martedì 31 marzo 2009

Ren and Austral...Carretera Austral

27th march 2009, Cruz del Sur bus between Castro and Puerto Montt (currently in Ancud – Chiloe island), rainy and cold, escaping to the north and towards mass tourism



Before even starting I wanna do an update to my last mail…the story of that woman who died in desert without water. She was named Difunta Correia. She didn't die with the husband but with her kid that she was carrying on her arms. She prayed to God to not allow her little baby to die in the desert and the baby was found breast-feeding from her died (difunta) mother.

more infos can be found: http://www.guiaamarilladeformosa.com/index.php?id=Leer&Nota=75

Thanks Renata!!! (for those who doesn’t know, it’s not that I am thanking myself, I got a friend as crazy as myself and with my same name!!!!)

She didn't die with the husband but with her kid that she was carrying on her arms. She prayed to God to not allow her little baby to die in the desert and the baby was found breast-feeding from her died (difunta) madre.



Let’s not lose sight of what is important…my stories!!! I was in Los Antiguos, ready to cross to Chile for the 3rd time in this trip, not the last crossing of course! The crossing went pretty quick, we were only 8 tourists so the backpack checking and border formalities were not too long. There was people with raisins, with sandwiches, they had to eat everything there at the border or throw it away in a locked box, it’s just so strange all this. Fortunately nobody was caught trying to smuggle in an apple so we managed to go through and reach Chile Chico, a small town on the shore of the Lago General Carrera (this is the name in Chile, instead called Lago Argentino in Los Antiguos!!). Small town, nice lake. We all went straight to the tourist information, I wanted to leave this town asap direction Caleta Tortel, towards the south, towards the end of this famous Carretera Austral. Actually not so sure why this road is very famous…maybe because it’s the road that leads to further south of Chile without having to cross to Argentina? Or because when it finishes you only have ice ice ice in front of you? Or because its official name is Carretera Augusto Pinochet? Or because it is mostly unpaved so very slow to drive it? Or because transportation within it is slow and sporadic? Or because it is impossible to do it all outside January and February? I don’t know…but it’s a fascinating road, and I wanted to do it!

