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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Dec 06, 2016 09:00 PM Glacier Amalia - Fjord Calvo
Captain Louis invited me to the captain's table. It is a honour, but telling the true I would like to sit with other fellows speaking English... But it is not important - I am here to enjoy the beauty of Chilean Patagonia. The ship was sailing all night and in the morning we found ourselves opposite huge Amalia Glacier. They took us ashore aboard big capacity zodiacs - they call them "explorers" . We landed on the moraine beach and took a walk to the little hills covered by colorful lichens - opposite the 1700m wide and 80m high face of the glacier. Great view, but against the sun... The glacier was calving every few minutes.
In the afternoon the ship was sailing through the labirynth of channels to Calvo Fjord with some 15 different glaciers - can you imagine that during 2 days I did not see any other ship? At the end of Calvo they put us on theit little "icebreaker" and we sailed beetween the icebergs to the picturesque waterfall, enjoying great scenery - just see the pictures...
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Dec 05, 2016 09:00 PM Bingo! I am sailing to the glaciers!
Can you imagine the captain who doesn't speak ANY English? This was a case... But he was very nice to me. When I explained that I - the journalist - want to sail with him just today he contacted the head office of the shipping company in Santiago and I got a substantial discount. It is worth to write for the press even if they do not pay much...
It is the expedition ship for less then 100 passengers. I do not kwow why but they will have only 40 pax on this sailing - perhaps because they are unknown outside Chile. We are going for 4 days to the Chilean fiords and glaciers, landings are also expected... No internet onboard, so the next message will be on Friday evening. I am boarding the ship today in the afternoon, expecting the big adventure. Just keep the fingers crossed for the clear weather - Patagonia is unpredictable!
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Dec 04, 2016 09:00 PM Bye-bye Torres!
It was yesterday evening when at 7.30 pm I said bye to my Polish fellows (few of them were still on the fighting with the trail) and went by public bus to Puerto Natales. There is a hefty priced (3000 CLP) shuttle bus from Torres Hotel to Laguna Amarga park gate. It is walking distance but they know, that people coming down from the trail are very tired so why don't make a money? From the Amarga gate there are public buses to Puerto Natales via Cerro Castillo (1,5 h - 8000 CLP).
Days are long here and I enjoyed wonderful Patagonian sunset going to my hostal Vaiora. It is cozy place with tiny doors so it is worth to bring earplugs for the night. They charge 20 USD for the room with shared bath and good breakfast. After sweaty treks I make a big laundry today. Important decisions will be taken tomorrow...
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Dec 03, 2016 09:00 PM Hard hike to the base of Torres
They were checking again our tickets when we wera passing national Park gate. We were lycky to have sunny day for the most demanding trek to the base of Torres. They write it is 4,5 hours from the Torres hotel to Torres Lake at the bottom of the Torres. We parked the car at official "estacionamento" which is additional 1 km from the hotel. I tried to start the hike early - at 10 am. At the beginning there was steep access. Short caravans of the horses with a supply for the hut were passing along. Trail goes up into the long valley well above mountain river, and descend to the hut Refugio Chileno. It is worth to use the toilets here since up from this place you will find nothing... Path is crossing the river several times. But on this part no views - it goes through dense forest. The final 1-hour climb is a nightmare - very steep, going through the big stones, badly maintained. I reached the end of the trail at 1.30 pm. View from the mirador de base de las Torres is breathtaking. On the other side of the lake you will see vertical wall with there towers on the top. It is one of the icons of Patagonia. When I reached the lookout there were already some clouds, but I managed to take good photos. 40 min later thd towers were covered. I come here early, if you can... The return part of the trail was like a knee-breaker. I was at the hotel at 5.15 after sweaty 7 hours on the trail. But is was worth!
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Dec 02, 2016 09:00 PM Salto Grande, Cascadas de Paine
Can you imagine? On the bus crossing the border I met a little group of Poles! They booked also the accommodation in the little pension Hospedaje Mate Amargo just near the Chilean immigration post. They are photographers, some of them know me and my output and they invited me to the rented car going into the national park. It is very important because Torres Del Paine is very wide and we stay 45 minutes drive from the park gate, because accommodation in the park is very expensive. I wanted to use local bus and hitchhiking to move around... Lucky me...
The entry fee to the park is 21000 Chilean pesos. The park pass is valid for three days. Today we drove to some interesting miradores (viewpoints). You know that I like waterfalls. First we saw cascadas (rapids) on Paine River, then Salto Grande - the big and powerful waterfall.
We walked to the Mirador Cuernos - one hour each way. Many great views... Great day!
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Dec 01, 2016 09:00 PM I am going back to Chile...
El Calafate is Argentina - see picture taken from the hill. But according to my plan I should now go back to Chile. Cheilean Terres del Paine NPark is close, but no roads and no cheap transport... I found the bus of ZAAHJ company, but they do not operate every day. Some days of the week departing in the morning, the other days, like Friday - at 4.30 in the afternoon. the ticket to Puerto Natales cost 500 ARS or 20000 CLP.
I spent the morning in Calafate. It is worth to see here the headquarters of the National Park - to see Mr Moreno with his horse in front of the building and to watch an interesting, short movie showing the glaciers from the air.
