Salta, not bad, pretty good

Getting off the bus, I though Salta immediately had a good feel to it. Not touristly like Puerto Iguazo, but a lot nicer than Resistencia. And that kind of sums it up, really. I found a nice hostal, which had only been operating for a month, and very comfortable for the price. Salta is really pushing tourism, and it shows.

I met Will the next morning, and after dumping his stuff we went for a stroll up Cerro Saint Bernard, overlooking Salta. The city was bigger than we´d though, and is nicely located amongst a cirque of higher mountains and hills. We descended and got some Salteñas (Salta style empanadas, not overly interesting) and tamales (corn and meat mixture steamed in corn leaves - pretty nice) for lunch with a veggie salad. Argentina was really starting to make its meat prominence felt.

There are some really nice little markets in Salta, which we checked out in the afternoon, but after the routine siesta, far more interesting was a fiesta we headed out to that evening. In an outer district of town, we paid an entry fee to access a cordoned off street, where we spent the evening watching float after float heading down the street. It really was a family event, lots of kids around and no alcohol permitted, but it's funny seeing families with young kids out at 1am. All the dancing was great, the kids must practice a lot for an event like this one, but it really seems like it's in their blood.

Day two we headed out to San Lorenzo, which was a dull area with lots of money. After a coffee to sit out a spell of pouring rain, we walked up through the town and up the nearby hill to get a view of the clouds. However - we turned around as soon as we reached the ranger station and were asked to pay a few $ to get in. Absolutely ridiculous. Park entry fees over here are so exorbitant - you can understand the need to restrict numbers somewhere like the Torres del Paine - but this place just drummed in that tourist pay for everything. Anywhere in the Bluies would outshine this dull little hill, and you don't pay a penny for that.

That night, we had, would you believe it, our first steak in Argentina. None of us really felt like it, but we had to get one before leaving the country the next day, or we'd never live it down. I have to say it took me by surprise - not the size, it was absolutely huge as expected - but it was actually really good. While I have had better steaks in Australia, I get the feeling Argentinian parillia's give a more consistently properly cooked steak. That's based on my strong statistical formula of one steak...

Sleeping in Smelly Clothes

There´s not much to see in Puerto Iguazu other than the falls out of town, and even spending only one night there I felt bored of the place. After seeing the falls, I got an overnight bus to Resistencia. Alighting at the terminal, I instantly regretted my decision to spend a whole day in the place before continuing on another bus. It didn´t look like much fun.

Once in town, I found a net cafe and set to trawling blogs on what people do here. There´s a bunch of sculptures around, that's about it - everyone seems to stop there because they´re passing through. It wasn´t the best news, but at least meant I could do whatever I wanted without feeling I was missing anything.

I had a good coffee on the street, and got to see a protest (about something I´m yet to decipher) arrive at the building next door and beat their drums. Buying some lighter, cooler shoes (I lost my sandals somewhere. Sandal, actually. It may be in Switzerland...) turned into a more enjoyable experience than I would´ve hoped. The shoes are crap, but only around AU$15, and buying them was well worth the half hour ´conversation´ I had with the store owners and the glass of water they gave me.

At my request, they pointed me in the direction of a cultural centre, who informed me that the soonest tango lessons started in March. Actually, I´m only in this place for a day, nothing going this afternoon? A few phone calls later, and a 4pm lesson was lined up. Very helpful people indeed.

After a bit of lunch, more wandering, and some blogging, I walked out to the given address and met Walter and Paula. I then got a 1.5hr hour lesson for AU$15! It was good fun, but very bloody warm, I was dripping sweat the whole time. I just can´t cope this heat, it was great to get into it after Patagonia (and, uh, Antarctica) but I really am a cold weather person. Any who, the lesson went well, despite it being completely in Spanish, but dances moves are not best conveyed by words. They were a really nice couple, and even drove me back to the centre afterwards.

And not long later I was on my next bus, another overnighter to Salta, where I was looking forwards to having a shower. It wasn´t a packed out day, and Resistencia itself is pretty dull and ugly. It was still pleasing though, as I made my own fun, interacting with a few locals. I didn´t see another gringo all day, somewhat pleasing. It was fun just to see a different side of things.

