El Calafate, Argentina - Day 2

El Calafate is the jump off point for the amazing Perito Moreno Glacier, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the third largest body of fresh water in the world, and one of only a three glaciers in South America which are increasing in size. The glacier advances at the rate of 2 meters per day, causing large chucks of ice to fall off in breathtaking fashion.

The first thing you noise when standing on the platform overlooking the immense glacier is the constant groaning bellow, like a Brontosaurus trying desperately to escape from the glacier’s icy grasp, but has given up hope and is content to periodically roar in frustration. The next thing that occurs is that chunks of ice, sometimes small like the size of person, sometimes larger like the size of a car cleaves off of the glacier and crashes into the water in a colossal manner creating a temporary crater and seismic waves to a thunderous splash.

Oh, then I strapped on some ice crampons and trekked over the glacieral hills, valleys, rivers, and deep crevices. Easily another highlight of the trip!

El Calafate, Argentina - Day 2

El Chalten, Argentina - Day 1

El Chalten is the trekking capital of Argentina with easy access to the famous Fitz Roy mountain range and Cerra Torre. We arrived mid afternoon; and with some people I met on the bus, spent a lazy day having lunch and doing a short 2 hour trek to a waterfall. The highlight of the trip was actually catching a train of horses traveling along the road and through the ravine. At first we only saw about 20 horses coming along the road in a single file line seemingly leading themselves along the path but at the end of the train a gaucho was following along to ensure that none strayed.

The weather is extremely fickle with the mountain ranges causing some strong wind tunnels. At times the wind was so strong that we couldn’t even walk forward and had to hold on to each other to keep from falling over. Luckily we only did an easy hike and not the 7 hour hike up to Fitz Roy which could have caused significant issues with windy conditions like the ones we faced that day.

El Chalten, Argentina - Day 1

Luang Prabang, Laos - Day 4

So I found out today that Thai and Laos are relatively similar in terms of culture, food, and language. I met some Thai Airways flight attendants at a waterfall which was severely overflowing due to the huge monsoons that have been hammering the area. Every four years they get an irregularly high amount of rain fall during the wet season. In Vang Vieng, where tubing is popular with tourists, the river had become so flooded and powerful that a Swedish girl flipped over in her tube and died when her foot got caught in the rocks. They had to suspend tubing for a while amongst the massive evidence of the rain’s impact as houses and buildings were left in disarray, bridges collapsed, and trees were strewn around like Godzilla had just sauntered through. At the waterfalls we were practically walking mid shin deep in water up the steps which are obviously not normally covered with water.

At dinner, we were talking about how a lot of the foods of northern Thailand and Laos are very similar. The use of sticky rice, formed into small balls with your hands and then dipped into the foods, is common in the northern half of Thailand and in Laos. The languages are also somewhat similar and the girls spoke Thai to the Laos people and they were able to understand Thai mainly because the only TV channels that they get are Thai. I also believe that at one point Thailand had ruled parts of Laos.

Luang Prabang, Laos - Day 4

Sapa, Vietnam - Day 2

Sapa, Vietnam - Day 2

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 6

On my last day in Sihanoukville, I rented a motorbike and biked around the town to venture off the proverbial beaten path. I went up to Wat Leu, a temple on the top of the only hill in sihanoukville, and went around a bit. I’ve seen quite a few temples going through southeast Asia central but this one had statues of old men leaning on canes that didn’t appear in any of the other temples that I visited.

On the way down the hill I took a different path down the hill. I stopped to take a picture of a statue and this adorable little girl came running out of a house at me. I guess she doesn’t see too many foreigners on bikes. After standing in front of me for about 2 minutes and smiling, she runs over to the statue that I was taking a picture of and poses in front of the statue for a couple minutes while also trying to get her brothers attention to come over from the door step of their house, which was about the size of a large shack. When her brother finally came over, she wrestled him to the ground and then made him stand up and pose for more pictures. She’s in the running for the cutest kid award on my travels although she’s going to have plenty of competition.

Then I biked to the Kbal Chhay waterfalls about 20km away. Apparently it’s a popular weekend picnic and relaxation spot for the locals but I found it rather lacking. Not much of a waterfall although the hammocks looked rather comfy.

Finally, I drove around the rest of the islands and checked out the other beaches that were further from my hotel before meeting up with some Estonian friends for dinner. We went to a local popular Cambodian seafood restaurant where we were the only foreigners amongst a ton of locals. I was a little wary as the menu didn’t have any prices which was a prime opportunity to get charged foreigner prices, but we ordered a ton of food and it came out to be about 4 dollars each. We were hanging out at the guesthouse, which ironically is partially owned by an Estonian, and he went and got some local Cambodian specialties for us to try – a chicken egg with a developing chicken inside. It was two eggs with some lime and pepper but when you peel away the egg shell there’s a definite skeleton structure of a baby chicken with a head and the normal egg whites around it. It was like a soft boiled egg with tender bones in it – tasted like chicken. I wouldn’t order it at a restaurant but it was a peculiar delicacy to try once in your life.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - Day 6

Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 2

Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 2