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The US of A

Staypineapple was a really cool little boutique hotel located in the Gaslamp Quarter. It’s facilities and rooms were high quality and yet it had the buzz and energy of a backpackers. We grabbed some free bikes from the hotel and set off to explore San Diego. First stop was the waterfront and the impressive aircraft carrier USS Midway. We then headed inland to Balboa Park and spent an hour riding around the park. There were a lot of beautiful old colonial buildings housing quite a few museums and art houses. We started noticing the large number of homeless people – mostly males – but what was interesting was that they were very polite and quite chatty when engaged.

We decided to ride the 6km to a shopping mall which took us out towards the airport and the port. A few times we had to ride along the edge of the motorway which was a bit disconcerting. The number of homeless people around the naval base was incredible – I guess a lot of them are ex military. In the end we did around 30km so got to see a fair bit of the city. While we felt we did not really get a handle on the place, we both picked up a vibe that was a mixture of affluence and poverty. Quite weird. We grabbed a meal at a Gaslamp fish restaurant which was expensive given what we had been used to paying.

A big storm forecast for the next day so we chilled in the morning before picking up our car for the driver to Coachella. We took the more scenic highway 79 and were amazed at the amount of snow left over from the big storm over Thanksgiving. It got dark by 5 so finding our place turned into a bit of a challenge. Made worse by us trying calling the place for the next night when trying to get access to get access. We finally got in to our room which was basically a converted garage with a toilet attached. It was fine and served its purpose.

The next day was spent driving through the Joshua Tree National Park. We bought a $80 pass which gave us access to most US National Parks over the next 12 months. Joshua Tree was incredible, as was its namesake cactus/tree. We stopped a couple of times for a bit of a trek – once to see the skull rock which we never found; and another to walk up a canyon. It really was beautiful – I can I understand why U2 named my favourite album after it and why a lot of people come here to take mushrooms. The roads were populated by a lot of large RV’s and massive ute’s.

Our room for the night was in Casa Frank – basically a home (the owner Frank slept in a little side room) with 4 bedrooms and a communal lounge and kitchen. 1 bathroom was a bit of a ‘mare. Interestingly our approach of only staying at places rated 8 and above on Booking.com didn’t work in America as there were no places rated above 8 in our budget range. Americans must be tough raters as the 7 rated places were fine. We had heard good things about a diner called Pappy & Harriet which was a bit of an institution that played live music, so decided to drive the 15 minutes to check it out. The bands were OK but probably not worth the drive.

Next day we had a bit of a drive to Death Valley Inn & RV Park in Beatty on the outskirts of the Death Valley National Park. We were in real cowboy zone with the plenty of cowboy hats and massive cars and utes. It was also cold. We walked into town – it had a few dodgy food places and motels. Deryn stayed in the motel while I headed into town for dinner at the local Denny’s which was located inside a casino. Can’t get more American than that. We got away early the next day as Death Valley was huge and we needed as much time as possible to see what we could before it got dark. We were in the park within 20 minutes. It was spectacular – a vast expanse of valleys and mountains in the distance. We took quite a few photo’s but they just did not do it justice.

First stop was Zabriskie’s Point and a walk up the hill to admire the coloured mountains. Next stop was Dante’s View up the top of the Black Mountains. It was a bit of a drive and as we stated to near the top the clouds started to roll in so by the time we reached the top visibility was basically a metre! Great. So back down to the valley floor and a hike in Golden Canyon. We decided to do the 6km walk and when looking for out little backpack we realised that we had left it behind back in Beatty. Damn. It had Deryn’s wallet as well as our water bottle so we had to go retrieve it. Thankfully it had been found in our room and was waiting for us in reception. A 120km round trip – it wasn’t that bad as the views were that impressive it didn’t matter seeing it for a second and then third time. It was nearly 2 hours before we returned to Golden Canyon so only had time for a 30 minute walk. The scenery was unique – you would not want to be in the area when it rained as the there was no top soil to soak up any water and it would funnel into the canyons that we walked into. Not that rain was a real risk as the area only has 2 inches a year (and an average temp of 120F in the summer!).

Next was the Devil’s golf course which was basically a salt plain but a lot different to the last one we saw in Northern Argentina. The surface was very jagged, unlike the smooth surfaces elsewhere. Badwater Basin – the lowest point in North America at 282ft below sea level – was our furthest point before heading out via the Artists Palette and Artists Drive. Again, it was a lot less colourful than Argentina – the perils of a prolonged period of travel; you get spoiled. We spent the night in Panamint Springs Motel & Tents on the edge of the Park. We had to check in at the local petrol station; the room was basic but fine. There was only one restaurant in the area so we had dinner and then the included breakfast – most US places include a breakfast with the room rate. Deryn likes them but I find them a bit basic. But then I do love a full English Breakfast sans meat!!!

