Hiking the Torres del Paine Circuit

I've just gotten back from hiking in Chile's Torres del Paine National Park. The most common route is the "W," but I have loads of time, so I decided to do the full circuit, which goes around the backside of the mountains. The most common method involves eight days and seven nights, but I doubled up a couple days and skipped one side trip, so I did it in five days, four nights. 

Day 1: 9 km

After being picked up by the bus at my hostel and driven for two hours, I made it to the park, and what a sight were the mountains. The Torres were covered in clouds, but most of the rest was still visible. The weather was stupendous (clear, not windy), and the 4 hour hike was pretty easy on the whole. The trail today went through some pretty areas, nice short forests, arid steppes. Beautiful mountians and hills around too. Part of the park is privately owned, and about a third of the circuit goes through their property, so you have to pay at their campsites. I spent the first night at Campamento Seron, which cost 10 bucks but did have a nice hot shower (really roughing it). 

Day 2: 28 km.

Oh what a day two. Something about sunny mornings gives me a lot of energy, I hiked quickly to Refugio Dickson.  Refugios are basically hiking hostels: you can rent a bed and buy meals. The walk was not so hard, it went through brush and low forest with incredible views on either side. Saw some absolutely gorgeous mountains, complete with glaciers hanging off. Saw a beautiful huge lake, and a large glacier with a beautiful huge mountain next to it, just glowing in the distance past Dickson, which sat on a lovely lake. It would have been a nice place to spend the night and afternoon, but I decided to continue, pressing two days into one. 

The next stretch was the most heavily forested so far. Gorgeous, really. Saw a woodpecker (picopalo) and a Patagonian fox eating a hunk of meat the size of a decent steak. This stretch, unlike the morning, actually took me about long as advertised. It actually got extremely difficult towards the end, as I myself was pretty exhausted  and the trail went over some glacial moraine scree that was difficult to walk on, the hardest terrain of the day. The peaks were gorgeous in that area, though, and there was another (detect a theme yet?) glacier there. The campsite seemed emptier- not sure why, as it should have just as many as any other on this side of the circuit. Everyone looked like really, really serious hikers there, and there was only one girl in the whole camp. That night, I discovered that my rental tent was quite crappy. It rained the whole night, and my tent flooded, my sleeping bag got wet, etc. etc. When I woke up at 1 a.m. with water dripping on my bag, I was suddenly able to remember every Spanish cuss word I'd ever learned, and they were all directed towards the guy who loaned me the tent. Didn't sleep much the rest of the night. 

Day 3: 22km, and mountain pass
Today's walk was more difficult then yesterday's, involving a lot of topo. I started through a muddy forest, and rain continued throughout most of the day. After emerging through the forest, I followed the trail up a seemingly endless rocky ridge to reach a mountain pass. 

Orange poles marked the path. Visibility was low, and climbing the ridge, following the orange poles felt like I was in the scene in Lord of the Rings when the series of signal fires are lit to call the Riders of Rohan. No pictures from that stretch, as the rain was pretty steady. After the pass, it was a hard descent, and then thankfully the weather cleared up a bit to reveal Glacier Gray and some cool mountains behind it.

The path kept descending all the way down to Refugio Gray. There were some interesting river crossings involving big ladders and such. After spending a night without much sleep in the crummy tent and carrying my water-logged gear through some tough terrain, I decided to splurge a bit and rented a bed. The Refugio was practically empty, and I ended up having the room all to myself. 

Day 4: 23 km

I slept in the night before, grabbing some well needed z's. The day started a little rough, I think because of my sleeping in. After a while I got a little more energy and recovered a bit, and managed to appreciate my surroundings. There was some forested bits, and also some rocky terrain with crazy folded rocks. The geology in the park was generally pretty amazing.

Then I made it to Paine Grande, a Refugio/guard station on the lake, and a pretty easy (I was a little too tired for it to be as easy as it should have been) hike followed up to Campamento Italiano. Unfortunately I couldn't face the prospect of another wet night in the crummy tent, which made a hike into the Valle de Frances difficult, so I continued on to Refugio Cuernos and rented a tent. 

