Day Seventy Eight-El Chalten-El Calafate

Friday-March 11-El Chalten to El Calafate, Argentina

Of course today the sun was out with very little wind.  I had a 1:00 p.m. bus ticket back to El Calafate.  However, I decided I would get up early so I could take a short 2 or 3 hour hike to the “mirador” (the lookout) of the torre and possibly see the Fitz Roy.

  

I ate a quick breakfast and packed all my bags because I had to be out of the room by 10:00 a.m. but I was able to get myself together and be on the trail by 9:30.  I knew I had to be back at the hostel by 12:15 to get to the bus station.

at the start of the trail

The trail started just down the street from the hostel.  Within the first few minutes of walking I met a nice girl from Korea.  The beginning of the trail was slightly up hill, nothing I couldn’t tackle but she was much faster than I was and left me in the dust (so to speak).  I continued at my pace and when I got to the top of the hill found the Laguna Torre sign and a great view of the town.  

a view of El Chalten

A little bit past the sign I met a retired couple from England who had been traveling for several months.  They also were walking to the mirador.  We walked and talked about our travels and our children. The husband told me he couldn’t come to America anymore because of some immigration problem he’d had many years ago.  He was disappointed because he enjoyed his visits to America and would like to visit again.  Of course, I’m always interesting to hear about the bureaucracy in my country.  

I’m curious as to how immigration or customs will deal with me.  I’m not sure what the triggers are any more but I know I’ve been out of the U.S. for three months and in a variety of countries.  I’m expecting to be questioned. 

The sky was blue and the temperature probably about 60 degrees.  I was told the hike was about 1.5 hours to the mirador to get a view of the Cerro Torre and the Fitz Roy.  I didn’t have a watch so I had to ask other people for the time.

I reached the mirador with the English couple where we met another couple who were living in America.  

beautiful view of Cerro Torre

The view was incredible with a clear view of the Cerro Torre.  Unfortunately there were many clouds blocking a good view of the Fitz Roy. But the clouds move quickly so within minutes we were able to see part of the Fitz Roy.  

Fitz Roy behind the clouds

Due to my time constraint I couldn’t stay here long, just long enough to take several photos.  I said goodbye to the two couples and started my decent back to town.  

On my return trip I met an Italian couple who were also in a hurry to get back to town because they too had a 1:00 p.m. bus back to El Calafate.  (I think I forget to mention that on Tuesday morning the first bit of business I took care of was to buy another return bus ticket from the other bus company, Cal-Tur (with the new Mercedes bus).  It cost me an additional $20.00 but worth the comfort of knowing I would get back to El Calafate safely.)

I had a nice walk with them down the hill.  They asked me if I’d seen the sculptures made from recycled materials.  

“No, I hadn’t”, I told them.

Mauricio

They took me on the street where they were.  Mauricio pointed out the “postman” sculpture because he is a postman in Italy.  This photo is dedicated to him.  All the sculptures were cool.  A better thing to do with the metal and other parts of the sculpture rather than throwing them in the dump.

guitarist with Fitz Roy in the background

It was close to 12:30 when we got to the main street.  We exchanged e-mails and went are respective ways to our hostels.

When I returned to the hostel I saw the Cal-Tur bus across the street.  Carolina (the girl at the reception) thought I would be able to get on the bus here rather than having to go to the bus terminal.  As I was getting my things together the bus started to leave.  Another guy in the hostel was also taking the bus and he went outside and stopped the bus so we could get on.  That was nice.

We got on the bus but still had to go to the terminal and wait for other passengers.  Sitting next to the Cal-Tur bus in the terminal was a much newer Chalten Travel bus.  Oy, what to do.  

One thing I have learned on this trip is when I make a decision I just have to live with it, good or bad.

The Fitz Roy

While waiting at the terminal I got off the bus and walked 100 feet to see an incredible view of the Fitz Roy.  When the sky is clear the Fitz Roy is easily seen from standing on the main street.

Again I was laughing at myself for thinking it was in a completely different direction.  

