Theoretical Tourist Information
There is a cutting irony of a chalk drawn facebook and instagram symbol in a restaurant that is so cut off from the internet. A familiar blue f and rainbow coloured box is prominently displayed on the bar selling craft beers at 3500 pesos a pint - Chilean Patagonia is expensive.
"Please share!" Cry out the logos. "Please share us with the world!"
The little towns of deep Patagonia reach out for the 21st century but the remoteness of these mountain surrounded communities locks them firmly in the 20th century, where everything is done by telephone - but only one mobile company reaches out to this community in the wilderness. But, again noone told anyone before they arrived - the waiter chuckles, reminiscing, "When I first came here, my phone didn't work for 3 weeks." Three weeks. He must have had to leave the town to the next town 80km away to buy a sim card (the company that works our here in Intel) that would work and come back.
And from a tourist point of view I couldn't book any accommodation nor find out how when the buses leave the town in advance of arriving in the little town of Puerto Rio Tranquilo. So, when I arrived it was a real adventure. I only hoped I'd get back out. It almost seems as if the rest of the world passes by these little towns on the Southern Patagonian highway, the carretera austral. There isn't even a shop selling newspapers again, we are completely isolated from the rest of the world. And by the way highway is a optimistic word - it is one long, bumpy gravel road with a recommended maximum speed of 30mph - and good luck getting above 20mph without losing control. The scenery is, though, as you may guess, absolutely spectacular. Every corner is worthy of a postcard, when and if the sun shines. And on this road, there are a lot of corners. But, make sure you do it by car otherwise the only photos you will have are memories.
I did get a slow wifi connection in the BnB I found on arrival - a company based in Santiago de Chile passed me a PDF with a list of suggested BnBs for this town but none answered my phonecalls. (But, it just rained so I'm typing this into my Samsung notes and will upload when, if the wifi comes back). Nevertheless, when the bus pulled into the sleepy village a man came up and handed me a piece of paper "bed and breakfast, hot shower " he told me in Spanish.
Back in the restaurant I ask about wifi and am told by the friendly waitress, "I can share my mobile hotspot with you if it is urgent." No, it isn't urgent but I'd just like to know what's happening in the wider world. I start a conversation with a friend and the conenction fails again. Without even a newspaper, it is completely cut off here. I recall what a waiter told me in Chiloé "Here, this place is to disconnect." This is true, but if I want to disconnect I turn off my phone. Yes, that is the essence of Patagonia, but if you are used to being connected it is hard not be anymore. Are we this addicted to the internet? I seem to have forgotten how to do things in a traditional way. Maybe I can tie a message onto a condor's claw and send it over the Andes - after all I did see two flying overhead today, their 3 metre long wing span circled over my head waiting for me to flip over my kayak and be their lunch.
Back in Rio Tranquilo, I venture on over to the tourist information. An expensive touchscreen panel digital tourist information stands lonely outside the closed office. Excitement spills over me as I touch the screen and am directed to sign into the computer system. Frustration washes over me. Funnily enough I don't have a username or password. Today, I walked past the little wooden cabin again to see three tourists peering curiously through the window at the neat leaflets behind a window sitting prettily. Their hands cupping their eyes, they struggled to see what was inside. What struck me most was that no opening times were displayed on the window. As a tourist and someone who has worked in tourism before, it was frustrating to see the lack of forethought.
In Puerto Aysen, I tried to find some interesting tourist pamphlets and only came across a glossy brochure in Spanish detailing the investment of a world class tourist infrastructure in the region. I read in detail about how much money has been spent on the region - and it was all very nice. The photos were stunning in the brochure and it detailed all types of activities that can be done, horse riding, trekking on glaciers, trips to lakes and hot springs. But, glossy brochures and barcode scanning aside what a good tourist informaiton needs is information for tourists on bus times, leaflets that the public can actually touch and failing that, a sign on the door with opening times!
I was told Patagonia is very exclusive and not for everyone. I'm having a fantastic time here. Yes, it is exclusive in the sense that if you want a beach holiday this isn't the place for you. That's not that what I came for but, from a tourist's point of view, a little attention to simple details will make things much easier for the tourist. It is incredibly difficult to organise anything here. Surely, there must be an easier way.
Most people I meet here hire cars and drive around and maybe that it is - unless you are willing to do that this side of Patagonia, the Chilean side will remain an almost unreachable destination. But, like the saying goes, no pain no gain.
I ask three people in different shops for bus times and the first shrugs their shoulders, the second directs me to a sandwich shop which doubles as a bus station and, hurrah, the lady who knows the bus times is working. She tells me to book my bus one day in advance because she has to phone the bus company to confirm if they are travelling the next day. Maybe they will bring more tomatoes and a new pumpkin. The tomatoes sit black in the wooden basket and black flies crawl over the pumpkin.
And, in this town, I've done two activities I didn't think I'd do here and the kayak was fantastic. I had been drawn to the town to visit Laguna San Rafael, an even more exclusive lagoon with a glacier. Trips cost £300 for the day but from Rio Tranquilo you can take a smaller tour for half the price. However, the weather here can change everything and most of the days are booked up long in advance. This is definitely a place to visit as a family or large group as then you can secure a tour.
My last additional to this post is sitting on the bus destined for the Argentine border at Chile Chico and Los Antiguos. It has been raining since the glacier tour yesterday and despite the fact I didn't do the tour I orginally came here for, I realise just how lucky I have been to kayak at the marble caves and scale a glacier - everyone else's tours have been cancelled for the next two days. Our bus due to leave at three. We pull into a car park, waiting for two more passengers who saunter on up the bus seemingly oblivious to the hour and a quarter long wait we have just made for them on this bus. Finally, we set off.