The clouds covered most of the Cuernos (Horns) del Paine, which was disappoining, but I got to see the shorter ones when I rounded the corner to the Refugio--see the first picture in this post. Amazing mountains. Sheer granite (ish) walls crowned by a layer of black rock. The weather has been not very typically Patagonian: a steady rain, with hardly any wind. It really wasn't bad to hike in except for the slippery trails and flooded stream crossings. The issue is those cloud-covered mountains.

Day 5: 30 km (and a hellacious climb!)

What a day. I woke up, brushed my teeth, and then the foggy clouds magically parted to give a brief glimpse of Cuerno Principal, one of the awesome Cuernos del Paine with a jagged plutonic base, followed by a more easily weathered metamorphic crown. The sun was hitting it, and I couldn't help but stare until the clouds moved in again. I had been considering just catching the early bus (it was foggy and a little drizzly, and the forecast was rain) but I went ahead uphill for a chance to see the Torres. After dropping my pack (what a pleasure that was) I hiked up towards the viewpoint. The clouds were beginning to thin, the fog lifting. The first people I passed looked rather glum, but I saw more and more smiles as I got closer, making me think the weather was improving. When I made it to the viewpoint... Wow. Absolutely incredible. I hung around for a bit, soaked in the view, snapped some pics, and hoofed it downhill forevvverrrr to the bus stop. Somehow I made it in over an hour early, so I was able to grab some food and a beer before the bus left, and the weather was so clear that we could see the towers from the restaurant.

Made it!

The trip on the whole was pretty incredible. Physicially, it was quite demanding, but I mostly enjoyed the challenge. I wish I had a suitable tent, as that would have unlocked the Valle de Frances for me, and I could have camped right near the Torres to see the sunrise/set. But, I am incredibly pleased with the whole trip. I think Torres del Paine National Park has broken into my top tier of natural sights, joining the Grand Canyon and Iguazu Falls. 

Total: 5 days, 112 km. You can see loads of more pictures on Facebook, open to the public. 

From Texas to Brazil

Hey folks, yes, it has indeed been a long time. After returning from Europe, I stayed at home in San Antonio working on graduate school applications, working part time in my dad's office (V.P. of information management engineering, aka filing), and stuffing my face full of Mexican food. After finishing my applications-- and sufficiently stuffed with Tex-Mex--I went on a road trip to visit grad schools. From San Antonio, I went to Austin (of course), then to Tucson (U of Arizona), UC Santa Barbara, then to the Bay Area to visit friends, UC Davis, then a long haul to CU - Boulder, back to Austin, and finally home to San Antonio. Then I flew to Minnesota to visit UMinn and see my brother. The whole trip went pretty well, but I wish I had taken an extra week out west to see some more sights. Expect a decision from my on grad schools relatively soon.

 not a bad place to chill on the beach

Now to what you're really here for: Brazil. I flew into Rio on February 7th and spent two crazy weeks there during the madness of Carnaval. I was lucky to find a host through CouchSurfing, the friendly Alberto. He generously hosted me for two weeks, which I enjoyed tremendously and am incredibly grateful for. At the peak of Carnaval, we had 9 people sleeping on his floor.

The apartment. And a couple people had already left that morning.

Alberto lives in Lapa, an incredibly interesting neighborhood. Just next to downtown, it is known for its nightlife, though the nightlife there mostly consists of gathering in the streets, drinking caipirinhas, and listening tothe music played by random samba b ands. Every day during Carnaval, blocos would pass by the apartment (a bloco is a kind of moving party, a truck with a band on it that drives slowly down the street, with revelers following and dancing). People dress in costume for Carnaval, and their word for costume is fantasia. Someone asked me, "Ted, what is your fantasia for carnaval?" I replied, "I dunno, I just want to have fun," imagining that he was asking me what my fantasy was. Then I asked him what his was, and he replied, "a clown." Then I got it. I dressed in drag, with a big artificial butt (bundao). Good times were had by all.