I just mentioned how difficult is to move within this area, and I realized right there at the tourist office: it was Monday and the next bus towards the south (not even where I wanted to go, but a town 3hrs before it!) was on Wednesday afternoon, and from there the bus to Caleta Tortel was on Thursday morning… 4 days to drive 350km was a bit too much don’t you think?? I decided to try with hitchhiking out of this town: no way, impossible, there’s nobody going further than 20/30km beyond town, and I didn’t want to get stuck in a small village, with possibly no accommodation. I tried few hours in the afternoon and again the next morning few hours. There were some Israeli guys who had been there for a few days trying to get a ride. Well, I guess it’s not easy to find a passage when you hitch in 5 people, there are actually 2 on the road and 3 sitting under a tree semi hidden, but ready to jump out as soon as a car stops…I would be intimidated if 5 people would try to get into my car! And actually Chilean of that area are intimidated, they don’t like very much Israelis too noisy, too many, too scaring…Anyway, no lift that day so ended up staying overnight. I wanted to get a book to read, so went to explore town and to the shope which had the bookstore sign on the front. When I asked for books they looked me like I was E.T., questioning face…a book? Which kind of book? I don’t know, a novel, something like this…uhm uhm uhm… the woman thought of it a bit and then told me to go to the shop next door, they might have some…argh! I went next door, checked around and did not see any book so didn’t even ask. Uhm…this Chile Chico is very very chico (small). Actually it has 5000 inhabitants, just like Bagnolo, but I guess you can find books in Bagnolo…argh! hanging around with Yafit, a nice Israeli girl, the one who was in Chalten also. We had dinner and chat, and a nice breakfast the next day, the hospedaje where we stayed was really nice. Hospedajes are basically homestays, families with a big house with many rooms, and they rent them to travelers. It was clean, I had a room on my own and the bed was comfortable…all you ask for when you have traveled for 6 weeks already. The next day I tried more hitchhiking with no success, so gave up the idea of Caleta Tortel, and took the barcaza (ferry) to Puerto Ibanez and then the bus to Coyahique, the big city in the all Carretera Austral, 50000 inhabitants, a lot I tell you! Very nice cruising through the lake, the colors and the scenery, it was supposed to be very wavy but it was quite calm and sunny, so enjoyed some fine views. The bus ride too was nice, between mountains and hills. Some of them are rocky and steep from one side while gentle and green on the other side…I believe they might have been a full hill long time ago, but the earthquakes or volcano eruptions might have changed drastically the environment thousand years ago. I just liked to watch outside and absorb every inch of this place. My idea was to quickly head up north the next day, towards Futaleufu on the border with Argentina and off to Bariloche from there. So I needed to approvechar as they say here, take advantage of the view. Something nice of the buses around here: before reaching the final destination they ask you where you want to go and they will drive you straight in front of your door. I was going to the main square, meeting there Yafit who was on another bus, and then finding a hostel for the night. But…on the way we dropped off an Italian woman (maybe 50/55 years old, traveling alone…is this what I will be in 20 years??) in front of the bus station, but above all in front of a travel agency with an inspiring paper on the window: direct bus to Caleta Tortel. Why I wanted to go to Caleta Tortel so badly? Well, I do like remote places, you all know this. Jordi had told me about it, he saw an article about this place and mentioned he was impressed by its beauty. Also Juane, a Spanish met in Puerto Natales, he did go all the way down the Carretera Austral and mentioned the best place he saw was Caleta Tortel: more than enough to make me wanting to go there, even if that meant 12 hours on a small bus the next day, 1 day there and another 12 hours back to Coyahique, as I had to go north anyway. I didn’t think of it twice: I bought the ticket and slept very very happy. I was so disappointed and sad when I had realized it would have been too difficult and too time consuming to make it down there. But most of all what made me decide to go were Yafit’s words. She said I had to stop thinking of this, and not even think of coming back, because if I was coming back to Chile in 10 years or so, and then going there, I could be disappointed, because maybe the place would be different, touristic, reached by hordes of americans spending dollars. Argh..I don’t wanna see this place spoiled, I want to see it now, and not have any regret for missing it out…so off I went! Really good decision my dear Renata!!Had an easy night, dinner with 2 Israeli guys in the hostel, they had cooked chicken, I bought icecream, watching some movie, chatting about travelling and these guys experience of the Carretera Austral. They were funny, they had tried 3 times to get to Caleta tortel, hitchhiking, but no lifts, darkness and rain had stopped them every time. They decided to go by bus and a big flood almost stopped them this time too, they actually reached the town, run through it for 1 hour and then drove back on the same bus, they didn’t want to get stuck there for days as the road was going to be closed! Coyahique…the big city…when myself and Yafit walked to its street we were looking around in ecstasy…gas stations, shops, shopping centers, people, bars, a REAL city! I think it was probably 1 month since last I saw a shopping center, with for example clothes which are more or less in fashion, we looked like someone who has never been in a city!