The bus ride was very comfortable with an incredible view of the mountains and the lake given that it was such a gorgeous day.  Everyone was taking photos from the bus.

It took a little less than 3 hours to get back to El Calafate and yes there was a bathroom on the bus and yes I did use it.

We arrived at the bus station and I needed to walk to the El Calafate Hostel.  It wasn’t too far but I had to lug my stuff down a set of 30 stairs.  O.k. a backpack would have been easier.

Once I got down the stairs it was another 6 blocks to the hostel.

The person at the reception at this hostel wasn’t nearly as nice as at the Patagonia Hostel in El Chalten.  It was only for one night I thought.  

He gave me the key and I walked to the room which was at the end of the hall.  The room was not nearly as nice or clean either.

I took a shower and went into to town.  Now I could shop and I wanted to buy some of new favorite jam, Calafate.   The main street was filled with “tourist” shops that sell things made from the Calafate berrry.  I visited several stores to price compare and mostly they had the same items and the same price.  3 jars of dulce de calafate for 60 pesos.  I bought 3 jars.  I’m not sure I will share with anyone.  I also bought a few small bottles of calafate liqor.  

I wanted a snack and decided to go back to the restaurant I’d been to, Viva la Pepa, before I went to El Chalten.  The girls were so nice and helpful and they had a nice menu.  It wasn’t dinner time so I decided I would have some ice cream.  I thought I was ordering a scoop of ice cream and this is what I got.  OMG.  The  swirled sculpture on top of the ice cream was made from sugar.

my dinner

It was delicious and I ate the entire thing (not the entire sculpture).  That was all I ate for the rest of the night.

Walking back to the hostel I found another shop on a side street with Calafate products made at a near by estancia (ranch).  The sales girl offered sample tastings of licors made from all kinds of fruits, not just the calafate berry.  I had a few samples and decided I liked the calafate the best.  I also bought a calafate sauce that can be used over ice cream or in cooking a sauce.

I finally made it back to the hostel and thought I would get on the internet, which required going to the lobby, and maybe meet some people.  Unfortunately there weren't any people hanging out in the lobby.   A little sad.  As I said this hostel wasn’t nearly as friendly as the last.

The lobby was more like a bar with two large flat screens showing the news of the earthquake in Japan without sound and blaring rock music, a style I didn’t care for.  I tried to write but was too distracted by the noise so I went back to my room.

I was sad to be leaving the beauty and nature of Patagonia.  Back to a big city in the morning.

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.

Day Seventy Six--El Chalten

Day Seventy Six--Wednesday--March 9--El Chalten, Argentina

Oh yeah it’s really raining and the wind is howling.  A perfect day to stay inside.  But do I really want to sit in the lobby all day?

After all these bad days of rain I’ve finally figured out how to use the hood on Emily’s jacket.  

It’s been a while since I’ve had bad weather and I was getting used to having the sun out.  I hope tomorrow I’ll get to see the Fitz Roy but it doesn’t look good.
Just as was predicted the weather was horrible today but at the same time deceiving.  If you looked in one direction you can barely see the sky but in the opposite direction the sun was out.

After breakfast I sat in the lobby talking to several people who were also hanging out not wanting to go out in the difficult weather.  When I saw a glimmer of sun I thought “here’s my chance to take a walk”.  

I put on several layers of clothes and headed for the National Park to go to a lookout point of the city that some other people told me they had gone to the day before.

Oy.  It was raining and blowing the moment I stepped outside.  Trying to have the positive attitude I said to myself, “oh just go it can’t be so bad.”  Right.

I am a fair weather person but have learned to deal with some bad conditions.

I started walking through the town and over the bridge before the rain drops came falling down on me.  They weren’t too bad but I decided to stop inside the Park building for a break.  The worse was yet to come.

I attempted to talk with a park ranger-who spoke to me in total Spanish, to ask about the trails and the weather.  Basically what I understood was the shortest hike was about 1 hour one way and the weather was going to be bad all day.


