The Travel Chica

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The Source of the Ashes in Photos

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As you know, one-third of my time in Bariloche was actually spent on a border run to Chile.  I was not thrilled to leave my hostel at 815am, walk 2.5 km to the bus station, and return to my hostel at 1015pm.

However, one very memorable thing happened during this day trip to Chile.

I saw how devastating the ash problem still is.

I have experienced ashes in Buenos Aires, Puerto Madryn, and El Bolson.  It was an “ashy day” (yes, that is new weather terminology) when the bus left Bariloche.

This was no different than usual.

When we stopped at the Argentina exit station, I stood outside waiting for the others to get their exit stamps.

Is it snowing?

No, these were ashes thick enough to look like snowflakes.  I took a photo.

I had to wipe off the screen of my camera to remove the layer of ashes that accumulated in seconds.  I noticed a woman who had put a mask over her young daughter’s mouth and nose.

This was not new to anyone.

We got on the bus to drive several more kilometers winding through the mountains to reach the Chilean entry station.

The landscape was now different.

There were mounds of ashes several meters high.

It looked as if a desert had been dropped on top of a forest.

I was shocked.

I couldn’t imagine living in a place that has to deal with this problem.

There is no way to control it.

But just past the Chilean entry point, the ashes were gone.

On the way back to Argentina, we saw the source of the problem.

Volcan Puyehue

It was up to no good.

Comments

  1. When that volcano originally erupted about a year or so ago, the ash didn’t just go east to Argentina. It went way way east over the Indian Ocean to Australia and caused absolute havoc with our airspace being shut down over the most populated areas of the country and therefore no planes flying, no air freight being delivered and no airports open for tourists to fly in and out.

    The flight path between Melbourne and Sydney is the fourth busiest in the entire world with a plane leaving either Melbourne or Sydney bound for the other city something like every five minutes or so during the day. And being a big big country with a small population, air travel (at least until we get a high speed rail network up running in the next decade or two) is absolutely critical.

    I must admit though I have seen pictures of ash before from bushfires but nothing like the mountains being covered with ash as though it is snow as in the pictures you’ve got here. I hope it didn’t get into your lungs otherwise you’d be coughing like crazy.

    • Oh, yes, I am well aware of the impacts on that side of the world. A friend of mine who was living in BA and went home for a visit got stuck in Australia for a while.

      Didn’t realize that flight path was quite so busy though.

      Luckily, we were not waiting outside the bus for too long at the border crossing. Definitely not something I want to breathe.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..Have You Seen the Whales Show?

  2. Wow, I think you can’t imagine how big the impact is until you see it. I’d never think there be meters of ashes. What’s the long term impact of this, did you hear anything about it? Does it just disappear into the ground?

    • I’m not really sure of the long-term impacts on the environment. It doesn’t seem to disappear into the ground at all.

      I remember that people were very concerned about people breathing it in when the volcano first erupted, but in Bariloche, I never saw anyone wearing a dust mask on the ashy days.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..Have You Seen the Whales Show?

  3. Wow, it almost looks like you’re visiting Canada in those shots with all the ash doubling as snow. I would think it would play havoc with cars engines having that much ash on the roads. Hope you don’t have to get too much closer to it on your planned route.
    Steve recently posted..The Benefits of a Fear of Flying

  4. Some flights from Santiago to the south still get cancelled because of the ash, but Puyehue’s eruption has affected Argentina WAY more than Chile. Some Chileans (in a good humored rivalry-type way) find this hilarious. But I imagine if you live in Bariloche, you aren’t laughing. I imagine that it’s not good for one’s health to inhale ash all the time.
    Abby recently posted..2012 So Far In Photos

  5. That is unreal.

    I find it sad that whenever a natural disaster, catastrophe or huge even, etc, happens, we’re so quick to forget about it.

    The media broadcasts it for a blink of an eye and then it’s gone. Like it never even happen.

    Haiti, the Japan earthquake and tsunami, this, just to name a few off the top of my head.

    We’re quick to forget (or ignore) the results that have to be dealt with by the unfortunate ones that live there.
    Cal recently posted..Nevis High Wire Bungy Jump – Queenstown, New Zealand

  6. Incredible to see that not much has changed. I was there for 2 months in august and september working on a photo story following the journey of the inhabitants of Villa La Angostura who woke up one day into a world that turned grey. I think its relevant that I share my project which was recently published in foto8.com, an English publication of international photojournalism. Here is my project. http://www.foto8.com/new/online/photo-stories/1509-garden-of-ashes Still in the works of getting in out there in more places, so its not forgotten….

    • So glad you saw this and posted the link to your photo project.

      I had heard that Villa La Angostura was much worse when I was in Bariloche, but I didn’t go there. Your photos really capture the devastation you saw there and the fact that people are still living in such terrible conditions.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..Have You Seen the Whales Show?

    • Andrea, I am certain it does because I remember the news in Buenos Aires reporting that everyone was recommended to wear masks, and the water supply was compromised. I do not think the impacts are as severe now (water is drinkable, or so I was told), but I have to imagine there is still a health impact breathing in the ashes even though they are not as bad as when the volcano first erupted.

      Other travelers with asthma said they couldn’t even go outside when the ash cloud was there. That cannot be a good sign.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..Have You Seen the Whales Show?

  16. “It was up to no good.” No good indeed. Where does one put moundfuls of ash? It’s not like you can burn it (again?) Is ash a fertilizer, or is that something I’m just making up from a long-time-ago history lesson? Thanks for showing us your perspective and the after-effects of this (unfortunately) forgotten about natural disaster. Keep your lungs safe!
    Amanda @ amanda elsewhere recently posted..#FriFotos: Exotic

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