I was back in Patagonia, but this time the Argentinian side. In early November, I was in Chilean Patagonia (Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine) and in December, I was across the border in El Calafate and El Chalten. This time round there was less snow but more glacial ice!
We flew into El Calafate, the gateway to the Perito Moreno glacier, and spent two nights there. We then spent three nights in El Chalten, a two and a half hour minibus drive away and a trekking mecca. I was expecting the glacier to be the highlight of the region and whilst it was spectacular, El Chalten, a tiny village with excellent walking trails into the Fitz Roy mountain range, was the star of our Argentinan adventure.
Cash Is King
More than any other part of South America I have visited, cash was king in Argentinian Patagonia. Some of the smaller hotels, group tours and many restaurants were cash only and in El Calafate, there was no cash left in any of the machines because it was Sunday. Our hotel owner Mariano had to drive us to a relatively new cash machine far away from the main road. He also gave us many examples of locals’ distrust of banks which is understandable given that the Argentinian financial crisis and devaluation of 2001 still lives strong in the national memory. On payday, locals tend to draw as much cash out as they can and often invest in tangible goods such as second hand cars, or in Mariano’s neighbour’s case, a big pile of bricks in his back yard!
One other thing to note is that Patagonia is expensive and prices rise quickly. The general inflation rate in Argentina is estimated to be about 40% over 2016… Patagonian tour prices have often gone up by more than this year on year.
This is a touristy town with a population of ~21,000 and the gateway to the Parque Nacional Los Glaciars. We stayed in a cute and cosy hotel called Madre Tierra run by Mariano – it is a lonely planet top pick and very homely with guest names on a chalkboard on each door. We also were helped by a fun travel agent called Mariano down the road. In fact, every other male we met in El Calafate was called Mariano.
On our first afternoon, we cycled around the edge of town where the only traffic was horses walking from the rugged land onto the road.
We had fantastic dinners at la Zaina with a quirky setting, tasty bruschetta, lamb ravioli and great wine selection and Mi Rancho, a cosy ski lodge style restaurant with hearty starters of butternut squash soup and spinach, garlic and cheese empanadas that won our ‘best empanada award’… high praise indeed as there were a lot of contenders. Hence we struggled to finish our equally hearty main courses.
We took the full day glacier tour that included about 5 hours of trekking with about 10km on the glacier itself. Perito Moreno is a spectacular glacier, about 30km long, 5km wide and over 60m tall. Unusually, this glacier is in a steady state with no major change in size since 1917. Our first views from the balcony walkways were beautiful. We could see and hear some pieces of ice crash into the water below.
We then boarded a boat to make our way to the start of our trek. We had crampons fitted which we then carried en route on the gravel and moraine. Crampons are much heavier than I remember from a glacier hike I did in New Zealand 9 years ago. This time round, I had lots of gear such as comfortable hiking boots of my own, gloves and waterproof trousers. In New Zealand, I borrowed random fisherman style trousers and jacket! Another contrast is that this time round there is plenty focus on health and safety, with the crampon size checked for each of us.
The first part of the hike was a speedy uphill. We then stopped to put our crampons and safety harnesses on (in case we were to fall into a crevice, they could pull us out!). The ice trekking was really good fun but tiring towards the end as the ice formations are spiky with a steep gradient going from side to side. I find the bright blue of the compressed dense ice stunning. We stopped for our packed lunch in a scenic spot and filled up our bottles with fresh glacial water from the streams – the best water I have ever tasted!
Our small group had a comedic experienced guide called Diego who wanted to take us further afield. We did not see any other groups along the way and were surrounded by the ever-changing ice terrain.
We looked down steep crevices which made everyone ooh and ahhh – the depth does not show up in my photos. On our boat journey back, we were offered some whisky-type spirit with a big block of ice, naturally. This was the only company to do the ice trekking and overall I would say that we were very well looked after.
El Chalten
This is a small colourful village with a population of less than 2000, a few nice bars and restaurants and 360 degree views of the mountains. There are fantastic treks to do that start right at the village so once we were there there was no need for taxis, buses or transfers. In fact, our three days in El Chalten was our favourite part of our Argentina experience.
Our hotel Destino Sur had a very spacious room and a nice spa and sauna area that you can pre-book. Perfect after a hike.
We also had plenty of brilliant food and drink in the tiny town. My favourite place was La Vineria that had excellent wine by the glass (lots of Malbec and Torrontes!) We spent one evening there sitting outside enjoying the bright evening sun (the sun set around 10pm this far south) with plenty of excellent empanadas and drinks. Other tasty options included Prana cafe (veg lasagne, caramelised onion and mushroom crepes and fresh fruit juices for when we had overdosed on heavy lamb!), La Tapera (wooden ski chalet type restaurant where we had great grilled trout and fresh pasta) and Domo Blanco (homemade ice cream and hot chocolates.)
White Water Rafting
On our first afternoon in El Chalten, we went rafting down the stunning Vueltas river, through volanic rock cliffs. My sun cream must have been splashed off by the rapids as I managed to get a bit of peeling on my nose in the strong sunshine, the first time ever this has happened to my dark skin! I have no photos (our guides did instigate a photo shoot but did not end up emailing them to us as they said they would) aside from us excited about wearing dry suits for the first time. They worked a treat and enabled the white water rafting experience without the cold and wet. Lolly, the fun loving guide in our raft encouraged a celebratory high five with paddles after every intense rapid and gave us one of our holiday catchphrases “let’s rock and roll chicas!” …. our team was Hiten and four girls hence chicas.
Hike 1: Laguna Torre
This was a lovely six hour walk including a 40 minute lunch stop at a lake where Hiten though it was a good idea to take off his boots and paddle in the icy water. It was about 20km in total and although the first couple of kilometre markers seemed to take a long time (the steep part of the hike), the middle past was flat with partials views of Cerro Torre amongst the clouds and the glacial waters of the Fitz Roy river.
Hike 2: Laguna de los Tres
I loved the way we just walked out of our hotel onto this trail. One thing to mention is that the walking routes in this area were well marked with a post at each kilometre. There is no need to have a guide as you cannot get lost if you stick to the trail. At least one thing in Patagonia that is very cheap is the walking itself!
This route was 10.8km each way (21.6km overall but we added a little extra with a small detour at a little beach on the way back for a much needed sugar stop!) We had a perfectly clear day with excellent views of the Vueltas river that we had rafted on and the Fitz Roy mountain. This is known to be a tough route and despite being a similar distance to the first hike we did, it was much more challenging and took about 9 hours with a generous lunch stop. There were several kilometres of flat respite in the middle but an extremely steep hour or so at the end. I found that part challenging, especially on the way down! The final viewpoint at the top was worth it though.
One of the funny things about hiking long distances is the random stuff you end up talking about. Or in Hiten’s case a variety of stream-of-consciousness songs that I will not go into more detail about here.
We loved the remote scenes, the hiking, the empanadas. And maybe, just maybe, it was all at a bargain 40% cheaper than next year’s prices.
neontraveller.com 
Out of curiousity, after posting this I have looked up the difference between trekking and hiking. The first answer google gives me from quora.com is: The main difference between the two is that hiking is mainly a leisure activity which is done by walking on well-made trails and man-made roads. However, trekking is more rigorous, and a more challenging activity. It tests one’s physical ability, endurance, and even their mental or psychological capacity.
Ok then…hiking tanya and hiking hits it is.
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