hun | eng
BACK

31st October – 16th November 2014 Santiago, Valparaíso, Pucón, Futaleufú - Chile, Bariloche, El Chaltén –Argentina

  • I had been on my way for only 15 days, but it felt like months. I met and talked to lots of people already, - for me - surprisingly most of them 30+ and travelling alone, because they wanted to travel this way. Also some of them are actually living in hostels as a lifestyle (doing pretty much nothing...) or because it is the cheapest way e.g. an old lawyer in Santiago who cannot afford an own flat any more.
    You hear life stories and love stories, people’s experience about very far places – all sound like “it is around the next corner” as they talk about it. I also got into some really deep conversations and topics and made friends.
    Interesting how natural is to be here, to be on the road, everything seems to be simple, and of course my Spanish helps a lot too. I appreciate even more the time and the smallest things I get and I enjoy seeing others and things from the distance and understanding again and again the coherency of when, where, what has/had to happen and what has/had to be experienced and learned through.
  • So, briefly the first 3000 km, Chile-Argentina-Chile-Argentina: expensive food, accommodation, travelling in both countries so far, meeting an ancient civilization, the Mapuches - that luckily still exists today-; seeing the street dogs how much they are loved and cared by these. These doggies get "I am not abandoned, I am free" jackets for winter in Valparaíso, Chile :) ; teenager love couples all around the parks; many earthquakes and Italian hotdog (with avocado, so the 3 colours), expensive books in Chile, although there are some coffee shops where you can take one book with you if you leave another one behind; clean, modern transportation, but operating rarely as I am getting more to the south; people here love to be with their families, you see them together, children are in the centre of attention of everyone, men seem to spend happily lot of time with kids; they always stop at the zebra crossing; selective waste collection everywhere!, WIFI everywhere! People from Chile are calm, kind, very polite and respectful; they are crazy about sweets; they love to wink from their cars :) ; locals travel a lot to meet their own country; serious border crossings with nice stamps in my pass :) , Mate tea, less tasty coffee; friendly and helpful drivers when hitchhiking and so on. 
  • While glancing at the map of Chile it seems like a long, narrow strip, in reality it is a huge area with volcanoes, mountain ranges, glaciers, barren plains and beaches.
    Santiago, a European-style Chile's capital was a great place to arrive, to gently get in tune with the new world.
  • Valparaíso, a colourfully painted or with graffiti decorated city, full of life and elevators where people feel like wandering for hours. It is also Chile's main port.
  • I was in the heaven of hot thermal baths near Pucón, in Termas Geométricas.  An amazing location, bathing experience and baby soft skin afterwards! It is absolutely worth the visit. Pucón, a lakeside town at the feet of the Villarrica volcano is an ideal destination for adventure sports enthusiasts. The Trancura River and Lincura are waiting for the white water lovers.
  • Argentina is a vast country with a varied and stunning scenery, diverse people. The "Ruta 40", the "Road 40" stretching through more than 5,000 km along West Argentina, running parallel with the Andes. Bariloche, located on the banks of Nahuel Huapi Lake with the Andes in the background. Bariloche is one of the most popular places for sport lovers. The area has a number of sporting facilities, you can go rafting, hiking, a huge ski resort is nearby and after all these activities an immense amount of chocolate is tempting you.
  • El Chaltén, the "touring capital of Argentina," Argentina's youngest town, founded only 30 years ago by hikers. So far the nicest hiking place: incredible peaks, lagoons, trails.
    Most of the climbers arrive to conquer two famous peaks, the Fitz Roy (3405) and Cerro Torre (3102), although based on the hiking map someone could be there out for weeks hiking and climbing peaks.
  • Windswept Patagonia, the southernmost part of South America is almost 10 times bigger then my country, Hungary. Those who are looking for space, can find it here. Less than two million people live in this area, where driving hours long all we can see are the deserted steppes, barren pastures next to mountains, glaciers and ice fields. Patagonia is a very popular venue for extreme mountaineering because conquering the peaks of its mirror-smooth polished granite towers is a real challenge. According to the Native American Indians winds arise in Patagonia.
    Futaleufú: One of the world's best white waters is situated here, hidden from any other city.