In the evening I should cross the border to Chile and soon disembark the bus in Cerro Castillo - for nearby Torres del Paine Park.
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Nov 30, 2016 09:00 PM Perito Moreno - The Rainy Glacier
People fly hundereds of kilometers off the their main route through Argentina just to see this glacier. Why? - Because it is so big, so picturesque and staying on the viewing balcony opposite you are just a hundered meters from the ice...
The only gateway to Glacier Perito Moreno is El Calafate. Every morning a caravan of the tourist buses depart El Calafate. The cheapest provider *RP Transportes" charge 450 pesos for round trip. My bus was full, so maybe it is better to buy a ticket in advance. Distance to the glacier is around 80 kms, 1,5 hous drive. We had rain from the morning and cloudy sky. Departing El Calafate I saw on the right huge and light-blue Lago Argentino. Then there were kilometers of savanna and another lake - Brazo Rico on the left. Stop. National Park is very smart in... collecting entry fee. Inspectors board the bus and charge money. 330 pesos per head. If you do not have pesos you can pay USD or Euro like me, but the rate they use is lower then official. It seems to be their little private exchange business!
Narrow road goes onward up and down along Brazo Rico lake. Finally you see it. Wow! Few kms onward car park and you have 3 hour to explore. Today - in the rain and strong wind. But it is still impressive. The solid system of metal walkways will take you to different observation levels. Rich people can pay extra 350 pesos for 1-hour sail along in the little boat /not worth!/ You will hear like thunders - the glacier is calving all the time. The face of the Perito is 5 kms wide. The height is from 40 to 70 m. Great, great... But why we do not have the blue sky... Unpredictable Patagonia... I was here some 30 years ago and the sun was shining. But I did not have digital camera to take 150 pictures and video recording, like today.
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Nov 29, 2016 09:00 PM By bus to El Calafate
Today I was travelling by bus from remote El Chalten to the bigger and more civilized El Calafate. The ticket for 3-hours non-stop journey through the Patagonian emptiness costs 450 peso arg (1USD is worth 15,5 pesos). You have to pay in addition terminal fee - 20 pesos (locals - only 10 - it is discrimination, isn't it?). The journey takes 3 hours and to enjoy the views ask for the right window seat. At the beginning you will enjoy huge Lago Viedma with a distant glacier. Then, after crossing the river the new lake appears -- Lago Argentino. El Calafate lies on this lake, with snowy mountains on the horizon.
I am back on the old trail - I have been already in Calafate some 30 years ago - digital photography did not exist at this time, no internet...
I found accommodation in the fancy /from the front/ hostel "Glaciar Libertador" - see picture. They charge 23 USD for bed in the 4-bed room. The advantage is that the rooms have ensuite bathrooms.
Tomorrow I plan to see again famous Perito Moreno Glacier.
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Nov 28, 2016 09:00 PM Hiking to the bottom of Cerro Torre
They call El Chalten the national hiking capital of Argentina. There are two basic hikes: one to The bottom of Fitz Roy (I did it yesterday) and second to bottom of Cerro Torre - a needle-like mountain. Today I took the second hike. Strong wind was blowing since the morning. After an hour of climbing I reached great view point. In the distance there was snow-covered Cerro Solo (2121 m high) then there were large glaciers in the end of the valley, but sorry, all Needle Mountain was covered by clouds. Locals say that the days when you can see it are very rare. I was going up the valley anyway - along the thumbling river. The front wind was stronger and stronger. When I reached the moraine (km 9) it was so strong, bringing sand and drops of water, then is was hard to take the pictures of the Lago Torre - big lake formed by nature below the glacier. Cerro Torre was still not visible... Bad luck! But it was still an interesting experience. And on the trail I met the charming young lady who reminded me Juliette Greco - famous French singer, star of the Paris boheme from 60-ties. Initially I didn't'nt even know she is from France... It was nice to walk back to El Chalten with her and Andrew from California, talking about the world and travelling... Andrew didn't know that tomorrow is St Andrew Day - celebrated by all Andrews in Poland as their name-day...
22 kms on Sunday, 12 - yesterday, 18 - today. Walked on the flat terrain it is not much, but in the mountains it requires an extra effort. Tomorrow I'll have a break :) I'll go by bus to Calafate.
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Nov 27, 2016 09:00 PM On the eastern side of the Andes
So I am in Argentina, in the mountain village El Chalten - resting a little bit after challenging crossing of the mountains. On the other side I spend last night in the barn of Senior Ricardo without light and running water - there was no other option in this abandoned place. After that El Chalten is a big world, with hundreds of tourists, dozens of hotels and hosters. They have even a bank here! I stay in the cozy Lo de Trivi Hostel having hot shower and common kitchen (18 $ per night in the 4-bed room - they prefere dollars here!). Strong sun is shining but we have also strong wind.
In the afternoon I was hiking again to the mirador - the view point of Cerro Fitz Roy on the level 750 m. It took me 4 hours round trip and the view from the windy point was just breathtaking.
Everything goes well! Let you know that here they do not like Chilean currency, giving 25% less then official value. But USD is accepted...
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