Iguazu Falls

After the weekend in BA, I split ways with Will (on a tighter budget than me) and flew up to Puerto Iguazu. I thought BA had been hot enough for my liking (very nice after Patagonia) but up north the heat was more oppressing. I got up early the next morning to get a bus out to Iguazu Falls as early as possible. It was well worth it - for the cooler air and less tourists. Either way, there´s still no way to avoid seeing people everywhere.

There´s not much I can say about the falls really. They´re awesome. They´re awesome to look at though, not talk about (have a look at the photos, instead). Things I liked about the falls were: the trickles running off the hanging bits of greenery, all the rainbows created in the mist off the falls, and watching the sheer amount of water running through the ´Devel´s throat`. It was really cool to pick a bit of water, then follow it down with your eyes.

It wasn´t easy though to feel anything really special about the falls, I guess thanks to the amount of people around - you turn into another person running around snapping photos. One nice time was laying down for lunch under some trees, and this cool little bird kept on hopping closer and closer on a nearby branch, chirping as if prompting a response from me. Nice until some French tourists came so close to grab a photo and scared it off. Then these butterflies came and landed all around me, I even got one on the end of my finger, it was great to have such a close look at it.

Good air; bad water; no coin

After Torres del Paine both Will and I were all sceneried out, so we decided to get out of the Patagonian wind and skip all the way north to Buenos Aires, for something different. We bussed it to El Calafate, from which we got on a flight a few hours later to Buenos Aires. I was surprised to see that El Calafate was the opposite of Puerto Natales - the main street lined with dressed up wine bars, shops selling Lacoste, and even a casino. It was satisfying in more ways than one to cook up some packet pasta in the nearest park.

My life this year had been pretty simple really - especially the month on Australis. Coming from that into a big city brought on a barrage of ups and downs, which I´m becoming familiar with upon entering any new, big city. Everything seems so difficult at first, there were so many things going through my mind (on the boat it was more like: ¨shall I have dulche de leche or porridge for breakfast?¨), but soon enough I relaxed and quickly began to enjoy myself.

It started with a bus ride to San Telmo from the airport. The bus driver couldn´t change a 5 peso note (worth about AU$2.50, the fair was 1.25 pesos) but luckily some local chicas assisted our despondent selves and changed what we had. This was the first insight to how ridiculously difficult it is to get change for the bus in BA. You´re kidding if you think you can buy an empanada with a 50 - they just don´t give out that kind of change. Here´s a fun little article on the situation: http://www.slate.com/id/2205635/

San Telmo was a nice little district with a bizarre infatuation for antiquities. Our second hostel (after night one at drunk-backpacker-hostel-with-a-bar-downstairs-so-who-ever-needs-to-leave-anyway) was great - it was like living in someones house - thank God it´s not in the Lonely Planet.

A fair amount of time was spent just wandering aimlessly. One day we headed out to a brilliant bookshop in a converted theatre - El Ateneo - whereupon I strengthened my resolve to read more Cortazar. Afterwards we aimed for a gigantic metal flower, then got ourselves a superpancho (hot-dog) as late lunch, before heading back to the hostel for a siesta.

The next day Will and I wandered over to La Boca, which was a little further than expected. La Boca is a poorer, working type neighbourhood in BA, and the trip was well worth it just to see the contrasts. Whereas a lot of inner BA is very European, La Boca definitely had a more South American feel to it. We could smell the ´river´ well before we saw it, but oh what a sight. It stank of seweradge, and looks so thick you could lay on it. There was this very obvious line running parallel to the shore, where 2 different density substances were just not going to mix. No matter how it sounds - it really was amazing to see!

We didn´t eat nearly as much as expected - just a small bite of typical Argentinian food makes you like you´ve eaten a lead weight. The odd empanada always went down well, a shared choripan (chorizo and bread = sausage sandwich) was great but oh so filling. On my last night there we went to a Peruvian restaurant with Liv & Chris (met on Australis) where the highlight was the Ceviche, lime cured fish.

BA for me though was all about the nights, and the people we met. Night 2 saw us finishing up in the main square in San Telmo dancing away to some drums with a small bunch of mostly locals. It was about 6am when I went to bed. The next night I met up with Liv & Chris to see some tango, then met back up with some Chilenas we´d been hanging out with and got back at 11:30 the next morning.

