Before I left, I had people tell me, "man, enjoy the beach for me" or, "enjoy the bars and clubs for me". I mostly just chuckled in response and told them that I would, because I really wasn't interested in that aspect. I'd rather be checking out the nightlife at home in Ontario with friends instead of doing it alone a continent away. This trip for me was more along the lines of wanting to experience the difference in cultures, learn the histories of the countries and to think about things. One might even say that the trip would be of a more spiritual and introspective nature rather than a get wasted and party nature. If anything spiritual was going to happen, it probably would happen at El Chaltén.
El Chaltén is a small town located within the borders of a natural park, it might just be the most naturally beautiful places I've been to. Beautiful hikes, beautiful views, beautiful food and really friendly people. The town is nestled in a valley, surrounded by cliff faces on one side and the gentle sloping foothills of the Fitzroy mountain range on the other. El Chaltén is known to one raining for most of the year and today was no exception. The hikes that I wanted to do were each about 10 km long one way, so I decided to warm up by doing a short (in comparison) 3 km walk to a small waterfall. The walk was quite nice, passing over scrubby windswept hills and then diving into forest for the last stretch. Right before the final twist of the path, there is a sign that says simply "contemplation area". I thought that was odd, but funny. It's rare you see a sign telling you to stop and take a moment to reflect. The water around that last twist is beautiful, surrounded by trees and with a rocky shallow hill facing it, covered in hikers. In the end, it's kind of nice that the sign was there, it made you realize why someone would come here and once you are paying attention to that feeling, you can't help but contemplate. After a few minutes if contemplation, I hit the trail back to town. The walk back is always easier than the walk there.
*Continued in part two.*
Check out all of my photos here! (2000+ pics)
No comments:
Post a Comment