The Lapa steps: tiled by a Chilean, who has been working on them constantly for many years.

The scale and intensity of Carnaval astounded me. So much of the city is filled with people partying all day and night. I really enjoyed the casualness of the street parties--and my walllet also appreciated avoiding bar-priced drinks. I also went one night to the Sambodromo to watch "the greatest show on Earth." I was not disappointed. The parades were so huge and so elaborate, and the crowd cheered on as if watching a college football game. My stand was just past the end of the parade, which was actually not bad, as many of the performers would stop by for a little encore performance. One unbelievably ripped male dancer gave us a close-up view of his signature move: a vigorous (and I mean vigorous) air hump. And the crowd goes wild!

a huge Bloco in downtown. The biggest bloco (not this one, but it was close) had nearly two million people.

Rio really is an amazing city, and it has broken into the realm of "I could live there" places. I've never witnessed a city with such a combination of gorgeous natural setting, attractive big city, and status as a cultural capital. That said, the poverty of much of the city is readily apparent, crime is frequent, and it will be interesting to see how the World Cup and Olympics go. My guess is that they will go pretty well, the cameras will have lots of gorgeous shots of the city, and we will be treated to a tiring barrage of articles abou the rising BRIC economies and the changing face of our world. Or something like that.

After leaving Rio, I went to Buenos Aires. I had intended to spend one night there before heading to do some volunteering nearby, but my hosts canceled on me at the last minute. Luckily, my friend Sam Thomas (aka "Words" to us frisbee players) randomly messaged me about an hour later, saying he was living in BA. So, we chilled for a couple days, and then I headed south to Patagonia, which will have to be another post. (Don't worry, I'm having a blast).

ISTANBUL

Backgammon in smoke-filled cafes. A Turkish bath (featuring a large, hairy Turkish dude). Fresh fish sandwiches straight off the boat. Tasty home-cooked Turkish ravioli. Incredible art museums. These and many other attractions put Istanbul at or near the top of my list of places visited in the past six months.

It was hard not to feel like I'd entered a different world when hearing prayer calls from mosques all about, but in many ways, Istanbul felt more modern then many European cities I'd been too. Istiklal Avenue (above) is a long pedestrian avenue, complete with Christmas (winter?) lights, designer stores, and art galleries. A relatively easy-to-use public transportation network allowed me to get home easily after a long day of walking around the city. Everything (in the central neighborhoods, at least) felt clean, well-run, and pleasant. Now, highlights:

Beautiful mosques

Byzantine Cistern, stored water under the city

Balik Ekmek...

You could walk right up to this boat (actually there are three identical ones in a row) and buy a fish sandwich for $2.50. Absolutely delicious and incredibly fresh-tasting. The most impressive part of the whole deal is these guys are cooking and assembling while this boat is being tossed around, despite being tied to the dock.

(image from National Geographic)

I took a bath in the Çemberlitaş Hamamı, a historic bath pictured above. A Turkish bath is like hot yoga, except instead of having a slender cutie request politely that you hold the stretch for a few extra seconds, a large, fat, hairy Turkish masseuse bends and beats your body while soaping you down. I may have limped out of the bath, but I was cleaner than I had been in 6+ months.

Ataturk Monument, Taksim Square

I stayed in a hostel, but I hung out with a couple locals thanks to CouchSurfing. I went and played backgammon (twice) with one dude (he won), and I also spent one lovely afternoon with a local medical student (why so many med students?) who also had me and a couple other CSers over for dinner with her and her family. And yes, her mom does cook a tasty ravioli and borek.

Next up, a report on being home and a little summary of the trip.

Hanging out with anarchist medical students in Thessaloniki

Some of said students: very intimidating

Last Friday through Tuesday, I had my first couch surfing experience in Thessaloniki, Greece, and it was great. I stayed with Seamos (far right of above picture) and (yes) slept on his couch. My biggest takeaway from all of it was experiencing a bit of the Greek counterculture, the people so vehement in their protests against the Greek government.

