The deeper that I head into Patagonia, the less I know about what I will encounter. Sure, there are a million websites talking about Bariloche, El Chaltén, Calafate, and Tierra del Fuego. But those same websites tell you how to see these places by direct bus or plane. That's because these are the known parts of Patagonia, aka the Eiffel Tower's, Trevi Fountain's, and Grand Canyon's that everyone comes down to see. But these are not planned stops on my route. Will I see them? Probably, they're hard to miss, but I came hear see all of the little parts in between, the people, the culture, the customs, the food. So when there is no information about traveling the in-between, or even what and where the in-between is, how do you prepare?
I started my preparations with a week in the heavily touristed northern tip of Patagonia, la ruta de los siete lagos (the route of the 7 lakes). Not only is this the perfect jumping off point, as it allows me to travel the entire length of Patagonia, but it gave me a chance to test my hitchhiking thumb, as well as test out all my gear in the mountains. The point being to test in the weather (80 by day, 30 by night), check the weight (as well as my trekking legs) fully-packed-down, and also my mental resolve.
But for all intents and purposes, and because I need to get on the road in the next 30 minutes or so, I'm going to jump to the results of these tests (you can read my stories about the fox, the hawk and crazy, sweet ol' Rosa in the book I plan to write at the end of this ;) ). So here goes: 95% of my gear is in good working order, but I need to get off the ground at night (not so much because it's hard, but because it's cold), my trekking legs need some more trekking, and my mental resolve got a good ass-kick into gear with all this alone time.
Now I'm going to share a little bit about the peculiar way I make travel decisions. I need something to sleep on. I could go searching for a sleeping pad, but camping stores are few and far between. So what is heavily prevelant here? Sheep. And a nice, locally grown sheepskin is just the perfect thing to sleep on, and also take home for a souvenir :)
So I started asking around about the best markets where I could find a good sheepskin at a fair price (read: cheap). Turns out there's a famous market on an island in Chile called Isla de Chiloé. It's in the direction I'm heading. Check. About 150 miles out of my way. Doable. Interesting culture to visit. Double check! Turns out it has a famous and bizarre history of witchcraft and sourcery, centuries-old churches constructed of wooden merchant ship planks, and houses built on stilts. Not to mention it's waaay off the beaten path. Sounds right up my alley.
So back to the question at hand, how do you prepare for the unknown? You test your gear, prepare your mind, learn whatever it is that you need, and you point your compass straight into the heart of the unknown.
See you out there,
J. James