It was a 4.5 hour drive around the Sequoia National Park through some stunning farmland and mountains. We stopped a couple of times for a cup of tea (one cafe was packed to the rafters with gunc – no photos allowed – and cats of all ages!) and then lunch (where a naturalised Aussie told us of his plans to ride his horses from Mexico to Canada). Our place in Three Rivers – Lazy J Ranch Motel – was on a family run ranch – been in the family since the 70’s. It was beautiful with a few goats and sheep to make it feel authentic. There were a few lambs which surprised me – they explained that it was done intentionally to coincide with the annual farm show in May where they would compete.

Next morning it was an early start with our first stop in town to buy/rent some snow chains which is are mandatory to carry in the car when heading into the Park. I had no idea how many sizes of the damn things. We ended up buying some cheap ones (US$60) which we could return and get a $30 refund if unused. We knew there was going to be a bit of snow as we could not drive between Sequoia and Kings Canyon as the road through the pass was closed. Within 30 minutes of driving we were climbing through multiple hairpin bends; then we hit the snow. We stopped at the Giant Forest Museum to get a bit of background to the amazing Sequoia trees. They only grow naturally between 2800 and 4000 metres in this small part of California. They are the biggest trees in the world by mass and and some are thought to be well over 3000 years old. The biggest, General Sherman weighs over 1800 tonnes and is thought be to 2700 years old. That makes it only a middle-age giant sequoia, as other trees are believed to be more than 3,220 years old. We tried to go for a hike amongst the magnificent trees but unfortunately the snow was too deep and we had to bail out and walk back on the road. We then drove up to see the General. Quite awe inspiring standing in his shadow. From there we drove to the Lodgepole centre for a cuppa before heading back down to the warmer climes to have a picnic lunch in a park.

Given the amount of snow, visiting Kings Canyon and Yosemite was not an option so decided to head back to LA and do the coastal drive up to San Francisco. We reached out to Jimmy and Zsoka in Santa Monica to make sure there was a bed for the night – there was so we were good. 4 hours later we were in J&Z’s place – the motorway was full of massive cars and trucks top with only 1 driver. Insane. It was lovely to spend some time with James and Zsoka which included a walk around the very habitable suburb of Santa Monica including its beach (much prefer Aus and NZ beaches) We went for dinner at a local pub where we joined by Simon Oz Osborne for a lovely evening. We kept going at James and Zsoka’s – Zsoka and I gave my bottle of Jamison a very good nudge.

We headed up Route 101 after a leisurely breakfast in another lovely local cafe. The food and coffee in Santa Monica was certainly top shelf. First stop was Malibu. Incredible how they have built all the houses basically on the beach. The house owns the beach up to the high tide mark – will be interesting to see how much their insurance premiums are going to increase on the back of global warming. Next stop was Santa Barbara. Another beautiful place with a very liveable vibe. We stopped for a bit of a wonder; I got talked into buying a jacket and jeans after which we grabbed a tea and a fruit juice from the cafe in The Californian – $22!! Not a cheap place to stay me thinks.

The drive to Cambria was OK but route 101 was a bit too much of a motorway; things started to improve once we turned off onto route 1. We had a brief stop at Morro Bay to admire the sun setting over the estuary. Our hotel – Cambria Beach Lodge – was very cute. On checking in the owner asked me twice whether I had any pets – apparently this part of the world is pet city. We checked in and went for a walk along the beach to watch the sun set followed by another overprices meal – if you share the main without an entree they add $8 to your bill.

The drive the next am was beautiful. First stop on the was Hearst Castle, built by William Hearst in the roaring 20’s. Unfortunately you had to join an official tour to see the castle up on top of the hill so Deryn and I declined. Next stop was a nearby beach that was home to a colony of elephant seals. There must have been over 100 of them – the males were huge! For the next hour or so of our journey we were engulfed by fog which hampered the view but also gave the scenery a ghostly vibe. The fog finally lifted and we were treated to incredible views. We must have stopped every 15 minutes or so to admire the views. We did one walk down to a small 2 site camp ground – would be a magic place to camp but not with children given the sheer drops all around. We, of course, had to stop to photo the famous Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge. Standing room only but definitely worth it. We stopped for a hike in the Los Padres National Forest. We climbed through a forest of the world’s tallest trees – the Redwood. Amazing. There was still lots of evidence of the 2016 Soberanes Fire which burnt over 133,000 acres. Dinner was a burger in a mall on the outskirts of Carmel-by-the-sea before checking in to our very pleasant Forest Lodge.

