the cities fountains spurt delicious red Malbec, a cool trick that Baby Jesus never managed to master..

It was the start of the wine harvest festival, which meant wine tasting throughout the cities streets. The region has a very dry climate receiving only 15cm of rain per year. Our first outing required us taking shelter beneath a door way while the city streets turned into rivers during a heavy storm.. I think we may have bought the Sydney rain with us. We also did a self guided cycle wine tour through the nearby town of Maipu. Great wine, but the scenery was a bit of a let down. Go to Margaret river instead. Some of the other vineyard areas a little closer to the mountains I think would be better.

 

 

Bariloche - The Argentine Lakes District

Bariloche is a swiss inspired town, beautiful wooden lodges, ski resorts in winter, bike riding around lakes, and mountain hiking in summer, littered with chocolate shops and good restaurants. It's a place the Argentines like to spends their vacations. You can even get your photo with a Saint Bernard "Beethoven movie dog" at every scenic point, or tourist landmark...

The best part of Bariloche is the surrounding Nahuel Huapi National Park. Here we did an overnight trek up into the Arroyo Goye valley to Refugio Italia on Laguna Negra. The walk followed the river upstream until hitting this massive waterfall which is fed by Laguna Negra above. We really didn't know what to expect on this walk, we just new there was a Refugio you could stay at overnight, but the walk was stunning. The Refugio was smallish compared to the ones in Torres del Paine, but slept about 30 people comfortably. We had bought food to cook, but you really didn't need to bring anything as a couple of Argentines cooked a gourmet meal for those who paid for it. We spent the night cozy and warm between the wood oven, and bar heater (behind the resident cat) and drank a bottle of delicious Malbec we bought at the Refugio for ~$12 AUD. Bliss.

Before catching an afternoon bus to Mendoza, we headed out to the Llao Llao Peninsula and hired some bikes to ride the circuit, which weaves through huge pine forests, beaches and mountains, very scenic, even Beethoven seemed to be enjoying the views. Nice to be riding a bike again, I quite enjoyed pushing Ally up the Hills.

The lakes district is a place that we will have to return to, especially the Chilean side, could happily spend a month or two here.

 

 

 

El Chaltén, Argentina - Patagonia

We travelled further north staying in El Chaltén, Argentina, which is a little town at the base of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre mountain ranges, which are some of the toughest climbs in the world. El Chaltén is the trekking capital of Argentina, situated in the north of Los Glaciares National Park, and all the treks start in town so most can be done in a day.There isn't much in the town itself apart from hostels, and restaurants, but that's not why you travel here.The first day we had some nice weather, but the tops of the peaks were hidden by clouds. We however headed out to trek up to a peak Lomo del Pliegue Tumbado at 1490m which gives a panorama view of the mountain ranges. It was awesome. The walk headed through some farms before climbing through this beautiful forrest, then emerging above the tree line to a clear view of both Fitz Roy (at 3405m) and Cerro Torre(3102m) ranges, and the glacier separating the two. Cerro Torre was still hidden but just before heading back it peeked it's head out. Cerro Torre was claimed to be first climbed in the 1950s, however one of the two climbers, who happened to be the photographer, perished on the descent so there was never any proof. Recently a team of climbers tried to follow the route taken but found it impossible... Sounds like an episode of The Simpsons...The following couple of days the mountains were again hidden. Lucky to have had a superb day!

 

 

