Day Seventy Seven--El Chalten

March 10-El Chalten, Argentina

Finally able to get a hike in.

Today the weather was still not good.  However, it was a bit better and I decided I would try to walk to the waterfall.  The waterfall was about an hour walk each way from the hostel.  I walked to the end of the street where I was told the path started that led to the waterfall.  It actually is the same path/trail that leads to the Fitz Roy.  I’d been invited to join several others who were going on a six hour hike but I didn’t trust the weather to hold out that long.

By the time I walked to the end of the street the wind was howling.  It wasn’t raining though.    I thought I would start video recording my walks.  While I was playing with my camera a guy started talking to me and asked where I was going.  I was so caught off guard because I was trying to shoot some video.  

I turned the camera off, not to be rude and continued walking with him.  I said I was trying to go to the waterfall and he said that was where he was going too.  We continued walking together and he told me his name was Thierry and he was from Belgium.  He was traveling alone and had just arrived in El Chalten this morning.  He was interesting, spoke perfect English and it was nice to have a walking companion. 

Thierry is an emergency doctor in a hospital in Belgium and traveling for 4 weeks in Argentina.  He came to Argentina to see the highest mountain, Aconcagua, that is in northern Argentina, but due to bad weather was unable to see it.  As a matter of fact, he told me most everywhere he’s been on this trip it has rained.  He left Belgium to get away from the cold and the rain but unfortunately failed.  I half kiddingly told him maybe I didn’t want to walk with him because the rain was following him.  But I continued walking with him.

During our walk Thierry told me he was staying at the hostel with all the Israelis and wasn’t happy there.  He didn’t find the Israeli’s friendly because they all stayed together and they were all much younger. Thierry was probably in his late 30’s maybe early 40’s, I never found out.  He told me he was changing hostels later in the day.  

Thierry from Belgium

The wind was blowing and it started to rain a bit but we continued walking to the waterfall.  The trail was completely flat and it didn’t take very long to get to the waterfall maybe an hour.  Funny, when we arrived the wind wasn’t as strong but it was raining a bit.  The rain didn’t stop me from taking some photos.  The waterfall was lovely and there were many people hanging out here.  

Standing at the waterfall in one direction you could see clear sky but in the other direction many clouds.  I kept thinking the Fitz Roy was in the direction of the clouds.   

view across from the waterfall

Thierry thought maybe the clouds would go away and we would be able to see it.  

view on our walk back to town

I walked back to town with Thierry and he asked if I wanted to have a beer with him.  We went to the restaurant Cerverceria had a beer and talked for a while.  We had a good conversation about world politics, given what was going on in the world with Egypt and the Middle East.  

One of the great aspects of travel is meeting people from different countries and getting their opinions not only of the world but of the U.S. as well.  The world is changing at such a rapid pace it is hard to keep up.  Especially being in Patagonia, more in a vacuum than I usually am, it’s easy to talk about what’s going on on the “outside” without being effected.  In reality, one person has little control over the craziness in the world and all us “little people” can do is talk about it.  As I sit here among the most amazing nature I’ve ever seen it’s hard to imagine standing with thousands of people demonstrating against a repressive government.  What is “real” life anyway?  Questions, questions.

Thierry was “nice enough” but I could see it wasn’t going anywhere and decided to go back to the hostel.  After our beer, we said goodbye and went our separate ways.  

After resting a bit I was hungry and walked over to the restaurant La Lucinda.  The women from Valparaiso had recommended it to me.  It wasn’t much of a restaurant but the desserts looked good.  

dessert I didn't have but looked great

The restaurant had great large windows offering a view of the outside.  They also had a good photo exhibit of the mountains taken by a local photographer.  I was happy to be seeing at least photos of what I was missing.   

When I was in the restaurant the sky cleared up and the waitress pointed out the Fitz Roy to me out of the window.  The joke was on me because I realized I had been looking in the wrong direction for the last two days.  Actually, you can see the Fitz Roy right in the center of town but because the weather had been so bad I hadn’t been able to see it.  When the clouds go away there will be a great view I was told.  When I found this out I was feeling bad that I told Thierry the wrong direction of the Fitz Roy.  I’m sure he’ll figure it out. 

This was also the first time I saw a sunset. The sky was beautiful and I tried to get a photo.  I could see that tomorrow might be a nice day and even though I was leaving I would get up early and try to have a short hike.  

I ordered a tuna sandwich that was served in a pita and a local beer called Jueves (Thursday). 

I like to try local beer whenever they have it.  The waitress explained the reason the beer was called Jueves.  It was because there is a group of men who have been meeting on Thursdays for many many years and when one of the group decided to create this beer they names it Jueves in honor of the group.  It was a fairly good beer.  

After dinner I fought the wind to return to the hostel ad I had to pack for my next days departure.  Walking against the wind can add much more time to ones walk.  

It’s all in the journey, right.