el calafate (perito moreno glacier)
the perito moreno ice glacier is absolutely stunning! it’s a short bus ride from town and is a must-see if you’re in the patagonia region. it was a bit cloudy and without direct sunlight the glacier had more of a blue tint against the cloudy sky. guard railed paths lead you around the park with many view points. i must say, i’ve never been to a tourist attraction where everone actually waits in anticipated silence . and when the glacier finally breaks off, the thunderous noise is so loud end echoes through the valley. after dropping into the water huge glacier pieces swim away looking like pieces of a shattered mirror. really impressive. never seem anyting like it.
there are a few companies that take you here from the main bus terminal, unfortunately they leave you for a bit too long. the options are 9h and 13.45h departures with 17h and 20.30 pickups. we were pretty much done marveling by 18 and spent the rest of the time playing cards. bring food, (the restaurant closes at 19h) drink and a book! the park entrance is also pretty steep-75pesos.
el calafate
so far, so good. sunny and warm :) i thought it was supposed to be freezing but i am currently in shorts and a t-shirt! el calafate is a cute little town with a main strip made of low buildings that are lodge-like and homely. the only exception is the casino that just out and is the tallest building. the ubiquitous outdoor stores all look inviting and encourage you to do outdoor activities. it’s really small so walking around is a cinch-just down the steps from the bus staion. if you have an extra day, try walking out of town to lago argentino. this clear blue and green lake is beautiful! looks almost like the waters of hawaii.
contrary to guide books, there are also heaps of cheap hostels! lots of flyers can be found at the information desk along with adverts on poles for ones starting at 30pesos. if you are only traveling by yourself or with another person, i wouldn’t book ahead. the ones on the internet all pretty much start at 45…
ushuaia - rio gallegos - el calafate
off to el calafate to see thing glacier everyone’s been talking about. 18 hours is long but not so bad compared to the last one. there’s only two companies (taqsa and tecni austral) that run out of ushuaia to el calafate, and they both leave around 5/6AM. it cost me 230pesos and which is about 50 more than quoted in any of the guide books. i swear argentina is way more expensive this time around!
the bus stopped off in rio gallegos for 5 hours. depending on the border crossing, you might get there with +/-2 hours. so plan ahead. also, buy your ticket in cash if you can. credit card transactions do not have this option. if you find an earlier connection (18h instead of 20.30h) they will buy it back with about 80%. then you can buy the new ticket at whatever the cost. this gives you the option of hopping on the earlier bus to save you time. unless you want to stick around rio gallegos, which i don’t think you do. it is so far the ugliest place i have been to.
ushuaia (parque national tierra del fuego)
what to do, what to do…i guess i can go to antarctica with a last-minute offer. OF ALMOST 8 THOUSAND US DOLLARS! right, maybe next time. there’s heaps of options here at the “end of the world” and all promise to be good if the weather permits. lucky for me i think it’s actually warm. maybe about 15 degrees? a lot of hostels offer competitive excursions/ride to the national park. mine was 45pesos round trip for 3 different pick-up points on the way back, plus 50 for the park entrance. kinda steep but what can you do. the taxis are about 30pesos there (since the park is only 7km away) so if you can find people to share with it should be grand but getting back into town might be a problem after a long day of hiking.
i ended up doing the shorter hike along the beagle channel to lapataia bay at the end of route 3. i think it took about 5 hours. also towards the end of this trek there is a free campground. the difficulty was listed at medium for some places but i would say it was all pretty much easy. a beautiful and relaxing hike for the day. there were no steep climbs, and the hike was done by sticking to the clearly defined path. due to lack of preparation, i trekked fine in my mesh running shoes. if you want to do a more strenuous trek my friends did another that took about 8-10 hours through terrain like waist-high water and mud faces where proper gear was needed.
things to note! the park is free before 8am. get there early if you can. at the start of your journey, there is a dock with a “end of the world” post system. bring your passport. because like machu picchu, they stamp your passport. i forgot. route 3 goes from alaska to the end of this park (17,848 km), so take a photo with the road sign!
ushuaia!
whew! after a 32 hour bus ride we finally made it to ushuaia. the trip was long but actually not that bad since we had to get off a few times for the border and switch buses a couple times as well. oooh and onboard a little ferry to cross the peninsula, i also got to see black and white dolphins swimming along. really cool.
