Gringos or no Gringos? that is the question
For those of you have not travelled or spent some time in a foreign country, my relationship with fellow countrymen might be a bit difficult to understand. In South Am. gringos are tourists who are not from S.A. its more like a nick name in general. Now because I am from Can. I too fit into this category, but I have also been living here for 3 months so I have a different perspective. When you travel there are two types of gringos, one are the people who are able to adapt to the various situations and have an open mindedness towards the new cutlures they are experiencing, the other are the ones who give tourists a bad name. These people don't understand why things arn't the same as they are home, and in general things at home are better. They also tend to have ridiculous conversations, in my opinion.
For example a few weeks ago I was in a pub with some friends, there was a young (20's)group of Canadian (judging from the accent) in the same pub. Just listening to their conversation and they way they acted in the pub, deterred me from wanting to talk to them, or be associated with them. Now on to argentina...
As my last post says I was in need of a vacation and Bariloche was perfect. It's a small touristy town in Argentina, similar to Whistler. The temperature was hot, the people friendly and delicious chocolates on every corner. The first night in the hostel was spent with 5 Israelies (who apparently fill S.A. each year as tourisits), a guy from toronto, 2 guitars, a harmonica and a couple of beer. It was good ole gringo time. I hadn't be able to speak that much english in 3 months, it was a perfect taste of home.
The next day I was off to the woods for a canopy tour, or zip trekking. It's when you wear a harness and are hooked to a long cable that runs from one tree to the next, pretty popular in the west of Canada, and a whole lot of fun. The views are amazing.
The next day I left Bariloche for one of the many National Parks in this region. My plan was take the bus to Pampa Linda, hike all day, spend the night in a refugio and hike back the next day. I had no idea what I was instore for. Luckily on the bus I met a nice guy from Germany who had the same plan as me, and we became hiking buddies.
The first part of the trail is hiking through the woods very peaceful and quiet, except for these loud booming nosies that would occur similar to a canon. Then around one corner all of a sudden you see the bottom of the glacier. The noises are made with the cracking of the glacier.
Then it's up, up, up and more up, probably the steepest hike I've ever done until you reach something like a plato. This part is very arid and dry, almost like you hiking on sand.
Afterwards the terrain changes again and it's all rocks and boulders. And you are literaly walking on the edge.
Once we reached the top it was amazing, and I was completely exhausted and sore. There is one glacier to the right and the one on the left was what we saw hiking up. The refugio is like a wooden house which looks very odd in this land scape, as well as the colored tents beside it.
In the refugio I ate one of the best steaks(which arg. is known for), a tender loin with mushroom sauce, in my life. How they are able to transport food up there I'm not sure, helicopter perhaps. I was hoping to go for a trek on the glaciers the next day but the guides were booked with another tour. So it was back down. Going up took about 5 hours, and down only 3. With time to kill patrick and I did another short hike( which involved getting drives with other tourists) to the black glacier. This is pretty much the final life of the glacier, it's black because it's filled with rocks and dirt, but impressive non the less.
The next day was time to head by to chile, it's amazing what a long hike can do you for. My problems were solved in one clear thought. I returned to Chile with a new outlook and a new determination.
-[)
For example a few weeks ago I was in a pub with some friends, there was a young (20's)group of Canadian (judging from the accent) in the same pub. Just listening to their conversation and they way they acted in the pub, deterred me from wanting to talk to them, or be associated with them. Now on to argentina...
As my last post says I was in need of a vacation and Bariloche was perfect. It's a small touristy town in Argentina, similar to Whistler. The temperature was hot, the people friendly and delicious chocolates on every corner. The first night in the hostel was spent with 5 Israelies (who apparently fill S.A. each year as tourisits), a guy from toronto, 2 guitars, a harmonica and a couple of beer. It was good ole gringo time. I hadn't be able to speak that much english in 3 months, it was a perfect taste of home.
The next day I was off to the woods for a canopy tour, or zip trekking. It's when you wear a harness and are hooked to a long cable that runs from one tree to the next, pretty popular in the west of Canada, and a whole lot of fun. The views are amazing.
The next day I left Bariloche for one of the many National Parks in this region. My plan was take the bus to Pampa Linda, hike all day, spend the night in a refugio and hike back the next day. I had no idea what I was instore for. Luckily on the bus I met a nice guy from Germany who had the same plan as me, and we became hiking buddies.
The first part of the trail is hiking through the woods very peaceful and quiet, except for these loud booming nosies that would occur similar to a canon. Then around one corner all of a sudden you see the bottom of the glacier. The noises are made with the cracking of the glacier.
Then it's up, up, up and more up, probably the steepest hike I've ever done until you reach something like a plato. This part is very arid and dry, almost like you hiking on sand.
Afterwards the terrain changes again and it's all rocks and boulders. And you are literaly walking on the edge.
Once we reached the top it was amazing, and I was completely exhausted and sore. There is one glacier to the right and the one on the left was what we saw hiking up. The refugio is like a wooden house which looks very odd in this land scape, as well as the colored tents beside it.
In the refugio I ate one of the best steaks(which arg. is known for), a tender loin with mushroom sauce, in my life. How they are able to transport food up there I'm not sure, helicopter perhaps. I was hoping to go for a trek on the glaciers the next day but the guides were booked with another tour. So it was back down. Going up took about 5 hours, and down only 3. With time to kill patrick and I did another short hike( which involved getting drives with other tourists) to the black glacier. This is pretty much the final life of the glacier, it's black because it's filled with rocks and dirt, but impressive non the less.
The next day was time to head by to chile, it's amazing what a long hike can do you for. My problems were solved in one clear thought. I returned to Chile with a new outlook and a new determination.
-[)