He was recommending I walk to the waterfall and I joked that the sky was making a waterfall with the rain.

It was difficult to know if I went to the waterfall would the sky open up on me and did I really want to be out here?  I want to enjoy nature but this was not enjoyable.

I choose to go back to town thinking I would have lunch at the vegetarian restaurant.  Breakfast wasn’t so great.  I had some cereal with yogurt and coffee @ 8:00 and it was nearly 12 so I was hungry.

My decision not to go to the waterfall was a good one.  When I walked out of the park building it was raining a little. As I started to walk toward town the sky opened up with water and wind.  Walking against the howling wind mixed with water was quite the challenge.  I guess this is the wind people had talked about that I should have experienced in Punta Arenas.  Wow, it’s powerful.  I can’t imagine living with this day in and day out.  

I was dressed appropriately with headband over my ears, three layers on top and two layers on my legs but it was a struggle to walk against the wind.  I stopped for a brief respite under the overhang at the bus terminal.  I stood there and watched many backpackers walking with their very large backpacks to the bus terminal.  

I was glad it was them and not me.  I don’t know what I would be classified as, maybe traveler, but I am not a backpacker.

As I start walking again the thought struck me that maybe the vegetarian restaurant was closed for lunch and I was correct.

There is something about my timing being off.  I can’t seem to figure it out but I feel as though either I make the wrong decisions or I just have bad timing.  It’s hard to explain but I feel off.

The only good part was that the vegetarian restaurant was near the hostel and several other restaurants.  I’d had the opportunity yesterday to walk the “hood” to see what was around.  The location of the hostel was very good.  It was surrounded by what I think are the best restaurants in the town. 

I continued past the hostel two blocks to La Wafleria and loved seeing the OPEN sign.

outside the Walferia

I'd thought about having someone take a photo of me but when I got into the restaurant all I wanted to do was take my soggy jacket off and try to feel some dryness.

When I entered the restaurant all disheveled, the waitress looked at me with an understanding look of empathy for my wet situation.

“Muy malo”, very bad, I said.

I took all my accessories off and had to sit for a minute to catch my breath.  I was walking very fast in the rain trying to get out of it.

I ordered an omelette with vegetables.  It had been a while since I'd had eggs so I was glad to eat the omelette.  I also had some Calafate tea.  I’ll need to buy some of this.  I want to open a Calafate store in Santa Barbara.  I love the stuff.

The weather dictates everything here because the only reason people come here is to hike.  

I went back to the hostel and decided I would try to clean up my blog and photos.  It took me hours to correct the mistakes I had made in numbering the days.  I had to create a day to day itinerary and match it with the blog and then with my photos.  I still have work to do but I think I’ve got it now.  I’m glad I had the time to do this now because I know I wouldn’t do it later.

After several hours in my room I went to the lobby.  It's nice to have people to talk to especially in this weather. But I also  need to go to the lobby to get internet and I was waiting on an answer for an apartment in Buenos Aires.  I’m looking forward to being a bit settled in Buenos Aires for a few weeks and not chasing a place to stay.  I’ve decided to take 2 weeks of Spanish class while in Buenos Aires.

I like staying in this hostel because I’ve met lots of nice people from all over.  I didn’t think I would like staying in a hostel because it would be filled with only young people but I was wrong.  There are people of all ages.  I see what a princess I really am and how many creature comforts I need.  Many of the people cook their own food to help keep their travel budgets in line.  

I received an e-mail response from one of the apartment services in Buenos Aires in Spanish and asked Vanina, the girl at the reception to help translate for me.  She told me even the Spanish was bad.  She told me what it said but wasn’t sure herself what he was saying.  I thought, well maybe I don’t want to deal with him if she can’t understand his Spanish.  Oh well, she sent a message back to him trying to get clarification for me. 

Vanina making her dinner

I continued working on my itinerary and cleaning up my computer when I met a nice young couple from Brazil.  Camilla was working on putting together a travel scrap book with the brochures of the places they had visited.  I told them I was trying to do the same on my computer.  I ended up talking with them for several hours.