Argentina here I come.
"Please share!" Cry out the logos. "Please share us with the world!"
The little towns of deep Patagonia reach out for the 21st century but the remoteness of these mountain surrounded communities locks them firmly in the 20th century, where everything is done by telephone - but only one mobile company reaches out to this community in the wilderness. But, again noone told anyone before they arrived - the waiter chuckles, reminiscing, "When I first came here, my phone didn't work for 3 weeks." Three weeks. He must have had to leave the town to the next town 80km away to buy a sim card (the company that works our here in Intel) that would work and come back.
And from a tourist point of view I couldn't book any accommodation nor find out how when the buses leave the town in advance of arriving in the little town of Puerto Rio Tranquilo. So, when I arrived it was a real adventure. I only hoped I'd get back out. It almost seems as if the rest of the world passes by these little towns on the Southern Patagonian highway, the carretera austral. There isn't even a shop selling newspapers again, we are completely isolated from the rest of the world. And by the way highway is a optimistic word - it is one long, bumpy gravel road with a recommended maximum speed of 30mph - and good luck getting above 20mph without losing control. The scenery is, though, as you may guess, absolutely spectacular. Every corner is worthy of a postcard, when and if the sun shines. And on this road, there are a lot of corners. But, make sure you do it by car otherwise the only photos you will have are memories.
I did get a slow wifi connection in the BnB I found on arrival - a company based in Santiago de Chile passed me a PDF with a list of suggested BnBs for this town but none answered my phonecalls. (But, it just rained so I'm typing this into my Samsung notes and will upload when, if the wifi comes back). Nevertheless, when the bus pulled into the sleepy village a man came up and handed me a piece of paper "bed and breakfast, hot shower " he told me in Spanish.
Back in the restaurant I ask about wifi and am told by the friendly waitress, "I can share my mobile hotspot with you if it is urgent." No, it isn't urgent but I'd just like to know what's happening in the wider world. I start a conversation with a friend and the conenction fails again. Without even a newspaper, it is completely cut off here. I recall what a waiter told me in Chiloé "Here, this place is to disconnect." This is true, but if I want to disconnect I turn off my phone. Yes, that is the essence of Patagonia, but if you are used to being connected it is hard not be anymore. Are we this addicted to the internet? I seem to have forgotten how to do things in a traditional way. Maybe I can tie a message onto a condor's claw and send it over the Andes - after all I did see two flying overhead today, their 3 metre long wing span circled over my head waiting for me to flip over my kayak and be their lunch.
Back in Rio Tranquilo, I venture on over to the tourist information. An expensive touchscreen panel digital tourist information stands lonely outside the closed office. Excitement spills over me as I touch the screen and am directed to sign into the computer system. Frustration washes over me. Funnily enough I don't have a username or password. Today, I walked past the little wooden cabin again to see three tourists peering curiously through the window at the neat leaflets behind a window sitting prettily. Their hands cupping their eyes, they struggled to see what was inside. What struck me most was that no opening times were displayed on the window. As a tourist and someone who has worked in tourism before, it was frustrating to see the lack of forethought.
In Puerto Aysen, I tried to find some interesting tourist pamphlets and only came across a glossy brochure in Spanish detailing the investment of a world class tourist infrastructure in the region. I read in detail about how much money has been spent on the region - and it was all very nice. The photos were stunning in the brochure and it detailed all types of activities that can be done, horse riding, trekking on glaciers, trips to lakes and hot springs. But, glossy brochures and barcode scanning aside what a good tourist informaiton needs is information for tourists on bus times, leaflets that the public can actually touch and failing that, a sign on the door with opening times!
I was told Patagonia is very exclusive and not for everyone. I'm having a fantastic time here. Yes, it is exclusive in the sense that if you want a beach holiday this isn't the place for you. That's not that what I came for but, from a tourist's point of view, a little attention to simple details will make things much easier for the tourist. It is incredibly difficult to organise anything here. Surely, there must be an easier way.
Most people I meet here hire cars and drive around and maybe that it is - unless you are willing to do that this side of Patagonia, the Chilean side will remain an almost unreachable destination. But, like the saying goes, no pain no gain.
I ask three people in different shops for bus times and the first shrugs their shoulders, the second directs me to a sandwich shop which doubles as a bus station and, hurrah, the lady who knows the bus times is working. She tells me to book my bus one day in advance because she has to phone the bus company to confirm if they are travelling the next day. Maybe they will bring more tomatoes and a new pumpkin. The tomatoes sit black in the wooden basket and black flies crawl over the pumpkin.
And, in this town, I've done two activities I didn't think I'd do here and the kayak was fantastic. I had been drawn to the town to visit Laguna San Rafael, an even more exclusive lagoon with a glacier. Trips cost £300 for the day but from Rio Tranquilo you can take a smaller tour for half the price. However, the weather here can change everything and most of the days are booked up long in advance. This is definitely a place to visit as a family or large group as then you can secure a tour.
My last additional to this post is sitting on the bus destined for the Argentine border at Chile Chico and Los Antiguos. It has been raining since the glacier tour yesterday and despite the fact I didn't do the tour I orginally came here for, I realise just how lucky I have been to kayak at the marble caves and scale a glacier - everyone else's tours have been cancelled for the next two days. Our bus due to leave at three. We pull into a car park, waiting for two more passengers who saunter on up the bus seemingly oblivious to the hour and a quarter long wait we have just made for them on this bus. Finally, we set off.
Argentina here I come.
Los Antiguos, Argentina
Sábado el 29 de diciembre 2018
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