Antarctic Bound?

Some Fundamental Truths about Traveling

2009-01-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

If you travel whether it be on a road trip or overseas you will notice that there are certain patterns eventually appear. These are the fundamental truths of traveling. Here are a few that I've collected over the years:

You will eat/order something that you cannot identify - and its probably better that way

You will make and ass of yourself either by word or deed and probably completely by accident

Tourist pay more - we are ambulatory banks

No matter how much you think you blend in you still have a big

Guide books lie

There will always be a place to stay

Cabbies know more than the average human

You will pack too much

People are fundamentally good

Photos never convey the true feeling of a place

These are the ones I've collect so far. I'm sure there are many, many more. If you have one and want to share there's always the comments section.

Hasta Pronto!

Ryan

Just ignore the smoking volcano

2009-01-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

... its perfectly safe!

The volcano isn't actually smoking today, though apparently its very common to see.

I've arrived in one piece in Pucon after 2 -ish days of traveling and I've met some really cool people along the way. I spent a night in Temuco in a reaaaly nice Hospedaje. The owner makes her own bread, jam and preserves which she serves for breakfast. Sooooo good. I may have pigged out just a little.

Temuco itself has not much to see. I went hunting for souvenirs at the mercado principal and came up empty. Most of the stuff appeared to be made in China and was really really taky. The regional museum which supposedly talks about Mapuche culture takes about 10 minutes to see in its entirety. That includes reading every sign in Spanish. As well the musem really only talked about some of the Dutch and German families that settled in the area around the time of the Boer War. Booo.

In Villarica I hung out in a family's house and connected with a Brazilian father and son. The son had just recieved news that he'd graduated at the top of his class in his music program. We went out and celebrated over wine and music. And I discovered that I still can't carry a tune.

They comepletly sold me on going on a trip to the north east of Brazil. Apparently, the ocean is as warm as bathwater and the comunities and country side are fantatically gorgeous. The best way to do the trip is to rent a dune buggy and work your way along the beach. Sounds good to me!

Anyways, I'm booked into an awesome little hostel that just opened up. The owner is keen to get business and he provide real coffee *gasp*. I may just have to stay here till the end of the trip. Pucon is a fantastically beatiful place and I plan to spend the next few days getting to know it better. As well Ginger is hanging around here somewhere, if she would sit still long enough for me to find here we'll meet up and swap stories.

That's all for now.

Hasta Luego!

Ryan

New Year's Eve Locura

2009-01-04T14:14:00.000-08:00

locura:
sustantivo femenino
(demencia) madness, insanity; ¡no lo hagas!, ¡es una locura!, don't do it, it's insane!

What an awesome time! New Year's Eve in Valparaiso is awesome, a locura, even.

I arrived in Valaparaiso on the 29th with a reservation for only that night and with a detailed plan for finding a hotel room for the next 3:

The Plan:
Step 1: Make some inquires
Step 2: Hope for the best
Step 3: see Step 1

I prefer simple plans. I don't get confused that way.

So here's what happened.

I'm met a random Slovakian on the bus. He'd been on that same bus for 2 days coming from Arica in northern Chile . (See Wanderings in Boliva for my experiences there) He too had a similar plan. We figured 2 plans we better than 1 so we teamed up.

We stayed that night at the Luna Sonrisa. A great little hostel in the happening Cerro Alegre part of Valparaiso (Valpo). Our intention was to put our plan(s) into action that afternoon. For my part... I failed miserably.

It turned out that my roommate from the Polar Star (see Antartica) ship had scored a cheap flight to Santiago and had arrived in the same hostel that morning. He already had a reservation for New Year Eve - smart man. We met up and it was decided that coffee and beer were far more important than finding a place for me to stay. Beer comes in really big bottles around here - really, really big bottles. So... 1am of Dec 30 finds our heros hopeless lost - and slighty inebriated - in the windy streets of Valparaiso.

