The Perils of Patagonia in Winter

Ah.. Well after checking out El Calafate for two days and moving on to El Chalten, I've arrived in the town and almost immediately started my preperations for two unexpected days of bussing. Yay.

Patagonia is a magical land. Everything about it is spectacular. From the stillness of Tierra del Fuego to the intense colours of Perito Moreno Glacier to the tall Mt. Fitz Roy. There's been times where I've looked through my Wide Angle lense and laughed at how I couldn't even fit half of the natural beauty before me into a photo. Surprisingly for winter, it's not too cold either, as my sister Rosalyn was quick to point out that I'd freeze without more clothes. Roughly two to six degrees everyday, I've been able to be comfortable in pants and a hoodie still. Just like in Brazil! Me gusta. 

Beagle Channel off of Ushuaia

Glacier Perito Moreno

Laguna Capri and Mt. Fitz Roy

However winter means low season. Low season means everything slows down, buses run half as frequently and some businesses close down until spring. They've closed down the famous Ruta 40 at the moment. Which means the backbone connecting Patagonia is not an option. Great. Now having to backtrack theee hours is the least of my problems to push furthur on my way north. As soon as I arrive in El Calafate after a 3 hour bus, I have a five hour wait until a 15 hour bus to Comodoro Rivadavia, about a 14 hour layover there and then another 12 hours to Bariloche. This is the way I have to take, through boring flat land that I've seen already instead of a 16 hour epic journey through Ruta 40. 

Boring and flat

While my travels have been somewhat figured out, another problem here is that certain tourist attractions close down. Cruises to Antarctica wait until December, the chairlift to see the Glacier in Ushuaia is broken, and the trail to Lago de Tres Cruces in El Chalten is closed among other things. Mostly for reasons such as too much snow, too much ice, too much water.. However this weather isn't exactly a new phenomenon created by global warming but is actually EXPECTED! Its freaking Patagonia! Things don't exactly change that much year to year. Although I do understand Antarctica because boats and ice sheets is muy loco. To compared it to home, It's equivalent to the Coqahalla highway shutting down between December and March because of too much snow and Whistler closing it's hills and lifts for two months because it wasn't prepared for the snow. The same snow that comes at the same time, for the same amount of time, every single year. 

The same seals every year!

Really Patagonia's infrastructure just isn't designed for their own winter as well as it could be. Leaving backpackers like me stranded all over the region. On the bright side, I'm almost more excited to come back on another trip in the summer on a motercycle now! Climbing, hiking and riding my way south to get on a cruise to Antarctica where I can go snowboarding in The White Continent and tick that one off the bucketlist!

On the other bright side, I'll be in Chile in less than a week! Might even try and sneak a snowboarding day in before my flight to EASTER ISLAND IN 10 DAYS! You know that excitement and giddyness of being told you're going to Disneyland as a child? This is better. Much better! :D

Channy

Ig & Twitter - itsnathanchan

August 30th - In between El Chalten and El Calafate, Argentina

When Something Can Go Wrong, It Will. Duh

Hahahaha the irony of travelling is that the more you travel the more you want to keep doing it. Usually as you go you'll get better and better at it, more and more organized.  The longer that I've done it, the more I realize how truly bad I am at it. I remember being completely disorganized leaving New York, forgetting when my flight was, what airline I was on and not even having a copy of my itiniery at hand. Or waking up from my nap in Paraty, getting off the bus and realizing I have no idea where my hostel is or what direction it even is in. Good times were had for sure. Logistically speaking, if everything was smooth sailing all the time my stories would get quite repetitive quite quickly. Right?

Repetitive smooth sailing in Peninsula Valdes

That being said I've had a fairly smooth run so far, no robberies at gunpoint, no gunk fell on my shoulder in Buenos Aires, I haven't been pickpocketed in Rio and somehow my camera is still intact and not stolen! Thus when people are leaving and scrambling to finish packing and missing possessions and freaking out I ALWAYS can't help but think that I'm better than them at travelling. Which is a lie. Bad Channy

Tangent - Before I left I got a few playlists of music from a few close friends to help starve off the homesickness as well as to help kill time on buses and flights. Gracias amigos! This is for the backstory.. Moving on.