Carmel-by-the-sea is famous for being the location where Big Little Lies was filmed. The place was stunning. A very cute village with an amazing beach – I would hate to think what a beachside pad would cost. We both agreed that we would love to spend a lot more time in the area. Our drive to San Fran was a bit bland – more because of the contrast from the Big Sur. We dropped our bags off at Clayton’s place in Cow Hollow before driving around for a whole trying to find the car rental place. We had travelled 1904 miles on our brief US adventure.

We then had a lovely weekend in San Fran with Clayton. Dinner with Wayne and Cherie Fairbrother on Friday night, a brief lunch with Jennifer and Silvia on Saturday before a night playing pool in a local bar – we liked the Alaskans we met but found the local SF folk that turned up a bit later a pack of knobs. To be frank. I had lunch with Paul (a mate of Clayton’s from London now living in NY) and Clayton on Monday before flying to Vancouver late afternoon. So that’s it from the blog for now. It’s been an incredible adventure.

Michoacán Province

The drive to Morelia was a breeze and it wasn’t long before we were checked into our very nice hotel called Herencia by Hosting House, a lovely boutique hotel about 200m from the main square called Plaza de Armas. Morelia is a UNESCO World Heritage, founded in 1541. It was originally called Valladolid (the same name as the city we we stayed in the Yucatan) but changed its name to Morelia in memory of Jose Morelos after the Mexican War of Independence.

The city is beautiful. Probably the most beautiful of all the cities, I think, we have visited in Mexico, if not the whole of our trip. The number of churches was incredible, it seemed like there was one on every second corner. The Morelia Cathedral is a stunning building – it took over 100 years to build from 1640 until the mid 1700’s. The main hall was incredible, but then leading off the main hall were a load of smaller alcoves, each with a different saint or statue of Jesus. Other impressive churches were Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe – the interior was a stunning display of gold laced decorations – and the Templo de Santa Rosa de Lima. Although an atheist, I love visiting and sitting in quiet churches. The church plays such an important role in the local community; the cathedral or church is always located in the main town square. We start our exploration of every town by looking for the church steeple!!

The first day we just wandered around for hours, walking into any interesting looking buildings to check out the amazing insides. One building we wondered into was a music school, so we sat in the plaza for a while listening to a beautiful soprano in one ear and a small orchestra in the other. A real treat. We stopped a couple of times in various squares to simply watch the world go by supping on quality coffee. We noticed that there were Way less smokers compared to other parts of Mexico, with a lot of buildings and squares were signposted as non-smoking. Also a hell of a lot of Volkswagon Beatles. I think they are manufactured in the area. That night we grabbed some Subway and watched a movie in our room while munching on the sandwiches. Luxury.

The next day, after an incredible breakfast in our hotel, we walked in the opposite direction to the main square to check out the Morelia Aqueduct. It was built in 1785 and is over 1.6km long. It was built during a drought to bring drinking water to the city. The quality of the workmanship was impressive given its durability. We also found out the Morelia wasn’t just special because of the architecture but also its cooking. Everywhere you went there were restaurants and cafe’s. Deryn and I are not foodies so don’t make too much effort to find decent restaurants in the cities of towns that we visit, but in Morelia they find you. That night we had some of the best fish tacos ever (close call with the Escondido ones) at a restaurant called Tata Mezcalaria.

On our last day in Morelia we tried to go to the Joker movie. It’s a bit of a challenge to see a movie in English as most movies are dubbed into Spanish with very few sub-titled. No luck here as well – only dubbed movies. As we were about to leave the next morning, a bus drove into a taxi outside our hotel which resulted in gridlock in central Morelia. Thankfully the hotel carpark was in the main plaza and we were heading in the opposite direction to the crash. Otherwise we would still be there I reckon.

We drove to a local artisan town called Capula, also where the “Catrina dolls” – Festival of the Dead statues, are made.The artisan crafts were incredible, as were the number of Catrinas – Deryn wanted to buy one but I talked her out of it, on the grounds that we could never carry it for the rest of our trip without breaking it. The town was authentic rural Mexican with its beautiful colours, dirt roads and even donkeys. From there it was onto Pátzcuaro, the original capital of Michoacán founded in the 1320’s (the capital was later moved to Valladolid). Pátzcuaro is one of the 111 Pueblos Magicos (magic towns) of Mexico. Like most Mexican Cities, the roads were all one way which made it beyond the capabilities of Google Maps to get to our hotel Hotel Estancia de la Era B&B. The B&B was another lovely old converted colonial house.