They say that there is a angel that looks after drunks and fools. That night I believe I met both requirements. I imagine it was that same angel who dropped a room for 3 nights in our laps the next morning. We didn't even have to move hostels.

I like it when plans work out!

Valparaiso (Valpo) is the place to be for New Years Eve. It stages the largest fireworks display anywhere. There were 8 launch sites stretching along 15 km of coast. 2 million odd people come to Valpo to watch and to party it up. Thus at about 10pm Dec 31, 2008 our merry band of 6 gringos (an American, a Canadian, a Slovakian, a Brit and a Kiwi) hiked to the plaza at the top of the cerro to take it all in.. I'm not going to even try to describe the show it was that good and that big.

After the fireworks we tagged on with a group of locals who we singing and dancing there way down to the absolutely packed area near the harbour. Gringos can't sing, neither can we dance, however if there is wine to be shared it doesn't really matter at all.

We didn't get back to the hostel until 5am the next morning.

The next morning it was evident it had been a good party. No property was really damaged, however people were passed out in doorways, on sidewalks, in the middle of the street. I counted 10 on the 5 min walk from the hostel to the coffee place. The police, to their credit, ensured partiers were out of harm's way and let them sleep it off. My favourite part of the morning were all the girls sharing their feelings about their boyfriend's New Years Eve behaviour. Spanish is such an expressive language.

In more current news, I'm hanging about in Pichilemu a dusty surf town down the coast. I'm working on my tan and reading the Narnia series in Spanish. The pace here is exactly what I was looking for. Yesterday, I hugout with a seal on the rocks; today I rented a rickety bike a pedaled up to where the surfers play. Life is rough.

Tomorrow I start the journey inland. I plan to meet up with Ginge in Pucón around the 7th. There's an active volcano in Pucón that you can hike up. How sweet is that!? So I'd best be off to find out when the next bus leaves here.

Hope everyone is keeping warm back home.

Hasta Luego!

Where to next?

2008-12-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Christmas all!!

I hope Santa was good to you!

Ginge and I have spent the last few days exploring the climbing area near La Serena. For a boulderer its pretty awesome, for 2 sport/trad climbers... not so much. We mucked about on some scary bulge-y routes for a few days and now we're both looking for something else.

We did meet up with a party of Chileano climbers who were doing laps on 5.10d's and 5.11+'s (i.e. hard stuff) Ginge worked an intimidating 5.10d, eventually getting to the top. I thrashed around on the bottom of it and eventually begged off citing polar insulation and notably strong gravity that day. The good news is that it looks like Ginge is going to have some climbing parters in Bariloche (read: the Banff/Jasper of Argentina) after I take off back home.

Christmas passed fairly quietly around here. Gine went to mass, I haunted a plaza and baby Jesus arrived right on schedule. There may have been some home-sickness for the traditions and rituals from back home, but, Viennetta and some good red wine goes a long way to make everything better.

Today, Ginge is off to Vicuña the valley where Pisco is made and where you can find a cool working observatory. Hopefully, they'll show her where to find the Southern Cross thus far neither of us can find it. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen if she can get back to La Serena tonight, transport out of the observatory can be spotty at best.

I'm hanging around La Serena chillaxing and working on figuring out the next part of my trip. Hostals are pretty packed in Valparaiso so getting a room there for Año Nuevo is proving to be a bit of a challenge. I finally have a reservation for tomorrow night, after that... well, who knows.

Gine is off to the mountains near Mendoza tomorrow, the beach life is only exciting for so long. I'm still working on my tan, a.k.a sunburn, so instead I'm going to spend some more time exploring the coast and some of Pablo Neruda's old haunts. There's a good chance Ginge and I will 'meet up again among the mountains, lakes and volcanos in the south.

Weird... a parade just went by... or a funeral... no one's smiling, it's second one I've seen today. Odd.