I only took about 3 photographs in BA. Will and I both wanted to feel the city in a way that had nothing to do with sightseeing, and it was great. It´s hard for me to put in words what BA made me feel. So much. I love the simplicity that climbing and in general ´outdoor´ pursuits boils life down to, but you miss out on the incredibly good feelings you get from interacting with people somewhat. And Oh the dancing - I´d only told Will in the week previous that I don´t like to dance, but scrap that now I do. The city left a great impression on me, and I can´t wait until I´m back again on my way home (maybe I´ll go and take a photo of the obelisk then...)

Patagonia a la pobre

After hanging around in Ushaia until the next available bus, I was soon in Puerto Natales where I met up with Will. He´d arrived via a 4 day cruise through the Chilean channels. The next day we got a bus out to Torres del Paine, where we were stung by all the incredible prices (such as around AU$40 just for park entry - it´s a fraction of that if you´re Chilean).

We walked the popular W track, from west to east, and spent 3 nights in total camping out. Most days we were walking for longer and harder than I´d anticipated, but after 3 days on the Drake then some lazy days afterwards it felt good.

Glacier Grey at the start of our walk was beautiful, very wide, and interesting how it was split into two at its terminal face by a wee knoll. The golden granite mountains seen for most of the walk were always beautiful, depite being capped by darker, loose looking rock (thus Will and I dubbed them the choc tops). On day 3 we left Camp Britanico to get our first glimpse of the actual towers, but after persisting with a snow storm we decided to descend. The walk wouldn´t have been complete without a snowstorm though, so it was well worth it. It also coated the choc tops in a beautiful white powder, which looked great when the clouds parted on our way down.

We finally did see the towers on our last day, from the ´main` lookout point, at a small glacial lake. Definately worth the walk all the way up the valley. I was surprised that we saw almost no wildlife on the whole trip. One thing that amazed me was the geology of the place. I´ve never seen such ´exposed` structures before, expecially in the rolling hills off in the distance.

Of Fluffy Coffee and Soft Eggs

A month in solitary confinement wouldn´t produce many tales, but by jesus does a month in Antarctica ever. Where do I possibly start the story? The story that, as so many are, will never cover anything close to the full one of being there.

THE DRAKE

The Dreaded Drake was more like Drake Lake on our way south, but even though we had a more ´normal´ drake on our return, it wasn´t even close to the rough seas it is renowned for. None the less, the boat still rolled around a fair bit, enough that some people spent 3 days in bed without rising other than to use the loo. Not I, fortunately - although the inability to do anything much at all on the crossing starts to gnaw away at your sanity after awhile - perhaps being able to stay in bed is a good thing. The surging sea is quite remarkable, gigatonnes of water being forced east through the relatively narrow passage - you can really feel the enormous power in the swell. There´s not much scenery along the way, but the albatrosses are a beautiful sight. Enormous, beautiful birds that glide so elegantly, so close to the surface. I´m sure I´d keep running into those bloodywavesoutofnowhere if I tried it. Also a treat was our dolphin entourage on our way out and back into the Beagle Channel. They dart along in the water, ducking and weaving under the bow and jumping out of the water - these guys didn´t need to show their teeth to convince us they were having a ball.

THE CLIMBING

Despite a few thoughts of climbing all these fantastic new peaks, maybe 7 a day, the climbing side of things was predominately on climbed peaks. That´s not to put a negative spin on it - we had so many days of absolutely fantastic weather, and we had some great days out on (or in?) the snow. One highlight was a ridge ascent/traverse on Mt Demaria, which packed a little bit of everything - as ridges are wont to do. Good old ridges - I love ´em. We tried to find a way up the Northern side of the Scott massif, but were turned around by discreetly menacing crevasses, and some more obviously menacing seracs. The snow down there was amazingly soft, and it stayed soft quite a way down. Lucky we had snowshoes with us... I guess thanks to so many hours of daylight, and quite warm weather. There just doesn´t seem to be the melt/freeze routine that makes climbing so much more pleasurable - at least not while we were there. We also climbed a little ice berg - in a life jacket in case it rolled while we were on it!