  

Camilla and Joao are in their late 20’s and from Puerto Allegre in the south of Brazil.  

I wanted to try the vegetarian restaurant and they told me they’d already eaten there and had a good meal.  


I felt like it was very late but it was only a little after 7:00 p.m.  Time goes slowly when you are inside all day.

I took my computer back to my room and walked across the street to the restaurant.  

inside Prana the vegie restaurant

I was the first one to arrive.  They were barely open but the woman at the door said I could come in.  The smell was so wonderful and the room very warm.  I asked what the smell was and she told me a mix of cloves, cinnamon and cardamom.  These were being used for one of the special dishes of the evening, Tangeen.  

a view of the kitchen

The kitchen was very small and I could see that everything was being made by hand and with fresh ingredients.

Anna is the owner and Cecila was the cook.  Both spoke English very well so it was easy to talk with them.

typical matte with Anna and Cecila in the background

I got to talking with Anna about how she started the restaurant.  She told me it was only her second season to have the restaurant and it was very difficult to keep going.   She told me it was hard to be supported by the locals because they don’t believe they can be filled up by a meal only of vegetables.  After all, Argentina is extremely meat oriented.  I told her I really appreciated that she had the restaurant and encouraged her to continue.  She was not sure how much longer she would keep the restaurant open for this season.  She told me about all the many ideas she has of things to do here in El Chalten.  


I asked if she grew her own vegetables. She said she couldn’t because she wasn’t able to own land in El Chalten because it is all part of the National Park and therefore no one can own land.  She wants to try and make a deal with a farmer not too far away to start an organic garden.  At the present time all her fruits and vegetables come once a week on a truck from Mendoza in the north.
  

She only comes to El Chalten in the summer and the rest of the year she spends in Europe.   

Funny, people here talk about things in seasons not years.

My meal was great.  I had the all inclusive meal for 65 pesos (about $16).  This included soup, a main entree and dessert.  Anna was very cute when explaining the menu to me and said that I could take the dessert “to go” if I didn’t want to eat it after the meal. 

The soup I had was a clear broth with onions, pumpkin, carrots and yams.  I’m not sure what the spices were but it was yummy and perfect for a day like today.  Then I ordered the vegetables (being cooked with those wonderful spices) that came with bulgar wheat.  I also ordered a locally made beer, Gulmen Roja which I enjoyed a lot.

First Anna brought me a basket of bread with some vegetable spread that was quite delicious.  I asked what the spread was made from and the chef told me it was carrots, eggplant cooked and then mashed together with spices.  

I asked the chef how she learned to cook.  She said she’d been interested in cooking for a long time and was attending cooking school in Mendoza.  She finished her first term and still needed to complete another year before she would be certified.  She told me there was so much to learn besides the actual cooking of food.  She was learning marketing and how to use alternative ingredients for people who were wheat intolerant or had diabetes.

I not only enjoyed the food but also learning about the restaurant.

After I had my soup a young 30 something Australian couple sat next to me.  We got to talking right away because I told them how good the soup and the beer was.

Dani and Joel are only a week or so into a year’s journey around the world.  They had come to El Chalten with a tour group but the group went to a steak restaurant and they were seeking healthy food so choose to eat here.  We had a nice conversation about places I have been because many of them are places they are going to.  It was nice to talk to them and we exchanged blogs.  


When I told them that I teach people how to use their digital cameras, they told me they bought a Canon d-7 before leaving on this trip.   I gave them a few tips on how to use it. 

My dessert was a bit disappointing compared to the rest of the meal.  I ordered the banana bread filled with dulce de leche.  The banana bread was a bit dry but the flavor was good.  Overall it was an excellent meal and if you want to come to El Chalten during the season I highly recommend having a meal here.  You are too late for this season so you’ll have to try next year.

I walked back to the hostel and got my computer and went to the lobby to get on the internet for a while.  The internet is so slow it’s painful.  I haven’t been able to post any of my blog because uploading photos would take too long and I don't know how to go back to add photos.