Overlander Christmas in Ushuaia

What a marvellous Christmas! I've only got one complaint: it's super cold but it didn't snow enough to give me a white Christmas. Of course, all the motorcycle and bicycle overlanders, camped in their tents, are happy that it didn't snow. 

Last night, Christmas eve, the overlanders all gathered in the communal building here at the 'La Pista del Andino' campsite. Everyone brought their own food and the owner/manager here had a fire in the parrilla and kindly appointed himself as chef of everyone's BBQ food. (And we passed around a hat for tips to thank him). 

There's probably about 25 overlanding mobile homes here, about 20 motorcycles and I've absolutely no idea about how many bicycles are here (not so many, I just didn't go looking for them). I know that there are others at the municiple campsite (but no common building to keep warm and dry), probably some motorhomes on the waterfront, and possibly some at the other campsite. 

The majority of overlanders are from Germany, next is France, and we also have overlanders from Holland, Denmark,  Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Great Britian, Poland, and even Australia and New Zealand!! H is the only Belgian, but I'm not the only Aussie. 

It was an inspiring evening of meeting all these adventurers, well worth being here for. 

The end of the world: Ushuaia!

We did it! We made it to Ushuaia.

This city has successfully marketed itself as 'fin del mundo', which means 'end of the world'. Of course, we know that the world doesn't have an end (unless you belong to the flat earth society), and you could make attempts to go further (Chile has land across the Beagle Channel and a town there), but this is where the road ends:- for us and countless other overlanders. 

This is the place to be for Christmas if you are an overlander, lots of us are here and it makes for a kind of reunion of travellers met along the way. There seems to be a group forming at one of the campgrounds, but we don't want to be there until Christmas. At any rate there are other places near here to visit. 

Between now and Christmas there is plenty of time and we are camped in the garden of some locals we met at Peninsula Valdes. The vehicle needs some work and so H has disassembled the front of the vehicle to remove some patches of rust. Mobile homes need maintenance and it is wonderful to have friends here with space and some tools. 

Once the vehicle work is done we will do some travelling in the region: there's plenty to see. A popular excursion from here is a cruise to Antarctica and there are last minute deals, but it's not something that H or I are too concerned with doing. Instead we want to go to the National Park, and visit an estancia (ranch). 

H having a coffee and admiring his work. 

Eating Argentine style: meat, meat, with more meat

Tourists to Argentina know that Argentines are famous for their consumption of quality meat, cooked in a kind of barbecue which they call 'parrilla'. Tourists may usually participate in this by going to a restaurant or out to a farm for a gaucho experience. 

But hangout at an Argentine campsite on a Saturday or Sunday and you'll get to see Argentine families and friend groups in action. (We've happened to be at campsites for this a few times.) It seems that commercial campsites in Argentina are more used for the business of renting out the parrilla (BBQ) than hosting campers. 

The cost will be about 50c-$1 per person and you bring your own wood/coals and everything else (meat, plates, knives, bread, friends etc). Argentines calculate the meat required at 500g per person, not including the sausages. The meat will usually be various cuts of beef, and a whole chicken will probably be BBQ'd as well (I think this might also be additional to the 500g per person). 

But there is another type of BBQ that the Argentines, especially around Patagonia, love. It's where they spread out a whole sheep (lamb) on a metal frame above flames. 

I've been wanting to try this for a while. I've even hung out at campsites taking photos of people's 'asador' and asking dumb questions in the hope of getting an invite. It didn't work, but H and I did get to participate in one last weekend!

It was through the brilliance of couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org). Our host, on discovering our curiosity, decided to host one and invite all his friends. It was great, he has plenty of garden, so we stayed there (didn't go to a campsite), and experienced the whole thing from start to finish. 

It was very interesting, and very delicious. 

For approximately 14 people there was: 1 young sheep of 9.5kgs, 1 large chicken, approx 2kg piece of beef, and approx 2kg sausages. Plus breads and a little salad. (Note that the neighbours dog stole a whole leg of lamb while no-one was watching, but there was still plenty to eat.) Wine was on offer, but people mostly drank coke. 

This was a wonderful experience that we really enjoyed. 

Perpetual travel: how did I make enough money to travel like this?

I've written a post about this a few years ago, but still it's the question everybody asks: what did I do before to be able to have this lifestyle. 

The question bothers me a bit. I don't think people are asking smokers how they afford to spend so much on cigarettes (and in Australia this can easily be $5000 per year), drinkers how they can indulge in a hundred dollars of booze on each weekend, shopaholics how they buy all that stuff that they don't really need, or parents how they can afford to raise a kid (and that's 20 odd years of big expense). But still, it's a question so many people ask, so I'll offer some insight. 

Firstly, I am stingy. That is, I don't spend much money on anything other than travel. I never smoked, I hardly drink, I rarely buy things I don't need: not fashion clothes, not makeup or styling, not household decorations, not books or movies or cds; not even when I'm living in Australia. I go out plenty when I'm home, but mostly with the free events offered by the city council or community groups. I've never been interested in having kids. 

Secondly, travel is cheap. Travel can be expensive of course, but not when you do it this way. H and I live in a motorhome. We mostly camp for free. Our biggest expense is fuel, and we travel, on average, 100-150 kilometres per day. Our next expense is food, and we prepare our own meals almost everyday (we've eaten out twice in 2 months, and never had takeout). We'd have a food expense no matter where we were in the world, but we eat out less than we would in either of our own countries... It happens when you bush camp as much as we do. 

My money came from working, strict saving (as above, not spending) and investing the hard-earned-well-saved cash. My plan was always to travel long term (when my piers were planning their future careers, I had the idea that I'd simply like to be a traveller), and I knew I'd need money.

