Wednesday, November 6, 2024

DOMMEL wandeltocht van Cor, Gerard en Ton; 26-27-28 juli 2024

De DOMMELtocht van Cor, Gerard en Ton in juli (26-27-28) 2024.


De gedachte om samen deze Brabantse rivier af te wandelen / stroomopwaarts van 's Hertogenbosch naar de bron in Wijchmaal (gemeente Peer), Belgie bestond al geruime tijd. 


Startpunt natuurreservaat De Malpie in Valkenswaard

Cor, gepensioneerd arts, psycholoog, bedrijfsarts, busy-body van uitzonderlijk kunne

Gerard, man of all seasons, presenteert zich als de Guru van Overijse zonder volgelingen, alias Nol voor intimi, en in Belgie ook bekend/berucht als de niet erkende Prins van Oranje. 

Ton, gepensioneerd ontwikkelingswerker, globetrotter en verdienstelijk wandelfanaticus.

Alledrie gepensioneerd met voor Cor (75 jaar) en Ton (73) redelijk volle agenda's. Haha, Gerard (70), de jongste van ons drietjes wilde per se niet meer dan 15km per dag lopen, en dan nog enkel bij goed weer. Dat laatste vond Cor dan weer geen punt. Enfin we hebben er een paar fijne wandeldagen van gemaakt. De logistiek werd tot in de puntjes verzorgd door Anja die zorgde voor het brengen en ophalen iedere dag. Redelijk weer ook. 

De derde en laatste dag liepen ook nog mee: de Anja (72 jaar) van Cor, Maria (78), Odi (72), Ties (67), en Anja (68), allemaal volwaardig lid van de zondagwandelgroep 'Altijd Dorst'.. (ps. in de 50er jaren moet de naam Anja zo'n beetje de meest populaire meisjesnaam geweest zijn). Wie van ons kent er niet iemand die Anja heet? En hedentendage....wie zou dochterlief nu Anja noemen? Times have changed..tegenwoordig heten de meisjes bijv. Sanne, Tessa, Bo..of zelfs Zaya. Ook mooi als je het mij vraagt.


Dag 3 Wandelgroep 'Altijd Dorst' met extra's: van links naar rechts 'Mao' Gerard, Maria, Anja, Odi, Ties, Cor, Ton, Anja


Dag 1 van Valkenswaard/start bij het Malpiebos naar Neerpelt (20km) 

romantische natuur in de Malpie

Dag 2 van Neerpelt naar Peer (18km)

Dag 3 van Peer naar Wijchmaal (17km)

De weilanden in Wijchmaal met Cor, Odi, Ton en Anja

Totaal 55 km zonder blaren, zonder pijn, zonder moeite, zonder onenigheden / en met veel genoegen, mooie vergezichten en goed weer.

Kranten en internet geven elke dag aan dat Nederland vol zit. De politiek benadrukt dit ook, edoch langs de Dommel krijg je toch een heel ander gevoel. Deze meanderende regenrivier wordt bijna continu omzoomd door weilanden en bossen. Slecht langs een paar km hebben mensen huizen waarvan gezegd kan worden dat ze 'píed dans l'eau' staan / letterlijk huis of tuin grenzend aan het water. Voor Dommel-liefhebbers zoals Cor en Ton is dat zo'n beetje het summum aan woongenot. In NL schat ik dat een huis met tuin aan de oever van de Dommel in een dorp als Borkel of Dommelen, en dan vrijstaand en in redeljke staat, toch al gauw zo'n slordige 7 ton moet opbrengen. Dat zal in Belgie beduidend minder zijn, hoewel de grondpercelen zoals we gezien hebben in Overpelt stukken groter zijn dan in Valkenswaard. Enfin, dit is water naar de zee dragen: we zijn allemaal in de 70 jaar jong, en zitten de rit uit in onze woon/verblijfsstede. Als we nog ooit verkassen dan is het waarschijnlijk naar een apartement, bejaardenwoning of wellicht zelfs naar een zorgcentrum als het Leenderhof in mijn dorp Leende.

Plezant; dat is Belgie altijd / Overpelt

De Dommel is er in de laatse 40 jaar op vooruit gegaan. Ik herinner me nog dat toen Cor, Frans van Hout en ik in 1976 (of 1977?) langs deze rivier struinden, er met name rond Eindhoven en in de Pelt-regio in Belgie nogal wat waterpartijen vervuild waren. Deels kwam dit door de lokale industrie maar ook denk ik doordat de boeren sterk giftige pesticiden (onder meer DDT) gebruikten ..en last but not least doordat mensen nog de gewoonte hadden veel huisafval gewoon langs of in de Dommel te kieperen. Dat is allemaal verbeterd. En er is een samenwerking die funktioneert tussen de Nederlandse en Belgische 'waterschappen' die het uitgestrekte stroomgebied des Dommels beheren. En het laten meanderen, met andere woorden de rivieren weer grotendeels 'op hun loop laten' zorgt voor een meer origineel en natuurlijk parcours, een hogere grondwaterstand en meer diversiteit in flora and fauna. Zo zijn ook belangrijke stromen die de Dommel voeden, waaronder de Warmbeek, Keersop en Tongelreep deels weer teruggebracht naar een meer oorspronkelijk verloop en met een natuurlijke overloop. Ook belangrijk: tientallen kleine stuwen zijn geplaatst die het debiet van de Dommel reguleren per seizoen. Er moet nu brasem en karper in de Dommel zitten; wellicht ook snoek. En wanneer komt de forel weer terug of is er die al...en misschien zelfs de zalm over tien jaar? Er is nu ook een erkend wandelpad langs de gehele lengte van de Dommel (120km), hoewel wij merkten dat de laatste 7km door de prairies van het uitgestrekte dorp Wijchmaal de route niet meer langs de Dommel liep maar gewoon over de verharde weg. Tenslotte is er het gesponsorde Natura 2000 project (Europese Unie) dat ervoor zorgt dat ten Zuiden van Eindhoven het stroomgebied inclusief vloedbossen aan de rand van de Groote Heide, Leenderbos en Plateaux de afgelopen 25 jaar hebben bijgedragen tot een vergroting van de recreatie mogelijkheden en een bescherming van de natuur: het Brabantse (zanderige) landschap: De Kempen oftewel Campina volgens de Romeinen.


En als je mij nu vraagt welke zijn de drie mooiste wandelstukken langs de Dommel tussen Valkenswaard en de bron dan kies ik toch in willekeurige volgorde voor 

a. de Plateaux, b. de Malpie en c. de weilanden van Wijchmaal tot aan de bron.

Het Plateau of de Belgen zeggen 'De Plateaux'/Hageven vlakbij het Nederlandse gehucht 't Brugske, en de grens overlappend, is een prachtig en rustig wandelgebied waar je met de auto niet kunt komen. Veel zandgrond, loofbos en naaldbomen; en weinig akkerland. Ik zag de buizerds meer dan eens door de lucht gireren op jacht naar prooi. Het blijft een van de weinige plaatsen zonder artefacten gemaakt door de mens; zelfs geen telefoonpalen of geasfalteerde wegen. Hier ga ik nog eens terug met ega Biya. Zeker en vast!

Het Plateau/Hageven op de grens tussen NL en B.

De Malpie is bekender en de Dommel snijdt er dwars doorheen. Het is er drassig en altijd groen, met veel vennen, broeklanden, riet langs de oever en bos aan weerskanten van de rivier. Een prachtige wandeling van Valkenswaard naar Borkel en Schaft. Doen!