Anyway, next morning 8am my bus was picking me up, we were 6 in total plus Manuel the driver. There was an unidentified guy, a teacher there in Tortel, he just took pictures and spoke to Manuel. There was S.ra Iris, owner of a hospedaje and panaderia (bakery) in Tortel: she had been away for 6 weeks now going back home. Then a trio, 2 women and a guy from Vina del Mar, near Santiago. Approx 50 years old, they were traveling to Tortel to visit Maria paz, the daughter of one of them, Imelde. She has a library in Vina; while Cecilia is selling Indian jewelry she personally buys in India every eyar; Jorge is a writer, a periodist and owns an editing company. A funny trio, these guys know each other for many years, been traveling together a lot, and they liked me a lot. They were impressed by my trip, especially Cecilia, by my writing long mails to you guys, this was Jorge, and by the extreme similarity to Maria Paz, and this was Imelde. We became friends. We spoke lots, stopped for pictures, discussed about life, about travels and so on. The 12 hours drive had been so enjoyable, thanks my friends! Manuel the driver was nice too, he played good music, lots of international or Julieta Venegas which I like a lot, he was keen on stopping for a coffee of to give us the chance to shot a picture at a nice spot. Not all of them unfortunately: this was the best scenic road I have done so far. Every bend was a WOW, LINDO, BEAUTIFUL and so on. We crossed hills, and mountains, we saw glaciers, the Cerro Castillo range which is just amazing, and the Lago general Carrera which is a not to miss of the area. Its colors…you just can’t imagine them. Blue, green, whitish, and so on. Small islands, rivers, waterfalls, one next to the other. It was sunny, which of course made the journey even nicer as you can imagine. One of the views that stroked me the most were those of dead trees. Ok it seems macabre, but the landscape result is impressive. Hectares of grass with dead and burnt trees, they have this grayish color and strange shapes, some on the ground, some still standing, some still high, but visibly dead. The explanation I was given is that years ago, in the 50s Europeans arrived in these areas to colonize them, a bit like the 2 million Italians in Argentina. People here was mostly german though. When they arrived they found forests and lakes, not what they were looking for, farming land. So decided to make the farming land…They burnt down big areas of forest, trying to clear the land. They haven’t been lucky: this land is not good for farming, maybe potatoes and apples but not much more. The remains of those acts are the forests of dead trees, still a very nice view to my eyes. The lake was of a green/with-ish color, something difficult to explain, I shot so many pictures, hope some of them are good. The reason for the color is the argyles which are in the water coming from the glaciers, they are carrying something which in contact with the algae and soil of the lake give this strange color. Caleta Tortel waters are the same. Oh yeah, something I haven’t mentioned yet is the location of Caleta Tortel. It’s on a fjord between 2 immense ice areas: Campo Hielo Norte and Campo Hielo Sur. Those are glaciers which cover most of south Chile. The Norte one (north) is smaller by meant to be beautiful, the Sur (south) is immense, one of the most inhospitable places to reach in the world. I know of an expedition of 3 italian women trying to cross it. Unfortunately they failed, after 50 days in snow, snow storms and ice. Good girls anyway, I could never do that I think, too cold and too remote! We crossed more rivers, and an area which is part of a big debate: the government want to create some dikes to make electricity using the much water of the area. To make the dike they will have to flood a big area, few villages and then of course the whole area would be covered in electricity poles. The Patagonians down there do not want this, I have seen a book showing what will be the effects of its construction. I don’t know the truth, but this landscape is so pristine and gorgeous like this, with the difficulty of the unpaved road, its wildness, no people and no constructions around, that it’s a pity to change it. Currently there is no approval of the project, all papers are being handed in, maybe another 2 years before the OK, and then maybe 5 years to build it, still long to go, but back to what I said above…in 10 years probably this place won’t look as beautiful as my eyes saw it last week. I have also heard people mentioning that a Spanish company is smuggling in the area machinery for building the dikes, even if no permission yet…big scandals for this. Again, I don’t know if this is true or not, but I know what men can do to destroy nature so…somewhere the truth might be in the middle.

The last 3 hours of the drive had been the longest ones, we got more people in the bus so we were less comfortable, it was getting dark and anyway 9 hours of unpaved road on the back are enough to tire you. It took us 3 hours to drive the last 100km separating Cochrane and Tortel…this gives you an idea of the speed on these roads! I think the whole way was about 450km…in 12 hours…that’s probably a slow record!!! It was 8pm when we reached the parking in Tortel. I said goodbye to the trio and headed to Iris’s house. I had mentioned I wanted something cheap, but did not ask her the price…surprise to come I was afraid. Her house was simple as all the houses around there and with lots of rooms. A big living room close to the kitchen, some kitsch table clothes, curtains and souvenirs, and the TV always on. Then a couple of corridors with many closed doors. A toilet with cold shower and the private one with warm shower (which I got to use anyway, lucky me, but I really needed a shower after 2 days without…it’s just so normal down here, either there’s no shower at all, or the water is cold and as it’s cold outside too, you just give up showering for a day…let’s see it this way: I save the environment by not using water and soap when I don’t shower…isn’t it a better and brighter way to see things???). My room has a double bed, not much space on the side, enough for my bag. After shower it was immediately time for dinner. It was dark, I didn’t know the place and being off season I was expecting not many places to eat, so I chose to eat at Iris. Her husband had cooked some soup and some beef with potatoes, very tasty it’s to be said. I wasn’t alone, there were 4 guys who were working in Tortel to do some studies for a new small harbor. Didn’t talk much with them, but it was interesting to hear them talking about the big flood happened the month before, I guess the same one the 2 Israelis got trapped into. They were telling about water 1/1.5m high, cars crossing with water half way in, and a car which for some reason got flooded and brought away by the stream…it was the car of one of their coworkers, and they even had pictures to show me. Argh, water was really high. Manuel the driver had showed us where the problem occurred, the road was a bit going down but mainly the problem has been that the road had cut in 2 the natural flow of the water, so in case of heavy rain…the road is flooded and the village cut away from the rest of the world for 3 days! Early night for me and long sleep. Up at 9am hearing someone who didn’t sound being Chilean…in fact were a French couple, not very talkative but I understood they are traveling for 1.5 years, they shipped their Toyota Land Cruiser very old model from France to Buenos Aires, they went south and now they are traveling up north and planning to reach Alaska in 1.5 years…good luck to them! A small not on the senora Iris…strange woman, quite hyperactive, she had short hair combed in front of her face, and most of the time on the bus she wore a hat, a male hat. She was wearing kind of Adidas leggings, with boots…she was just a phenomena, a strange look. But she was funny, and enjoyed to laugh. The day wasn’t that good, was raining, but I went out exploring anyway, I had gone all the way down there, and I was going to visit this town! First stop at tourist information, to get a map: I had not realized that Tortel was such extended along the coast, they predicted me 45 minutes/1 hour to reach the other side. Also I didn’t know it was spread along 3 bays, with 3 hills to cross. Finally I didn’t know much about the “pasarelas”, wooden foot bridges which connect the town. There are no roads, just pasarelas or boats. This is part of the charme of the town!!! Every building is made of wood, they are very careful with this. This town was built years ago to serve as a base for cypress processing, there’s a special variety of cypress here, it has a particular smell and it’s reddish.