Never have I earnt a big paycheque, I finished high school and started working. I did recieve excellent guidance in life from both my parents (they encouraged me to invest).

I hope that sets things straight. 

The overlanding overlander community

At the moment we are travelling South to Ushuaia for Christmas. Lots of overlanders put this into their plan, it's the better time of the year to be going so far South, and it provides a chance to reunite with many of the other overlanders met on the journey. 

So, who do we meet? 

We don't meet a lot of other travellers, in fact aside from our week on Peninsula Valdes, we haven't met hardly any at all. 

Although families do travel in this style, I haven't met any yet. Mostly, the overlanders have been couples, and they've been French, German, Dutch, or Austrian. I haven't met anybody from Australia or NZ yet, nor from the USA; English has always been everybody else's second or third language. 

Mostly H and I are younger than the other overlanders, and many are travelling with big trucks (and big fuel bills). 

Many have shipped directly to Uruguay. 

I will attempt to make a list in order of meeting them:

C=couple; S=single. 

4=4wd, like landcruiser, patrol, defender, hilux, etc. 

6=larger vehicle, truck: MAN, Isuzu, Volvo, Mercedes lorry. 

P=travelled North and South America, Otherwise they've shipped into Uruguay. 

Rough age guesses given too. 

In Mallague:

C4, Dutch/French. 60's. 

C4, German. 30's. P

On road, Angostura:

C6, German. 30's. P

Peninsula Valdes:

C6, German. 50's. P

C6, Dutch. 50's. 

C6, Dutch. 60's. 

C4, Austrian. 50's/60's. P

S4, Austrian. 60's. P

C+1, 4, Dutch. Late 20's/early 30's

C6, German. 70's. 

Gaiman:

C4, French, 60's. 

Note there were more large vehicles on Peninsula Valdes, I think this is because you can sit and see plenty without driving... The smaller vehicles keep moving more readily. 

Photo Upload: Patagonian Sealife

Continuing South on the coast of Patagonia we encountered some marvellous animals.

I recon the cormorants (birds) told a funny joke.

These are nesting holes for Megellanic Penguins. 500,000 nest at Punta Tumbo.

Going for a swim, they come out of the water much cleaner.

Waiting for an unguarded egg.

Guarding her egg (the males guard too, but they look slightly different).

Cavies! cute eh. They live around the Penguins, they are about fist sized.

Photo Upload: Whale Watching on Peninsula Valdes (and Orcas!)

Many people have been anticipating my Peninsula Valdes photos, here they are.

First Whales H and I saw there were this Albino calf and its mum.

Me, watching the Mum and calf swim away after having been about 15metres from us.

There were 2 dead whales on the beach. They stunk but the seagulls loved it.

This whale wasn't as long decayed. According to the dog the tongues the best bit. (another dog brought some to us as we sat on our chairs. H was ungrateful and kicked the smelly rotting meat away.)

See the whale and the people watching... the water is immediately deep so the whales can come in close.

Jump! If you get one jumping or tail flipping they usually did it again and again.

Even when there weren't whales it was spectacular, especially at sunrise.

Beach camped.

Orcas! (or, in English, Killer Whales)... I wasn't sure if they were but even the people at the Puerto Madryn Eco centre say they are, and everybody else does too. So that settles it? I was the only person on the beach when I saw them and snapped this picture. 

Photo Upload: A week in Chile

H and I had a week in Chile (we're going back though). Here's a little of what we saw.

In Argentine Patagonia the houses are often with walls of tin / corregated iron. In the lakes district of Chile we saw wooden houses more often.

Transporting timber.

Camping lakeside and waiting for the ferry to take us back to Argenina in the morning.

Photo Upload: Early Argentina

I have computer access! So here's some more photos from my first weeks overlanding in Argentina.

Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Andes. I just had a look rather than walking up.

Andean Condor in flight.

Argentine farmhouse.

From Europe to the Southern tip of South America: H's journey.

One of the most asked questions so far is how did we get to where we are (the location of which changes almost daily). So I will give you a brief summary. 

I joined H in Mendoza, Argentina, just 2 months ago. But his journey started from Belgium 3 years ago. 

He drove from Belgium to Denmark and ferried the vehicle from Denmark to Iceland, then shipped by container ship from Iceland to Newfoundland, Canada. Then he spent 2 years driving down and up and across in North and Central America. All of this was done with a girlfriend (now ex), who after 2 years decided they should go home. But H didn't go home, he shipped from Los Angeles to Colombia and continued travelling south, alone. 

At some point he got lonesome enough to put a notice on the Lonely Planet (ie guide books) travels forum to which I responded. He had other responses too, but I was the only one who wanted to keep on travelling long term. And so, here we are... travelling. 

Half a million penguins in one spot at Punta Tombo, Argentina

At Punta Tombo, on the coast of the Argentina Patagonia, there's about 500,000 magellanic penguins nesting annually. We were there super early in the morning, just finishing our walk before the 5 buses of teens arrived. 

Penguins are cute, we all know that. At Punta Tombo you get to observe a weird landscape, some with shrubs but at each metre another hole in which there is likely another penguin on his or her eggs (his or her because penguin couples take it in turns to mind the eggs while the other one feeds). This weird landscape goes to about a kilometre inland. 

The holes aren't deep so you can see into them. To manage the visitors there is a strict walking trail and board walk which provides plenty of viewing of all the aspects and the penguins don't seem the least concerned about people being there. 

Penguins are in the holes, wandering about amongst the holes, heading down to the beach for a wash and a feed, and others are returning to their hole/partner. Amongst the penguins, there are also little cavies (guinea pigs are in the cavy family) running everywhere. And the occasional guanaco (like llamas). 