De Dommel vlakbij de Keersop junction in de Malpie

Het laatste stuk ten Zuiden van Wijchmaal-dorp is niet zo sensationeel en het is een heel gezoek naar de bron. Zelfs de boeren die ik vroeg waar nu precies/op de meter af, de bron van de Dommel was, wel drommels, ze wisten het niet aan te geven. De Dommel is hier minder dan een meter breed en maximaal 30 cm diep. Ze loopt door de weilanden naar een uitermate drassig gebied waar een uitkijktoren staat of misschien is het een wildschut die weinig gebruikt wordt. Bovenop de toren kun je toch niet precies zien waar de Dommel nu ECHT ontspringt. Maar allez zunne, op die ene hectare bij de toren daar is ook volgens de topografische kaart 'la source'! En er is in geen velden of wegen een boerderijof schuur  in de buurt.

Dus we hebben in die drie dagen zo'n 20 uur met elkaar gewandeld. We zijn oude, door de wol geverfde kameraden uit de zeventiger jaren, en we hebben veel met elkaar gereisd, gefeest, gekaart, gegeten en gedronken, gesjanst, gesport en wat nog meer...Tja waar hebben we het dan over:...koetjes en kalfjes (het weer, hoe mooi het is enz.), maar ook over de politiek en last but not least 'hoe zitten we in ons vel'. Een zaak staat als een paal boven water: wij behoren tot die ene generatie die volop heeft geprofiteerd van de na-oorlogse periode vanaf 1950 zo ongeveer. Mijn generatie heeft hier in NL en omringende landen geen oorlog meegemaakt. Ter vergelijking, onze ouders hebben de twee wereldoorlogen meegemaakt plus de oorlog in Indonesie. Wij zijn de eerste 'beneficiaries' van de grote vooruitgang; noem het maar op: de AOW, hebben kunnen studeren, altijd werk vinden, redelijk tot goed verdienen, eigen huisje, verzekeringen die altijd doorlopen, verbeterde zorg, vakanties all over the world, mobiliteit per auto en ga maar door. Het materiele probleem is voor eens en voor altijd opgelost. De Nederlandse senioor is zo welvarend dat de politiek ons oudjes meer wil belasten.

We hebben uiteraard niet kunnen ontkomen aan fouten en de impact daarvan. Zo hebben Gerard en ik ons huwelijk niet kunnen redden. Zo hebben Cor en ik het aan ons hart (gehad), en Gerard een hoge bloeddruk. Zo hebben Gerard en ik een partner die vreemd is aan de NL cultuur (Korea en Belgie). Zeker het dagelijkse gefoeter van Gerard over 'Bels' is een teken dat de mensen aldaar een attitude hebben waar de Nederlanders of 'den Hollander' niet mee overweg kan. Daarentegen zie ik het nog steeds zitten om uiteindelijk, voor mijn 80e naar Korea te migreren/ 'ik vertrek'.  En a Dutchman staat in Korea hoger aangeschreven dan een Hollander in Belgie. 

En nu we ouder worden speelt gezondheid een steeds grotere rol. Volgens mijn huisarts zijn de volgende zaken belangrijk: 1. je wordt ouder papa en dat betekent dat langzaam maar zeker alles minder wordt (dat geldt voor iedereen) 2. veel alcohol is nu uit den boze ( het is al minder dan 10 jaar geleden maar dagelijks alcohol moet en kan uitgeband worden) 3. stress...daar heb ik weinig of geen last van 4. blijf bezig met je lichaam en geest...wandelen, fietsen, je hersens gebruiken enz. / dat doen we alledrie! Conclusie: alledrie ouder elk jaar maar het eind is nog niet in zicht. Cor is 75, Gerard 70 en ik 73. Hopelijk kunnen we nog zulks wandeltochten maken tot we de 80 in het vizier krijgen. De tijd zal het leren.Wie weet komt er nog een vervolg:  het traject 's Hertogenbosch naar Valkenswaard / mogelijk in 2025.


Terug in de tijd; Das war einmal; La vie en rose; Those were the days! Schoen ist die Jugendzeit.....

1976 vertrek Dommelwandeltocht vanaf Dufaystraat, De Bennekel in Eindhoven naar Peer

                                                                   Who is Who???




Monday, September 23, 2024

Camino Primitivo; a pilgrimage from Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela (Spain) late summer 2024; by Anton van Zutphen and Biya Han

The Camino Primitivo, Northern Spain, a pilgrimage by Anton van Zutphen and Biya Han, late summer 2024. (20 August - 15 September 2024). We counted 318 km.


Beautiful image / painting of Saint James / San Thiago / Apostel Jakob in Church in Boente village

 According to history and documented legends this Camino is considered the original one; it stretches over 310km plus from Oviedo (Asturias) via the towns of Lugo and Melide to Santiago de Compostela (Galicia). It took us 18 walking and 2 resting days to accomplish our measured 318 km. 

Start in Oviedo at the Cathedral San Salvador

Were we Peregrinos or Caminantes? I guess a bit of both. We cannot be considered hardcore pilgrims such as those who undertook this route before the 2nd World War, or before the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which for Spain was a historical watershed. After that terrible period the secularization process accelerated all over Europe. And ever since the various Caminos (there are over 25 now / for details see the app Buen Camino) have been declared a cultural heritage/event by the E.U. and as such sponsored with subsidies, the walkers continue to increase with a short interval during the Corona period (2020-2022). 
I expect this year that the number of those who accomplish one of the Caminos and receive a certificate will be around 425.000, not counting the thousands of short holiday and weekend walkers/pilgrims that only do parts of a Camino. Those that walk to the grave of San Thiago for religious reasons have become the vast minority. Pilgrims that pursue a spiritual or perhaps even a Roman Catholic objective have become rare. Perhaps a few percent of the total? Regrettably we noted that many churches and most chapels (capillas) were closed during the day or even abandoned and left to rot without regular maintenance. 
On the Los Hospitales stretch of 28 km
'El Camino te ensena tu camino' =
The Camino teaches you your own camino


Perhaps this is more so along the Camino Primitivo because villages are very small with many farms we found also locked up. 
I developed the habit to talk to farmers as often I walked a bit ahead of Biya. We met this lady farmer in her sixties at her modest farmstead in the hamlet of Buron. She mentioned that her life was a good one, quiet, but often she felt lonely. 'Tengo una buena vida pero estoy solitaria'. 



As in France and Italy, farming families lack children that wish to continue tilling the land and rearing cattle.
Feeding happy cows with green apples in Leboreira

And we saw no primary schools anywhere. How will this Camino landscape look around 2035? Then we rested one day in Fonsagrada and went to evening mass. To my big surprise we were the only pilgrims/walkers that attended mass although we knew that at least 70 pilgrims were overnighting in the town. How wonderful it was when after mass the Father asked Biya and me to come forward in front of the 25 church goers while he prayed for us and blessed our pilgrimage. Never to forget and a big encouragement. 

And true to the bone: I believe that only with Biya, I would be able to accomplish such a trip/pilgrimage. Obviously we both suffered (she because of her knees and I because the walking was slow). Then after each day's walk we were profoundly 'feliz' and ready to rest and eat together. Do not forget a lot of the camino is like this:  walk, rest, eat, walk, eat, rest, sleep....and repeat. It proved to be a great daily rythm in a changing landscape while meeting people from all over the world.