In Greece, medicine is a six-year major, not a separate school that you go to after finishing college, and all of these folks were actually younger than me. They definitely had an energy about them -- two of the four nights when I was there, they met in their unauthorized squat on campus to draft up a document about the state of medical education in Greece. One nice guy noticed that I wasn't exactly following their   discussion in Greek, so he handed me some twenty-year-old anarchist punk rock magazines from San Francisco.

We had a good time going out at night. One night, we went to a dubstep concert playing at a squat near the university (they love their squats). Another, to a punk rock show in the engineering building on campus. Allegedly, the police aren't allowed on university campuses, which kind of blew my mind.

Seamos was a great host, making sure I met all his friends and had fun with them. He's a pretty interesting guy, too, friendly, and never afraid to speak his mind. I'll definitely be couchsurfing again. 

A little about Albania (and what I've been doing for the past month)

I've spent the past month working at a hostel in Berat, Albania. Berat is an ancient town, with two 2000-year-old fortresses and very interesting Ottoman architecture (pictured above).


Lately it's been very quiet at the hostel (Berat Backpackers), which has its advantages and disadvantages. Basically I just need to stick around the hostel for about half the day, and have only about an hour of work (or less) spread out over 8 hours (which is a good deal for all the food I'm consuming, for sure). I enjoyed a lot of the socializing with guests, meeting people, etc.

 My most important duty: restocking the beer fridge

I also cook some dinners for the staff and guests. Here, frying chicken

The country is very strange. It was isolated for 50 years under a dictatorship. The garbage gets thrown in the river. There's a restaurant 5 minutes away run by a dude who used to traffic humans (apparently this used to be the only way to make enough money to start a legitimate business). There are loads of alcoholics. Girls hardly ever leave the house at night. You can tell the young people want to change things but are kind of limited. For instance--dudes will get really dressed up western-style to go out and hopefully meet some girls. But they have to go out to coffeeshop/bars (there are no bars in our style), where there might be five guys for every girl. And then they all go home at 9. There is a 24-hour pool hall/casino in town, which i've been out late at before, but it's filled with old drunks and such (which can be quite fun). There are also the sports books, where young dudes go out to bet on soccer. One of the other workers here is Irish and loves his football, so we've gone to watch a few games in town.

The people are extremely friendly to foreigners, and the scenery is incredible: mountains on 4 sides, with landscape and vegetation that I think can be best described as the Texas Hill country, without the spiky plants, add in olive and pomegranate trees, and various deciduous trees changing to oranges and reds and yellows. All in all, I'm glad I spent a month here. Talking to Albanians and seeing how business is done, I've gotten to see a bit of how another culture functions. Worth it.

On Friday, I'm going to Thessaloniki, Greece, before heading to Istanbul, and I'm planning to couchsurf in both. My flight home is December 7th. 

Knowledge bombs from London to Albania

My brother, a great writer, has a habit of whipping out his iphone and making a note whenever something pops into his head. I've done the same a few times in the past 6 weeks, and this post is a collection of some of these little observations. So these aren't really "knowledge" bombs at all, more "random observation" dollops. But knowledge bombs sounds cooler. Here goes, in chronological order, starting in London.

Camera phone flashes

It's funny to watch people take pictures with their camera phones in broad daylight. The tiny little light turns on, far, far exceeded by the power of the sun. Some might see something about futility and impotence. I just think it's kind of funny.

The London Air

I'm walking through London as the sun sets on a warm august day, and the air is that perfect temperature where you are completely comfortable. But not just that-- there are those small bubbles of air that are just a degree or two different, but still pleasant. So as you walk you're hit with waves of warmth then cool then warmth then cool again.

London and Austin

Walking through London (and other cities) makes me really appreciate what I had in Austin. Yesterday I saw an open-air food market, a nice walk along the Thames with street performers, beautiful parks. So many of the things I relish here were always available in america. Now we just need to get buckingham palace.

