ukraine: poltava

continuing my plans to visit everywhere in Ukraine, Susannah and I booked tickets to a town called Poltava, 3 hrs from Kyiv...our train left Saturday morning at 0559, which meant I was up waaaaay too early for a Saturday...the train was one of the fancy shmancy new trains, I think it was made in korea...a nice, smooth ride, dropping us in Poltava at 0900 or so...
we found a market with old babushkas and random stuff right outside the train station...I wonder if that happens every day?
Susannah does not like dogs, so she wasn't thrilled to see wild dogs barking as we walked toward the city center from the train station...
our walk to the city centre took us across a bridge, up a hill, and showed us parks, a view across the valley to a church, and a couple monuments...Poltava is a pretty town...

we found a big park in the city center, and followed a pedestrian street from there to a random café for breakfast...along the way I found a place that had postcards available, I figured I would go back after we'd actually seen some of the sights...
just after we finished eating, the guy from whom we'd booked a flat called, so we met up with him and he directed us to the flat...it's sooo much better to rent flats while traveling in ukraine than book a hotel...
after getting settled in, we walked back to the main pedestrian area, and walked the entire length...

we stumbled upon a gathering of people, it took us a while to figure out what the gathering was for...after realizing the date, susannah figured out it was to remember the Holodomor...
in the early 1930s there was a famine in Ukraine, several million people died...there is some debate as to the cause of the famine, but most anyone outside of Russia agrees that the famine was man made, (by the policies of Stalin) and generally avoidable...yes, the weather was bad, but sealing the borders of the country so people couldn't escape is uncalled for...i don't see the issue ever being totally settled...

anywho, the Holodomor is remembered toward the end of each November in Ukraine...it's a solemn occasion, to say the least...i haven't seen the events in Kyiv, I was 'happy' to participate in Poltava...after listening for a while (not that either of us understood anything) we continued walking along the pedestrian area...
we saw a small church, it was very cozy...
at the end of the pedestrian area, we crossed into a park/landscaped grounds...there was a big church in the middle of it all, and a separate bell tower...just outside the bell tower and entrance to the church were a few candles, we didn't think too much of it at the time...inside was a memorial to the dead and the living, (one on each side of the room) so susannah and i each lit two candles...

the inside of this church was being renovated, we didn't much like what we could see had been finished so far...oh well...it felt too modern...
we came back out to find more candles on the ground...
walking further into the park, looking for a specific monument...a GIANT bowl of dumplings...we got there just a bit too late in the day, the lighting was terrible for photos :( ...definitely one of the most unique monuments i've seen...i wouldn't mind coming back just to take photos of this monument again...i don't know if it was making a statement?

as we turned around and went back toward the church, thinking of heading back to the flat, we saw a procession approaching the church...quite a large procession, led by priests with flags...a truck playing somber music was there as well...the procession stopped just outside the church, and many of the people added candles to those already on the ground...a beautiful display of memory for what happened...
we ended up leaving because we were cold and hungry...dinner was at a restaurant that had traditional dumplings...they were huge!

the next morning when the apartment guy came to collect the key, he called a taxi for us, which took us just a bit outside of town to old battlefields...what the fields once were is not obvious now, of course...
back in the 1700s (i think? or was it 1600s?) sweden was a power in europe...sorta hard to imagine now...they sent soldiers to several areas, including ukraine...unfortunately for sweden, they lost the battle of poltava...we walked through the small museum, and chatted briefly with one of the docents...not only were we foreigners, we were traveling in the off season to a place not even many ukrainians visit...

across the street was a lovely church with a memorial hill behind it...
then we walked down the street to find a couple more memorials to the battles...one of these memorials wasn't easy to find, as it was very simple, and a bit off the road with no obvious path to get there, even though we knew where it was...these memorials were in modern farm fields!
a taxi back to town took us back to the central park, we both wanted lunch...we ended up going to the same place at which we'd eaten yesterday...

after what we thought was a quick lunch, we walked quickly to the train station...only to realize at the last moment that it wasn't the right train station...ooops...i felt like an idiot for not having checked the tickets more carefully, as i think the clerk who sold me the tickets told me we would come into one station, and go out of the other...fortunately we were able to buy tickets for a train later that evening...
since we had later tickets, we had 5.5 hours to kill, mostly in the dark...booo...since it was dark, we wandered back into town, then spent a couple hours (at least) at a cafe for dinner...
not quite the ending we wanted, but it was a nice weekend :)

following the racesteps of my cousin (istanbul, turkey)

at some point while cousin bryn was living in Germany, he mentioned something about running a race in Istanbul...randomly I remembered him having run this race, so I figured out when it was, asked a friend about staying with her, booked my (surprisingly cheap) tickets, and I was ready...I love that there is an evening flight by Turkish air straight from Kyiv to Istanbul!
Amanda met met at the bus stop in the city, then we took a taxi back to her place...it wasn't far, but it was quite late at night and she didn't think it was a great idea to walk...we stayed up quite late chatting about everything, getting caught up on each other's lives...it's funny how the friends i've made as an adult have a wide variety of opinions, and are able and happy to talk about so many different topics...I love having friends all over the world...(a major benefit to living abroad, and keeping in touch with friends from those places who then move to other places:)