Today I packed all my gear hours before my flight and proceeded to chill out and do absolutely nothing. Fifteen minutes before leaving for the airport I realized I was missing my trusty little pocket knife. Scrambling through my bag, I unpacked everything, re-searched my room and locker, tore apart the living room only to be called back because the cab had showed up. Repacking in minutes I got into the cab flustered and stressed out. But crap happens, and it's only a knife after all, only 150$, not the end of the world. 

Stress Eating.

Arriving at the airport one of my 20 Peso notes turned out to be Uruguaian and not Argentinian.. And after a stressed moment, paid the taxi driver and went inside to recheck my bag. Nada. Putting my feelings aside, I decided to check in and get through security. The nice lady tells me there's a window seat in the emergency aisle with my name on it, boo yah! Sitting down in front of my gate after security I instantly start mowing down Ferrero Rochers to make myself feel better. Checking in with a friend from the hostel over facebook the staff actually ended up finding it! Now I'll be meeting Amedeo and Ryan in Santiago to get it, problem solved. Feeling better I decide to put some music on and decide on "Josiah's Jams" and randomly and as cliché as possible, Life on a Highway comes on. Cracking a smile at the fact that there was a 1 in 249 chance of that happening I pull my camera out looking for some inspiration. And it was found. And I'm happy now. Because stressing out and being flustered didn't help one bit. But letting things play out as they did was way better. All in all, it was good fun ;)

Inspiration. Albeit not the best photo on my phone..

Flights in 30 minutes! See ya in El Calafate

P.s looking back on my situation it wasn't bad at all but in the moment I was freaking out. Like a girl breaking out in acne the day of her prom. 

Channy

Ig & Twitter - itsnathanchan

August 27 - Ushuaia International Airport

The End of The World

Ushuaia. El Fin de Mundo, The End of the World. Tierra del Fuego. Land of Fire. Patagonia. Argentina.

I had the pleasure of making it to Ushuaia an hour and a half before my birthday! The city is quaint enough, nestled in between mountains and the Beagle Channel. The scenery is breathtaking. The air is refreshingly crystal clean. The water has incredible visibility. And it's cold. Bone chilling cold. With wind. Freezing wind. But so so beautiful. Relatively small city built on a hill, the city is primarily used as a port and a lauching point for expeditions to Antarctica, however also a gateway to Tierra del Fuego national park and some great snowboarding. Unfortunately I´m three months early here, otherwise I would try and score a last minute cruise for the White Continent!

View from Ushuaia

First thing I did in the city was hop on a bus and make my way over to Tierra del Fuego National park for some easy hiking. Being outdoors in the woods again after being in cities, beach towns and jungles for so long was just brilliant. Walking with a good group of new German, English, Australian and Indonesian friends, we did most of the trails in no time! The paths were fairly easy and the weather was pleasant enough however I definitely couldn´t stop thinking about the 25 degree hiking conditions back home.. slightly jealous.

Lago Negro en Tierra del Fuego.. Definitely lives up to its name!

Then the ALS Icebucket challenge. If you haven´t seen it, i`ll throw the link in at the bottom! And if I haven't emphasized the fact that it's cold down here, its FREAKING COLD! Taking some water from the Beagle Channel and doing the challenge at the end of the world was, as all my Australian friends would say, heaps of good fun! The looks people gave me as I walked back soaking wet in a towel in my swimshorts and flip flops were quite impressive. 

Then we had a big ol' birthday party! Pizza, salad, beer and wine! Keeping it classy down south of course. Then I was surprised with a birthday cake! The owners of the hostel even ended up giving me a box of Ferrero Rochers to celebrate! Definitely a day to remember, and not a birthday I´ll be forgetting anytime soon. Just a bunch of legends down here. 

This is how Germans celebrate!

Day Two. 

Took it pretty easy and went to the Fin de Mundo musuem in the morning. Unfortunately a waste of 70 pesos for sure. However later in the afternoon I got into a Beagle Channel tour with Diana the German and H the aussie. Stunning sightseeing, hot chocolate and cookies. That`s all I`m going to write about it, the pictures kind of sums it all up. 

Beagle Channel in all of its splendor

The Famous Lighthouse

Pretty dang close to these Sea Lions

Annnnnd we saw a gigantic leopard seal. Sweeeeeet!