A quick note on the food:

The north of Chile has much to offer, great beaches, lots of sun, but not too hot, adventures up into Andean valleys, even, *gasp* more damned penguins. However, the food here, in a word: sucks.

If it's not a hotdog or hamburger, then it must be deep fried and/or smothered in oil. It will include meat, meat comes with almost every dish... kinda like ketchup. Generally, it's beef but one guide book claims it might be horse. I prefer not to know.

And good luck if you want to find a cafe with good coffee. Many hostals vie for better billing by stating that they provide "real" coffee to guests. So now I head out to the plaza for nice Coca Cola or even *gasp* a beer - Brianne you should be proud (she's been trying to teach me to drink beer for almost a year). It's crap beer in my completely unexperienced, unlearned opinion but pretty much anything is better than instant Nescafe "coffee".

On that note, time for a beverage of some description. Ginge and I are both healthy and happy if a little bruised and sunburnt from climbing. Yes Mom, I'm eating enough, wearing clean underwear, and not doing anything too stupid - I think that should go out to Holly's mom too.

Talk to ya all soon!

Hasta Luego!

Ryan

En La Serena

2008-12-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

So I´ve met up with Holly and we've made our way 500 km north of Santiago to a place called La Serena. Its a funky beach town that has climbing south of town. Sweet!! We've booked into an awesome hostal for about $16/day each. Its clean, pleasent and has a really laid back atmosphere.

Things in the town are at a frenzied pace as everyone gears up for Christmas. The grocery store was a full contact event that involved evasive manouvers to get out alile. Meanwhile the streets are packed with market stalls selling everything.

Holly and I have spent much of ou time people watching in plazas. Its a hillarous activity. Where you are preached to by fire and brimstone evangelists while voyerist-tically watching couples and doing some good ole fashioned mullet spotting.

Apparently, the strong hold of the mullet is Chile. The most amazing thing we've discovered is the many differnt kinds of mullets that occur in the wild. We're working up a taxonmy over the course of the trip. Perhaps we can sell it to pay for the expenses...

In between mullet spotting and full contact grocery trips, we're also hunting for an awesome bouldering area that should be near here. Some 200+ boulder to go fall off. We're pretty stoked!

As far as Christmas goes it looks like we'll have a quiet Christams. Tonight at the hostel, there's an all you can eat Navidad bar-b-q that should be good fun. And Holly plans to attend Midnight Mass at one of the 29 churches here. Me? - I'm going to go hole up in a plaza with a cup of coffee or a bottle of wine.

I don't think Santa's going to find me this year down here. But... I'm okay with that, the wine is good, the weather is awesome and the most difficult decision I have to make is where to have afternoon coffee.

Have a Merry Christmas all!!!

Feliz Navidad

Ryan

Antarctica Photos!

2008-12-20T05:07:00.000-08:00

So, do yo popular demand - read: lots of pestering :) - I've posted a couple of photos. Its only a very small taste but, its better than nothing. I have about 300 photos of Antarctica to sift through so its taking some time. You can see them through the silde show on the right or head straight to: http://flickr.com/photos/frozentoes

In other news, apparently my friend Holly (aka Ginger) randomly booked a ticket for Santiago. Looks like we´re going to go fall off some rocks and drink a lot of really good Chilean wine.

Hablamos pronto!

Ryan

Sunburnt and Thrilled

2008-12-19T05:22:00.000-08:00

So, I'm back in Ushuaia safe and sound with a whole mit-full of stories and adventures.

Antarctica is a life changing place and I highly recommed the trip. We faced gales in the Drake Passage, saw huge glaciers calve, watched gentoo penguins steal pebbles from each other and had a juvenille minke whale play within feet of our zodiac - an incredibly rare occurance.

We spent days exploring the Antarctic peninsula and at night the young contingent would ambush the Expedition leader, build giant snowmen and playing raucous card games (read: drinking games) into the wee hours. We provided endless amusement to all the older folk on the ship :)

Today, I'm running around getting things ready for the trip to Santiago the day after tommorrow. But mostly, I'm looking for a good cup of coffee and discovering that when I sit down it still feels like I'm on a ship.

