Puerto Rio Tranquilo and our way further south

With a couple of stops in Puerto Varas and Coyhaique, we made our way further south to visit the little village Puerto Rio Tranquilo at Lago Gral Carrera, the second largest lake in South America. In Coyhaique we realized that bus travel might not be that easy any more, especially since we are still in off-season. We checked whether it would be possible to rent a car but soon realized that the prices are ridiculously high. So, bus it is for the rest of our trip.

Arriving in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, we were approached by a guy who rented out cabins, which turned out to be really cozy, with a fully equipped kitchen and a magnificent view over the lake. He also offered us a boat ride to the closeby Cuevas de Marmol at the shore of the lake. We took off, the weather was great and the wind not that strong. Actually, it was a brilliant and hot day, with temperatures that we didn't expect in Patagonia. The ride alongside the caves was really nice and afterwards we shopped in the expensive little supermarket and prepared our own dinner.

 

 

 

 

The next day we rose early to visit the Laguna San Rafael and the San Rafael glacier. The sky was overcast in the morning, and soon it began to drizzle. After 2 hours we arrived at a little river and changed into a boat that would take us close to the glacier. We drove through a Fjord with wooded hills, which soon got smaller and smaller and the waterway got bigger and bigger. We even saw a couple of Dolphins on our way. Unfortunately, the sky was still overcast and the rain got stronger, so we could not see so much of the surrounding landscape (we read about snowcapped peaks and glaciers that are located alongside the way). After about 2 hours we arrived at the glacier lagoon and were greeted by magnificent icebergs, which were coloured in an incredible bright blue. We drover closer and closer to the glacier, a jagged and fissured wall of ancient ice. It cracked and creaked and sometimes large junks of ice would break off with a loud thunder and fall into the water. By now, the rain was a constant companion, but we still stood outside on the boat all the time to look at the glacier, even while having a delicious lasagna for lunch. Our guides fished a tiny iceberg out of the water and carved a couple of whiskey glasses from it. Standing in the rain, the whiskey really tasted awesome out of these glacier-ice-glasses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ride back was long and a bit cold, since despite of the rain jackets, our clothes were a bit damp. Once arriving back in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, we were very happy about a long hot shower and our landlord started a fire in our appartment, so we could enjoy a cozy evening. 

The next day, we took a bus to Chile Chico, located at the other side of the Lago Gral Carrera close to the Argentinian border. In the bus, we met some fellow travellers who told us that apparently there are no buses any more that cross the border and that it might also be difficult to reach our next destination, El Calafate. Thus, arriving in Chile Chico, we shared two Taxis that took us to the Chilean border control, where we got our exit stamps and then we had to walk half an hour to the Argentinian border control. Since we spend so much time driving around lately, we were even happy about this little exercise and the view was great as well. We spent the night in Los Antiguos in Argentina and on the next day made our way to the 50 km distant town Perito Moreno. This town lies at the crossroad to Ruta 40, the main road that goes straight down south. At the bus terminal however, we found out, that, since we are out of season, no buses go along that road. Instead, to reach El Calafate, we would have to travel 300 km east to the Argentinian coast, drive down South to Rio Gallegos and than back up north-west until we reach El Calafate. A huge detour... We decided again to check for rental cars, but in the Tourist Information in Perito Moreno they told us, that there is no car rental. Instead, after some phone calls, they offered us a ride in a private vehicle down south, for 120 € per person (we were 4 at this time). Since the bus with the huge detour would cost 90 € per person, we decided to go for it, since we would reach El Calafate in 6 hours instead of 20 hours. So we drove down the famous Ruta 40 in a brand new pick-up truck and sometimes, it felt like we were back in the desert. Vast, empty, dry planes. However, we saw quite a few wild animals along the way: lots of Vicuñas (lama-like wild animals), tiny armadillos crossing the street and even large flightless birds called Rhea. They look like ostriches but are maybe half their size. We arrived in El Calafate at 10 p.m. and went for a beer while searching for accommodations. In the restaurant, we realized that the south of Argentina is the most expensive region that we have ever been to. We paid about 9 € for 700 ml of beer, even the pizza Domi ordered was cheaper than the beer.   

