Into Argentina

The beautiful mountains in Patagonia - never get tired of them!

Go sailing with 'Mi Corozon.'

Adios Muchacho!

Our time in the 'End of The World,' had come to an end, and so it was back on a bus. I can't remember how long this bus trip was, as they are never short and tend to blend into each other. It was not on the scale of the 37 marathon 2 weeks earlier to get to Punta Arenas. I had my two travelling buddies with me, but we still missed the 4th member of our little group. The bus ride went from Argentina and crossed into Chile, then we had to leave Chile and get back into Argentina - 4 border crossings essentially. We drove from Ushuaia till El Calafate, with a quick break in Rio Gallegos in Argentina to change buses, then continue on. We arrived at 1am at the terminal, but had already booked a hostel, so we only had to make it through the walk to the hostel fully loaded down - beds were waiting for us, as well as a quite beer before hitting the hay. The next day would be a relaxing day for the most part, but we had one very important thing to do - book our trip to Perito Moreno - our reason for coming so far!

Sunset over the flat plains in Argentina.

Bookshop in El Calafate.

Sleeping dog in El Calafate.

The town of El Calafate is not much to be honest - it is a decent size, and looks much like a ski town, but it is solely for the big attraction of the glacier 'Perito Moreno.' Wandering around town, trying not to choke at the expensive prices for everything, looking for a tour was hard work. Most people spoke English, which helps sometimes (even though I feel my Spanish is much improved!), but there are so many tours to choose from! You can walk on the glacier, get a boat to it, and also get a minibus and walk too. There are so many things to do here, and they are all expensive too. We settled on a deal that was offered by our hostel, which is always a good idea to be honest.  For 590ars ($60UAD) we got a full day tour, driven around, English speaking guide, stops for photos and 3 hours at that big chunk of ice. There was an additional cost of 260ars ($26) for the park entrance, which I felt was a bit steep - it was cheaper for other South Americans, but not for Chileans, which I had to laugh at because it is yet more proof of the dislike between these two countries. Laugh I did, but I would have like the discount with my Chilean ID. This was the best we could do and booked it for the next day - I hate being driven around with a tour guide, telling you when you can go to the bathroom, when to take photos etc, but there is no other way of doing all these things without your own car, and even then it can be hard. The joys of travel!

The North Face of the glacier - dwarfing the boat.

Guanaco selfies!

Not so happy guanaco - no more selfies!

First stop was a small farm, and apart from offering a bathroom and great views of the area, we were able to get real close to a Guanaco! These furry animals are much like Llamas, and I hadn't been able to get a decent photo of them until now. These two were tame, and pats were a bonus - some people even got some selfies in, but enough is enough sometimes and these guanacos can (and did!) spit, so look out French tourists! We got back on the bus and the next stop was a view of the glacier itself - and it was impressive. Walking around the lake, I took in the South Face of the Perito Moreno. This lake was very full of water, and the boats used on this side were tied to floating docks - this extra water level was due to the glacier itself. The lake has no way of emptying itself, and most times the glacier forms a barrier to the other side of the lake - the water only gets out when a 'rupture' happens in the ice. At the moment it is blocked, and but soon the pressure will be too much and the ice will break, freeing that water. The last rupture occurred on January 19, 2013, and previously, March 4, 2012, 2008, 2006, 2004, 1988, 1986, 1980, 1977, 1975, 1972, 1970, 1966, 1963, 1960, 1956, 1953, 1952, 1947, 1940, 1934 and 1917.It ruptures, on average, about every four to five years, and was nearly due when I visited - the guide thought in another month at most. The glacier itself is enormous - it's the 3rd largest glacier field in South America, covering 250,000km2 (bigger than the city of Buenes Aires at 200,000km2) and is on average 70m high and has a depth of 170m. Wow! 3 hours of walking around looking at this beast of ice was perfect - the area had a great walkway system that allowed many people to visit the site and not be all pushed in together. The weather was also perfect - the sun shining on the ice made it look supernaturally blue and just even more beautiful! I was even lucky enough to hear, and see, huge chunks of ice falling off the face.

Look at the North Face of Perito Moreno, and the chunks of ice falling off.

The blue colours within the glacier.

The South Face of Perito Moreno.

The whole area here is very interesting, and not just for the glacier. There is a scrub that grows locally it produces a berry called the 'Calafate' berry. Eating them supposedly makes you return to Calafate - maybe that would explain why I had so much trouble booking plane tickets to Buenos Aires! Ferdinand Magellan also so a bit of trouble leaving, as his ship was in need of repairs (the replica of his ship 'The Nao Victoria' is in Punta Arenas). He managed to work out that a resin can be made from the Calafate berries and used to water-proof his shit, before continuing on his round the World trip. For us, the next stop was El Chalten, a 3 hour bus trip from Calafate. We tried to hitch it, sa the bus prices in Argentina are so expensive. Sadly it didn't work out, and after 3 hours we decided it was time to bite the bullet and pay the 420ars ($42). El Chalten is a small town, and people come here for hiking - there is not much else in town apart from stores selling and renting gear and equipment, and hostels. The view from nearly anywhere in the town is spectacular - offering a view of the mountains, including Mont Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. We checked into the hostel, and found all the 'modern travellers' inside on their mobiles checking facebook and whatsapp. Typical!