Every now and then along the pasarela there is a square. It’s a bigger pasarela, like a square, and they covered it. There are at least 4, few benches and that’s it…curious to know how they use it! I went all the way to the end, to a small beach, you can’t swim there but it’s nice, there’s a swing, I play a bit before heading back. The library is a nice red and yellow building, they have internet free. And some nice books, I love this small library, it’s so cozy, and it had some good books as well, I would be there all the time if I would live in Tortel! After the library I met the trio of the day before and headed to the hotel with them: WOW! What a hotel! Maria Paz, my secret sister (she really looks like me!), is an architect and designed the hotel and made it just as she wanted it. It’s amazing. You enter into the living with kitchen, huge living, all wood, great kitchen, all very simple but perfectly chosen, the rooms are fabulous, the bathroom amazing, with a great view over the town. I loved the place. And wow, it’s expensive…130 dollars for a double room, much much higher than everything else (I paid my stay approx 20 dollars a night, including breakfast and dinner!), but it’s worth it, such a lovely place. If you will have go there on honeymoon, that’s the place to go!!!And she is a very good cook, ate so good! I was there, chatting with them, when they started preparing some food, and they offered it to me too. I did not mean to invite myself for lunch, it was 2.30pm when I met them so thought it was after the critical time, but it wasn’t! We had a small appetizer, some wine, I had to taste some kind of grappa homemade, after Jorge the writer prepared some salmon, we had so much laughs during the preparation..he wanted to do something special but turned out being nothing amazing, so the girls teased him lots! We just stayed there chatting, enjoying the fire, the view and the food. Jorge gave me one of his books, it’s so good, I really like his short stories. I stayed there till 6pm, then it was time for a short walk, the sun was shining more than before, so I wanted to catch a glimpse of the town with the sun. Jorge and Cecilia came with me, then we said goodbye, they were staying 1 week, I was leaving the next morning. Lucky guys, they would be taken out by boat to discover the beauties around, they would enjoy books, relax, good food! Back home another good dinner and a long night sleep, next day I wanted to get back to Coyahique…easy to do by bus, but no buses that way, so hitchhike was the only option left. In the morning I went for a last walk around town, last sight of pasarelas, of wooden houses, of this strange place at the end of the world. I was ready to go at 9.30, seen another girl waiting for a ride so we waited together and got something by 10am. A guy, who is delivering books to schools around the Carretera Austral. Every week, or every time new books arrive in Coyahique, he jumps in the car and visit all schools around to deliver them. Many schools, and many kilometers on dirty roads. For a 150km journey it can take 3 hours. This guy was strange, he didn’t talk almost at all. And his air conditioning was very high, it was freezing cold. We realized it was because he hadn’t slept much in the last days so he wanted to keep awake: argh. I was freezing, but he was giving us a ride, didn’t want to be impolite! He was going all the way to Coyahique, so I hoped he could drive me, but he could not as he was picking up 3 guys somewhere. He left both of us at a crossroad, the girl was going to Chile Chico, I was going the other direction. I’ve been luckier than her, the second car passing gave me a ride. He was a young guy who works there for a company related to the damn they want to build. They do checking of the soil, and start building electrical plants or something like this. This guy was nice, he knew about the world and he was interested in Italy. He told me things about life there, nothing new, but he also told me about parties in C!!! He drove me straight to the hostel in C. where I checked in before heading to internet. There for some reason I heard/understood that there was a ferry leaving that night from not far away, direction Chiloe… that was lucky, I wanted to get out of the Carretera Austral, too slow driving there! You know I am crazy enough to jump on a bus direction the harbor to catch a ferry…which I am not even sure it actually goes. Crazy me! So again I did not manage to stay in Coyahique, gues I haven’t missed much. So off I went, got my backpack and jumped on a bus, and then another one. And then I arrived at the harbor and…no ferries leaving that night, argh! I knew it would end up like this, but I wanted to try my luck. No luck. Well that’s ok sometimes, isn’t