Another bonus, being there so early in the morning (the first by a long shot), we saw 2 guanacos having a fight in the parking lot while we were cleaning up from breakfast, right outside the back door of the camper. Even the parkranger had his camera out. These animals have long necks and so the fight was mostly a kind of wrestle where they went neck to neck and tried to topple the other. Neither was successful and they eventually ran off. It was an exciting event to have such good viewing for!

Bagged earth building project at Camerones

As I've mentioned before, despite having a motor home H and I are doing a bit of couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.org) to meet some locals as we travel around. We still sleep in the camper but share some meals and conversation with locals by this participation. 

Via couchsurfing we found a project where a group of people are building houses using recycled and locally available products. A start has been made on a bagged earth house. 

The offer on couchsurfing was that you could help out to build these houses. I never committed to helping out, but told them we were interested in their project. (I've been caught before with projects that weren't what they seemed). 

When we arrived the host and his friend weren't in town, but it didn't bother us as we'd re-met with Dutch overlanders and went free camping out of town with them. 

Then the next day our host still wasn't back from the city, but his friend came back and we chatted and drank matè and set up camp in the 'hosts' backyard. Finally, after 2 nights the host got back from the city where he'd been purchasing materials for the building project. 

We enjoyed some interesting conversation and I enjoyed learning about what they were doing. But these guys aren't getting a lot done. It seems to me that what work they've done so far was achieved last time they had some travellers to help and they haven't worked on it themselves since. 

It's okay for them, they have a concept that it's about the journey and the project rather than being about completion. But for me, I made enough money to afford this lifestyle by buying and fixing up a couple of houses, whilst working full time to pay for them, and so their idea of just doing it for the journey seems illogical and slack. And meanwhile, the bags on the bit they've already completed are deteriorating in the sun. 

They said they'd do some work the next day, but we were moving on (ie not staying to help). Then, in the morning when I asked what time they'd be getting started, our host said that it was a perfectly nice day to do nothing.... The sun was shining, there was little wind (for this part) and it probably got to about 26 degrees Celsius. Seemed like a perfect day to get it done to us!

Interestingly, there is a lot of subdivided land in Camerones and other parts of this country that have been sold or are being sold. In Camerones it really grabbed our attention because its a sleepy little town with no sign of industry or any industry being developed. So why buy a house block there? 

It's to do with the Argentine economy and them having inflation at about 25-30%. If you put your pesos in the bank or under the the mattress then in a years' time it will only buy 25-30% less than what it will buy today. So buying a piece of land is a more secure way to hold an asset. And land prices have risen in the years leading to now. 

Likewise our host had been in the city buying building materials, he had paid for them but wasn't interested in having them delivered for a long time, because next year, due to inflation, they'd cost so much more... And this year, he's not interested in getting on with it. 

Welsh community in Patagonia Argentina

One of the items on my 'to do' list of Argentina was to visit one of the Welsh communities to drink tea and eat welsh cakes. So we went to Gaiman, and I'm not disappointed. 

On arrival we went to a tea house and enjoyed a table full of cakes, bread, and scones. It was good, but more than that we enjoyed the town. Gaiman is a town with lots of trees and gardens and clearly there is a better sense of taking pride in ones home here than in the other parts of Argentina, and Latin America in general, that I has seen. 

It doesn't take much to take a look at Gaiman and most people do it as a day trip from Trelew or Rawson, but it's worth a visit if you are in the area. 

Cliff climbing at Punta Ninfas

Last night we stopped at a place called Punta Ninfas. Around here we are still on the coast of Argentina, and about as far south as Hobart is in Tasmania (Australia). Punta Ninfas looks directly across at Penisula Valdes, where we had been whale watching last week. 

But, although it's possible, we didn't see Whales from Punta Ninfas, just Elephant Seals, sea lions, and sea birds. The Elephant Seals make great photographic material (I'll upload some in a few weeks), and when they are active (ie not just lying on the beach), they are interesting to watch. 

I was sitting at the top of the tall cliff where we'd free parked for the night, looking down and watching the Elephant seals below, when I realized there were foot prints on the pebbled beach below. It seemed impossible to get down, so I was debating what else might leave such marks or whether I should go looking for a possible path, when a tour guide and 4 clients arrived. 

The tour guide chatted to me then said he was taking the tourists below. "Oh good", I said "I'll watch where you go so I'll know." 

"Why don't you come too?", he offered. 

I jumped to my feet... Never offer me something if you don't want to give it!

I'm glad I went too, the path down was difficult, the one up, which involved pulling up on a cord, was even more tricky. It was great to get closer to the seals and to have a guide to point things out. 

I was gone a few hours. Meanwhile H was reading a book in the car and completely missed out. He's been book distracted a lot lately- the day before I went walking in Puerto Madryn and went to the Ecocentre without him. (I definitely recommend the Ecocentre if you ever pass the area).

Biggest dolphins I've ever seen: Orcas (Killer Whales)

It's time to finally leave Peninsula Valdes, there isn't much more wildlife we can spot!

Yesterday we took a drive to the north point of the peninsula. The idea was to see Orcas (in English they are called Killer Whales, but they are dolphins, not whales). The star of the film Free Willy was one if these. 

So yesterday, at one point I left H reading in the vehicle and wandered to the beach. I saw seals (Elephant Seals it turns out), and headed towards them (not too close, I didn't want to scare them or me, they are massive). As I walked along the beach I turned in time to see the biggest dolphins I've ever seen traveling the other direction just in the water. I quickly took a photo. 

I wasn't sure if they were just big dolphins or Orcas, but later, when I read an information board about Orcas, I realized that might very well have been Orcas. And everyone I've shown the photo too seems to think they were Orcas. 