From the estimated 425.000 pilgrims that arrive this year in Santiago only 5% take the Camino Primitivo route: some 20.000 divided over about 230 days (the winter months are quite cold and very few pilgrims dare to walk for days in the cold and snow). And we counted definitely not more than 70 pilgrims on our daily marches. Once we joined the Camino Frances in Melide on day 17, this daily number jumped to over 500! Many blogs and info sheets warn that this Camino Primitivo is quite difficult with a lot of steep, long walks and heavy descents. For a trained walker this should not be an issue. True that between Campiello and Berduscedo there is a stretch of some 28 km to cross the Cantabrian mountains that rise up to 1215 meters. 

Biya walking the 'Los Hospitales' mountain road


When the weather is bad (fog, cold, winds, rains) this can be indeed a serious challenge; and it is better to stay put for a day in Campiello village, in Casa Ricardo or Casa Herminiana where you can sleep, eat and drink like a king; and stock up food and incidentals in their shops.
Then from Berduscedo to the dam across the Salime river is mostly a going-down hike of some 20 km. I found this more difficult from Buspal village (especially for the knees). But also doable. Then there are no places to hide...when it rains the cattle paths become streams and slippery. Poles to lean on are definitely useful. This is the socalled Ruta Los Hospitales as one passes the ruins of three simple albergues: Hospital de Pardiella, Hospital de Fanfaraon, and Hospital de Valparaiso on the crest of the mountain range. Easy to imagine that these Hospitales (Rest and Recuperation pensions/shelters) or 'pit-stops'  during the Middle Ages (from 12th century onwards) were necessary in this hostile environment where the weather is unpredictable. It can be an eerie environment when the weather is bad. One is only accompanied by hundreds of cows and horses freely grazing around. We were fortunate throughout: weather was clement with only one day that we had to use our ponchos, arriving in As-Seixas Merlan on day 15. 
The only poncho day, just for an hour or so 

Interestingly we saw lots of young people walking this Camino, in particular Spanish and Polish. Biya and I stood out as an elderly exotic couple and were nicely treated throughout. In the 'pueblo' of Porcelis (10 houses) we met Sara and Flora from Milano (18-19 years) who had started in Irun and had switched to the Camino Primitivo because of the cold weather along the coastline. Very nice ladies, eager to listen to the advise from Biya. 
With Sara and Flora in the Streets of Santiago de Compostela


But let me not forget Pedro, the Spanish emigrant to Toulon in France. Clocking up his 8th Camino and counting 81 years he hopped around like a mountain goat. 
With Pedro in front of the Oviedo Cathedral

Pedro was one of the hundreds of thousands whose families left Spain because of the Civil War and the aftermath when General Franco ran the country as a dictator until his death in 1975. On our previous travels we have met such Spanish emigrants from Cuba to Paraguay and many indeed left for France. Pedro liked talking to us and we met him three times in one day in Oviedo. He mentioned he came walking from Leon to Oviedo after finishing the 'Camino Invierno' that pilgrims used to take because of the accessibility during the winter. At 81 he really shuffled like a young man. 

Sadly and as a sign of progress?...quite a lot of young people walk with earplugs and remain in their own digital bubble. And then increasingly there are the cyclists, not always warning the walkers when passing by, and organised groups of travellers that clog up the albergues with their booking.com approach. Indeed times have changed Anton! 
With Biya I had to endure, well a better verb is to accept, more planning than last year when I walked solo from Lourdes to Muxia (see a previous blog from 2023). Biya's knees remained intact with a lot of cooling gel and bandages for support. Thanks to her high level of pain tolerance we were able to continue. On average some 3 kms max. per hour.....So we walked at times around 10 hours a day with many rests. I taught myself evermore patience and was impressed with her commitment and perseverance. 
Yes babe, it is a long road to A Cadavo village! 


Perhaps she did not walk like a 'springbok', but she advanced like a Mercedes Benz diesel! On average we walked 17.5 km a day during the 18 days walk. Not at all bad for a 66 years young lady having some knee trouble. 
Taking care of my lady's knees and feet


Nevertheless we decided to use the 'donkey service' that took care of Biya's luggage. We started using this luggage transport service as of Campiello to Lavacolla for 12 days. Therefore my luggage went down from 11 to 7,5 kg. and Biya only carried the foodies bag. 
Ahhh food: surely one of the reasons why Spain remains a top location. Whether you eat the Pilgrim's Special or the 'Comida del Dia' these cheap three course meals, usually come with a bottle of red, and vary in price from some 11 euros to about 15 euros in the village restaurants. What a treat! I miss this in the NL. Here is a nice example from Tineo village: 
- primero: white beans soup with sausages/bacon (the local 'fabada'), 
- segundo: beefsteak with fries and
- postres / as desert a home made yoghurt.
 A full bottle of vino rosado included at the price of 15 euros. And meat of excellent quality because all cattle grazes outside in evergreen pastures for nine months a year! In a typical Spanish family run restaurant called 'Tineu', with professional and smiling waitresses. 

Then often we had 'Fabada soup', an Asturian traditional and specialty: big white beans, chorizo sausage, black pudding (blood sausage) and pork lard. Yummy/delicioso!

Fabada soup: a must eat!

When I walked solo I only had a baguette and a piece of chorizo with me / and water. Now together with my lady we included fruit like bananas and apples, and peanuts, and protein bars. And we had trouble eating it because on the way there is always coffee and tortilla awaiting us. So my advice remains: plenty of food along the camino to be bought (except along the Ruta Los Hospitales), and the tapwater is everywhere drinkable/safe. 


The long trail downhill from Buspal...Anton is in it somewhere..


Every pilgrim has stories to tell and here are two of ours: 

1. On day 8 we arrived in Grandas de Salime after a 20 km walk, of which some 8 km downhill, quite tiring. 
We had booked a room in the excellent La Barra Hotel and before checking in, we ordered beers (Estrella Galicia of course!). When we sought a seating place on the terrace a lady waved at me and gestured to come and sit down. I was a bit surprised; then did what she asked and she explained that her friends suddenly had to leave and had left her with a huge platter of local dried meats and cheeses which she, as a pilgrim wanted to share with us. I had not remarked her during the walk previously but she and Biya had said hello to each other: 'Buen Camino'. So we talked and it turned out that she, Lorena Rotella lived in Liege, Belgium (100km South from our village Leende) and was a daughter of a miner from Asturias who had emigrated to Belgium in the early fifties where her father had met her mother, daughter of a miner hailing from Italy. We had a long chat and Lorena mentioned she worked for the Red Cross in Liege (asylum section). 
with Lorena in Grandas de Salime


We left it at that (after I basically finished the platter of meat/cheese specialties washed down with another round of beers). 
There was that evening a piano concert in the church facing our hotel and Lorena said she would go and hoped to see us there. We were too tired for that and rolled into bed early. 
The following day we planned to walk to Fonsagrada, a distance of 25 km so we needed our rest. After some 10 km in a small place called Penafonte we rested and digged into our foodies bag in the bus abri. Suddenly a small white Kia rocked up and a young man stepped out who showed us a wallet with Lorena's picture. 'Por favor Senhor, sabes este Senhora Peregrina'? Whether we knew this lady, and yes we explained that we had met and talked with her and that we had become Camino-trail friends. He then said that he was Javier, the recital pianist performing at the church concert the evening before and that, this early morning while he collected his instruments, he found this wallet with Lorena's I.D. / bank cards on one of the church benches. He gave the wallet to us after I mentioned that I was definitely going to find her today somewhere on the trail. I asked Javier's tel.nr and he left looking for her in the next cafetaria in a village called Acabo some 6km up the road. 