it? So I stayed for the night in Puerto Aysen, an awful town with just 1 restaurant open in the center. Half of the menu was not available, food was ok but around me there was nothing nice. I was staying in a single room, and…I had TV, first time since the start of the trip, it felt so strange! So I watched TV, there were 3 nice movies so did some zapping before being too tired and giving up, let’s sleep. Damn Chileans…probably because it was Friday night, at about 2am they were chatting downstairs, maybe it wasn’t even too loud, but being the walls very thin, I could hear everything, while I actually wanted to sleep! Long night, didn’t want to get out of bed that morning, but I had to, I was planning to get to Futaleufu at the border with Chili, approx 250/300km away, I thought would be feasible…I overestimate the Carretera always! Oh yeah, of course I did not count on buses, from where I was I should have gone back 1 hour to Coyahique to catch a bus. I thought I would get one on the way. Easy lift out of time. A guy who after few minutes asked me if I believed in life after death, in reincarnation… then he told me that since he was a kid he dreamt of a place, very detailed, always dreaming of it. And then once…he saw a picture, and this was exactly the place of his dreams, in Italy somewhere. He was sure he never saw a picture of this place when kid. Next ride was a young guy with a small truck, and his brother on the truck behind. Their job is to go up the mountains to fetch wood and bring it back to Puerto Aysen where they sell it. They are collecting lots of wood to have enough for the whole winter. Every day they would go up and fill 2 trucks of wood. He showed me nice places, and stopped for me to take pictures in a couple of them. He also wanted to show me condors but at that moment there was none, he was surprised! We crossed a town, there were lots of hitchhikers there, so I asked to be left just outside town. All HH (hitchhikers!) were Israelis, in groups of at least 3, I knew I would be luckier than them to find a lift. Not only because I’m a woman, but because I’m not Israeli. The first car passing stopped, a 70 years old guy, going up the mountains to bring food and supplies to the shop of his nephew. Another nice guy. He was really talkative and he told me about all his life, how he moved to Argentina with his grandmother, how when he was 16 he wanted so badly to be a military so got back to Chili to get his Chilean accent back before applying for military service. He got refused for some health problems but he has been so stubborn that finally he got it, signing that if anything was happening to him because of his heart it would be his own responsibility. He stayed there many years, then married and went back to Argentina and other things like this. I almost didn’t talk, and sometimes it was difficult understanding him, very strong accent and speaking very fast. He was a nice man, he looked so happy of his life, of his wife, his kids and nephews, it’s good when you see something like this, a happy man! He drop me in a small town, where I had to wait for 2 hours for next lift. Again interesting people. They were 4 adults and a kid, in a small bus falling apart. As soon as I got in we had to stop to fix the brakes, something had broken, the wheel was not straight, they fixed it with some rubber and then was ok. They were from Puerto Aysen and they were going to Puerto Cisnes to see some churches. Did not really understand this, they were still debating whether coming back the same evening or staying overnight. They had booklets talking about God and they mentioned they always do this kind of trips. The parents of the kid, possibly a brother and a friend. There were road works and the pavement was very muddy, and because of the bad wheel we ended up out of the road. Luckily there was one bulldozer which pulled us out. Few kilometers after same thing, and another bulldozer helped us. I think it was the guys fault, he could not really drive well, damn, at a certain point I wanted to tell him I could drive instead!! Anyway we survived to get out of the road works and arrived to the crossroad where they were turning out of my way. They left me there, I was so worried I would not get a ride that I happily got a ride with the bus, I was tired and I had already understood that Carretera Austral was going to be slow, and any possible ride was the best choice, I didn’t want to get stuck there, it was even raining!

On that bus there were 2 aussies, which became my travel companions for the next 2 days! But again…this mail is long enough…so this will be the next story!



TortelLen (as Japanese would say my name…making me a good pasta!!)

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