The weather was a bit dodgy; it was also a lot colder than we had been used to but Pátzcuaro is over 2100m above sea level. The town was probably the most indigenous of the bigger towns we had visited with loads of street food stalls and a massive market teeming with stalls selling everything imaginable. We headed to the main square – Plaza Vasco de Quiroga – and on the way checked out Templo de San Francisco, an impressive pink stone building dating from the 1500’s. Trying to avoid the rain we found a place to eat on some outdoor but covered tables and had a feed of tacos to the sound of a baritone opera singer. It was a bit of a feature of Pátzcuaro – actually a lot of Mexico – that buskers use the outside seating areas as a captive audience. They are mostly great but occasionally you get some deranged individual making a noise – which can still be entertaining.

The next day is was back to simply walking around admiring the incredible old buildings. The Basicals de Nuestra Senora de la Salud, a Catholic cum pilgrimage site that was started in the 1540s but was not finished until the 1800’s. The Casa de Los Once Patios (house of 11 patios) was less impressive than expected. It was a Dominican convent in the 1500’s but today is effectively an artisan market. Having spent a couple of days walking around Pátzcuaro, its the place to visit if you want to get some eye wear or pharmaceuticals, with at least a dozen shops of each in the Historica Centro alone. Also there was a load of libraries! While having breakfast in our B&B, we met a Canadian couple who ran their Canadian businesses out of a local town during the Canadian winter. They gave us their details and told us to come stay if we ever visited Vancouver Island. We may never leave.

The next day we decided to circumnavigate the local lake Lago de Platzcuaro and visit a few of the highly rated towns around it. We started out early as it was a weekend and big crowds were expected. First stop was at the easily pronounced town of TzinTzunTzan- our favourite for the day. We spent some time walking around the grounds of the ex convent of Santa Ana, admiring the ancient olive trees in the gardens and then the art work on display in the converted convent. By the time we left the tour buses had arrived and the place was getting crowded. Next stop was Quiroga. We tried to park as close to the main square as we could which turned into a real struggle because all the roads were closed off and converted into markets. We spent an hour walking around the chaos that was Quiroga, really standing out as the only westerners. We have encountered very few westerners in Michoacán, those that we have tend to be older tour groups. We think this is because there is no back-packer infrastructure such as hostels, shuttle buses etc. I don’t think the backpackers realise how cheap car rental is and hence miss out on visiting the many beautiful cities and towns in the province.

We planned to head of Santa Fe de la Laguna but 1km out of Quiroga the road was blocked by some locals protesting against some injustice. We had to turn around and head back to Patzcuaro which was a real shame as we had only travelled a fraction of what we wanted to around the lake. Getting back into Pátzcuaro was a nightmare with all the weekend traffic. As it turned out, heading home was probably for the best as the weathers packed in. We had a fireplace in our room so we headed into town and bought some kindling, and would you believe a Catrina doll – guess who will be carrying it!! We then had a great night playing cards in front of a lovely fire.

The next day was off to Uruapan to climb the Volcan de Paricutin, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It started to bubble up in a farmers field in 1943 and within 9 year as it had grown 432 metres. Only 3 people were killed but 2 towns were buried in lava but thankfully it was slow moving so the populations could evacuate. We stayed in Uruapan which was really drab so we were thankful we were only staying for a couple of nights. Our hotel – Hotel Mi Solar – was pleasant and very handily located near to the main square. We headed out to find some food and could not believe how packed the place was – must be a holiday of some sort. Also had a real problem of finding a place to eat – very different to Morelia!!

The volcano blogs suggested getting away early so we were on the road to Angahuan. It took just over 30 min to reach the town. A local flagged down the car and asked if we wanted to climb Paricutin. Indeed, but would like to have breakfast first. “Follow me”. He jumped onto his horse and galloped off. We followed him through the town to a rundown restaurant on the other side. He woke up the owners who proceeded to cook us as good a breakfast as we have had for a long time. From there we followed our guide to the tourist centre where we agreed a price of 1200p ($A90) for 2 horses and a guide. His name was Ryan (well that’s what it sounded like). It was a 12km ride to the base of the volcano through fields of avocados and blackened larva. There was a fair bit of climbing over the last 2 kms, the horses were certainly working hard and so trotting was infrequent which was no bad thing as the wooden saddles were brutal on our butts.

