El Calafate, Argentina
El Calafate in southern Argentinian Patagonia was amazing! It was one of the highlights of my trip so far. The bus ride from Rio Gallegos to El Calafate was really scenic too. If it wasn't for the hills and the lakes, I could have almost been back on the Mongolia steppe. It was almost as remote as Mongolia. The only living things we saw were guanacos, eagles and sheep. We travelled on the mysterious Ruta 40 which goes from the Bolivian/Argeninian border all the way to the bottom of the South America mainland. Unlike Mongolia, the road here was straight. The bus driver told us that they only have straight roads like that in Patagonia as Argentinians up north would die too often from accidents as they get bored from driving on good straight roads.
We spent the first couple of nights in a HUGE hostel called Che Lagarto. It apparently could fit up to 120 people there and it really felt like it for us when we were put in a 12 people dorm sharing 1 bathroom with another 12 people dorm. We were packed in like sardines in a can.
Needless to say, we moved after our 2 night booking finished. The hostel across the road was $6 cheaper per night and was not significantly worse. But this is where our invisible tie with Israelis began.
El Calafate is famous for the Los Glaciaress National Park. The most famous glacier was, of course, the Perito Moreno glacier. It was 30km long and at least 5km wide and 60 metres high at the edge. It wasn't even the biggest one there, it was just the most accessible and the most scenic one. We decided to do it independently by taking a guided bus there. When we got there we jumped on a boat to see the glacier from the lake which it extended to and then took a small hike to see the glacier from the hill close by. The glacier was so pristine and blue even on the gloomy day that we went on.
We endured strong wind, the cold and heavy rain on the day we went. Naomi literally had on all the warm gear that she still had (we sent most of our mountain gear home after Nepal). But it was still very enjoyable for me to see such a majestic glacier and to look at bits of ice cracking off and smashing into the lake every few minutes. I initially thought it was thunder as it was that deafening!
As you probably already saw from the pictures that Naomi uploaded, we decided to go back to the National Park to do a whole day boat trip to visit 4 different major glaciers. This time we had the perfect sunny (still freezing cold!) weather. We went to see the Spegazzini, Upsala and Perito Moreno (again) glaciers. This time as we were further into the Park, we got to see bigger glaciers and many massive, massive icebergs! Some of them were 3-4 storeys high and shimmering blue! I thought I was in Antarctica! The only thing missing was the penguins! Apparently 85% of the mass of iceberg is underneath the water, so you can imagine how big these icebergs we saw really were.
Our second hostel in El Calfate was called Hostel Cohuye. We were surprised to see so many Israelis in one hostel. I was impressed that they all cooked together and hung out together etc. I later found out that Israelis love to travel in large packs and they have a certain website or forum that tells them where to go and stay in South America and all the travellers just all seem to flood those hostels. It also meant we were guaranteed non-stop singing, hand clapping and constant Hebrew by staying in some of the cheapest hostels in town.
El Chalten
El Chalten is around 2.5 hours north of El Calafate. It's another tourist town but solely for hikers and campers. We did two day-hikes there to visit glaciers, glacial lakes, Cerro FitzRoy and Cerro Torre.
Both hikes were amazing and involved around 6-8 hours return each. We were told to be careful of wild pumas, deer and condors etc by the ranger. So throughout that whole 2 days, Naomi was petrified of seeing pumas which might attack her and take her into their nests whereas I just always had my camera ready for the clicking.
Cerro FitzRoy and Cerro Torre were both sub-4000m peaks. But because of the snow, the strong western wind from the Pacific Ocean and southern wind from the Antarctica and the sheerness of their faces, they were not climbed till the 1960s and the 1970s and people still die from trying to climb these peaks.
The township was small, but very friendly and pretty. In the hostel we were in, we bumped into some French tourists we met in the hostel in Valdivia in Chile. Such a small world! But I guess we were doing the Gringo trail after all....
Oh yes, we didn't see even see any deer or pumas in the end. So no puma shots and Naomi is still safe and sound.
After a couple of nights in El Chalten, we went back to El Calafate for 1 night before taking the bus off to the End of the World town – Ushuaia.
Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
We got up at 2am in El Calafate for our 16 hour bus ride to Ushuaia. I realised that my worry of being robbed walking down to the bus stop at 2:30am was unfounded when we bumped into hundreds of locals/tourists flooding the main streets all lining up to go clubbing! I felt so ancient feeling dead tired and walking with a big backpack on my back and a small backpack in the front at that wee hour whilst these people are just ready to start their night........
Anyway, 16 hours and two border crossings later we arrived in Ushuaia. Our main purpose at this town was to check out whether we could afford to go to Antarctica on the last minute deals. We checked.....and we didn't get on the boat.
I know literally everybody told me on Facebook that I should go to Antarctica as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. But hey, it is not ONCE is a lifetime if I go back again. Right?...RIGHT????
Naomi and I did some sums and she concluded that she could not afford to go as she would not have much money leftover after she gets home. For me, it was simply that it was a 2 people deal the travel agent quoted us. It would have cost me in excess of $US4,000 for 11 days if I had gone by myself.