THE ICE

We had two free-divers on board, who were in the water quite a lot, which soon prompted myself and others to give it a go. I went swimming (in a suit) several times - and it was magical. Despite a numbed face and cold hands. Swimming amongst ice bergs was a real highlight of the trip for me. I would take a breath, plunge, turn upside down and track the iceberg underwater, feeling with my hands all the amazing pockets and features. The ice is amazing. Something so natural, shaped solely by natures forces, they are the most incredibly beautiful objects I have seen. I also went for a quick swim in my togs at the end of the trip - I swam all of 10m before levitating out of the water to the hot shower on deck.

THE RELATIONSHIP TESTER

The double kayak was a great source of entertainment! It´s inability to be paddled in a straight direction amusing every time. We also had two singles though, and most of us went out quite often in them. It was a beautiful way to experience everything around us. Such a pristine place makes one feel a lot better feeling it in a pristine way - no motor. The kayaks put us on a level with Antarctica - inquisitive penguins, seals, and even whales would come and check us out, and you could paddle amongst all the amazing floating ice masterpieces.

THE VISITORS

We visited an old British base at Port Lockroy - I got a tacky passport stamp and a tea towel! I would never have thought of bringing US dollars to Antarctica! Far more entertaining though was our later visit to Vernadsky, a Ukranian base staffed by 12, in one year periods. A quick tour showed us their ozone-hole-readermatron, but the fun started afterwards. We just happened to arrive on their ´Old New Year´, so had a great night in their bar with people from 3 other yachts, and the staff. The base-made vodka (well, alcohol, anyway) flowed freely, as did the Ukranians on the dance floor with any visiting woman they could convince to join them. All the time with Antarctica out the window, constantly bathed in light through the night. It was a surreal experience indeed.

THE LOCALS

Ah, the locals are great! Yes, penguins are the cutest little things, funny little buggers. They waddle and slide along the snow. They jump off and onto icebergs. What I really loved though, was when a school would be swimming along near the boat, and they would all pop their head up very inquisitively, and paddle about. One of my favourite things about seeing seals, was spotting them sleeping on a little berg in the channel. Imagine waking up miles away from where you went to sleep! We were blessed by the presence of so many humpback whales, we saw an above average number of them. They are such majestic, fun creatures - so inquisitive. They would come right up to the boat and swim all around, even underneath. Before we left, I climbed to the top of the mast, conveniently when a whale was around - it was incredible to make out it´s full form swimming next to the boat from such a height. I have trouble doing justice to the creatures down there in words. What was so beautiful about them as a collective, was just being amongst them, and taking the time to do so. Rather than seeing one, snapping a photo, and ducking off, we spent a whole month entangled (at a minimum distance...) in their habitat.

THE CREW

All the great things we did in our month, all the things we saw, could not have happened without Australis and her excellent crew: Skipper Ben, Skye and Amanda. Not only did they take us there and back, they showed us all the best places they could, they told us what bird was what, and best of all they served up awesome meals, time after time (though the brownies that England made were I think the number one dessert). They weren´t our crew, they were our friends, drinking partners, chefs - an integral part of the whole trip.

THE CONCLUSION

Our last night together as a group was spent at Puerto Williams, a Chilean settlement on the Beagle Channel. We had a blinder of a night at the local pub, on board a permanently moored ship. Many pisco sours were consumed, many games of fives were played, and many laughs were had. We were all starting to go our separate ways after this - but it wasn´t a sad end to a trip, I think thanks to us all going onto something else, and also thanks to spending an adequate amount of time down there. Despite there being 12 of us living in close quarters for a month, there were no quarrels whatsoever (other thank Nic & Dick, and they´re married so its ok, and they were entertaining, and they only ever really happened after they´d been kayaking!). It was such a good, varied bunch of people, and its thanks to everyone that the trip wasn´t just beautiful, it was an experience. On the last day, coming down the calm Beagle Channel, out in the sun, I sat atop the mast and simply felt happy. I felt so alive, never before have I felt so strongly that I am doing exactly what I want, that there is nothing I would change. It felt good (even with a slight case of the dt´s...)