I will post stories and pictures later on today or tomorrow. I need some time to settle down, collect my thoughts and sort through the photos.

Hablamos pronto!

Ryan

PS: This was the ship I ended up on: http://www.polarstarexpeditions.com/

At the End of The World

2008-12-09T15:58:00.000-08:00

... funny, I thought it´d be colder.

So I´ve made it to Ushuaia in one piece and... I´ve booked a boat this afternoon to get me to Antarctica. SWEET!!! I´m just a little excited. :)

I discovered that a tall ship makes the trip to the Antarctic peninsula. Y´know, big square rigged sails, deck hands a a captain with a jaunty accent. Just like Captain Hook - only less evil. How cool is that? Unfortunately, the trip goes for 22 days which is a little more than I have budgeted.

My boat is called the Polar Star - that´s about all I know about it for the moment. We´ll be 10 days out to the peninsula and back. I´m looking forward to a rousing game of Catch the Penguin :)

Since I last posted I´ve hung out in Richmond, Houston and Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time sleeping. It seems I really did need a vacation :-/ However I have seen some cool things so far:
- a vending machine that dispenses i-Pods
- vending machines that accept credit cards
- a tall ship
- a submarine docked in the harbour
- a sweet gear shop at the end of the world

I do want to get back to Buenos Aires. It looks and sounds like and awesome place to spend a week or 2 exploring. I sat next to an Argentinian couple on the plane ride from Houston and they gave me the low down. Apparently, its the place to get a steak and a leather jacket - I wonder if they´re connected somehow? Unfortunately, all I did was pass out in the hotel for about 14 hours. So I´ll just have to plan to go back :)

As I said, I´m currently in Ushuaia. Its a cool little town if a little touristy. If you ignore all the Spanish you could actually be anywhere on the West Coast of Canada - kind of a cross between Banff and Squamish.

The weather isn´t too oppresive and the people are really cool. I am having a heck of a time adjusting to the Spanish accent here. Holy crap they talk fast and, they use a pronoun that pretty much no one else uses - besides the Spanish in Spain. I haven´t embarrased myself yet but its only a matter of time.

In any case I have some running around to do before tomorrow. My camera appears to have died so I have to look into that. As well, I need to track down a pair of rubber boots, something I don´t normally pack.

I leave tomorrow afternoon for the Antarctic so I´ll be out of touch for the next 10 days or so. However, I should have some photos to post when I get back. And hopefuly by then I´ll have figured out what my next life goal is going to be...

Hasta Luego!

Ryan

P.S. I think this is the company I´m going with: http://www.antarctic.cl/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=28&Itemid=40

The Adventure Begins

2008-12-04T22:03:00.000-08:00

Hokay... so...

Randomness happened, planets aligned and I managed to swing a sweet vacation.

Awesome!

...so how fast can one book a trip to Antarctica?

For a heck of a long time its been a life goal of mine to visit all 7 continents. I annoy people at parties with that statement all the time. As of 10 days ago it looks like it might actually happen.

10 days to:

- find passport

- book tour to Antarctica

- update vaccinations

- book plane tickets

- lose passport

- purchase insurance

- pack

- find passport

- find out boat doesn't leave to till next year

...

So now the plan is show up in Ushuaia - some 14,120km or so from Whitehorse - and talk my way onto a boat. Sweet. No problem.

A trip to Antarctica generally takes at least 10 days. This leaves me with almost 4 more weeks worth of time to waste. I've always wanted to wander about Chile. It has mountains, deserts, wine and ocean. What's not to love. I have a plane ticket to Santiago and absolutely no plan. Its awesome.

So, I will be posting about my trip here on a semi regular basis so stay tuned.

Hasta Pronto

Ryan