Flying through Argentina: Patagonia, Buenos Aires and Salta...

Day 10
Pretty much a travel day. I was on the 8am bus from Puerto Natales to El Calafate, very much regretting the early morning bus after my four day hike. After about an hour, we approached the border between Chile and Argentina. The process was pretty straight forward. On the Chilean side, they stamped the exit stamp and collected the immigration card. We then drove through no man's land for five minutes before reaching the Argentinean checkpoint and getting the entrance stamp. And contrary to my fears, the bus driver made sure everyone was back on board before driving off.

Ended up getting into El Calafate at 2pm and just chilled for the rest of the day. Cooked for the first time this trip: a hearty meal of spaghetti bolognese. Pretty much it for a lazy travel day.

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Day 11
Woke up early to go on my Hielo and Aventura mini-trekking tour to the Perito Moreno glacier. Tour cost ARS 1,500 plus ARS 260 entrance fee to the park. Had a great guide who was bilingual and very knowledgeable.

First part of the tour was walking around the many boardwalks set up around the front of the glacier. After seeing Grey Glacier at Torres del Paine from a distance, it was really cool being able to see Perito Moreno glacier up (relatively) close. This glacier is the fastest moving/flowing in the world, moving 2m a day. However this is counteracted by 2m breaking off every day, so it's in perfect equilibrium. According to the guide, it's also the only one not shrinking to the effects of global warming. Fun fact: one cubic metre of snow is needed to form one cubic centimetre of glacier, taking hundreds of years here. As such the ice at the front of Perito Moreno is estimated to be 350 years old.

After our time on the boardwalks, it was off to the more exciting part of the tour: the mini-trekking! I was going to get to walk on the glacier! After donning gloves (ice was very sharp) and having crampons attached to my boots, it was off to the glacier. Setting foot on the glacier was an amazing experience, I can't really describe it. It was almost like you were on another world. The folds and the crevices in the glacier were so detailed, and the water running through the glacier was so fresh. We spent about 90 minutes walking over the glacier, exploring its many details and aspects.

As we approached the end, the guide yelled out "the bar is open" and surprised us with a bottle of whiskey! Definitely did not expect that. Whiskey on the rocks. Who could resist. Especially when the rocks were cut straight from the glacier. 350 year old rocks. It was a great way to end the tour and a great day!

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Day 12
Had a 10am flight from El Calafate to Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world. It's tagline is literally "end of the world". Got in around 12pm and immediately booked myself onto a cruise of the Beagle Channel for 3pm. Had to make the most of my 55 hours in this city.

The cruise was with El Che Alternative Turismo who pride themselves on providing a different experience. I have nothing to compare it to though but I thought it was great. It was a small group of five so the tour was very personalised and we had a great guide who was very passionate about the environment. I even got my own personal rendition since the other four received the Spanish version.

The cruise took us into the Beagle Channel and meandered through the many islands in the archipelago. We came upon so many animals, but the best island was full of sea lions basking lazily while cormorants perched on the other side of the island. Was truly a great sight.

Other features of the tour included the lighthouse at the end of the world and an island where we got off and explored the natural flora.

What made the tour great though was the little things they did in between while we were cruising. The captain and the guide were great funny guys and they provided us with food and drinks (and beer!). Would highly recommend this company!

After the cruise, I checked into my hostel La Posta Hostel and Apart. I never understood what the Apart was until I checked in. I'm essentially in a small townhouse with three other people which is kinda cool. We've got our own living room, kitchen and bathroom. So much better than just a dorm room (which they also have) - not sure how I got lucky enough to be put in here but I'm not complaining. Spent the rest of the night chatting with my housemates.

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Day 13
Today was a day trip to Tierra del Fuego National Park. It's quite close to Ushuaia and a great place to see a lot of wildlife. However in my day there I didn't really get to see much. And honestly in terms of the park, it was kind of a letdown after Torres del Paine. Nevertheless I hiked over 10km and it was good exercise, plus I got some nice photos of butterflies. On the way back from the park, I stopped by the tourism office and got an Ushuaia stamp in my passport. It's official and everything! Other than that, nothing much happened.

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Day 14
Booked myself onto a tour at 8am to see the penguins since I missed out when I was in Punta Arenas. I went with Piratour because they're the only company that allows you to walk among the penguins on the island as opposed to observing them from a boat.

After about 90 minutes of driving, we reached the port where we took a 15 minute ride on a boat to the island. As we neared, the engines were pared back so a wouldn't startle the hundreds of penguins just waddling around on the shore. I didn't expect to see so many of them and definitely not up that close.