About 90 min later we reached the base of the volcano proper. There were a few run down buildings which housed a tienda selling drinks and nibbles. There were also lots of dogs lazing around,some tied up and some not. Ryan took us around the side of the volcano first to show us a lot of steam vents – some of the you could place your ear my ear the vent and hear the steam bubbling away below. It was pretty cool. We then had a 25 min climb to the rim of the volcano – hard work as you were effectively walking on sand. We walked around the rim of the volcano once we got to the top – the views of the surrounding area were incredible with very clear evidence which way the larva flowed. You could walk down into the volcano but we couldn’t see any point apart from saying you had done it. Heading back down was brilliant and took about 2 minutes – our experience from Acatenango in Guatemala helped. Big steps while leaning backwards and running was the secret. It was fun but still tiring.

On the way home we has a couple of encounters with wildlife. Firstly Deryn spotted a rather large brightly coloured snake which slithered off as we passed it. We were glad we were on horseback. About 20 minutes later Deryn’s horse suddenly stopped, its head went up with ears pricked forward, it appeared really spooked. 30 metres to the left of us a coyote popped up on the rocks and stopped and stared at us. It looked like a wolf. It stood there for about 10 secs, with us staring at each other before walking off. It was a very special encounter. Just before returning home, we stopped at the ruins of the San Juan Parangaricutiro Church. Somehow the main steeple survived the larva flow and now poked out surrounded by a sea of larva. A nearby building had also partly survived and was now a shrine. Quite moving. By the time we returned to base we had travelled 27km, been in a the saddle for 4 hours and climbed over 900m. And boy our butts and legs were sore. Still, we were so glad we did it.

We returned to Uruapan for a well deserved meal in a decent restaurant – the town was a lot more pleasant than the bedlam of the day before. The next morning it was time to head back to Mexico City for our flight to Los Mochis in 2 days. First we did an early morning walk around the nearby Barranca del Cupatitzio National Park. The park centered around the headwaters of the Cupatitzio River which emerges from an underground spring, carving a small ravine as the water begins to flow. It was beautiful and showed us a very different side of Uruapan.

We stopped over back in our lovely hotel in Morelia for the night. We completely cocked it up though trying to get into the city on Independence Day as the whole place was closed to traffic. We had to park the car 1.5kms from the hotel and walk – given we were only staying one night we had minimal luggage which made it OK. We did a rerun of our favourites – lunch at Tata Mezcalaria, visited the Morelia Cathedral and had Subway for dinner while watching a movie. The drive to the airport to drop off our rental was a lot easier than the drive out as we circled the city on toll roads so only had about 15kms of city traffic. That was still a real struggle and we high fived when we pulled into Avis. No problems with the car so all we had to do was settle the road tolls that we had incurred – nearly 1000p ($75) over our 15 days.

We stayed in an airport hotel – Fiesta Inn – which was a classic airport hotel. It wasn’t too bad and I did get to use the gym and pool. We flew out to Los Mochis the next morning on AeroMexico; which again was an absolute pleasure. Copper Canyon here we come.

Salento – Los Nevado National Park 4 day trek

We had a day to chill before we headed off on our trek in the Los Nevados National park. We decided to walk to the two Miradors to enjoy the view and get in some altitude ‘training’ :). The walk to the view took all of 10 minutes but it certainly was impressive. It really is a beautiful part of the world. Apparently Salento was a bit of ghost town 15 years ago due to the number of FARC guerillas in the area; it is now a bustling tourist destination (local and overseas). We certainly would not be doing our trek. We had a local coffee – Salento is also known for its coffee with a lot of Arabic coffee grown in the area.

We headed off to the Paremo Trek office at 4 for our trek debrief. Fortunately for us, another trekker had just turned up which meant we could now do the 4 day trek for the price of our planned 3 day – as there was originally only 2 of trekking we had to pay for all guide ourselves, adding a third meant his costs were now shared 3 ways. She was Katrin from Switzerland. We were told to be back at the office at 7am the following morning.

We met our guide Freddy (aka Chuko – means Jesus) the next morning and got given some snacks for the 4 days as well as our lunch for the day. A bit of a challenge to find some space in our fully laden backpacks (we took our little ones – leaving the big packs back at the hotel). We then headed off for a hearty feed at a local cafe before loading ourselves into one of the many Colombian ‘Willis’ jeeps for a hour drive to the start of the trek in the Cocora Valley (2390m). It was here that we were meant to encounter lots of the famous Quindío palms – they can grow up to 300ft tall. While we certainly saw plenty of them, we didn’t walk amongst them as expected. It was a bit chilly at the start of the trek but it soon warmed up as we climbed, and climbed and climbed some more. Once we got above 2800m the trees thinned and we started to encounter the paramo de frailejones – weird looking cactuses out of a Dr Seuss book. It was here that Chuko gave us some of his cocoa & baking powder mix to provide energy. It was akin to sucking on chewing tobacco but it worked.