It`s crazy here. Every so often I`ll have a bit of a surreal moment as if I`m in a dream. I`ll pinch myself and usually return to reality elated, knowing that yes, I really am in Argentina. Yes I`m really in America del Sul. Yes I seriously just spent my 20th birthday at the End of the World. Yes I still have another four months to go! That`s freaking rad. And I barely play a part in the epicness as well. It`s the location. It`s the people that surround me. Lastly it`s being in the moment and not having a worry about the past or future. But by being in the moment, I`m left with these dream-likedays which I later reflect upon and always do a double take. Just in case. Because if this reality is a dream, I`d like to wake up and remember every single tiny little bit of it. You know, just in case.

A long way from home..

Off to El Calafate now to get my Glacier hiking on! My wide angle lense on my DSLR is seriously kicking ass down here and completely loving life right now in Patagonia.Ciao

Icebucket Challenge - http://tinyurl.com/k7rccsw

Channy

Ig & Twitter - itsnathanchan

August 27 - Cruz del Sur Hostel, Ushuaia, Argentina

Two Paths, Two Different Stories

Man. I'm on a bus again. 30 hours with a 3 hour layover in Rio Gallegos. Unfortunately we wasted an hour of the layover with the bus running late and another with an unneccessary coche cambio/bus change in Trelew. However IF I catch my connection, in about 23 hours I'll be in Ushuaia. The southernmost city in the world. Not exactly the warmest place to be but I thought it'd be fitting to spend my birthday at the end of the world. Ushuaia is a bit off the beaten path, with the most notable things being that no other city in the world is farther south or closer to Antarctica, but also the fact that it's so far from home, and lastly it was  an easy plan to create to go there but a much harder decision to follow through on.

Two people who followed through on their decisions

I've gotten to a point in life where I have this itch in my side, filled to the brim with wunderlust, adventure and a fat head bursting with recklessness. I'm solo on this adventure, without a home, without a job, responsibility-less and the world is somewhat literally at my doorstep. I don't know where I made the decision that affected my life so drastically but it snowballed into who I am today instead of who I might have been. Here are my two stories. One might be slightly more interesting than another. Probably the first. Because if you're not first you're nothing.. Obviously.

My itch caused me to make it across Canada. Somewhere in New Brunswick

What Could've Happened

Normal Childhood..ish. Decided to stay at my local highschool Enver Creek. Got fairly average grades throughout. Went to Uni/College with no real ambition. Just like the majority of students. Stumbled through four years of University with no real goal and passion setting the pace. Just like the majority of my imaginary classmates. End up working a job not even remotely connected to my studies. Just like everyone else. Hopefully a Wife. Kids. Mortgage. Two week vacations to mexico. Retirement. 

Sound like anyone you know? A comfortable life for sure. 

And my decision to not be like everybody else reflects below. 

Not like everyone else. Mudder nation tho

My Reality

Normal childhood..ish. Decided to go to a different highschool for grade 8 for football. Came back to the local highschool for my friends. Switch schools again to learn about cooking. Turns out I can cook pretty well (not rice though.. never rice). Hawksworth if I get a job, University if I don't get it. Got the job at the best restaurant in Vancouver! Promptly and thoroughly got myself destroyed completely day in and day out for two years. Walked in as a kid who knew nothing. Walked out as a kid who can roll gnocchi with the best of them. End up with 11 days before I need to move out to my parents with nothing planned to do. Looks like i'll pack my bag in the morning and leave to hitchhike across Canada! 6119km later and I'm in Halifax. Take a photo. Turn around satisfiesd. Come back just in time to finish moving out and head to Arise that night. Start motorcycle lessons. Roast a Porchetta over a wood fire in Hope. Compete in Tough Mudder with The Five Guys (minus josh.. Miss you bud). Fly to New York the next day to start this part of the adventure. World Cup. Brazil. Uruguay. Now Argentina. Tommorow hopefully Ushuaia. Then Chile. Easter Island. Bolivia. Peru. Ecuador. Galapagos Islanda. Colombia. Ywam Boarders in Denver. Job interview/stage at Eleven Madison Park in The Big Apple. Then.. who knows? 

Sunset from Peninsula Valdes

But I definitely won't be sitting on my bum counting my days to retirement. 

Just like Euan here. Legend

I have no idea if I even explained myself at all. But I want to spend my 20th in Ushuaia, in this end of the world type of city because it represents where I am in life. Too adventurous for my own good, in a place where not too many people wander to, not really knowing what lays ahead after this city, and I'm in freaking PATAGONIA! Forests! Green lakes! Southern Ocean! Glacier trekking! Torres del Paine! Snowboarding! Big Rock clinbing! This is the type of dreamland/playground/heaven that I could wander around in indefinitely. 