Anyway, we ended up having a really, really nice King crab for lunch. Yes, it was very delicious even if Naomi thought it was too salty.
I mean, it was quite nice just knowing that we were at the very southernmost town in the world. That, to me, was an achievement in itself. We went from as far north as the Siberia/Mongolia border to the bottom of the world.
Oh, in Ushuaia, we also stayed in another Israeli hostel. Needless to say, some nights we were the only non-Israeli guests there. It was starting to becoming a problem for us as we don't speak Hebrew and they don't try to talk in English or Spanish, so I felt like I was the third wheel over the dinner table which was not exactly entertaining for me.
We did meet an English guy who spent all his money on an Antarctic cruise. He did say it was the best thing he had ever done. But he also had to cut his trip short and head home a week after he left Ushuaia. His stories made both of us jealous. He apparently got to swim in the Antarctic Ocean with penguins, then bathe in the hot springs on an island off Antarctica.
In Ushuaia, we went to visit a few museums and I went to see Cerro Martial and Glacier Martial. Glacier Martial was the remnant of the last ice age 20,000 years ago when Tiera del Fuego was connected to the mainland and all of Patagonia was covered with ice and glaciers. In the museums, we got to witness how the glaciers retreated over the past 150 years.
On the way to the glacier, we met an interesting friend who had nice blonde hair. She was very blonde, cute but quite hairy though. She did not talk much but just hung out with us at a park. The golden retriever loved to play fetch with us and strangely enough, also loved to attack trees when there were no sticks around. As she kept breaking all the sticks that we threw for her to fetch, she began pulling branches off small trees so that we could throw them. She better not get caught by the council or else the owner might suffer a heart attack when he gets a bill for all the trees she pulled from the park.
We flew to Buenos Aires after spending 5 nights in Ushuaia. The airfare was around AU$225 for the 3.5 hour flight. It was quite expensive for our budget, but we didn't want to suffer 48 hours on the bus nonstop. And that is if we were lucky to get the connecting bus straight away! For that extra AU$100, it was a bargain.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
You really know that you are a true backpacker and on a tight budget when you are too cheap to cough up the money for a night's accommodation and sleep in the airport instead. Yep, that is us. Instead of paying for an overpriced taxi and $11 each for a night at the hostel, we decided to sleep in the airport for 5 hours and wait for the bus in the morning since our plane arrived at 2:30am.
Casa de Papa hostel was very nicely located in the centre of the city. Everything would have been nice if, once again, we weren't staying in an Israeli hostel. I think by this time, Naomi was just sick of them treating all the hostels like school camps with nonstop singing, fighting, smoking, giggling and guitar playing till early hours of the morning.
We were told by some of them that all the Israelis travel for 6 months after they finish their army service and they all go to 3 destinations – South America, India or Australia/New Zealand. Apparently the first two places are for more budget travellers who want cheap access to drugs. And the ones with more money and, *cough* style, go to Oz/NZ. That probably explains why they are all staying in the cheap hostels.
I quite like Buenos Aires. The city of tango, steak and culture. The hostel we stayed in was built in the 19th Century and had an ancient lift installed in it. Again, just like what you see in the movies!!! Everywhere you see, you will spot heritage buildings.
I even found tenedor libre (buffet) restaurants that were cheaper and better than Sizzler! They served traditional Argentinian asado (grilled meat), all sorts of salads, hot and cold dishes, desserts etc. Anything you want, they probably have it. Ribs, rump, chops etc. We were there pretty much for the meat. We saw quite a few of them in Ushuaia and of course, they displayed the grilled meat next to the window so that you could see it from outside just to make your mouth-water. But we resisted until we got to Buenos Aires.
We went twice in a week and it was the best idea ever. The first time I ate so much that I had problems walking back to our hostel. :)
In Buenos Aires, I also applied for a new passport as mine is due to expire in a few months. And hence we are here in Uruguay for a few days to wait for the passport.
I also was brave enough to go and take a couple of tango lessons. I haven't done tango for years and was glad that some of the basics I learnt still work. The tango was amazing in Buenos Aires. It seemed that everyone can do it so easily there. The instructor even told me it was just like walking and eating. If you can walk properly, you can do tango. Right.....
We went to Chinatown in Buenos Aires to have a belated Chinese New Year meal. It was way smaller than the one in Brisbane though.
When you are sleeping in dorms, you really get to appreciate the wonder of ear plugs. We had this old Israeli guy in the same room and his snores were like earthquakes. Even the walls shook. Even with him snoring plus tens of Israeli kids singing and giggling loudly outside, I managed to stay sane thanks to my earplugs.
In B.A, I also visited the cemetery where Evita was buried, and some museums and colonial buildings from the 17th Century.
I loved the feeling of walking around some of these old suburbs where the houses were small and the roads were made out of cobbles. It really had that European vibe to it. We visited San Telmo and La Boca which are two suburbs that still have a lot of traditional architecture. There were heaps of local people drinking their mate and talking to their neighours on the streets, playing chess in small grey alleys etc. We saw some street tango dancing too. They were just so skilful and elegant.
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