 

Pucon and around

From the Atacama desert, we made our way by plane to Santiago de Chile and then took the nightbus to Pucon. Riding the nightbus in Chile was much more fun than in Peru, the bus was in much better shape, especially the airconditioning. And most importantly, the seats could be converted into a real bed, so we actually got a decent night of sleep while travelling. We weren´t even tempted to indulge in one of the many movies that were being offered in the entertainment system.

We came to Pucon to climb the volcano Villarrica, one of the 10 most active volcanos in the world. It erupted last in March 2015. When we arrived in Pucon, it was raining, but we inquired about the climb anyway and we finally booked in for the next day, since it was supposed to be good weather then.  Indeed, when we woke up early the next morning, the sky was clear and the volcano out of the clouds. We got a lot of gear from the company for the climb: backpacks, shoes, trousers, jackets, helmets, gloves, crampons, an ice axe and even a gas mask in case the steam from the volcano moves our way. Since it rained the last night in Pucon, the volcano was covered in fresh snow, which according to our guide, were perfect conditions for the climb.

Basically, the climb was easy enough, meaning no technicalities, however, it was also straight up, very steep, and all through snow and later over the snow covered glacier. This being said, it was very strenuous to walk up through the snow, even though we could step into the footprints of the person before us. The last 400 meters were the steepest and icy and we put on our crampons, which made it much more secure to walk over the glacier. During the whole climb, the weather was perfect, sun was shining and we peeled away layer after layer of clothing. 

 

Old cable car station that was destroyed during the last eruption.

 

When we arrived at the peak, an icy wind was blowing and we put our jackets back on. The view around was magnificent, 2 volcanos emerging from the clouds and lots of forest covered hills and some lakes. The main attraction however was the smoking crater, where we could see fountains of lava deep down. Our guide told us, that it used to be possible to walk around the crater, but the last eruption broke away parts of the crater rim and one cannot walk there anymore. We could have watched the lava forever, but it was freezing cold and we had to make our way down again. 

 

 

 

We carefully walked down the steepest part of the volcano and once we reached reasonable steep terrain, we hopped onto our little snow slides and rode down. What a great reward after the climb!  

The next day we visited the most beautiful hotsprings that we have ever been to: Termas Geométricas. They were build into a small valley along a river and the pools were integrated perfectly into the nature, so that you would hang around next to a moss and fern covered rock wall and hear the river burbling away beside you. The hot water of course came from volcano Villarrica. We were way too relaxed to take any pictures...

  

On our last day in Pucon we also decided to take it leisurely and rented bikes to drive to some closeby waterfalls, Ojos de Carbagua. At first, the way was just beside a road and we soon lost our will to go on, but then managed to find a nice dirt road through woods, along farms, houses and a river. The waterfalls were nice, but nothing stunningly beautiful and we actually enjoyed the bike ride more, especially because this area of chile really reminded us of the Alps. 

 

 

 

Cycling in the Atacama Desert

Our tour through the Bolivian Altiplano ended right at the border to Chile and we decided to spend some days at the close by Oasis town San Pedro de Atacama. We used the first day to relax and wanted to go swimming at the Salt Lagoon Lago Cejar in the afternoon. Just as we arrived there, Claudi got sick and we had to turn around. Thus, she spent the next day in bed, while Domi rented a bike and returned to the lagoon, where, for the first time in his life, he was able to float on the water. 

 

On the next day we rented bikes to visit the Valle de la Luna. The first couple of kilometers were very easy, since the road was paved. However, we already noticed the strong headwind along this way. Once past the entrance station, the way turned into a dirt road and we started to slowly climb up until we reached the first attraction, Caverna del Sal. 