Epic Ferry

Just another attempt to make myself different from everyone else. Except for the guy I met last night who is taking a BICYCLE to get to Ushuaia from Brazil. Speechless

P.s I no longer feel like I can string together a proper blog post. And I like it. So expect all the tangents. :)

Channy

Ig/Twitter - itsnathanchan

August 23/24 ¡¿Donde Nathan?! Not quite at the end of the world, Argentina

Overwhelmed by Travelling

There's a distinction between travelling as a backpacker and being on a vacation. The word vacation is a noun. It's something you go on to get away from the normal grind. Usually a short two to four weeks, the focus is usually on the luxerious commodities, hawaiian short sleeve button ups, safari hats and piña coladas. Meanwhile travelling is a verb, an action word. It's an obsession for those in the bubble. It's really about a lifestyle you're embracing. A bubble you're entering into that people on the outside have a hard time relating to. The entire time travelling your senses are working overdrive to keep up with it all. New foods, foreign smells, different laungages, odd cities and epic people. As I'm sitting on this 20 hour bus from Buenos Aires to Puerto Madryn I've finally had the first time in a week to actually slow down and reflect on a few things. Now that I've had the time, here's where I get to destress :)

The World is HUGE

When I hitchhiked across Canada it took 4.5 days of straight driving to make it coast to coast. From Buenos Aires to Ushuaia I'll be on a bus for about 51 hours in total. New York to Rio was a 10 hour flight going at well over 600km/hour. The world is massive. It's SO big that I'd have to travel for the rest of my life to see it all. And that's a little stressful. Especially because somehow I have this facination with going to far away places for reasons that most people wouldn't see as justifiable. I did my Canada trip so I could simply get a picture on the east coast. I'm currently on the way to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world just so I can turn 20 there! Some things I stress about? Where will I find time for all that I want to see? How will I fund a motercycle trip from London to Mongolia? When will I have time to travel next? Which of my new friends will I visit first? Will I be able to see it all? Or will there be countries that I'll never get to see?

Being Alone

Travelling alone has been a blast so far for all sorts of reasons but actually the alone part is a bit of a double edged sword. See when I'm travelling solo, I'm forced to be social (which I don't mind) as I don't have a friend to gravitate towards and in return end up with a few new friends in each city that I can hang out with. I'm also able to make my own decisions without having to check with someone else if they agree with it. If I love a place (Ilha Grande) I'll book another four days that morning. If I want to take a lazy day and do absolutely nothing but nap in a hammock I won't have to hear anyone's complaints about wasting my time. And so on and so on. However, when I'm actually alone and by myself without anyone to be with, I can get quite lonely. Having to pack your bag and hop on a bus or plane by yourself and leaving everyone behind is lonely buisness. Especially when you're definitely sad to leave a great city or have the Buenos Aires Blues. Also I'm not talking depressed lonely, but more like the feeling of when you quit a great job to start a new job or move from one sweet city into another.

Saying Good-Bye

One of the best parts of travelling is meeting people. Figuring out what the locals are like, seeing the grimier sides of every country and doing it all with people from all over the world. It's amazing how you can meet someone in the morning over breakfast, hang out for a day and become the best of friends. By the end of the week you can have friends from over a dozen nations and end up wishing that you could have just one more day with the group. Emotions run high on all sides and none more so that those between men and woman. One day you can start your day single, be dating by lunch time, and then be fighting and over by dinner time. Hasn't happened to me, but I've seen it happen!

Chan Clan. And Sam

When it All Comes Together into one Sloppy Mess

Unfortunately sometimes you'll run into all these emotions at the exact same time and it's just a bad mindset to be in. I'm in wading through one of these times at the moment. Travelling with Ros and Erin for the last bit meant having a friend 24/7. Being in Buenos Aires was definitely one of the most epic places I've ever been in with the enormous amount of things to do. And lastly meeting an amazing woman and completely falling for her in such a short time and only leaves me wishing that I could spend another day with her, sometimes life is just cruel. Soooo saying goodbye to the chan clan and the good times back in BA, and hopping onto this long haul bus, I feel like I need some classical music, a lot of sleep and just some time to decompress. Travelling isn't all smiles and laughter after all.

P.s. Feeling waaaaay better after writing.