Later it turned out he never found her as Lorena had decided to leave very early that morning and was more than two hours ahead of us. 
Biya and I simply assumed that Lorena would also stay overnight in Fonsagrada, a town with all possible services. Pondering over how to connect with Lorena I decided to call her office in Liege and got through to the asylum section where I explained the situation and told a surprised staffer that Lorena could pick up her wallet at the Portico hotel in Fonsagrada after 6pm, where we had booked. Upon arrival we found a note from Lorena to meet with her in the restaurant where she was sipping a beer and eagerly waiting for us. Wow, she and us could not believe this had happened the way it did. God's intervention was the only way we could explain it. We were so happy and kept wondering about this 'miracle'. We then all agreed that an intervention from 'Above' made it happen. Then in the end Lorena confessed that she was puzzled that her boss called her from Liege and when he said that a Dutch/Korean couple had her wallet.....she had not even noticed that it had gone missing!!! A story to remember and a friendship to be continued. 

2. Snoring in Spanish means 'roncar' and a man/woman that snores is called a 'roncador/roncadora'. It is written that snoring is the music during the Camino. And all pilgrims sooner or later use the dormitories in the albergues as one cannot always find a private room. Biya and I managed to have a private room during 13 of the 20 days we were on the trail. And fortunately the snorers/roncadores were not a problem until we hit the dormitory of albergue Ponte de Ferreiros in the village of Calle. 
A group of Spanish middle aged men and women had not only been loud but also drank plenty of wine that eve. I already feared a lot of noise during the night. 
Then two of the guys competed who snored loudest. One of them was world class: he produced a sound as if someone was killing a pig with a blunt knife (and Biya agreed!). My earplugs were useless as the snorers were close to me. I decided to use toiletpaper instead and filled up my ears to the brim; it worked. Nevertheless the whole night these 2 guys carried on their snoring competition. I pity their wives! 

Obviously one hears other unpleasant sounds during the night such as coughing, farting, and throat scraping, but I won't go into details about these. My advise is to avoid large dormitories if you want to have a good night's sleep. Then we found the dormitories generally clean, but still too many bunk beds are crammed into one sleeping hall, and quite often too few showers and toilets. 
The one donativo albergue in Porcelis we stayed in, and managed by an eccentric individual called Nico, only had one shower/toilet for a total of 15 pilgrims. Although there was a decrepit toilet outside the house as well, but who wants to go there during the night? 

And here are some small things we shall never forget. 

When we arrived in Grado (day 2) we checked into the AutoBar hotel and experienced the smallest shower basin in my life. I measured the size: 40x40 cm. I could not manage to pick up the soap that had landed on the floor without stepping out of the shower. We should have taken a picture of it. 

Then we had an evening walk through Grado and met a Spanish couple talking with two young people. We were asked to translate and it turned out the young couple was looking for a place to stay and had already found the municipal albergue completely full. We mentioned our hotel for 40euros a night with breakfast but they were not interested. After they had gone the Spanish couple told us that these two young people were from Eastern Europe and had bluntly asked them if they could stay in their home...which they obviously declined. Biya and I with the Spanish couple were so surprised about such idiotic behaviour...this did not fit the image of a pilgrim at all. 

In Oviedo the local cider (fermented apple juice) is famous and we tasted it of course ( a full bottle). Next day both Biya and I had the runs. Haha, no cider for me anymore!
Traditional pouring of cider in Northern Spain

I prefer cerveza and vino! Then we bought a bottle of Aquarius, a soft drink which mentions on the label that it helps against indigestion (based on a salt-sugar mix). And it did immediately. 

Usually Biya wanted to book a room a day ahead and we had been paying around 40 euros (or less!) for a room an about 12 euros on average for a bunkbed in a dormitory. When she called the Posada hotel in Tineo she asked for the price and when the lady mentioned 60 euros with breakfast Biya was so shocked that she simply 'hung up the phone' / broke the connection. The poor lady on the other end of the line must have been puzzled (name of Paloma who later turned out a super sweet woman). I managed to convince Biya that this was a good price so she finally called again and agreed to Paloma on the price. 
Sometimes my wife can be so stingy in spending money on her own travel. At that moment though she was not mentally prepared to pay 60 euros. It turned out to be a fine room with a beautiful vista.

This Camino was Biya's first, and for me the second. We plan to do together the Camino Portugues (260km) from Porto to Santiago in late summer 2025. And I will try to start end of April 2025 in Cadiz to walk the Camino Augusta/de la Plata, via Sevilla, Caceres, Salamanca and Ourense to Santiago (1130 km). We shall see but the plan is already there! 
These boots were made for walking to the Cathedral in Santiago de C. 


20 August : Travel from Leende house-home via Schiphol/AMS to Oviedo airport and Oviedo city / Albergue La Peregrina, dormitory / overpriced. 
21 August : Sightseeing in Oviedo / Albergue El Salvador in old seminary, dormitory, good. 
22 August : My 73th birthday Oviedo to Escamplero (15km) Albergue Municipal /cheap but dirty.
23 August : Escamplero to Grado (15km) Hotel AutoBar (Esther) / good. 
24 August : Grado to Cornellana (13km) Albergue Municipal/Monasterio (Gloria) / dormitory very good. 
25 August : Cornellana to Porcelis (16.5 km) Albergue donativo / room / quality so so (Nico). 
26 August : Porcelis to Tinao (14.5km) Hotel La Posada (Paloma) very good. 
27 August : Tinao to Campiello (13.5km) Casa Ricardo (Gaita) room / very good.
28 August : Campiello to Berduscedo - Ruta Los Hospitales - (27.5 km) / Casa Marques (Frank) dormitory / good enough. 
29 August : Berduscedo to Grandas de Salime (20.5km) Hotel La Barra (Ruben) very good. 
30 August : Grandas de Salime to Fonsagrada (25.5km) Hotel Portico (Nuria) / room and very good.
31 August : Resting day in Fonsagrada in Hotel Portico.
1 Sept. :      Fonsagrada to A Cadavo (25km) / Albergue San Mateo (MarieCarmen) / room good. 
2 Sept. :      A Cadavo to Vilar de Cas (16.5 km) / Albergue 'A Pocina de Muniz' (Ruben and 'Captain') excellent facility.
3 Sept. :     Vilar de Cas to Lugo (16.5km) Hotel Espana (Loly) good room. 

In Lugo: only 100 km to go

The town of Lugo is known worldwide to have the only Roman wall intact = all around the centre of this pretyy town / 15 meters high.. We walked its full length of 2.25 km. An impressive work of art by the Romans finished some eighteen hundred years ago. It beats the wall in Dyarbakir, Turkiye.