A narrow pathway wound itself through sharp and pointed rock formations, until we entered a cavern which featured some parts that were completely devoid of light. With our headlamps switched on we crawled through it and were amazed by the salt cristals that grew on the ceiling. It seemed like to cavern was eroded by water, but whether this is true or not, we don't know. It must have been a very, very long time ago then, since the Atacama desert is the driest and oldest desert in the world. Nevertheless, we had great fun crawling through that carvern and once we emerged again, the scenery over the jagged rocks was just amazing. 

 

 

 

 

We continued upwards, which was very hard due to the strong headwind. Also, due to the immense dryness in the desert, every breath we took left us with a dry mouth and throat and we gulped down a lot of water to make up for it. Along the way we also picked up two doggy companions, who followed us for a some time. While they ran barking after each car that passed us, they were very relaxed around people on bikes.

 

 

 

We soon reached the peak of the road and descended into the valley. However, due to the strong headwind, even going downwards was exhausting, since the wind slowed us down so much that we had to paddle to not come to a standstill. The scenery was absolutely magnificent, huge sand dunes, jagged rocks and salty flats. 

 

 

Since our way down was so hard, the way up of course became quite easy, since the strong wind just seemed to push us up without much effort. An hour before sunset, we stopped at the largest dune in the valley and climbed the nearby rocks for a magnificent view over the moon valley. We decided not to stay for sunset with hundreds of other tourists but made our way back to San Pedro de Atacama. The sunset however turned the Bolivian Mountain range a bright rose-red, which was just magnificent to watch. 

 

 

 

 

Salar de Uyuni and Bolivian Altiplano

Even though we just arrived in Bolivia, this tour was already our last adventure there before crossing over into Chile and making our way to Patagonia. 

We got up very early to take a flight from La Paz to Uyuni and our tour through the saltflats started at 11 a.m. First, we stopped at a train graveyard, where many old and disused locomotives were standing around on the railways. It was a nice action playground for adults, since you could climb around on the locomotives. 

 

 

Next, we visited a small village that produces salt for the Bolivian market. As far as we understood it, they just hack into the salty ground, let the salt dry in the sun, maybe use an oven if it doesn't dry well and then it is already ready for packaging. This salt was just lying on the floor in huge piles, while group after group of tourists with dirty shoes walked past. So we refrained from buying it, even if it was incredibly cheap. Overall, this town was a rather boring tourist trap with lots of shops. 

Afterwards, we finally made our way into the saltflats, ate lunch and then spent plenty of time taking funny pictures with a distorted perspective. It was very impressive to stand in the middle of this huge, flat salt desert, knowing that you could not survive when left alone without water. Our guides started what really annoyed us a lot during this tour: group pictures. We didn't participate and instead started taking our own pictures, but we think it took them maybe 30 - 45 minutes to take these group pictures, which, of course, did not turn out very well...

 

 

 

Since the Salar de Uyuni is a huge lake, it of course also has islands. We walked around the Inca Wasy island, which was packed with huge cacti and enjoyed to view into the salt flats. Before we headed to our accommodation for the night, a hotel made out of salt, we stopped to enjoy the sunset over the flats. Again, more bad group pictures were taken.

 

The next day was gonna be long but spectacular. Overall, we spent a too much time in the car and too little time outside of it, but sometimes the ride was just amazing. We started off at a ghost town in the desert and then made our way to a beautiful valley where lots of lamas grazed. Two more stops in not so spectacular places followed and we had to endure another session of group pictures before it was time for lunch. 

 

 

Here, the ride became more and more spectacular, since we drove through a landscape that looked more like Mars than Earth. To make the experience perfect, our fellow traveller Darrell put on The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd and we just had the feeling that we were drifting over this foreign, beautiful but also hostile planet in our little Mars rovers. This for sure was one of the highlights of the day, but we would have wished to have more time for more frequent and especially longer stops. We were soon fed up with the constant quick breaks in between long drives, especially, because half of the break time was again used up for group pictures and/or boring explanations. In our minds, the idea started to form that we would definitely have to return to Bolivia, rent our own four-wheel drive and take a week or two to explore the altiplanic region, with plenty of time for exploration and hikes.