The Gang as we got into El Chalten - hitching a lift with some Argentinian friends.

Sunrise on Cerro Torre.

Watching the sunset.

We headed off the next day for a 3 day 2 night hike in the National Park, which is free I must add! The town itself is inside the park, the mountains a short distance away, and free campsites too - already it was beginning to seem better than Torres. We stocked up on camp food (yum!) and started off at about 10am, and it was a 9km hike to our first campsite Agostini. The hike was quite easy, and never really climbing after the initial hour, and everywhere you looked you were rewarded with amazing views, aided by the fact that we were also blessed with perfect weather. The only downside so far on the hike were the flies - big horse flies that never left you alone and loved to bite, so the walk was peaceful and only interrupted by the odd slap on an arm or leg, and an 'ouch' if you were over-eager or managed to get bitten.

The Fitz Roy mountains seen from the town of El Chalten.

Our first campsite was next to the river that flowed directly from the glacier, and the view of Cerro Torre and the glacier itself was only a 5 minute walk, but an hour more to get to the actual viewpoint. We got our jackets and headed off, taking it easy, and just say at the mirador and stared at what was in front of us - hard to believe sometimes that there are places so beautiful and breathtaking in this world. We had the place nearly all to ourselves, only a few other quiet hikers - very much the opposite of Torres del Paine - and I started to wonder, why aren't there more people here? From here we had an uninterrupted view of Cerro Torre's tall, sharp peak (3102m), Laguna Torre and Glacier Grande. The clouds swept over the mountains, the sun set, and it looked like chocolate sprinkles on the ice - we watched the sunset before heading back, and were 'escorted' out by a fox, barking at us all the way back to camp. We rose for the sun in the morning, got a few shots in and a cup of tea, then back to bed for a few hours.

The postcard view of Fitz Roy from the bus in to town.

A flock of birds (seagulls?).

The rebel yell!

After a late breakfast of instant polenta (yum!), we packed up and headed off for the second campsite Poincenot. Again, a fairly easy hike, or was it just that my 'Torres Legs' had finally kicked in? We made it to camp with plenty of light to spare, but the weather wasn't as good today. We set up the tent, had a snack, and decided to walk to see a glacier. This walk was a little tougher - the path was actually closed due to water damage - so we had to be mindful of where to step or get a boot full of mud and water. The rain came in a little, but as we reached the glacier an hour later, the weather suited the sight. We climbed over huge boulders, easily the size of a truck or even a house, but reached the glacier, hanging off the side of Fitz Roy. We found a place out of the wind and set up our little burner to cook that soup that we didn't have back in Ushuaia - only to realise that it hadn't been packed again! We hurried back to camp for dinner, our legs moving on the power of promised food very soon. Sunset wasn't worth seeing, as the weather moved right in and it was a very cold night, but the next morning the sun was out and it was time to climb up to get a close view of the big boy himself - Mount Fitz Roy.

The view from the top - worth every sweaty step!

"Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

Cerro Torre.

It was a fairly hard slog up for an hour, the last part require hands and feet - no backpack on helps, but a 2kg camera starts to get annoying pretty damn soon. The view at the top was, of course, absolutely worth it though. Monte Fitz Roy, sitting at 3405m, is truly impressive - it is also a very difficult mountain to climb. Although it's not even half of most of the Himalayan mountains, it's sheer faces are very challenging, and while 100 people may climb Everest in a single day, only 1 person may successfully ascend Fitz Roy in a whole year. We met a few people who had camped the night up here, sleeping backs and thermals on, and even sat down, had a chat with some Argentinians and shared some bread and 'dulce de leche.' A slow walk around at the top to really soak it on, a few photos, and it was time to head down. I would have loved to have stayed longer, but the weather was perfect then and I didn't want it to be ruined - leave the moment perfect in your mind. We hiked back to town, tired, a touch sunburnt and craving a real meal - burger and beer to be exact! We got our burger and chips, and a locally made craft beer, but the place was the only burger and beer place in town so it was packed, and the service slow (even for South America!). It was still worth it!

The fox watching 'The Three Little Pigs.'

So far I had been travelling with this little trio for nearly 4 weeks. We'd met on the bus from Castro to Punta Arenas, hiked Torres del Paine together (after which we sadly lost 1 member), then on to Ushuaia and now El Calafate and El Chalten - now it was time to separate. We had our last meal together in a restaurant in town (which sadly wasn't a great meal, but the company was!), and then back to the hostel to pack for tomorrow. Alicia was off to hitchhike the Carretera Austral, Chile's Route 7 which runs 1200km from Villa O'Higgins in the south to Puerto Montt  - crossing green borders, beautiful mountains and scenery and not many roads, but lots of cyclists doing it too. Stephie was off to Bariloche and Buenes Aires before going home. I was getting on a plane to Buenes Aires - I normally don't fly if I can help it, but I thought 3 hours on a plane compared to 3 days on a bus at more or less the same price, it was worth it. Some great times, probably the best of my 2 months travelling so far - you may travel alone but you are never truly alone. I'll miss you girls - see you in Europe in a few months for the reunion!

Sunset over Fitz Roy - such a stunning place!