4 Sept. : Lugo to San Roman de Retorta (19.5km) Albergue O Candida (Nito/Nitro and Noelia); very good. 
5 Sept. : Resting day in San Roman de Retorta in Albergue O Candida. 
6 Sept. : San Roman de Retorta to As-Seixas Merlan (13.5 km) -only rainy day- / Albergue A Toqueira (Lucia) room good. 
7 Sept. : As-Seixas Merlan to Boente (20.5km), Pension Boente (Margarita) very good. 
8 Sept. : Boente to Calle (16km) Albergue A Ponte de Ferreiros (Nancy) dormitory good but heavy snoring. 
9 Sept.   : Calle to Lavacolla (20km) Albergue Labacolla (Ana) room good. 
10 Sept. : Lavacolla to Santiago de Compostela (10km) Albergue Sixtos (Lola) / dormitory room for us alone; good enough. 
11 Sept. : Travel by bus from Santiago to Lugo; hotel Espana again / good. 
12 Sept. : Travel by bus from Lugo via Ponferada to Oviedo; Green Hostel (Ana) room ok. 
13 Sept. : Stay in Oviedo (wild strike at Charleroi airport / we changed flights to AMS) / in Albergue El Salvador again. 
14 Sept. : To Oviedo airport and late flight to Amsterdam. Overnight at Schiphol airport in front of Burger King (2 Whoppers after midnight for 20 euros; for that price we nearly had to full Comidas dle Dia on the Camino trail). Biya nearly went into a fit! 
15 Sept. : Early Sunday morning arrival in Leende by train and bus. 

Two relevant songs that I sang quietly during this camino: 
 1. I am a pilgrim from The Byrds (1968) and 
 2. How can we keep on moving? from Ry Cooder (1972) / the original is from Sis Cunningham (1932); ( musicfromthedepression.com ). Well worth listening to. 

 We met the following nationalities / pilgrims from NL, Korea, Germany, UK, USA, Columbia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Poland, Italy, France, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, Portugal, Ireland and... Ukraina. 

WINDMILLS all over the place and we saw and felt the impact at the village of A Mesa (3km from Berduscedo). From a distance of more than 750 meters one could hear the noise clearly: poor villagers. Visually it poisons the environment, and because of the noise birdlife has disappeared...and for maintenance reasons a complete new road usually has to be built. Better to build these windmills on the sea like we do in the NL. 

We had planned this walking event with a budget of 120 euros per day for the two of us including all travel/flights. We actually spent over the 27 days (to Santiago de Compostela and back home in Leende) 2.625 euros which equals 48.6 euros per person per day. And we lived like a King and a Queen. 

Leende, 21st September 2024

Camino Primitivo Certificates, from Oviedo to Santiago 318 km



Sunday, March 17, 2024

Trip to South America / Desert, Chaco, Pampa, Mountains and Glaciers through the Andes cordillera and Patagonia / by Ton van Zutphen.

December 2023 – February 2024. Round trip Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Chile. Main stopovers included: Santiago de Chile, San Pedro de Atacama, Uyuni, Sucre, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Asuncion, Filadelfia, Puerto de Iguazu, Buenos Aires, San Carlos de Bariloche, El Chalten, El Calafate, Puerto Natales, Santiago de Chile / by Biya Han and Anton van Zutphen



Biya flew into Santiago de Chile from Seoul via New York, and I traveled from Amsterdam via Madrid. We more or less arrived at the same time morning of 20th December; perfectly coordinated! Then we took the ‘blue line’ airport bus to ‘Los Heroes’ metro station and walked, backpacks shouldered, to our B&B. 

A few comments on traveling through this vast region: the buses are luxurious by any known standard to me: spacious, aircon, and often with full reclining and wide seats ‘full-cama’. Not always cheap but worthwhile. 


We had three trips of more than 20 hours; the longest from Bariloche to El Chalten in Argentina, driving 28 hours with a quasi-permanent view of the Andes; though we did a lot of resting, looking and sleeping. No sweat! Then we took two flights: from Santiago to Calama and from Puerto Natales back to Santiago in Chile….with a company called SKY. Interestingly the cost of the one luggage item we checked in was much  higher, almost double, than the price of my flight. Will we ever understand how airlines justify such anomalies? Then last but not least, if one travels overland into Chile, one has to use a QR code/app and fill out a form on a smartphone and send it to immigration dept. What if one does not have a phone? All very customer-unfriendly new regulations. 

Anyway, what I did not know as a European is that many countries visited on this trip have waged wars against each other and still bear the scars of these in their (unfriendly governmental) relationships…haha Chileans do not like Bolivians nor Argentinians; Brazilians and Argentinians do not like each other (certainly not when one talks about soccer), and nobody seems to appreciate the Bolivians. We talked to a lot of Paraguayans but none of them ever traveled to neighboring Bolivia.


The picture above at the Bolivian General Consulate in Santiago was taken by a staff member who courteously let us in and explained that there were no 'scellos'/ stamps available to issue a visa. These two neighbors do not until now maintain relations at Ambassador level.

Essential wars that led to borders that are now kind of definite include:

1. The Pacific War (1879-1884) between Bolivia and Peru on one side and Chile on the other. Bolivia started the war over a tax issue for Chilean mining companies and was supported by Peru. But in the end, Chile won and took large swaths of Peruvian and Bolivian territory…cutting off Bolivia’s direct access to the sea. This very bloody war, fought in part in the hostile Atacama desert (now 150 years ago on horseback and mules as pack animals!) remains still in the memory of the people living in Northern Chile (many of them of Bolivian origin).

2. The Chaco war (1932-1935) between Bolivia and Paraguay; also started by Bolivia that wanted a piece of a potentially oil-rich region in the North West of Paraguay and finally access to the Atlantic Ocean by river. Again in the end Paraguay, against all odds, won this ‘war of thirst’ in the harsh and dry Chaco region. The Bolivian army advanced as far as the town of Filadelfia where the Mennonites just before had settled from Canada and Russia. 

3. Argentina and Chile had many disputes over their Andes border in Patagonia and nearly went to war in 1978 over the ‘Beagle Canal’. Then Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in 1982 and got a serious drubbing from Lady Thatcher. Nevertheless in the constitution of Argentina these Islas Malvinas are firmly enshrined as part of the country (although the British established themselves on the Falkland Islands from 1833). 

The road to independence for all these countries from Spain was a long process taking three centuries during which the Spanish conquistadors and their off-spring decimated the native population. Over the years, slowly a new class of mestizo / mixed race and an educated citizen cohort developed that stood up against the Spanish regime. Hundreds of nationalists, both indigenous and in part with Spanish blood in them fought local wars like Tupac Amaru II, Simon Bolivar, Antonio de Sucre, to name a few of them. And all countries gained independence around 1825, or a bit later in 1852 in the case of Paraguay. Also the vast open spaces invited immigrants from Europe; many of these adventurers and mercenaries immediately after independence, with later more regulated immigration by laborers and farmers mostly from Europe (foremost Italians, Germans, and Spanish).


Tupac Amaru II; libertador in Bolivia and Peru
(1742-1781, killed by the Spanish)

Simon Bolivar, general and libertador from Venezuela
(1783-1830)

Antonio Jose de Sucre
First President of Bolivia from 1826 to 1828

No wonder that disputes between countries remained active for more than 100 years with some serious wars. In 1936 the famous and effective US President FD Roosevelt traveled by steamer to Brazil and Argentina, and in Buenos Aires he signed an ‘Inter-American’ document during a peace-conference that stipulated that from now on all over the Americas a pact of non-intervention was to be adhered to. It meant that any third country would not intervene when two countries went to war……including the USA. It was indeed a visionary document. And this, only one year after the Chaco war had ended and the Argentinian diplomat/mediator Carlos Saveedra Lamas was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to this peace in 1936. And indeed as far as I know wars between two American countries have not been openly/officially supported by the military of a third country. Slightly different but the USA did come close to waging wars on South American regimes openly such as with….Noriega in Panama, Castro in Cuba, Allende in Chile, Ortega in Nicaragua, others? Then, the US administration has never admitted its official role for example in the case of the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba (1961) or the overthrow of elected President Allende in Chile (1973).