We finally made it to our “finka” for the night around 3pm – La Argentina at an altitude of 3400m – it had taken us nearly 6 hours to cover the 13km but in that we had climbed an incredible 1461m!. To say the hut was basic was an understatement but it had served the family living there for many generations so it was certainly good enough for us. There were plenty of animals around – cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, dogs – including a couple of shivering Chihuahuas!!. The family’s main revenue used to come from cheese making but now it was from hosting tourists. They built a room alongside the house to sleep up to 14 tourists in double bed bunks – thankfully there were only 7 of us to we got to have a double bunk each. There was no lights in the room – head torches were a must. The shower was magic if somewhat cramped.

When not in the sleepout, the time was spent sitting on a raised bench above the wood fired stove and kitchen bench to enjoy the warmth. It was certainly cosy with all of us in there. We all got given a bowl of lovely potato soup before settling in to watch the quarter final of COPA America. I snuck off for an hour kip before the Colombia v Chile game at 615. It was very pleasant watching the game and our hyper-busy hostess preparing dinner. The old owner popped in from a day out on the farm for dinner and to say hello. Dinner consisted of more potato soup and then a plate of beans, avocado, fried plantain(banana) and rice. Lovely. We gave up on the soccer at half time (Chile ending up winning on penalties) and headed to be at 730. It had been a tough day – Deryn had found it particularly so but had soldiered on like the trooper she is.

It was a restless night sleep with the wind howling, dogs barking, cows mooing and roosters crowing. I was also a bit dehydrated which did not help. We were told breakfast was at 630 so get up at 6. I was in the kitchen waiting for brekkie at 6.20 but only got anything at 650. Colombian time! Breakfast was potato soup (of course), rice, scrambled egg and a cracker. Plus a cop of cocoa tea followed by a coffee. It was past 8 before we got away for another tough day of climbing.

We basically climbed for the first 4 km to nearly 4200m – 800m in 2 hours. Brutal. We had a brief stop at the farm called Buenos Aires – no idea why these weird names – before continuing our climb. It was pretty cold and cloudy so we did not get to see the Paramillo del Quindío (4,750 meters) volcano but thankfully that was it for the climbing which meant we could start to enjoy the splendour of our remote landscape. Chuko was great at pointing out some of the stunning plants in the area as well as the odd bird. We were going to walk to base of the volcano but after climbing the hill on part of the journey, all decided to flag it. The cold wind combined with the distance put us all off. Plus we had a long day tomorrow.

It was a gradual decline until to Buenos Aires finka at 3800m – it was visible about an hour out – it was a long hour given how tired we were from the 2 days of climbing. I was also continually piddling as I was drinking so much water to avoid the dehydration from the previous day. I stopped 7 times during the day!

The farmhouse was situated in a beautiful valley with a lot more flat paddocks around it. The kitchen was a lot smaller than Argentina but a lot neater, the toilet even had a lid!. We all enjoyed the shower again, knowing there was no shower the following day. The kitchen was a bit small so we all ended up having a bit of a kip (and read) in the dorm before dinner. It also gave us an opportunity to try out the beds and to add another 3 blankets on top of the mattress to soften it. So for me it was 3 blankets below and 3 on top – Deryn had 4 on top – it really did get that cold overnight. We walked 11.4km climbing 888m in just over 6 hours.

Dinner was some lentil soup, followed by some fried chicken, avocado, fried plantain, some beetroot & onion mix and rice. Delicious. We were all in bed by 7 reading and asleep soon after. It wasn’t as cold as the previous night but we had the pleasure of the roosters deciding 430am was a decent time to start crowing. Including the rooster who lived on the roof above my bunk. Breakfast of course included a hearty potato soup. We managed to get away by 7.45 am with another climb of 250m to start the day. We now entered the National Park proper after our first 2 days of walking through privately owned farms. The trekking was a little easier then previous days as a lot of our gear was being transported to our next stop on a mule. It meant that Deryn and I only had 1 light bag between us – which I carried of course being the perfect gentlemen. After the 90 minutes of the climb, it flattened out and we really started to enjoy ourselves. The views were incredible and many of the paramo were in flower – the flowers showed why they are the same family as the sunflower. The varied landscapes made us all very glad that we had opted for the 4 day hike over the 3.

We finally made it to Laguna Otun (a lake) around 1. Chuko gave us each a bar of chocolate to celebrate the achievement and then cooked us lunch over a little gas stove. Powdered mash potato and vegetables – just add water and cheese. It was lovely. As was the coffee.