The 'W' trek in Torres del Paine - Chile

Feb 10 2012, We boarded a bus from town and headed the 3 hrs to and into the national park to Gaurdería Pudeto to catch a boat across to Refugio Paine Grande to start the trek. This area we were advised to skip due to a fire that had started up at Refugio Grey campsite on the 28th of Dec, when a camper wandered off into the bush to go to the toilet, tried to burn his toilet paper, which resulted in probably about 40% of the National park being destroyed! No idea how nobody died because the hundred km strong winds that blow basically all the time would have spread the fire incredibly fast. This section of the walk had only just opened and a few of the campsites were still closed. Somehow Refugio Paine Grande which is a massive hut/hotel, which was in the direct path of the fire survived, and sits in the middle of a black charcoaled valley with a meter of green grass surrounding it! Check out the photos.The first day was freezing, wet, with a massive head wind (Patagonia is always windy), and sleet, but this was only a short 11km day. When we got to the refugio grey, next to glacier grey, we were cold and wet, so walked straight into the refugio and they had spare beds for $30. It was like a five star hotel. But we still had to cook with the camping plebs and felt a little bad, especially when we pulled out and cooked up some chorizo sausages and most of these walkers had been 5 days into the 10day full circuit of Torres del Paine.The next day was beautiful so we made the most of the good weather and did 2 days worth of hiking, 36km. The route took us back through the burnt Forrest passing Refugio Paine Grande and around to Campamento Italiano. This camp was closed, so we left out big packs and headed up the 800m climb into French Valley. Absolutely amazing! The scenery beats cradle mountain. After heading back and picking up our bags we headed around to Refugio Los Cuernos, which sits under the spectacular Cuernos peaks. The camp here was almost full by the time we got there so we got a crap camp site, and got smashed by the wind the next morning. The third day was windy again, wind that when it hits you knocks you over! But it was weirdly warm. We were going to have an easy day to camp Torres but we found out this was shut due to the wind (maybe it was windier than normal?) , so we left our bags at Camp Chileno and did the hike up to The Torres peaks, amazing, and back down to catch the late bus back to town. The photos of the Torres peaks don't really show how massive they are, but the lake at the base is at ~900m and the peaks are upto 2850m! You do the math...

El Calafate - Patagonia & Perito Moreno Glacier

El Calafate - Argentina - Feb 3 2012Flew to El Calafate via BsAs. In stark contrast to Rio de Janerio, El Calafate is a small touristy town situated on Lago Argentino and surrounded by desert farm land, but it is the gate way to Los Glaciares National Park. The town is quite pleasant, similar to an alpine village with great restaurants and heaps of camping shops. We stayed at a hostel and shared a dorm with some other Aussies who are doing a similar trip on the way to working in the UK. We had dinner at La Tablita a steak house and we had a giant parrilladas (mixed grill). The meat is so good. Worth the trip. The following day we boarded a tour bus out to see Perito Moreno Glacier. The glacier is one of the only ones in the world that isn't receding. It's massive! You could fit the whole of BsAs on it. The glacier is fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, which is the 2nd largest extrapolar ice field in the world, and is also the worlds 3rd largest reserve of fresh water. The tour lets you walk around on a series of board walks for a few hours before boarding a boat and navigating around the lake up to the glacier. I got to capture a large section breaking off.

Rio de Janeiro baby

Jan 30 - Feb 03 2012Rio de JaneiroThe first sights of Rio on the bus travelling through the outer impoverished suburbs, worse than slums seen in south east Asia, paints a grim picture of what is truly one of the most stunning cities in the world. Huge granite mountains, beautiful beaches, and a city that is somehow squeezed in between is an amazing place.Once surviving our first taxi ride with no mugging, or kidnapping, and settling into our studio flat 2 blocks from Copacabana beach, we were ready to explore... This was until my guts decided that the cheese and ham pastry (looked a little white ham) we had on the bus needed urgent evacuation. After a little lying around I decided to have a quick look at the beach. Followed by a brisk walk back to the marvellous view of the toilet. The following day after a pretty settled night, it was raining, but we were able to walk to the nearby beach Ipanema, which is towered over by the granite mountains Pedra Dois Irmãos (Two Brothers Rock). In the afternoon we walked around to Urca to see Sugarloaf, the mountain with the cable car, which stands at the entrance to the harbour and towers over the beaches and city. It was cloudy so decided to save going up for another day.We woke the next day to bright blue skies and quickly decided to give the hike up to Corcovado and the statue of Christ overlooking the city. After a bit of googling I was pretty sure there was a track starting from the neighbourhood directly below the mountain in the suburb of Jardim Botânical. The entrance was through the gardens of this amazing old building, with the only directions being, walk through the garden until you find a ruin in the far back right, the track starts behind it... Not being put of by the numerous security guards wandering through the gardens forest, and checking out some cool caves, we found a guard sitting in a ruin and the start of the track. The track heads up, and up through the rainforest Tijuca National Park, the largest urban forest in the world. After climbing 700m, past walter falls, deadly snakes ( well one), no monkeys, or muggings, and a little rock climbing, you hit the railway line, and road transporting thousands of tourist to the top, so they can take lame photos of themselves mimicking Christ. The view is amazing, that is if you can manage to get to the edge through the crowds. On our final day we caught the metro subway into Santa Teresa followed by another swim, before heading up the cable cars to the summit of Sugarloaf in the evening to watch the sunset over the city. This is a must do!Rio will be a great city for the World Cup Football and the Olympics. They seem to be sorting out their security problems of the last few decades, police everywhere, and we never felt to insecure.