Los Antiguos

On November 5th, around 6:00 PM, my mom took a taxi to the airport as she was flying to Buenos Aires to catch her flight back to Germany the next day. I took a bus to Los Antiguos an hour later.

The next day, I arrived in Los Antiguos around 9:00 AM. I found myself in a village that is about the size of Gossersweiler-Stein, but spread over a larger area. Since there were no taxis in sight and it was early in the day, I walked to the hostel. On the way, I made a stop at the bank. I waited for about 30 minutes because there was only one functioning ATM and apparently half of the village needed money in the morning. After that, I continued walking to the hostel, which was located 3 km outside of the center. The hostel was incredibly beautiful, clean, and lovingly furnished. Unfortunately, I was the only guest and had the entire house to myself, as the owners slept next door in their house. After taking a shower and bringing my things for laundry, I walked back to the center to book a tour to Puerto Rio Tranquilo, which was the only reason why I came to Los Antiguos. Both agencies did not offer a tour on the following day. I was very disappointed and saw no possibility to still be able to do the tour to Puerto Rio Tranquilo, so I walked back to the bus terminal to book a bus to Puerto Madryn. It was scheduled to leave on Thursday morning at 2:30 AM. Feeling a bit down and annoyed, I returned and the hostel owner was already waiting for me, making a fire in the large fireplace. When I told him that the tour didn't work out, he wrote a message to "Martin Pescador" on Facebook. Martin Pescador is another agency, but on the Chilean side. They still had spots available, so I could go with them to Capillas del Marmol. In the evening, the wife cooked for me, although I had to pay for it. I found it very friendly, as there was no kitchen to cook in and there were no restaurants in town.

The next day, I was able to have breakfast at 7:30 AM, even though it usually starts at 8:00 AM. At 8:00 AM, the hostel owner drove me to the Argentine border post. From there, I could have walked to Chile Chico. However, Google Maps said it would take 2.5 hours and I only had 1.5 hours, so luckily a nice Chilean picked me up, who also had to cross the border. He knew Martin Pescador and dropped me off right at the door. With a small group of 7 people, we then drove to Puerto Rio Tranquilo. The three-hour drive there was incredibly beautiful. We drove along the largest lake in Chile and the second largest lake in South America. On the way there, the color of the water was deep blue. On the way back, it had rained a bit, so the water looked turquoise. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos because the van was driving quite fast and we didn't have time for stops, as the border closes at 8:00 PM. Arriving in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, I took a boat trip to Capillas del Marmol. These are marble caves that are continuously changing due to wind and water. This phenomenon is older than Machu Picchu, but it had never been recognized as something special before.

In the evening, I was driven to the Chilean border post. There, I met three Belgians who rented a car with a tent on the roof for 2 weeks and they gave me a ride back to Los Antiguos.

At night, I took a taxi to the bus terminal to catch the bus to Puerto Madryn. The hostel owner stayed up late just in case the taxi didn't come so that he could drive me if necessary.