 

 

Our last stop of the day was at around 5000 m elevation in a volcanic crater with lots of boiling mud pools and fumaroles. We just arrived in time to see the sun disappear behind the mountains. The area was illuminated by these last rays of the sun and with all the vapor rising from the boiling pools it felt like we were walking above the clouds. What a spectacular way to end the day.

 

But wait, the program was not over yet. After a couple of beers and wine for dinner, we put on our swimwear and made our way in the cold darkness to the closeby hotsprings for a relaxing bath before bed. It felt so good to immerse ourselves in the warm water after this exhausting day in the car and enjoy the view over another empty salt lake illuminated by the bright moon. Getting out into the cold was of course difficult, but once dressed we were warm again and ready for bed.

Unfortunately, the night ended too quickly and we had to get into the car again. It was freezing outside and the sun took some time to gain strength. More unnecessary stops for group pictures followed. The last place that we visited before making our way to Chile was the Laguna Verde at the bottom of magnificent Volcano Licancabur. Here, our driver pointed out a cute little Andean Fox that was walking around near the lagune while our guide completely ignored the animal and - guess what?- instead rallied us, again, for a group picture.

 

The fazit of this tour is that the Bolivian Altiplano is so otherworldly beautiful that we would definitely want to return there, with lots of time to explore every interesting spot. Anyone interested???         

Cycling the Death Road

El Camino De Las Yungas, or commonly known as El Camino De La Muerte (Death Road) is dubbed the most dangerous road in the world. It is a about 3.2 m wide gravel road, which was the only entrance and exit of the Yungas valley until 2006, when an alternative highway was opened. Until then, the road was used by many trucks to deliver goods into the Yungas valley. Even though cars usually drive on the right side of the road in Bolivia, the rules are different on Death Road. The downhill vehicle has to drive left, so that the driver is able to see the cliffs edge. Since the road is often not wide enough for 2 cars or trucks to pass each other, the downhill driver has to give way to the uphill driver, meaning he often has to drive in reverse along the cliffs edge. With drops up the 600 m beside the road, this resulted in many fatal accidents and around 200 to 300 people died each year on this road. 

However, the opening of the alternative highway decreased the number dramatically and today the road is a main attraction for mountain bikers. While it is a relatively normal road for mountain biking, the huge drops beside the road still render it dangerous, and several cyclists have lost their life on Death Road (according to our guide, 2 this year).

Since the road is set into a fantastic scenery and you descend from 4650 m elevation at the La Cumbre pass to the town Coroico at 1200 m in the Bolivian jungle, we decided to go for it. After an hours drive from La Paz we arrived at the La Cumbre Pass and hopped on our bikes, which turned out to be in excellent condition and especially made for downhill driving. The first 30 or so km were very easy, since we road on a paved road with little traffic but magnificent views.

 

 

 

As we arrived at the entrance of to Death Road, concrete turned to gravel and the ride became more bumpy. But since the bikes had a perfect grip on the gravel and could even go over bigger rocks without slipping, we felt quite safe along the ride. Also, we did not encounter uphill traffic except one motorcycle, so we could stay in the middle of the road. The first 10 km downhill were definitely the most beautiful and included vast vertical drops alongside the road. After this time the exhilaration wore off a bit and instead we could already feel the soreness in our hands and arms from constant braking and bumping over rocks.

 

 

 

 

 

After about 20 km more we arrived at the end of the road, sweaty and dirty, and were rewarded with a cold beer, showers and a buffet lunch of pasta and salat in an animal refuge. It was very relaxing to eat and chat a bit, while monkeys climbed over trees around us, and the beer tasted soooo good.

After lunch it was time to start the long way back to La Paz and our guide revealed that we would go up the Death Road, instead of using the highway as most other companies do, so that we could enjoy the scenery once more. It was indeed very beautiful and again, we only encountered one other vehicle coming downhill. During the last 5 km of the road, we entered the clouds and it became quite foggy. But our driver expertedly maneuvered the road and we arrived safely and totally exhausted back in La Paz.