They must have been used to humans because they weren't phased by our appearance at all as we followed our guide along the marked path. The island is inhabited by Magellanic and Gentoo penguins, and sometimes visited by King penguins. The walk on the island also took us past their burrows/nests where you could see some adorable chicks if you were lucky. All in all, we spent about an hour on the island which was just amazing. The rest of the tour involved checking out the nearby museum of marine mammals and birds which was interesting because it was the curators' home as well as their laboratory in the back.

Once back in town, it was just a matter of killing time before my 8pm flight to Buenos Aires (originally 5:30 then 6:30 then 7:10 then 8:05 - thanks LAN). Was a pretty easy flight, got into Buenos Aires just before midnight with my driver waiting for me with my name on a sign (have always wanted to have that!). Checked into hostel exhausted, end of a very long day.

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Day 15
Met up with Linh at breakfast - was so good to see a familiar face! We met while backpacking in Germany five years ago and have kept in touch since (although were both Aussie so not that hard despite being in different states). While I was in Patagonia, she was in Colombia and Brazil, and from Buenos Aires, we're travelling together for the rest of my time in South America.

I spent the day exploring the city, both on my own and with a walking tour which focused on Buenos Aires' political and economic history. Linh and I also went to Caminito, famous for its colourful houses and Bohemian culture. All this was really in the lead up to the main event: dinner at Buenos Aires' top restaurant Tegui!

The restaurant is inconspicuously hidden behind a wall of graffiti and a simple plain door. Ringing the buzzer, we were greeted by a woman in a bright red dress (very Argentine). It was a very elegant dinner despite our lack of appropriate attire. It was a ten course degustation menu, with a scientific/gastronomic flair with some courses served in petri dishes (shame they didn't allow photos). My particular favourites were the slow cooked lamb, the roasted duck, the oyster in seaweed broth, the goats cheese and beans, and the chocolate dessert ("different textures of chocolate"). It's hard to really remember what the courses were due to the lack of photos as well as because the menu only listed the hero of each dish (ie. lamb, rabbit, beans, lettuce). There was a shocker of a dessert: carrot sorbet. Worst. Never again. So glad the meal ended with the chocolate dessert. All in all, it was a great meal and a great experience, only costing ARS 1,200, about $120AUD.

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Day 16
Just another day of exploring the city on a walking tour that explored the history of the city. It took me through the areas of Retiro and Recoletta before ending at the cemetery, most notable for housing the grave of Evita.

That afternoon, I went in search for a restaurant that would satisfy my craving for Argentinean steak. And lucky me, there was one just around the corner from my hostel! Linh and I went there for a very late lunch at 4pm and stuffed ourselves silly. I had a 650g sirloin steak, with a side of sweet potatoes and a 1L beer. Definitely what I needed after a long day of walking.

That night, Linh's friends Zulay and Ruth invited us to dinner at their place. They had met at Iguazu a few days earlier but I guess the connection was that good. Zulay and Ruth were studying in Buenos Aires but originally from Peru, so they cooked us a lovely Peruvian meal which was delicious! We were joined by her three housemates for dinner, drinks as well as an impromptu karaoke and dance session in their living room! It was great having such a local experience and they were all such genuinely nice people. Was definitely a fun night, hopefully there are more nights like this. We've already made plans to meet up in Lima so we'll see!

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Day 17
Travel day. We flew Buenos Aires to Salta in order to then bus it to San Pedro de Atacama. However booking online through recoreddo.com.cl, we managed to be sold tickets for seats that had already been sold so when we checked at the bus station, they said our tickets weren't valid. Good thing I paid by PayPal so getting my money back should be ok. However it did mean we had to spend almost all our remaining pesos on a bus ticket leaving the next night because the one we had originally planned to get was now full. And we lost a night if paid accommodation. Fail.

Oh well, upside was that we now had a full day in Salta and two guys, Davi and Niklas, at our hostel were hiring a car for a day trip to the nearby mountains. Guess you just gotta be flexible while travelling, and who knows what adventures can be had when things don't go according to plan.

Not much else really happened today. We were starving after this whole debacle so we used our limited pesos to treat ourselves to Maccas. We deserved it for all our troubles haha.


HBL signing out from Salta, Argentina.

Up next: Desert fun: Salta to Uyuni salt flats...
Previously: Hiking Torres del Paine's W-Trek...