(I can't post the photo today, it's on my camera and since my ipad as nicked I can't easily upload my photos) 

We also saw rheas (like emu), manu's (strange thing, like a rabbit crossed with a deer, almost), armadillo (which means that we've now seen both types of armadillo available here), nesting Magellanic Penguins (at arms length too), elephant seals, sea lions, and the common Guanacos (like Llamas) and common Martineta birds (which are really funky looking ground running things). 

So, now we'll head south on the coast for a bit.... There's still another two types of dolphin to spot. 

But, before we leave... It's back to visit the fisherman: 1kg of scallops (on shell) for about $12, and although I'd never cooked them before I did really well and I'd like to do it again. 

Whale watching in Argentina: an albino calf!

We arrived a few days ago in Peninsula Valdes, on the coast of Argentina. Immediately we set up camp on the beach area in town and wandered out further with our chairs and boxed wine to watch the whales in the bay. It was awesome. 

Two days later we arrived at a new bay to camp. The went for a walk on the hard clay-like surface that edged the sea. It provided a handy standing platform and dropped to deep sea just 3 metres below. 

As I stood watching a massive whale and her albino baby approached. About 10m from the edge, they turned and swam parallel with the mud wall. And we followed. It was a wonderful experience!

These are Southern Right Whales. They are bigger than the humpbacks commonly seen off the east coast if Australia, but not as big as Blue Whales.  

This morning I woke to see a Guanaco (like a llama) running down the beach. And then later I sat down on a bit of that mud wall just in time to look ahead and see a seal pop up in the sea just 4m in front of me!  

I'm loving this overlanding lifestyle. This is the type of thing I never got to do as a backpacker, and as a regular tourist time is too constrained. I'm very glad I chose to have a go at this. 

Robbed! But at least they didn't get the most important things

Sorry there's going to be a slight gap in my blog posts.... I had written some, but not uploaded them yet, and then my iPad got stolen, so I'm back to writing on my iPhone. (Yet, I'm actually quicker at it!)

Yep, we got robbed. Not actually our persons, but the car when we weren't with it. It happened while we were having lunch in Bariloche (Argentina). We returned to find the passenger door lock had been tampered with, my backpack had been emptied, and a few things taken. Later I received an email from someone saying they'd found my backpack (with some things left in it including a bunch of cards I made for giving out to people, which had my photo and email address). So, I got the backpack back: good, it's been my constant travel companion for quite a while now and is still in good condition. In my backpack I also got back my international vaccine certificate, which is also possibly important to my travels from Brazil. 

Okay, it's sad about what was lost, but we're grateful for what they didn't take ... Like the GPS thingy (though the iPad could be used for that), H's notebook computer (which was as easy to find as the pad was!), the passports. 

Anyway, since I last wrote we've caught trout, hiked waterfalls (Huilo Huilo), crossed the border back to Argentina, visited cute towns with too many chocolate shops (San Martin de Los Andes and Villa de la Angostura), taken a boat trip to see a beautiful Myrtle forest, stayed in the garden of more awesome couch surfing hosts, and caught up with other overlanders that H had met twice before. H also fixed a leek in the roof of the camper. 

As I write this we are headed across the Pampas to the marine life spotting hub of Pennisula Valdes, on the Argentine coast. 

A view of the lakes around Bariloche. 

Chilean lakes district, local food, couchsurfing

We've entered the world famous Chilean lakes district. It's rather pretty: lakes with the Andes and volcanos behind them, nice farming country, friendly small towns. 

We are avoiding big cities and enjoying shopping from local farmers and local stores. We finally found some great cheese which we bought from a farmer who had a faded sign on the road. And we got smoked salmon from another roadside business. 

And now we are couchsurfing. Couchsurfing (couchsurfing.org) is where each member has a profile and as you travel you can request to stay with local members, and when you are at home you can host. I have been a host at home, and a guest in multiple countries. Each time you participate you write and receive a reference. 

H and I don't need places to stay (we have the house on wheels), but we were finding that we just don't meet locals as we travel around. So, we've been looking for hosts who are not in a city centre, where we can park and camp, and join them for some conversation. At the moment we are just outside of a small lakeside town being hosted by a young couple who are really nice. Being hosted also gives us a chance to clean up bit and for H to do some mechanics. 

We also have 2 more hosts lined up for the next week. 

Looking across Lake Calafquen at what I believe is Villaricca Volcano (in snow). 

Chile welcomes us: Cheap skiing, but no snow shoes.

After we crossed the border into Chile we accidentally found ourselves at a ski centre. I had directed us into the reserve with an idea to hike a volcano, but when we got there we found that snow shoes (those things like tennis rackets put onto shoes) were needed to go up, but were told we could camp anywhere (yay!) and then we found the ski centre. The place was the Centro de Montaña Corralco, Reserva Nacional Malalcahuello-Nalcas.

H was delighted, he'd been wanting to ski. The price was cheap, they had an end of season deal where a day of lift pass, ski hire, and lunch was about $44. And they let us camp there for free, so we arrived late on the Friday, camped, H went skiing on Saturday then we free camped again. I didn't ski, I've done it a couple of times, but this location didn't make me feel I wanted too. Plus H and I are together mostly 24/7, so it was good to be apart for a bit. 

Here's where H went skiing in Chile. 

Oh, and here's the single lane tunnel of some 4.528kms that we had to go through just after entering Chile... Those who know me well feel for me now, I get a bit anxious in tunnels, and this was particularly horrible. 

My first border crossing as an overlander: Argentina to Chile: Paso Hachado

The pass from Las Lejas, at Paso Hachado, was open, so H and I made the crossing. 

So what happens when you cross the border with a vehicle? The people have to still do migration/passport control, the vehicle also has to go through migration, and instead of running your luggage through a baggage scanner, the vehicle is inspected.