Enough history; now travel highlights such as

The Atacama desert in Northern Chile with a visit to the Valley of the Moon and a bike ride to the Laguna Cejar. This desert resembles the Algerian desert with its hills and rocky mountain peaks. Extremely dry with areas not having a drop of rain in a year. Touristic, yes, with young travelers from around the globe. San Pedro de Atacama is kind of a hippie place with many shops selling locally made and ‘quasi native’ knick-knacks. Small restaurants, many hostals and competing travel agencies. And with a nice atmosphere.  Our Christmas service was in the cozy village church but there were surprisingly few attendees. In addition the priest celebrated the mass as if it was just a normal weekday morning mass. Biya and I utterly failed to understand this. Then we did notice that churches in Chile were not particulalrly inviting...doors locked during the day, not well maintained, some kind of a near desolate atmosphere around them; certainly around the cathedral in Santiago.

Nativity scene with lamas in San Pedro church

San Pedro gets its water supply from far away Andes mountains and it remains scarce. A hot hot place around Christmas. We dared rent a bike and plowed through the gravel, a 20 plus kilometers stretch to Lake Cejar. And dipped into the salty water just like in the Dead Sea. Then a shower prepared us for the 20 km back.  Hot, dusty, difficult and tiresome riding on the washboard gravel road. We did it and Biya surprised me with her riding skills. I was a bit scared of getting a flat tire as we would not have been able to repair it. In that case hitchhiking would have been the only option. For me it was a good exercise because the bus rides really make your body stiff as a plank.  Most bike riders only went one way and took a pick-up taxi back and loaded their bikes onto it. Back at the bike shop we both felt that such activities create comradeship and are the secret of a successful day!

Biya on the dusty gravel road at 40 degrees C / Atacama desert

After waiting overnight outside of the bus station in the company of many friendly street dogs, we caught the bus from San Pedro to Uyuni in Bolivia. Biya had to fork out 130 USD cash for her visa at the border. The Bolivians appear to have split up the world into those who support socialist countries and freedom movements, and those who do not. South Koreans and US citizens pay high visa costs and for Dutch the entry is (still) free. Impossible to get a visa in Korea or even at the Bolivian General Consulate in Santiago. Reason was that they had no stamps! The border crossing is in a God forsaken place along the railway line that takes out the silver ore and other minerals from the Potosi/Uyuni area to Antofagasta on the Chilean coast about 1.000 kilometers away…..grrhhhr, to think about the railroad men who built this track through the desert 150 years ago. In Uyuni we visited the famous locomotive cemetery as it was cheaper to import a new locomotive all the way from England/France than the repair costs so far away in the desert. 

The salt flats around Uyuni should be on your bucket list. We took an organized day trip and zoomed in a wide bodied, new (and expensive) Nissan Patrol V6 four wheel drive across these flats at high speed and with much comfort. Lunch and a wine apero were provided by the driver/photographer Mariscal and we spent an hour walking in the extraordinary oasis ‘Isla de Incahuasi’ amidst giant, meters high, cactus. What an experience! 

Having fun during the raid


Finally I had Biya in the palm of my hand

These salt flats cover an area as large as the Netherlands. Hundreds of tourists participate in these raids, every day. And all that for just 30 bucks per person/day. I do not understand the business model here. I estimate we drove some 250 kilometers that day, six tourists, …how can they make money? Bolivians working with foreigners complain a lot about their socialist government and about the manner in which they let foreigners pay for their stay in-country. But for a pensionado/jubilado like me Bolivia is bottom cheap; with top nice people. Perhaps some ‘coca’ related money seeps into the tourist industry here. I saw small farm coca plantations all along the road from Uyuni, to Potosi, to Sucre. And was offered some on the bus; I chewed on it, it tasted not bad. A bit bitter and I understand that a good chew shall get you soon in a wonderful modus of blissful happiness. Later on in Paraguay (be careful at the border town of Mariscal Estigarribia, named after the famous general from the Chaco war) our bus was routinely checked on ‘coca/cocaine’ by sniffer dogs. What in Bolivia is openly accepted will get you many years in prison in Paraguay! 


Bolivia in 1988 legalised coca cultivation under certain conditions
but cultivation is now quasi nation-wide and over 50% of the production
escapes government control

Bolivia has a lot of charm and the towns we stayed in like Sucre and Santa Cruz de la Sierra gave us this nice ‘colonial’ atmosphere like many towns in Mexico with a central Plaza de Armas. 

We trucked on, crossed the endless Chaco in Paraguay, drove into Asuncion and were welcomed by Monica Kneup-Villa Alba, the online Spanish teacher that Biya twice weekly skypes with. We had planned to do 10 lessons to improve our Spanish with Monica and were invited to stay in the cozy villa of her darling  mother Esther who is a former music professor with her dog Callomera. 

'We love Asuncion' on the boulevard of the Paraguay river
Esther and Biya

The whole family looked very well after us, took us to church and town, to Fernando, her husband and his anniversary party and even to a Burger King resto! How fortunate Biya and I always are! By the way I was upgraded for my Spanish to level B!! Then we met Monica’s friends in the settler’s town of Filadelfia another 550 kilometers westwards in ‘Mennonite country’ in the central Chaco area. The Mennonite family Friedbert and Regina Loewen took us to their farm….a pasture of some 400 hectares with 400 cattle. Wow, there is still land in the Chaco and cattle roam around free without serious predators and sicknesses. Now and then a puma, but no animal related epidemics like we have in Europe with our (labor) intensive animal farming. A picnic overseeing the pastures in the Chaco while the sun goes down, that is what we enjoyed! A pity the Mennonites do not drink beer! Menno Simons (1496-1561), a Catholic priest from Friesland, NL turned into a fervent Protestant and created his own peace-oriented form of Protestantism and he/his followers had to flee all over the world until the end of World War II. Mennonites are serious workers, love the land they till, keep traditions and large families and refuse to bear arms. Many of them emigrated to Canada and the USA and even to Siberia. Under Stalin they were prosecuted and a few hundred of them reached Paraguay from Russia via Harbin, Shanghai, Marseilles, Le Havre and Buenos Aires in the 1930s…then settled in hostile Chaco-land and built up the still German-speaking towns/villages of Filadelfia, Neuburg, Fernheim and Orloff to name a few. I spoke German with them and hope to meet with the Loewen’s family again in Europe. We were offered a family dinner with a focus on grilled buffalo Chaco meat….and potato salad: home cooking and charcoal roasting. Yummy!

from left to right: Biya, Anton, Monica, Esther (daughter and mother)
Friedbert, Regina (husband and wife)

‘Einmalig’: the Iguazu Falls. Possibly the Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (cowhead) stumbled as the first European on these marvelous horseshoe-shaped falls in 1541. He may have thought he had discovered a kind of ‘Eden’. Indeed, these falls are the most beautiful falls I have seen in my life. Colors, gurgling water masses, rocks, the wild vegetation: fascinating that nature can be so overwhelming. You can visit the falls from three countries: Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. Dead easy, just ride a bus, pay some entrance fee into the national parks and walk around for hours getting as close to the falls as 50 meters. A ‘Mecca’ for photographers as one can take pictures from all angles and from tens of specially built ‘miradors’. I reckon the Argentine side offers more variety. There is a serious  risk of bad weather, so bring a raincoat. Biya and I wandered for some eight hours over two days along the routes bordering these falls. And never got tired of admiring this wonder!

