I give up....

Well, guys.... obviously blogging isn't my thing. I tried, but since it has been 2 months since my last blog update, I think I might call it quits. I appreciate those 'loyal followers' (mostly KC and Kim) who also blog and understand how nice it is to receive comments and feel like you're writing for someone. Unfortunately for me, it feels more like a chore or a homework assignment, so if you would like to see or hear more about my adventures, let me know and I'd be glad to tell you. The fact is, I'd rather talk to people (or even send e-mails) personally rather than the generic update that I did a terrible job at keeping up with, and that possibly only 2 people were reading. Maybe someday I'll give blogging another shot. For now, Hasta Luego!!

FINALLY part 3 of my Patagonia Adventure

I'm going to keep this one short, because after all it has been so long since I was in Patagonia. My third leg of the trip was to the city of Ushuaia, which is proud to be the southern most CITY in the world. It was pretty, but I couldn't see Antarctica from there, and the truth is it looked quite a bit like other cities. It was cute, and mountainy and touristy, and I did get the chance to do some beautiful hiking, and got to know a lot of other travelers.

Here's a funny little anecdote about the possibilities of what one can encounter while traveling in South America.

On the morning that I was leaving Chile, I got up bright and early to get on the bus because the trip from Puerto Natales to Ushuaia was supposed to be about 14 hours, and included taking a ferry to get to the southern tip of Argentina. Look at a map sometime, it is a mess down there! I got on my bus at about 6:45 that morning, to be ready to leave by 7. The seats on the bus quickly filled up (this is a long distance bus, where everyone sits, not like a city bus), but then men just kept loading on and sneaking the bus driver's assistant (?) money. They had quite the little business going on. After the aisle was packed with men (probably on their way to work or something), we were off! My ticket said that my transfer would be at 8:30 am, but I didn't recognize the name of the "bus-station" where I would be transferring. During the next couple of hours, the aisle emptied, and the men were dropped off on the side of the road here and there. At about 9 am, the assistant (the same one with the pocket full of pesos from his under the table business) went around and looked at everyone's tickets. He looked at mine, and told me that we would be getting off soon. He said 20 minutes and we'll be "there". 20 minutes (and more) passed, and there was no bus station (or a sign for that matter) and I was becoming a little worried that I had missed my connection. He passed through again, and said, okay we're almost there, so all I could do is trust him. After some more time passed (by this time I completely lost track of how much time), we stopped on the side of the highway, and he informed us that if we were going to Ushuaia, we needed to get off here. There were about 5 of us who got off the bus, then he pulled our bags out from underneath the bus, and basically threw them on the side of the road. For a few seconds I felt a complete panic come over me, but then another bus pulled up to the shoulder of the road, told us to load up our bags, we got on the bus that was already full of old german travelers, and 12 hours later we were in Ushuaia.

When our bus drove off the ferry, I saw this sign and thought-- wow, welcome back to Argentina!!

Once I arrived in Ushuaia it was far more welcoming. It was a little kitschy in the city, and I tried to take advantage of some photo ops.

And this one too....

Here's a Patagonia store in the REAL Patagonia. I giggled.

But I also saw some really beautiful sights. My lovely friend Jenae was supposed to go on the trip with me, but things didn't work out, and she told me to please go up to the top floor of a very high building and take a photo of "the end of the world". There weren't really any tall buildings, so instead I hiked 3 hours up a mountain, and here it is. This is what the end of the world looks like....

At the bottom of the photo, you can see the whole city of Ushuaia, and if you look reeeaaallly hard, maybe you can see Antarctica in the distance. Or maybe just imagine that it is way out there somewhere!

Recapping Patagonia pt. 2

After just a couple of days in El Calafate, I decided to move forward with my journey. With no plans or schedule, I just went to the bus station and bought a ticket to a city that seemed to be in the direction of "the end of the world". After some hours on a bus, and another passport stamp, I made it to Puerto Natales, Chile. In the actual city, there was not much to do. On the afternoon that I arrived, I walked through the nice little town which seemed based entirely around trekking the nearby mountains/national park called Torres del Paine, which means towers of the blue (paine is an indigenous word, not spanish). The one thing I did do, was follow the advise of a local woman, who told me where I could have the best sandwich in the town. Now, I didn't try any other sandwiches in the Puerto Natales, but there is no doubt in my mind that this was THE BEST!!

Not only was the sandwich amazing (beef, caramelized onions, a fried egg, and A LOT of avocado), but it was also served Chilean hot sauce (there his a huge lack of anything spicy in Argentina) and also a wonderfully dark beer (most of the beer in Argentina is similar to something really terrible, like bud light). This may have been the most heavenly meal I have eaten since leaving the U.S.!

I had an evening in a quiet hostel, then got up bright and early to head out to the Torres de Paine national park. I went with a tour group because the park is so large and spread out, I wanted to see as much as possible in a short time.

My entire day was filled with incredible views and the most stunning blue and green waters I've ever seen.

After a long day in the sun and wind, I returned to the town, where I ate another one of those incredible sandwiches, explored the little town a bit more, then called it a night. I had plans to leave bright and early the next morning to my next destination-- Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world.

Back in BA-- recapping my trip to Patagonia pt. 1

After quite a vacation from my blog, I'm back, and also back in Buenos Aires. I will do my best to catch up on some missed blogging time. Here goes!!

In December, I took a trip alone to the southern tip of Argentina and Chile. I flew to Calafate, Argentina, then bussed to Puerto Natales, Chile, then bussed and ferried to Ushuaia, Argentina (the southern most city in the world). I saw a lot of breathtaking landscapes, met many other travelers, and had a great time.

In Calafate, the main attraction is the Perrito Moreno Glacier. I enjoyed a picnic lunch, and walked around taking photos of beautiful views, as I listened to what sounded like roaring thunder as pieces of the glacier were breaking off and falling into the frozen waters.

Later, a large group of travelers loaded into a boat, took a trip to the other side of the glacier, put crampons on our shoes, and trekked across the Perrito Moreno.

I was especially excited because there were two groups on my tour, an english speaking group of at least 50 people and a spanish speaking group of about 15 people, and I got to take a much nicer, intimate, spanish trek over the glacier. After a couple of hours on the glacier, we approached a table with rocks glasses, filled them up with glacier ice, and drank whiskey (which I can't stand, but I tried to play along a bit).

After my glacier trek, I went back to the house where I was staying and hung out with other backpackers a fews locals. We made dinner, had lots of laughs, and played some riveting games of UNO.

Well there are the highlights from the first leg of my journey. Next, Puerto Natales, Chile! I'll wait to put that on the next post. As advised by KC (who is a far better blogger than me-- even with an infant) I'm going to try and make more blogs, even if they are shorter. We'll see how that works!