Chile has pretty tight quarantine control (as does Australia), and I very much respect this. I'm pleased also that H also respects it. We cooked/ate all our fresh produce the night before making the crossing, and we only had to discard some honey. 

On the Argentine side they checked the vehicle with a Labrador dog. On the Chilean side 2 men looked through things (with H showing them). We declared what we should have, and they approved everything to go through: dried meat and fruits, cooked food, and packaged items were all okay. Everyone was very friendly, and there wasn't a queue, so we got through quite quickly. 

I hope all the crossings will be as simple and friendly. 

H turned the vehicle around for this shot. The sign says: "You are in Chile, Welcome, IX region of the Araucania". The pass is at 1884m... So a bit chilly in early October. 

Quarantine is important!

For me quarantine is a very important thing. I'd hate to introduce an item that was hosting a pest that did damage to the industry and livelihood of a place. I always answer the questions honestly, and let the officials tell me if the product is okay. Usually things are okay, and occasionally I get something confiscated (or another option like fumigation or sending it back to a person in the country it came from). This isn't a problem: if you've honestly declared something there isn't trouble, but if you make a false declaration you will have trouble if caught. 

I simply take the view that the farmer doesn't deserve to lose his livelihood by me bringing in a product that contains a pest/disease/fly/fungus. I wish more travellers could see it this way instead of being selfish. (Of course, there are plenty of good travellers too... I've just met a few who say 'oh, just hide it'... And I've told them what I think!)

Bush camping: the serendipity of it!

H and I both prefer the bush camps. This means that we drive until we find someplace nice, and then we pull off the road. Hopefully it's somewhere that won't have vehicles passing all night. Usually we choose it for a nice view. We sit outside while the sun is still warm, and then head inside. If it's warm enough we eat outside too. 

When we are in bed we can star-gaze (I even have an iPad app 'Star Walk'), and see the view from the windows when the sun comes up.

H says he's delighted that the time he couldn't get the vehicle started in the middle of nowhere I simply didn't panic. But why stress when I had nice surroundings?

On a stop in Argentina, we camped beside a river. On arrival I said 'let's go for a walk', and so we did. We were quite surprised to find scores of coloured parrots nesting in the clay walls of the river. Sometimes you get more than a view. 

The parrots discovered nesting in the river bank, near Chos Mahal on the Solado River. 

The Solado River in the morning, from bed. 

Where am I, and where are we heading?

I've realised that many of you mightn't know where I am, aside to say that I'm in Argentina. So I'm going to do my best to explain it.

I started my Overlanding in the camper vehicle of H almost 2 weeks ago from the Argentine city of Mendoza. Mendoza is a wine producing city in the foothills of the Andes. The Andes mountain range runs down the western side of South America, and in this part of the continent forms the boundary between Argentina and Chile. 

We are heading to Ushuaia. Ushuaia is almost at the bottom of South America, it's almost the end of the road, you can't drive much further south (but I imagine we might take the road as far as we can). From Mendoza, by the most direct route, it's 3234kms (according to the Firestone Atlas de Rutas 2012) to Ushuaia. But we won't be taking the most direct route!

We plan to cross into Chile, visit the Lakes District on both sides of the Argentina-Chile border, visit Puerto Valdes (on the East coast of Argentina) to see Orcas and more wildlife, cross the pampas (Argentina), stay on a farm perhaps, and just see as much as possible. It is quite the journey. We hope to be in Ushuaia for the overlanders Christmas party in December, which would be wonderful full time to catch up with people met and unmet. (So far we have met 2 other overlanding campers, passed one in a town, and saw 4 overlanding motorbikes (1 group, they were headed North)).

In the last 2 weeks we've come South as far as Las Lejas, which is 700-800kms South of Mendoza. From here we to cross into Chile, subject to the border crossing being open, which is subject to weather (snow and ice) conditions. We had hoped to cross further North, but couldn't. If we can't cross here we might decide to go East to the coast (Puerto Valdes) and then come back to the lakes later on. In overlanding there must be flexibility in the plan. 

Then, from Ushuaia, we turn around and head North.... Assuming we still like each other!

A few breakdowns; but I'm happy!

9 nights so far, and we've only had 3 mornings without mechanical problems... Yet I'm content and not at all worried. 

The mornings have been cold, and it seems that we are having battery troubles. After the first trouble it was decided to get a new battery, but that only helped for a day; or maybe it would have started that day regardless. Since then H has been checking the alternator, cables, and we've been reading up, and tomorrow we are going to a place with better equipment for testing. It cold also be fuel related.  

The second morning after replacing the battery we were bush camped and couldn't get a start! H headed to the road to flag down a vehicle for a jump start, but all he found in the first while was a man on horseback (not a lot of help). Then we went out together with chairs to wait, but bored and cold H headed back to the vehicle. I made a campfire, for warmth and tea, and had just made my tea when a vehicle finally came ... At about midday. 

I was never too concerned. We have plenty of food, and there was a rather clean stream nearby (snow fed in these parts). I figured a vehicle would pass sometime. 

The bush camp was about 15kms into a very scenic route. It was Route 40 from Pareditas to El Sosneado. It was a rough dirt road, mostly severely corrugated and with many hairpin bends. But, with the beautiful Andes to our right and with flat cattle grazing country dotted with volcanos to the left, I could not ask for better. I drove this stretch. It was very remote, and we also saw an Andean Condor and a few Rhea (like Emu/Ostrich, but smaller). Domestically goats and sheep were also being farmed as well as the cattle. 

This picture is taken on panorama setting, the road is actually very straight, but I took about 210 degrees of film. But you get the idea... Andes to the right, somewhat flat cattle country to the left. Spectacular, all day long. 