P.p.s I'm in Argentina. Argenfreakingtina. On the way to Patagonia. That is freaking surreal and super cool! :D

Channy

Ig/Twitter - itsnathanchan

August 21, few hours short of Puerto Madryn, Argentina

What You Need to Know about Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is crazy. It's full on disorganized chaos and that's putting it nicely. That's also how I've physically felt since arriving in this city.. probably the dismal amount of sleep. On the other side it's also full of beautiful european architecture, bustling street markets and incredibly friendly locals. After being in the city for a few days, here's what I've learned so far.

Choripan

Chorizo and bread. One of the cheapest and greasiest street foods I've ever had. Also one of the most delicious! Chorizo a la plancha gets nestled into a crusty bun and then loaded with chimmichurri, grilled vegetables and piquante chilies leaving you deep in flavour country. Did I mention you can get one for $1.25?

Delicioso Choripan

Futbol

Today we went to a futbol match in Buenos Aires. Racing vs Lorenzo. In Argentina they don't serve booze in or around the stadium because of the amount of deaths and injuries it's caused in the pass. Also away fans can not go into a stadium that isn't their own leaving about 40,000 fans to cheer for the same team. Definite home field advantage here. After passing through three different checkpoints and several flights of stairs, you arrive at something that looks like this.

Just an epic view of the Racing Club stadium

Cambio Cambio Cambio

Officially the exchange rate is about one american dollar to eight argentinian pesos. Unofficially the exchange rate is about one to 12.8. A combination of a falling economy, new laws and public anxiety has created a black market where the locals want a stable dollar and are willing to pay for it. Walking down Av. Florida I was bombarded with people yelling cambio cambio. After choosing one of the sketchier characters', I followed him up to an apartment complex and into the back room of a legitimate "buisness" on the 2nd floor where I was allowed to tap into the black market.

Scams, Taxis and Spit

Scams are apart of everyday life in Argentina and especially in Buenos Aires. I've met a few travellers who've had spit or some sort of disgusting liquid "fall" onto their shoulders and have a nice local come up and help them clean themselves off only to have their packs stolen off them. As we paid for a taxi and were walking away we were called back into it to be told our money was fake! Changing bills and after a nights rest we realized how we didn't show the driver that our bills were real and didn't see him switch out fake money to hand back while actually keeping the real stuff. Another 200 pesos I'll never see again..

A fake 100$ peso note 

How long can you stay awake for?

The party scene starts at about midnight with clubs starting at about 2am while most places close at about 7 or 8 in the morning. Everybody gets into it and everybody goes crazy. Trance, electro house, hip-hop, all music styles are respected and BA is full of people who love to dance. Being at Milhouse hostel definitely adds to the party experience as they throw a party every night and set up a nightclub for an after party. 

Club Bahrein

In BA for another few days and then I'll be bussing about 50 hours south to make my way to Ushuaia for my birthday! :)

Channys

Ig/Twitter - itsnathanchan

August 17 - Racing Club Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hasta Luego Uruguay!

Waiting. Still waiting. No one ever talks about all the waiting I'd have to do while backpacking. Bus stations. Airports. Grocery stores. Ferry terminals. As much as I hate waiting in general, waiting allows a lot of free time to reflect and decompress before I move on to the next city or country. Here are some of my highlights from Uruguay.

Termas del Dayman

Thermal hot springs about 12km south of Salto was a great way to relax and let my body slow down and recover from the long stretch of bus rides I had completed over the previous few days. Tons of reading accomplished and an epic sunset to boot.

Uruguayian sunset

Waking up to a Present!

At the start of my time in Montevideo I befriended a bunch of people including a couple my age from Sao Paulo. After a few days of laughter, parilla and sherades, they had to leave as everybody eventually does. After saying good bye I promptly fell asleep. And awoke to a small tub of Dulce de Leche that we had shared but not finished from the night before! The bread was an afterthough.. so you're essentially looking at one of my past lunches. Pedro y Tabatha! Muito obrigado!

Lunch.

Punta del Este

"The Miami of South America" while a busy and hectic scene during summer, the winter 22C sunshine is deemed too chilly for the locals. Miles of almost empty beaches run either way around the tip while a hand sculpture built in the sand attracts thousands of tourists (like myself) a year. 

Fingers!

Don't forget to follow and share! :)

Channy

IG/Twitter - itsnathanchan

August 15 - Av de mayo 1245, Buenos Aires