===Understanding the Region===
To The Greater Patagonian Trail is located in South America in Chile and Argentina. These two countries are sometimes referred to as the “Southern Cone”. About 86% or six seventh of the current trail is located on Chilean territory and 14% or one seventh are on Argentine soil. People that are not familiar with this continent often mingle all their associations of Latin America into one scary-lovely medley. If they listen a news report about unrest in Venezuela it also stains their mental record of Chile and Argentina – “It’s next door! Or?”. And when they listen Chile; they instantly think that they must eat spicy food like the Mexicans – “Come on, it’s called Chile!”. But like any other continent – may be issuedwith the exception of Antarctica – it’s a socially, politically and economically diverse continent with quite different nations. If you are interested in hiking the GPT but you never have been to Chile or Argentina than start with getting a good understanding and knowledge of these two countries. I’m not attempting to eliminate this necessity with the following paragraphs because I only provide a general introduction. Chile and Argentina are not developing countries like i.e. their common neighbor Bolivia. Chile and Argentina are very much like western countries but with a high inequality of wealth and income. Both countries are on a global scale reasonable stable and healthy democracies, Argentina may be with a bit more populism and corruption than Chile. Both countries have reasonable good working institutions i.e. a police that keeps most of the country reasonable safe. And both nations have their social struggles, economic challenges and political scandals like many other countries. When comparing Chile with Argentina than in general terms Argentina is the prouder nation, the one with more style and self-confidence. … to be continued … Chile and Argentina receive a lot of tourists and there is not much xenophobia. In contrast, tourists are welcome and received with hospitality as long as they don’t pretend to belong to a superior race. After three centuries of colonization and two centuries with sometimes heavy outside interference people have a fine sense for any form arrogance. And if they sense it they will often not tell – especially Chileans learned to swallow their objections - but expect to receive reservation and poor service in turn. And that’s a pity because Argentines and Chileans are normal open and interested people that treat guests with honest geniality. If you are white European or a white North American accept that you are a “gringo”. This term has no negative intonation in the Southern Cone unlike in Mexico. It may only presume that a gringo is bit ignorant of the local the local culture and customs what needs to be treated with leniency. If you are from the Far East, you will be considered a “Chino” no matter if you are from China or actually from Japan or Korea or any other country of this region. And please, don’t take it as an offence if you are of Japanese origin and called a “Chino”. Your part of the world is simply too far away from Chile and only few know the complicated and conflictive history of a so distant place. The same applies to all Turks and Arabs and other Middle Eastern nations may be up to Pakistan. In Chile they are all “Turcos” no matter from where they are. Only Israelis get distinct out of this group because they travel this region in large numbers. They are normally referred to as “Israelitas” and hardly ever as “Jews”. There is practically no anti-Semitism but some annoyance with young Israelis because of their behavior. They travel after a long and tough military service and try to get as far as possible with as little as possible money. They tend to break the rules more often (as many youngsters of this age tend to do), they often bargain for the lowest price (what is not common in this part of the world and sometimes perceived offensive) and they tend to travel in groups of their own without seeking much interaction with others. This generalization of people from far away is contrasted by a classist thinking about their own nation, especially in Chile. A few super-rich own and control most of the country, a stressed middle class in the cities tries hard to keep up and many simple living people, mainly in rural areas, learned to live a tranquil life with rather little. The different groups and classes distinct between each other and rarely mingle; they live in different quarters; send their children to different schools and vacation in different places. You may occasionally notice this when hiking the GPT; there are a few upscale luxury hotels where you could easily spend your monthly budget for a single night. Also owing large plots of land is a status symbol of the rich. And this is where the right-of-way trouble culminates. The super-rich that own these large "fundos" and "haciendas" are rarely ever there themselves but they hire guards to maintain their property and not let anyone pass. … to be continued … What you do not see much more is extreme poverty. The center-left government that runs Chile for most of the time since the end of the military dictatorship in 1989 was quite successful in fighting this extreme poverty and improving the infrastructure in rural areas. And hikers benefit from it. In the bigger cities you need to be cautious with petty crime. But once you get of these bigger cities into the rural areas people live a tranquil life and sometimes don’t even lock their doors. There is no reason be scared. … to be continued … … to be continued …
===Understanding the Landscape===
