Patagonia Day 3: El Chalten

the bus to el chalten left at 8:00am from the el calafate bus station. the online weather report read a high of 70. i debated on whether to bring my massive north face jacket or simply bring my vest. i chose the latter and headed downstairs for some brekkie.

i didn't know much about el chalten and i was bit bummed that i wasn't going to see torres del paine on this trip. i shrugged off the disappointment, finished my coffee and walked to the bus station where we greeted the friendly town dogs who at the moment were hustling an asian backpacker for her half-full coca-cola bottle. the dogs won and went on

the bus ride took about three hours. it was pretty much a straight shot north of el calafate; mostly plain, the drive reminded me alot of arizona. and then mount fitz roy and happened and i was left speechless.

it didn't make sense. come to think of it, much of what i saw in patagonia didn't make sense. how can something that massive sneak up on someone like that? i honestly don't know but it was ridiculous. it was as if from one moment all you saw were flat plains and small hills, to the next sitting at the shadow of this giant postcard of a mountain. i couldn't get my eyes off it.

when we finally got to el chalten, breean and i had befriended a couple from mendoza, argentina, fernando y carolina. real nice, funny genuine people. there were many hikes that led you to fitz roy, each one had their own selling point. we decided to take the one with the lake on top.

stunning views of the valley and surrounding mountains were constantly present as we slowly ascended up the steep trail. it took us about 2 hours to hike 4 km. it was tough but completely worth it. when you finally reach the lake you pause and wonder how all of this is even real.


every single element is intertwined here, which makes mount fitz roy one of the most stunning and beautiful things i've ever seen:

the snow capped mountains,
the looming clouds and changing contrasts,
the melting glacier and waterfall in the background,
the fresh lake sitting at the foothill,
the list goes on.

i began to walk towards the edge of the lake and i filled up the nalgene bottle. i hesitated for second, then took a sip and then i took another, and then the bottle was empty again. the water was fresh, it was clean, it was what it supposed to be, it was simply good. we spent an hour lounging and exploring around the lake. then i sat for a bit and savored the last few moments. it was sad, i didn't want to leave.

the trek down was nice but it began to get a bit windy. for some reason it felt a bit longer going down than up. when we finally got to the bottom of the trail we found a hostel and had a few quilmes bocks. we got to know a bit more of our new mendoza friends. shortly after we hopped on the bus and headed back to el calafate.

i slept most of the drive.

rio de janeiro: dia 1

The flight landed 20 minutes early. half hour later, i cleared customs and immigration. countless stantions were strewn across the airport but no bodies to fill them with. Something tells me that this is not the norm. I make my way through the corridor of welcome, the point where people hold signs with names, the place where the people hug and kiss. Taxi drivers are hawks and quickly spot me. I quicken my pace and walk outside. A blue bus called the real bus is what I'm scanning for; I find it. I wait about 10 minutes and off I go. The busses in rio are nuts in a tokyo drift kind of way.

I have some what of a rough sketch of where the bus is supposed to go and stop. Still, I miss my stop but manage to find my hostel with ease. The hostel is a story in it of itself, one which I've included in the post below.

An hour later I was gone and on the road again.

Here's the thing about the busses in rio, if you don't deliberately waive them down to the point where it almost becomes a fist pump, they will not stop! It took me a few tries but I finally caught one.

Another hour on the bus and I finally reached my hostel. The staff was great.  I was given a key to my room but most importantly the door had a knob!

The rest of the day I spent it walking through Ipanemas' board walk, had myself an amazing dinner with an even more amazing dessert! Some kind of coconut pudding cake. Bomb

I met some chill Americans at the hostel, had some local brew. Laughter and insults followed. I was in my bed by 11pm.

didn't quite make it to vilnius...

i frantically paced back and forth looking for my correct bay as i stood in front of riga's crowded bus station. signs all in latvian pointed to cities i've never heard before. all i cared about was getting to vilnius. even with all of those strange dotted letters, i was still able to make out some of the cities; vilnius was being displayed at a later time. it was at that moment when i felt my heart sink. 
i instantly knew the huge mistake i'd made. i looked at my bus ticket and the departure time read 2:55. there was no pm or am because in the rest of the world countries use universal time. i knew that my ticket was long gone, but i still tried talking to the agent about possibly catching another bus. "this tiket, no good." the agent said with a lazy swoop of the hand. 