Our descent to El Jordan was brilliant. Chuko took us on his many shortcuts, some of them involving traversing incredibly steep banks, climbing over fences and crossing many streams. We also got to walk through some cloud forests with its NZ like palms and ferns. It really was magic and made all the hard work of the last 2 and a half days well worth it. We also got to share some of NZ’s favourite past time with Chuko. After 19.5km and over 9 hours, we made it to El Jordan. While we had only climbed 752m that day, we were shattered. I had won the days piddling contest with Katrin – 13 to 12. The farmhouse was lovely – although the owners were certainly a lot less friendly than our previous hosts. The views were incredible. The lack of a shower was compensated by some beers and spectacular views. Dinner was awful. Boiled spud, dry chicken and some rice.

It was a much milder night with fewer disruptions so we all had a better nights sleep. Jeez, I can’t wait to sleep in a decent bed again! We got away our earliest yet at 7.20am – I guess Chuko wanted to finish early. Again it was a very pleasant walk (no hills to climb!!) and it wasn’t long before we started to encounter other trekkers – initially heading down – but soon more and more doing a day hike out o El Cedral. It was a long weekend in Colombia so it was busier that normal. It took us 3 hours to reach the Otún Quimbaya Fauna and Flora Sanctuary with its large, and busy, campground. We had a brief stop before pushing on to finish the last 6km. A lot of it was walking down a riverbed which thankfully was not too wet which meant it was comparatively easy. Certainly the walking poles came into their own in terms of providing balance. We made it to El Cedral by 12.10 – we covered the 14.3km in just under 5 hours. A bit too quick as our car had not yet arrived. He showed up at 12.30 at which point we agreed to pay 100k pesos ($50) between the 3 of us to get him to drive us straight back to Salento rather than the Pereira bus stop. The public holiday meant the bus station would have been a nightmare.

As it turned out the drive was brilliant. It involved navigating some pretty narrow and steep mountain roads – at one stage the 4 wheel drive car could not get traction on a particularly steep bit of road and had to back up and try again. We drove though some very fertile areas with plenty of onions and avocados being grown. We arrived back in Salento by 3 and went straight to Brunch for some incredible burgers. We said our fond farewells to both Chuko and Katrin before heading back to our hotel for a long shower and a change of clothes. After catching up with the world we headed down to the one Indian restaurant in town for a disappointing curry. The airy room and a soft bed was brilliant. Over the 4 days we walked 59km, climbed an incredible 3200m over 29 hours. Deryn and I both agreed its was the toughest tramp we had ever done.

Banos de Agua Santa

Had a great night sleep to the sound of the swollen Rio Pastaza roaring in the background. We walked the 2km into town and spent an hour or so exploring its centre. I think it’s clear you don’t come to Baños to experience the architectural wonders of the town. It’s all about outdoor adventures.

In the afternoon we got a $10 taxi to the Casa Del Arbol at the top of the mountain above Baños. It’s area is renown for the many swings perched on the edge of cliffs, giving you spectacular views of the area while swinging. Deryn enjoyed it more than I did as it made me feel a bit sick. FFS – getting older is pain! We also had a cursory go on the flying fox before starting the walk down.

The walk entailed a couple of kms on the road before heading off into a very steep muddy path down the mountain. It was hard going but quite spectacular views of Baños and the very rural environment made it worthwhile. The 10km walk took us 90min. We grabbed an early meal at a steak house – chicken for me and fish for Deryn. We then headed to the local hot pools at the base of the Cascade Cabellera de la Virgen Falls (someone saw the Virgin Mary there a few years back). $2 entry fee and another $1 to ‘rent’ a head cap. We were told to shower before getting in the pool by a stern matron who was immediately obeyed. The first pool was hot spa temp but the second one was considerably hotter. I loved it while Dits found it a tad too hot. I then jumped into the cold plunge pool which to say was invigorating would be an understatement. However the hot pool after that was a breeze.

We both felt amazing afterwards and agreed it needed to be a nightly occurrence. Dits unfortunately was hit by the Ecuadorian tummy bug in the middle of the night. Now being fhe champion she is, she agreed to go ahead with our planned biking trip along south of Banos to all the waterfalls, fishing at the Pailon Del Diablo (Devil’s cauldron) The waterfalls were not bad – certainly a lot of them – but even more impressive were the number of zip lines running across the valley. We counted at least 10 – some of them look decidedly dodgy so given Dits was not feeling well, we decided to give them a go next time we passed by.