the town itself is of course touristy because this is where cruise ships leave for antarctica. a lot of “end of the world” souvenir shops and tour agencies. besides that, the setting is gorgeous. a little town sandwiched between snow capped mountains and the water. i’ve never been to alaska but the scenery is kinda what i imagine it to be. really picturesque and calm.
puerto madryn
more beach time! so far so good. all my long-distance buses have been overnight ones so i have been able to save on hostel fees this way. they also feed you something so that’s good…although yesterday i got a tray of three pieces of ham and cheese, dried omellette with the same cheese, deep fried sausage, bread roll and a big thing of flan. i ate the ham and cheese and flan. atleast they try.
puerto madryn is not at all busy compared to mar del plata, but more of a laid-back community. even if you are in the centre you can find enough space on the beach to get some sun. it’s also a really cool place because from here you can visit a lot of other towns and attractions.
a tour i did was to punbta tombo, which has the biggest colony of magellanic penguins! you get to walk alongside their nesting grounds and a lot of them walk right by you! it was absolutely amazing. some baby ones were shedding their fur, some were mating, and others were just sunbathing. i really wanted to poke one but since the tour guide heard me say it he kept a close eye on me. so a no-go on that one.
on the way back we visited gaiman, a welsh village founded in the 19oo’s. it was kinda weird to see welsh writing in this setting having just come from there. the main attraction here are tea houses that serve welsh tea n cake. a lot of teahouses n bars were in both welsh n spanish but the ice cream lady didn’t speak a word of welsh. so that was kinda a disappointment :(
mar del plata
so i’ve been here for a few days trying to chill on the beach, but the weather is crazy right now! hot n sunny one day, and absolutely rainy and windy the next. however, days spent on the beach have been nice n relaxing, and the rainy days have been well spent taking care of our tans! there’s a girl from buenos aires i’ve been hanging out with and thanks to her i think my spanish has improved. a whole week of only spanish has been beneficial but i don’t really have a choice since every single person here is argentinian. haha.
the local transportation system here is pretty bad. there’s a bus (the size of a regular 40 seater coach) that runs every half hour to the city centre. along with the ones in the centre, these colectivos are privately owned. so it’s a bit more expensive and get full during peak hours. you have to flag it down and hope there is room, otherwise the driver will pick up a few people and leave the rest to wait another half hour. geting off is also annoying, because there are people crammed in the aisles you have to push past to get off. i can’t imagine having to to this everyday…
mar del plata
decided to stop off in mar del plata for some beach and sun! the beach is super packed and if you thought barceloneta or waikiki are crowded, this makes it seem like nothing. people trying to sunbathe sardines style. not nice at all.
i booked the cheapest hostel ($9) but completely forgot to read the reviews. oops. so the directions said to catch a mini bus from the main bus terminal and i should get off at ‘playa de los lobos’. well, since the minibus stop was a walk away and i couldn’t be bothered, i hired a cab. big mistake. the driver had no idea where it was and kept pointing along the coast saying it is somewhere that way. well, turns out the hostel like like 20km outside the city…a 60 peso ride. a rip off considering i just paid 100 from bs as for 6 hours!
once i got over my stupidity, i looked around and loved the hostel. there is absolutely nothing around but big fields and houses divided by dirt roads. and on the other side? the secluded and almost private coast! this means beach for the day, chill for the night. can’t wait!
buenos aires 2
met up with juan pablo! meeting up with him was great in that i now had a local to show me around, but also because it took me 2 days to get a hold of him. who knew that mobiles in argentina require a 9 before the number? well now i and you know. i f you are calling an argentinian mobile, it’s 011-54-9 then mobile. without for a land line.
we spent the early part of the evening around puerto madero, which had changed dramatically in the last three years. apparently construction is still booming here…opera bay was demolished to make way for a high rise and new buildings were being built around the area. he also took me down corrientes avenue which is kinda like broadway. full of theaters for musicals and shows.! a peculiar sight also down here are book stores that are open 24hrs…a really cool idea. at midnight there were still people browsing the aisles.
buenos aires!
made it back to buenos aires! what a shock coming in from london…the heat wave (high 30’s) and humidity hit me as i walked out in my winter gear. ugh. atleast they’ll come in use when i hit patagonia :)
i forgot how congested the city is! way worse than barca, and i am sure emission testing is not required. getting a fresh breath is almost impossible. i checked into a hostel in san telmo where i’d stayed before and was surprised that no one spoke english in my room. all argies and brasilians! weird cuz there’s always some german or aussie around. well atleast it’s good for my spanish…as long as i’m not picking up a random accent which i prob already have. haha.