We were still on Route 40 for the next nights' bush camp, but we camped on a slope to get ourselves away in the morning.

One of the views on this wonderful stretch of route 40. 

H and I both prefer the bush camps to the town ones. But presently we are passing 4 nights in a town. The Andean pass into Chile we were intending to take is closed, we are told Chile has had too much snow, and so we need to go another 400kms south to cross, for which it is rather early. This town, Malargue, is big enough to have reasonable facilities but small enough to walk, so it's okay... And tomorrow is Monday, and we seem to need vehicle advice. 

The night before last it snowed. We were in a restaurant when people started going outside to photograph the snow, so it must be odd at this time. In the morning everything was covered in snow, and looked very pretty. 

Learning to live with a stranger in a confined space

This really is a new lifestyle, living with a stranger in a confined space... mostly 24 hours a day. The camper is well set up. It's hand built (by H) onto the back of an old Mercedes ute (ute being Aussie for pick-up truck). It's about 5.5m long, 2m wide, 3m long. 

The sleeping area is above the cab and it is one shared surface (but more roomy than a 2, or 3, man tent). Then there's is a dining area, kitchen and cupboards, toilet and shower. The camper is well insulated and warm (as I write this we are in the Andes and it's cold outside).

So yes, it is rather confined but it's completely okay. It is important that we get along. The first night we stayed in a campground with toilets and shower facility so I used those. Last night we bush camped, so it's use those onboard or go outside, and there isn't much to hide behind. It is close confines to have with a stranger, and I guess it requires a lot of honesty. 

On the second morning the car wouldn't start. It was battery trouble. Although H proved quite useful in trying to get it started, eventually we got someone to help us with a jump start. 

I am very much enjoying this lifestyle and H and I are getting along very well. 

My new life begins: overlanding!

So far, so good. 

I met my new Overlanding travel companion at the Mendoza airport on Thursday night. I'd booked into a hostel (always best to be on the safe side), so I stayed there on Thursday night, and moved into the camper on Friday. 

So far we have been getting along really well and my new travel companion (shall I just call him H?) seems like he'll be good company. He even did something yesterday that proved him to be way better than the last overlander I tried to team up with. 

Let me tell you what happened last time. 

In 2006 I was going to Iceland to meet my friends and prior to arriving I'd met online an overlander who was looking for a travel companion. We communicated online a bit and decided to meet in Iceland. If it worked out I could perhaps continue with him in other parts of the world. It lasted just 2 days. 

Iceland has a fair bit of trouble each year with visitors taking themselves where they shouldn't and then needing rescuing. So this overlander and I were driving down a road and there was a turn off onto a road with a road closed sign. This guy was adamant about going down the road regardless of the sign. Although I argued against it we headed down the road, and shortly onto it we got very, very bogged. 

Really it was fortunate that we got stuck so soon onto it as we were able to walk back to the other road (still not major) and flag down a truck to pull us out. He made no apologies, but grizzled that Iceland should have all paved roads, like his home country. 

The next day he told me that the Icelandic terrain was worthless. 

And the following day he corrected the English of the Lonely Planet guidebook, to which I was in agreement, and told me that the Lonely Planet author, its editor, and myself were all wrong but he was correct. English was his second language. 

H has already proven to be muchmore respectful company. Yesterday when we were informed not to go down a road, due to snow fall, we turned back, even though it meant that we had travelled about 50km unnecessarily, and would have to go back  those 50km and go a different way. This is a good sigh indeed. 

This morning we have a bit of car trouble, due to the cold. So we are hanging out waiting for some warmth. 

The view out the front windscreen yesterday as we headed into the Andes. We had to turn back further on as they had closed the road. 

This mornings view from the campsite. It cleared up nicely overnight. 

Fast ride to the airport; better than a fun park

In my experience of Latin America you don't need to tell the taxi driver to hurry to get you to the airport; he's going to rush regardless. And it's seat clenching good fun!

Really, I could have saved some money and taken the bus (40c), but I missed the bus stop without my pack this morning and I didn't really want the hike either. So I grabbed a taxi. I had hoped my friend's price estimate ( $3.50) was right, but in reality I paid double. But still, $7 is less than people pay back home to go on a ride in sideshow alley at the show.... And this certainly was more hair-raising. The latino taxi drivers ability to weave through traffic is always amazing. 

Such was this guys skill that now I'm sitting bored at the airport.

(All prices estimated in $US traded with a man called an Arbolito (=a little tree) in the street, which I might write about when I understand it better).

Flying in Argentina

Flying in Latin America is well distinguished by the actions of the other passengers: on take off there's a Catholic crossing of the heart and a prayer on the lips, and on landing there is usually a round of applause. The whole experience can make you feel glad to be alive. 

But Flying domestically in Argentina is different again. Having become accustomed to having my water taken from me for flights elsewhere in the world I sculled mine prior to the security screening. Imagine my surprise to find that not only was water allowed onboard, but other passengers had thermos flasks of hot water, to accompany their Yerba matè which sat on the tray tables for most of the flight. (Matè is a popular drink in Argentina. People carry special cups and straws, and the ingredients. An infusion is made by putting dried chopped 'Yerba matè' into a cup and continually adding hot water as you drink. I quite like it as a social drink.) here's a picture (not great, I know) of some soccer players drinking matè in he airport prior to flying. 

Arrived in Buenos Aires, but it had looked doubtful

Well I made it. But it had looked like I mightn't. 

Firstly I had a massive headache from Thursday evening until I went to the doctor on Monday and got a prescription. On Monday morning I'd been in a bad way, I was frustrated about the headache and thinking there was no way I could take my Tuesday flights. But the doc fixed it. 