Iguazu Falls, Brazilian side

Here is a list of arguably the 7 most beautiful/impressive water falls in the world:

1. Plitvice Falls in Croatia / visited in 2023

2 Niagara Falls in USA/Canada / visited in 2005

3. Iguazu Falls in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay / visited in 2024

4. Dudhsagar Falls in Goa, India

5. Yosemite Falls in USA

6. Gullfoss in Iceland

7. Victoria Falls in Zambia, Zimbabwe / visited in 1976

We arrived in Buenos Aires after a long bus ride from Puerto Iguazu. And settled in a small apartment, in the center of town. I immediately felt comfortable in this city. Looks very European, lots of small shops and restaurants, hustling and bustling, and plenty of monuments and sights to see. And steaks for a nickel and a dime! Plus nice people. Definitely the place to visit as nr. 1 capital on this trip. So what did we do for four days in Buenos Aires apart from eating large quantities of beef in a restaurant called ‘Parrilla Lo de Tuca’? 

Everything Anton likes is on the menu!

Here are some of the sights not to miss:

Cemetery la Recoleta, Plaza de Mayo, Florida street / hawkers-hustlers-money changers, Museum Bellas Artes, mass at Iglesia del Pinar, Catedral Metropolitana (where Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio celebrated before becoming the Pope), the Museum General next to the Casa Rosada (interestingly without information about the period of the Dictators Galtieri and Videla!), a walk along the boulevard bordering the swamp-like Rio de la Plata, and sipping good beers like Quilmes and Schneider!

A Buenos Aires hair cut done professionally for 3 US dollars

Here is a list of famous Argentinians:

Carlos Saveedra Lamas      / Diplomat, Nobel Peace Prize 1936

Juan Manual Fangio           / 5 times World Champion formula 1 car racer in the 1950ies  

Jorge Luis Borges              / Poet, writer (1899-1986)

Juan Peron                         / President (1946-55 and 1973-74)

Eva Peron Duarte (Evita)   / Wife of Juan Peron; died of cancer in 1952 age 39   

Che Guevarra                    / Professional Revolutionary; killed in Bolivia by the police in 1967 

Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi / soccer players and national heroes for ALL Argentinians

Francisco                           / Current Roman Catholic Pope

Messi #10, Biya #1
I guess 1 million Argentinians walk around even today in this Messi-shirt.
Hit the ball girl!

Juan Peron was an exceptionally talented populist leader who could not get Argentina out of the economic morass in the 1950ies. He developed into a Dictator and ‘lover of young girls’ later in his life. His 2nd wife was Eva Duarte, a nightclub dancer whom he fell in love with. She won the hearts of the masses because of her empathy and work for the poor.


Juan-Eva official portrait. And Eva's grave memorial at La Recoleta cemetary which is the most visited one; still people crying at her grave when we were there.

Juan Peron himself was notorious for protecting and employing Nazis that sought refuge in Argentina after World War II.

The Dutch soccer team had two most serious encounters with ‘archrival’ Argentina: in 1978 the Dutch lost the final against  host Argentina in Buenos Aires; we should have won…but could we have won against 80.000 shrieking Argentinian fans? And in 2023 we lost the semi-finals against Argentina after a penalty shoot-out.

I have always been interested in German history and read many books about the World Wars it started and fought, including the horrible holocaust it caused. Until today some Paraguayans believe that Adolf Hitler escaped and was sighted in a hotel close to the railway station in Asuncion. Then as of late 1945, he disappeared to never be seen again. Too weird a story to believe. Then it is true that hundreds of Nazi officers, many of them members of the SS and Gestapo escaped via Italy to Buenos Aires and found some sort of organized welcome in Argentina and Paraguay. Presidents Peron and Stroessner actually enlisted some of them as advisors…all of this was known to the Allies and Israel.  Incredible that Nazis like Mengele, Eichmann, Priebke, Kutschmann, and the Croatian ‘Ustase’ leader Pavelic were not extradited. Mengele finally died in a swimming accident in Brazil and Eichmann (who worked for Volkswagen in a factory in B. Aires!) was kidnapped by the Mossad out of Buenos Aires and hanged for war crimes in the Ayalon prison, Ramla, Israel. Only when Carlos Menem became President of Argentina in 1989, Nazis like Priebke were extradited to Germany or Italy. Priebke lived under his own name for over 40 years in the pretty town of ‘Bavarian/Swiss-like’ Bariloche.

Anyway this kind of chapter can be definitely closed! The war is now nearly 80 years behind us and I reckon none of these infamous characters are still alive.

We spent a few days in San Carlos de Bariloche, a bigger town than I had expected. We needed a good rest before moving to El Chalten another 600 plus kms further South. There is a famous hotel at the end of bus line 20 called Llao Llao and from there several hiking paths start. We just had an expensive cup of coffee (Vienna style with a glass of water and small sized chocolates), and enjoyed the view over the lake. 

A long bus ride took us to El Chalten where we hit the first bad weather…cold rain  and heavy winds. Lots of tourists come here to walk the FitzRoy trail but for us the weather was too bad. The hostal manager of Complejo Don Joel advised us definitely not to go because of the adverse weather circumstances that had turned the paths into muddy and slippery trails. We walked just to the close-by falls and the next day Biya went up a bit further and spent a day in the rain walking whilst I read an old science fiction classic ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ by Robert Heinlein. We stayed in a dormitory of four and Biya cooked her first ever chorizo steak. Nice with some good red Malbec! I think the dormitory wasn’t that clean because the following days Biya got skin rash all over her body from bites we could hardly locate. She suffered from itching day and night. Fortunately, it was over after a week. It is always Biya that gets bitten, never me. Anyway, ‘dorms’ are the usual place where mites, fleas, lice and other bugs do well! 

Our final destination in Argentina, a country we had started to like more and more, was the town of El Calafate close to glacier ‘Perito Moreno’ and its lake. We walked and even took a boat that brought us as close as 40 meters to the blue ice wall of this glacier. Impressive and stunningly beautiful. Now and then a couple of tons of ice broke off and created some waves; it being summer and warm in Argentina this was a normal sight.




End of glacier Perito Moreno;beginning of the lake/river

We had checked into an apartment that had a surface of more than 130 square meters with two large bedrooms, an open kitchen/bar and enough space to invite a football team. I had found an excellent butcher and knew what kind of part of the cow was best: either chorizo or quadril. We had not known it was that large a lodging and immediately thought of inviting ‘Heymook Sunim’, a Korean lady monk we had run into at the bus station. She, Heymook (65 years young and surprisingly well preserved!) had recognized Biya and they had engaged already in a long conversation. These situations occur regularly and I am ok with such. I just back down and let the waterfall of words go on for a while. Heymook understands some English and I found out that she entered the monastery when she was 20 and spent more than 40 years meditating/working. I called her a ‘zen-monk’ as she behaved so cool and balanced. No wonder of course when you are used to getting up at 3am every morning then pray/meditate 8 hours during the day, work another 6 and study the rest of the remaining time. For 40 years. She walked like a young lady and acted very sure of herself….not speaking any Spanish and having little money. She just radiated confidence and humility. Wow! I had cooked a lot of meat (by order of Biya who by now devoured the Argentine beef!) and we shared a bottle of red…it was only the second time in her life Heymook drank alcohol. Then I filled up her glass at least three times and it seemed to have no effect on her. She also enjoyed the meat and ate all that was served. She appreciated this once-in-a-lifetime privilege to leave the monastery to see the outside world and its crisp and unspoiled nature. Then we had a wonderful photo session; all laughing and acting funny! I hope we can visit her sometime in the future at her monastery in Kuang-ju in Southeast Korea. 