It was a 12 km to Pailon Del Diablo, the best bits of the road were on the old road that bypassed the single lane tunnels in which bikes were not allowed. It was cobblestoned with amazing views as it snaked along the mountainside. There were 2 entrances to the falls – Dits and I went down one and I then did the other by myself as Dits was fading fast. We grabbed a truck back to our hostel – they line up like taxis outside of the falls and for $12 (can fit 6 bikes) they take you the 12km back to Banos. As there was only Deryn and myself we had to pay the full $12.

The next couple of days were spent doing very little while we waited for Deryn to recover. Plenty of reading and sleep. We headed into town a few times to grab some food, headed back to the hot baths and booked our canyoning trip. Deryn thankfully had recovered in time for my birthday so we found a cool bar in town and got on it. Felt very, very old the next day.

Unfortunately it rained for our last 3 days in Banos so all our planned outdoor activities were canned. We were up early for our canyoning so when it was cancelled decided to walk to the other side of town to the Balneario El Salado hot baths. It was a fair hike but worth it in the end. It was nice and quiet when we arrived but after an hour the hordes of arriving school kids soon had us on our way. A quick scan of the local cemetery and then lovely meal at a Rasta Vege joint before heading back to La Casa Verde for our last evening in this cool little town.

And then there was this tail..

Itinerary overview: 30 days in Patagonia and Argentina

Notes:
Patagonia Flights tip: Try to book flights from the Chilean website as these are supposedly cheaper
Bus travel tips: Book at least the day before. Buses are cheaper when booked locally either on line or over the counter. Use BusBud https://www.busbud.com or Recorrido or Voy Hoy. Bus Sur is a great bus line.

Day 1-3: Fly into Santiago (or Buenos Aires and do in reverse) Enjoy this vibrant city while recovering from jet lag.
Day 4: Santiago to Puerto Natales. Transfer from Punta Arenas, to Puerto Natales with connecting bus at the airport. Punta Arenas didn’t look appealing.
Accommodation In Puerto Natales. For stylish and cosy accommodation http://www.booking.com/Share-9nst3B Otherwise we used Booking.com for our searches.
Day 5-6: Puerto Natales for down time and carbo load. The extra day could be better spent on the W Trek
W TREK: we booked through https://fantasticosur.com
Day 7: Puerto Natales to W Trek
Day 8: W Trek
Day 9: W Trek
Day 10: W Trek
Day 11: W Trek transfer Puerto Natales

Day. 12: Puerto Natales to El Calafate to El Chalten Long Full day of . but worth getting into El Chalten.
Puerto Natales to El Calafate: Buses leave early for El Calafate in Argentina, operated by Bus Sur, COOTRA.. The journey costs around $17,000 CLP ($27 USD) and can take anywhere between five and eight hours, depending on the queues at the border.
Bus El Calafate to El Chalten 3 hours. Book buses as per notes.

Day 13-14: El Chalten
Try to allow a few extra days as weather is very changeable and you need a clear day to climb FitzRoy. We would have spent more time here if we had it.
We did Mount Fitz Roy (Proper shoes and hiking poles are essential) and Condor lookout at sunrise. These two I wouldn’t miss but there are many walks to do. Check out https://elchalten.com/eng/actividades/caminatas.php
Accomodation: We stayed at Mirador del Bosque Aparts Av. Coirón 321, El Chalten, 9301, Argentina, a self catering Apartment on the hill. Every where you stay is central.
Day 15-16: El Calafate
We took the 1 pm bus to El Calafate 3 hours. There are later buses.
Los Glaciares N.P. Must visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. This immense jagged sheet of ice 5km wide 70 km long. It stretches as far as the eye can see. Rising out of Lago Argentino it reaches 50 metres. It is the fastest moving glacier on the planet and the eerie creaks add to the wondrousness of the experience. Every so often an office block sized chunk of ice collapses into the water below before slowly floating down the lake as a giant iceberg. You can take a bus or tour. We hired a taxi for 3000 pesos and had the freedom to do our own schedule visiting the Glacarium ice museum http://glaciarium.com/es/ on the way home. This is definitely the way to do it with 2 or more people.
Day 17-20: El Chalten – Buenos Aires then spend 3 full days to explore this city and its multitude of cultural offerings.
Day 21-23: Buenos Aires to Iguaçu Falls. We took the morning flight and spent the afternoon on the Brazil side and then had a full day on the Argentinian side. It’s worth doing both sides but if there is only enough time for one side DON’T MISS the Argentinian side. If time is short you could fly back to Buenos Aires for flights home.
Day 23-30 Iguazú to Salta and travel around this stunning a world heritage listed part of the world. We hired a car to give ourselves freedom and flexibility but tour companies prove day trips from Salta.
Day 30: Fly form Salta to next destination or home. Ours is Perú.