Then on check-in at the airport it was demanded that proof of a ticket for onward travel be shown. Lots of countries have this rule, but on previous travels I've gotten away with not needing to show any evidence. I was (am) travelling on a one way ticket. 

Here's a scenario where having booked through a travel agent comes in handy. I was able to call up the travel agent office and have a ticket produced and emailed to me. They were super efficient. That ticket would be cancelled by now. 

In reality I'll be leaving Argentina by road into Chile, then returning, and leaving, etc as I make my way South, eventually I think I'll be going to Brazil (and for that I'll need a visa but its too early for that now). I definitely have no intention of staying here (I still call Australia home), but I couldn't put a date on a return ticket and so I'd have to pay to change it... And maybe I'll be flying home from North America or elsewhere. 

My flights were with Virgin Australia and Aerolineas Argentinas. Aerolineas were better than reviews would have suggested although the entertainment wasn't good. On Virgin I had to dust crumbs from my seat before I sat down. 

Minimising Jetlag

Do some Internet research on Jetlag and you'll find lots of suggestions and no guarantees. I drank as much water as I could before and during the flight, thus annoying the person beside me in the aisle seat as I would make regular toilet trips (which has an added advantage of getting a person moving) and then head to the back of the plane for another 2 glasses of water. Both times meals were served I ordered an orange juice and a water as well. I also took a multi vitamin before boarding. I think I'm doing okay. 

Arrival in Buenos Aires

The robbery in Spain has left me a little less independent. I took the taxi transfer from the airport, because I was a little scared of the hassle of walking alone after taking a bus. 

I'd only just checked in when my friend arrived to take me for dinner. It was wonderful to catch up, but after 2 hours I had to get myself to bed, I was super exhausted. 

It's my second time in BA, so there hasn't been a big need for sightseeing, although I did go to see The Flower for the second time. It still doesn't work (it used to open and close), but its still wonderful. 

Latino underwear

I first accommodation has been in a female dorm room in a hostel. My other roommates were Argentine. I had a reminder about why it's important to bring comfortable undies to Latin America. I mean, when big girls are wearing such skimpy pieces of floss to sleep in an all girls dorm, what hope is there? I was uncomfortable seeing it, it sure looked uncomfortable for her. 

I am what I am; finding a travel companion

After being robbed at knife point in Spain this year I really did lose my confidence and start to think about the other choices I might have made to live my life differently. And I came home. 

After just three weeks at home I realized that I am still very much a traveller, that I wasn't ready to quit yet, but that I needed to take a different approach. I needed a travel companion. 

Contrary to common belief, I have always wanted a travel companion. I'd just never found a long-term one. And, of course, when I say long term, I mean really long term; indefinite really. 

So, I set about finding one. I searched online in every possible forum I could find, and I found one on Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree (Travellers Forum). 

He had a post basically saying what he was doing, and it was an itinerary that really suited me: overlanding south in South America. 

I've always wanted to go overlanding in the Americas, but its something I felt I needed a travel companion for. You can find a definition for overlanding on Wikipedia, but basically it's driving a vehicle, set-up for sleeping, over really long distances. And going back to South America is good for me because it's part of the world I'm quite comfortable with. 

Meeting a stranger to travel with?

People reactions to this are either: "you're meeting a stranger, are you crazy?, what if..."

Or: "that's awesome... I can tell he's going to be the one!!!!"

In reply to the first one: I honestly believe that most people in the world aren't dangerous, and that he is looking for a travel companion. 

In reply to the second one: I'm just looking for a travel companion. 

My only thought is to whether we will get along, but for that I feel like I'll never know unless I go. It's South America, I'll make a Plan B if I need to (remember it's part of the world I am comfortable with.)

My new travel companion is from Belgium. 

I meet him in Argentina next week. 

At home

I've been home just over a week now. I've been keeping pretty quiet, just helping family with some projects. I haven't yet decided what to do next. Ive only been in touch with a few friends. 

I have lots of ideas, but I'm not sure about committing to staying.   

It seems like I was away for longer than 5.5 months, so I keep having to remind myself of that when I see things haven't changed so much. 

This year was hard on me. India was tough, getting robbed in Spain was tougher. I still want to be traveling, but I think I've lost my independent streak. So it's left me confused as to what to do next.  

Travels: Kuala Lumpur

My last stop of this trip, and really, I'm so 'over' sightseeing that I didn't do anything with a cost to it aside from seeking out a few highly recommended meals. 

To me KL is all about shopping (and eating), and since I don't like shopping it's never had a lot of appeal. But I took a look at the shops and markets anyway. 

I had already googled whether the shopping was better in Bangkok or KL and discovered that Bangkok is cheaper but KL better for brand names: both real and knock-offs. 

I've never understood people's want for branded stuff. I'm talking about all those top high-end fashion brands. 

To me it sends a message of stupidity and vanity to be buying either the fake or the real goods. I'd never want people to think I was crazy or vain enough to spend lots-of-money on an item marked Gucci, Louis Vuitton, or any other top name. Nor would I want them to think I was simply vain enough to spend less money on a knock off that wasn't what it says it is. 

I did manage to find (and buy) a Malaysian made and designed bag that wasn't pretending to be anything that it wasn't. 

Other than that I also bought some tea, as I know I'll enjoy its benefits. 

Bangkok

On Monday night I bought a ticket on a Wednesday morning flight to Bangkok. I had been unable to decide where to go with my sore toe and no ideas were exciting me, so when I saw a cheap ticket with the new Norwegian air service, I took it (Norwegian isn't new but the Bangkok service is). 

So here I am, without much of a plan.  