Heymook Sunim and Anton

Then into the bus again and cross into Chile on our way to Puerto Natales. We had booked a one-day trip only to the Torres del Paine park as we were running out of time. I had not planned to stay for over one week in Bolivia nor had we planned a long trip into the Chaco in Paraguay. Now we had to make ends meet and cut short our stay in Southern Patagonia. After all, our total trip was going to be 49 days out and back together, in Seoul. If ever I, or Biya, and preferably together will get another chance to visit Torres del Paine again we shall do the three or four-day walk and stay overnight in the refuges (pre-booking essential!).

Classic picture of Torres del Paine massif in Chile

Then Patagonia must offer many extraordinary sights. It was 30-40 years before ‘discovered’ by the wealthy so-called ‘eco-barons’ like Ted Turner, Luciano Benetton, George Soros who  bought vast tracts of lands and fenced it off (to protect against overgrazing…) True or not. Even the leisure clothing company ‘Patagonia’ did many years ago acquire an area as large as Switzerland and was later accused of moving people out of its new property. Then handed it over to the Argentine government which turned it into a new national park with an environmentally friendly program. Depending on the location a hectare of Patagonia was as cheap as 10 USD (some 15 years ago). 

From Puerto Natales which has little to offer we flew back to Santiago de Chile. Unfortunately, this capital also has few sights worthwhile for tourists so we spent the last day in colorful and bustling Valparaiso, a town I could live in for a few months. We got caught by a severe forest fire, then the bus driver decided to drive through it. This fire was indeed a biggie. World news. We were surprised that the fire departments did not close off the main roads. In the end, nothing happened to us but thousands of homes and shops were destroyed and perhaps as many as 500 people died around Vina del Mar.  We still feel very sorry for the Chileans.

Rich-Poor: the case of Argentina.

Argentina from about 1880 onwards throughout 1940 benefitted from huge and qualified immigration and cheap production costs of its export products mainly meat and grain. It was considered a rich country in 1940 even by European standards. Then…huge borrowing for dubious investments, subsidies, and increasing labor-related costs turned the country into a debt-ridden client of the International Monetary Fund. Near bankruptcy and many tough devaluations caused a poverty increase that can be seen in the streets of Buenos Aires: ramshackle apartments, old cars, many bagmen, beggars and addicts in the streets. We learned what to say to the numerous beggars ‘no tenemos plata’. A sad story that has been ongoing for more than 50 years now. The recently elected President Javier Milei wants a hefty change: fewer subsidies, a change to a stable USD economy and privatization of numerous public budget guzzling state corporations. Example….a (subsidized) metro ticket in Buenos Aires today costs 20 euro cents…in Amsterdam it is about 3 euros (15 times more!). For starters he devalued the peso with 50% around New Year. When we arrived in Argentina a week later we did not notice any serious manifestations. Probably tough on the majority of the working class but hardly to avoid; and that is what many Argentinians may believe now as well. The story goes that if all Argentinians took out their hidden US bucks away from under their mattresses and put these into the system the crisis could be over soon. We shall know more and perhaps better by the end of 2024! Success Milei; he may be an unusual and sometimes crazy politician but maybe that is what is needed now for Argentina! Give it a try! Biya and I changed our ‘blue dollars’ into pesos in the street which is openly done by all foreigners and Argentinians who have access to foreign currencies. So the country turned out to be as cheap as Bolivia with the best meat money can buy in the world. Far better than Zimbabwe or South Africa! 

What did we miss…..Visit Uruguay, Walk up to the FitzRoy track, Peek into the Potosi silver mine in Bolivia, Ushuaia town, the Beagle Canal, Puerto Arenas in Chile, Salta town in Argentina, Tango in Buenos Aires, 


Relevant music:

‘Roosevelt in Trinidad’, a calypso song performed by Attila the Hun in 1937 and covered later by Ry Cooder (1970) and in an extravagant way by Van Dyke Parks (1972). Roosevelt was a calypso fan (a ‘calypsonian’) and visited Trinidad on his return from Argentina in 1936.

‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’, sung by Madonna


Relevant books:

The Motorcycle Diaries/trip through South America by Che Guevarra (1953) with a movie based on the book in 2004 

Pablo Escobar; a biography by Nico Verbeek, in Dutch only (2015)

A Quiet Flame / a  well researched detective novel about Nazis in Argentina in the 1950ies by Philip Kerr (2008)

Relevant movies:

‘Missing’ by Costa Gavras about the overthrow of the Allende regime in Chile (1982)

‘The Mission’ by Roland Joffe about the Jesuit missions in South America (1986)

‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ by George R. Hill about two American bank/train robbers with other outlaws ‘the wild bunch’ (1969). They fled the USA by steamer from New York to Buenos Aires in 1905. And remained for years in the Chubut region of Patagonia in Argentina where they bought a large farm close to Cholila of over 6.000 hectares but continued also  their criminal work. We passed the hotel where they once stayed when they planned to cross into Chile. The hotel 'Parador la Leona'' is on the Ruta 40 which runs from the south of Argentina all the way up to Bolivia.

Possibly Butch and the 'Kid'  were shot in Bolivia but their bodies were never identified. More recently DNA checks have been done on bones in assumed graves around Potosi but all results have remained negative. Increasingly, experts now believe they returned incognito to the USA to live happily ever after….

Hotel Parador la Leona, border Argentina-Chile

‘Evita’ film-musical by Alan Parker about the life of Eva Peron (1996)

‘The Settlers’ by Felipe Galvez-Haberle about the genocide on the Indian population (in particular the Selknam) in Southern Patagonia, Chile (2023)

Museums to be visited:

Sucre: Casa de Libertad offers a beautiful collection of paintings depicting the history that led to the signing of the independence of Bolivia. As a matter of fact Sucre remains the constitutional capital of Bolivia until today.

Filadelfia: the Mennonites community built its own museum in the center of town with artifacts elaborating the identity of this religious community, historical documents and a volunteer who explains it all in detail. Impressive! 

Filadelfia: a few kilometers outside the town we visited the exposition/museum created by the government that focuses on life in the Chaco region, its native people and history.  

Buenos Aires:  Cemetery La Recoleta, which offers a detailed insight into how the rich and famous buried their families. Incredible architecture.

Museum Bellas Artes  offers paintings, many from European masters including Goya, van Gogh, Picasso, Cezanne, all collected during the period Argentina was still wealthy

Museum General offers the history of Argentina but focuses mostly on its leaders and their paraphernalia.

Puerto Natales has a beautiful intimate museum that is managed by a local association; it tells the history of the settlers from Europe and the sad disappearance of the local Indian cultures.

Animals spotted on the road were fox, hummingbird, nandu (ostrich), lama, vicuna, owl, vulture, rose flamingo, green parakeet, plenty of predators like falcon/hawk but we saw no condor.


PS. Biya and I were together for 49 days; practically each day 24 hours. This went very well. Haha and true to the bone, we did have arguments that we realize are part of our character and culture and way of doing things like planning. Biya wants detailed planning including the seating in the bus (a window seat in bus and restaurant please, a room with a view). I am more easy going. Things will not fall apart once the general picture is clear. Then I am very security conscious and she is not…really. Now, writing this blog in Seoul 12th March I realize and acknowledge this/we/us/she and I are a fine couple!