there was no point in arguing, all i could do was smile and walk away. i went back to my hostel where i was welcomed back with open arms. the next two hours i desperately searched online for other buses and flights to get to vilnius but all were either ridiculously overpriced or the timing didn't make sense. i opted to stay one more night in riga in the hope that lufthansa would still honor my ticket that originated from vilnius...not riga.
i slept for the next 15 hours on a empty stomach. i was on a strict budget so one more day of spending in riga was definitely out of the question. the next day i woke up and i headed straight to the fridge where i had my cold sandwiches ready. they weren't that great, but did the trick.
it was then where i met ryan, samantha, and this other kind man who i've forgotten his name. they were new yorkers who were also backpacking europe. we instantly hit it off! i think i had more fun in the three hours we hung out with each other versus the whole 48 hours i'd spent in riga. 
sammy kept bringing us shots of this medicinal herbal liquor that resembled jagermeister but with a much more bitter taste. after three of those shots, we headed to a restaurant where we had a latvian take of mongolian bbq. a few moments later we were at the bus station, the same one where 24 hours before i stood with a decimated look. it's crazy, i think i learned more about new yorkers in the few hours we spent together, than what i learned about the rest of the people of latvia. it's something that i'm not proud of but it's also something that i'm not ashamed of. we said our goodbyes and off they were.

now, i'm on a lufthansa flight a couple of thousands feet above eastern europe eager to see my kin, andy and phillip. usually i can go for weeks on these trips without being home sick, but the baltics has made me miss what i hold close. i cant wait to see them 

estonian to latvian

its been three days since my last taste of some of that elk soup from tallinn; though the second time around was not so pleasant as the first. from what i gathered, estonians seem to be the friendly and outgoing type. they are also freaks! as in, the women seem to have the same mentality as the opposite sex. 

on the last night of my stay in tallinn, i was invited to an outdoor concert right next to the freedom steps. it was me and four girls from the hostel, which made for interesting conversations. as the concert drew to its end, it grew more patriotic and grand. "estonia!" from all over that specific pocket of the city were shouted as the crowd swayed from side to side. but from what i gathered, this emotion that estonians were displaying has been the same since they gained freedom from the russians in the early 90's. nina, a finnish girl who was studying in tallinn, explained how the movement hasn't really progressed forward. after hearing the same melancholic song for the third time, it didn't seem farfetched.  

the night ended, everyone went there way, and i began making sandwiches for the long day ahead. the next morning i said my goodbyes to john(sweden), and nina(finland), and off i was with roller in hand. i turned a corner and walked into a 'R kioske' and asked, in my most estonian english, "baass tiikettt REEEGAA". that sounded about right, but the lady across the counter just gave me a ticket for the local tram. i shook my head and repeated riga, this time including latvia; the lady laughed. she shook her head and communicated exactly what i feared.

i walked outside and took a cold deep estonian breath. a few seconds after, i heard a soft "hello" directed straight at me. during my deep conversation with the kiosk lady, a girl inside had been hearing our conversation and offered to help me. at first she tried explaining, but apparently the bus station was far. she asked me to follow her to the next block, for a better view of which street to take. her english was good, but very estonian. her explanations of getting to the bus station kept being interrupted by sub conscience. we kept walking until we approached a lot full of cars. she began walking to her car and i tried remembering the vague directions she had said. 

"alright, well thank you so much for everything. so i make a right on..." she didn't let finish my sentence. "no! no, you its too complicated! you will get lost, you come with me." as she pointed to her car, "i will take you"

now, going against all my judgement, i had to make the call. on the one hand, what i had here was a stranger, inside a strange city. but on the other, she seemed sweet, genuine, not out to harvest my kidneys for profit. she was also good looking, so in case of rape, i would rather it be from the opposite sex. 
well, everything turned out fine. her name is christina, and she was very nice. she dropped me off right in front of the bus station which was about a 10 minute drive from where i originally was. we exchanged emails, and parted with a gentle smile. a few hours later, i was on a bus headed to latvia.