Train to Milan

Unfortunately, my train car from cinque terre to Milan has two of the stinkiest human beings on the planet. Two large, fat Italian men. (note: they were later thrown off the train for not having a ticket)

Sophia.

Very interesting place. Love the old soviet feel. The people are pretty friendly. I wonder what takes more courage- the people from poorer countries going to west Europe, or rich ones going east. (note: I later decided, going from the east to the west is scarier)

Music Classics

Listening to old music is always refreshing, but there is often the reminder that it's just not the same--you enjoy it, but not as much as when your whole brain tingled and lit up on every successive listen until your love for it dwindles to mere respect and fond memories.

Different lives

It's interesting seeing people in other countries and wondering about what kind of person they would be if they grew up in America. Goth? Hippy? Engineer? Example: met a family of people running a manufacturing/machine shop in their barn in this tiny village. They spoke English. They made tiny little parts to be used for a variety of machines and furniture and whatnot. Amazing. What if they were wealthy in America? What would they accomplish then?

(somehow, this reminded me of a time, during freshman orientation, when I went to a restaurant in Austin and saw an entire family of goths. Mom, Dad, and three kids, all dressed in all black. How do those kids rebel? Going to the gap (thanks south park))

Long way from home

Just saw a guy in a donkey-pulled cart in a left turn lane 200m from the central train station in the capital of Bulgaria, an EU nation capital. I need to go to India.

The triumphant return of music videos

Well, it's 530 am and I'm waiting on a minibus to take me to Berat, to work at the hostel there. But don't worry! I have Albanian/Turkish music videos to entertain me. I'm not sure what it is that makes the videos so entertaining--the closeups on horn solos, the super shiny shirts, the male lead singers who are inevitably a bit pudgy. Maybe it's the saxophone solo done by the Jonah hill Albanian twin. Or maybe it's the George bush look alike singer who's fond of pleated pants and tie clips. But really, how much more ridiculous is it than American singers in denim vests and suspenders? Oh, and yes the videos do feature cuties dancing.

BUMP BUMP

I don't like routine--I like rhythm, the music of life humming to the beat of weekly events, yes, even tv shows. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday bump bump bump bump bump tsts Tcha. Dinners with friends, weekly lunches, fish wrap Fridays, twofer Tuesdays.

The upside of a hangover

Being hungover isn't pleasant--but I still like it sometimes, or at least find some small positive morsel in it. You can be so aware of what's right in front of you, because you actually can't physically take your eyes off of whatever it is--your hands, the blanket, the ceiling. I swear I’ve stared at my hands for 15 minutes before. Really, there’s a lot to see.

On Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a super interesting country, full of nice people, cool soviet relics, and a beautiful mountainous countryside, which was loaded with trees changing color when I went through it. However, I had my first negative experience with HelpX.

I was in a small village (Voditsa) working at a family's house that's run as a campsite/hostel during the summer months. I was doing a variety of odd jobs around the property, like building a fence and shelling walnuts. The village was nice, and the work was alright, but I really didn't get along with the boss, and it got quite cold there (note the snow), and the combination of the weather and the boss got to me. I had planned to stay for three weeks, but I ended up leaving after one, and luckily I got the opportunity to work at a hostel in Albania, where I am right now, happy and warm and getting to socialize with guests. I'll post more on the hostel later.

I think if I had been in Bulgaria in summer or spring, I may have enjoyed myself, or maybe if I just had more time to get along with the boss. But I'm only in Europe for so long, and I didn't want to spend another two weeks unhappy, so I left. The boss took it pretty well, and I'm glad I left early.

I spent a couple days in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, after leaving the village, and I rather enjoyed just wandering around, taking in the city that was somewhat western, but somewhat soviet. The English graffiti was interesting (as above on the main shopping street), and the cheap street food was hard to beat. More photos here.

I then took a bus to Skopje, Macedonia, where I had an afternoon to kill walking around the city, and then headed to the hostel in Albania. I'll be here for another 3 or 4 weeks, then hit up Greece, Turkey, and head home for the holidays (and to finish my applications to grad school).