Oh, flying Norwegian. The service was good apart from the camp air steward who rolled his eyes when I requested a glass of water instead of paying $4.50 for a bottle. I'm also glad I didn't buy the package of meals, seat selection, and checked luggage (I just paid baggage prior, but decided I'd rather buy breakfast at the airport before boarding and sleep on plane). Anyway the guy beside me did pay, and ordered diabetic meals, but got served the same 2 meals as I and everybody else did!

No more solo travelling?

I had such a good time travelling overland from Bangkok (Thailand) to Penang (Malaysia) that early this afternoon I started thinking that maybe I should keep on travelling and forget any thoughts of going home. And then I had this afternoons bus journey from Penang to Kuala Lumpur.

I left Bangkok on Monday afternoon. The train was late departing but I didn't much mind, I had the pleasant company of British father and son (adult) who were rather enthusiastic about trains. They were going elsewhere and left after 5 hours, and then the beds were set up for sleeping. 

The train compartment, 2nd class air conditioned, was really very nice: clean, well serviced, and not crowded. The beds were very good. 

In the middle of the night more people boarded, and in the morning I was making friends with more travellers. On leaving the train we had gathered a group of 7 people and we all headed off for money exchange, food and accommodation. 

The group spilt, but we were still 4 for accommodation and dinner. I was enjoying all this company. 

I decided that before leaving Penang I needed to see some of the island and its famous beaches. So in the morning my new Korean-American friend and I headed off by public bus (#101) to sightsee, and we walked a jetty and visited the national park too. Then we had a wonderful lunch before I said goodbye to catch a bus, alone, to Kuala Lumpur. 

And then I had the bus journey. On the bus journey a 28 year old muslim Punjabi-Singaporean was seated next to me. And, aside from the little while that he slept, he spent the rest of the 6 hour journey hitting on me. It was most annoying. He agreed with almost everything about me (annoying!) he liked my eyes, thinks I'm pretty, likes my age (about 10 years his senior), likes my opinions, my tastes ... It was really very tiresome. He wanted to take me out in KL, but I refused. 

To all those people who have questioned why I'm bothered when I travel alone and I get hit on, this is exactly the reason: 6 hours, with no means of escape. Exactly. I need a travel companion.  

Photo: Georgetown, Penang.

Bangkok: love it!

Bangkok might be the centre of the backpacking universe. And as I'm heading towards home, with a head full of ideas on what to do next, it's a great place to spend a few days. I've even decided to stay in the centre of the backpacker world: Kao San Road. 

It's great. I love South East Asia. I trust Asians. I feel comfortable again. (Since my robbery in Spain I haven't been feeling too trusting). Of course, I wouldn't go hiking alone in Asia, although I think I'd probably be okay if I did so. 

I've been doing all the things a tourist in Bangkok should: getting clothes tailor made, Thai massages, canal trips (public transport and the cheapie organised by the Bangkok tourist office), being taken for a ride by tuk tuk driver (okay, the price was too good to be true and I ended up being taken to more shopping sites than tourist sites). 

And now I'm leaving Bangkok: by train to Malaysia. From there I'm flying home. 

Binge over

I met a young German who described me as a binge traveller. What an awesome description of me. I have a tendency to work for a while and then travel for a while: binge travel.

Is it a problem? I don't think so, although lots of people often do express such thoughts. 

I've never wanted to have children and I feel that if I were to stay home I'd soon be bored without having them. 

Quite simply, travelling is what I've always wanted to do. Mum has said that the only way to pacify me as a baby was to put me in a pram and take me somewhere. 

I also reach a point where the travelling doesn't excite me anymore. I look at all the exciting options a place has on offer, and they don't interest me in the least. That means that it's time for the binge to be over and to go home. 

I also get tired of travelling alone. 

Today is my last day of this binge, tonight I'm flying home. 

Norway: in some nutshells

To see some good portions of Norway without too much trouble (I'm limping again with the toe injury), I did 2 trips: Handangerfjord in a Nutshell and Norway in a Nutshell (this one as the one way Bergen to Oslo option). 

Norway seems to be spectacular no matter what you do while the sun shines and these trips are no exception. If I had to choose just one of them, Norway in a Nutshell  wins. 

The trips are basically pre-purchased tickets which allow you on a set itinerary of public transport, with some options to do more things along the way. Norway in a Nutshell encompasses train, a bus journey through 13 hairpin bends, a boat cruise through UNESCO listed fjord, the world famous Flam railway, and, if you get to do Mrydal to Oslo (as you do on the one way), you take a train through spectacular snow covered terrain and past icey lakes. 

It's not cheap, but for Norway these trips are pretty good value. 

Am I Swedish or Norwegian?

An Indian on a boat trip in Norway started a conversation with me:

"Are you Swedish or Norwegian?"

It took me a moment before I realised he was talking to me. "Me?!, I'm Australian!"  

"Oh," he replied, "well you have scenery like this in New Zealand at Milford". 

I have met quite a few people in the world who think New Zealand is part of Australia, and I wondered if that was what he meant by saying I have this. But he qualified his remark: "I mean New Zealand is so close to Australia. I hear it's  like Pakistan and India". 

Clearly this guy hadn't studied a world map. It was too much for me, I remember watching the ceremonial closing of the border gates a few months ago at an India-Pakistani border. "No," I said, it's not, we don't share a border, it's about 3 hours flight for me, even Delhi is closer to Pakistan". 

"Oh, it's like USA and Canada."

Me: "well, India and Pakistan share a border, as do USA and Canada."

Later, talking to more tourists I understood his Milford remark a bit better. I haven't actually been there, but many people compare it to Norway. And it's less expensive to travel in NZ so he's wondering why I would be here if I didn't need a visa for NZ. Many Asians are traveling in Europe because they can do so without a visa.