the next morning we got up and went to where we thought the expo would be for the races...unfortunately, the expo was in a different place, and Amanda had to go to a weekend conference for work, so I was on my own to figure it out...fortunately, I had a map, and a clue of where to go and how to get there...plus the buses going that way had their own dedicated lanes, so they move more quickly than the rest of traffic...yay...
before splitting up for the day, we had lunch...Turkish pizza, yum...I wish Kyiv had better food!! I added rice pudding for dessert, even though I didn't really have any room...
it was easy to find the right building where the expo was held, and the expo itself, but I got a bit confused as to where to pick up my bib number, timing chip, bag, etc...i'm pretty sure I walked through every square inch of the expo while searching...

afterward I took the metrobus, metro, and dolmus to dolmabahce palace...it was the biggest sight I hadn't yet seen in Istanbul...the entry fee is 40TL, you have to go with a tour group, and no pictures are allowed...for that price, and those restrictions, I was expecting a lot...
unfortunately, reality did not live up to expectations...the tour guide didn't speak very loudly, and didn't usually wait for the entire group (which was big) to catch up before starting his spiel in each area of the palace...he didn't give nearly as much information as I was expecting, Wikipedia probably has a better explanation...argh...that being said, the palace was beautiful...or rather, it was impressive in a fancy shmancy sort of way...huge rooms, giant chandeliers, gold leaf, a crystal staircase, etc...

the information given, and descriptions in the harem were even more disappointing...it was still impressive though...during the tour of each building (the palace and the harem) everyone had to wear blue plastic booties over their shoes to keep dirt from being tracked everywhere...
by the time I left the harem the sun was down...I was a wee bit scared, but I still had to go home...
I stopped for tantuni on the way home...I don't know how to describe it other than to say: YUM...meat, cooked on what looks like a big wok, with spices thrown in, placed into a thin tortilla, and rolled up...SO GOOD...yet another turkish food i'd be willing to eat all day every day...

the next morning both of us were up at 0600...Amanda walked me to taksim square and put me on a shuttle bus to the starting point of the race...thank you sooooo much for getting up that early for me!!
the bus took me across the bosphorous bridge, to the starting point of the races...(I was running a 15K, others ran a full marathon, or a 10K)...there were heaps of these shuttle buses, each dropping off runners from around the world...I must've been on one of the first buses, it was awesome to watch everyone as it got closer and closer to race time...I love the atmosphere right before races...everyone is excited, everyone is happy to say hello and good luck, etc...lots of random photos taken, just because...eventually I dropped my bag at bag check, and went back to watching people doing last minute prep...it's funny how marathon runners train for months for a specific race, but all the stress comes down to those last minutes before the race starts...

the race was well organized and supported...the course is great (how awesome is it to run from one continent to another - asia to Europe - as well as see some great historical sights while running? plus, there were regular aid stations, nicely spread through the course...my time probably wasn't any good, but i'm not very competitive, and 15K isn't a common race distance, so it didn't matter...(my time has never mattered to me in races I've run in the past 15 yrs)...the only downside to the race was the finishing area...it was waaaaay too crowded right after the finish line, and not easy to figure out where to go...I was given a bag with water, a banana, juice, a race finisher medal, and a rain poncho...
I grabbed all my stuff and walked further into the neighborhood of sultanahmet (sp?)...another sight I hadn't seen during previous time in Istanbul was the basilica cistern...basically the area where water was kept in the days of the ottoman empire...

it's a little spooky down there, and would be chilly if the humidity didn't keep it warmer...occasionally water dripped on my head, which of course I didn't love, but oh well...according to the pamphlet, the cistern was only discovered relatively recently when considering how much historical stuff there is in Istanbul...in the 80s or 90s I think?
another downside to the race: public transport was shut down in the race area, (which is great if you're running city streets) but that meant I had to walk 30-40 minutes to get to an open metro station so I could get back to Amanda's flat...if i'd just run a full marathon there is no way I would've been able to walk that fast or that far!

back at Amanda's flat I showered and packed up, then met Amanda at the bus stop for the shuttle back to the airport...(she was in her second day at a weekend conference she wasn't able to get out of)...despite traffic, we got to the airport in plenty of time...we found a café nero, as I wanted a last chance at a great chai latte and chocolate mousse cake...YUM...I was sad to go back to Kyiv...

argentina: bariloche

bariloche is a well known town in argentina...the town itself is an outdoors town, not a cultural town...you go to bariloche to take part in activities outside the town...i was hoping to go for a couple hikes...
on my bus to bariloche i was in one of the front seats, so i had fantastic views driving across the country...beautiful lakes, views of the mountains in the distance, etc...awesome...as we got closer to bariloche, the weather started turning bad...and it stayed bad until i left bariloche...boooo...i wanted to go for a couple good hikes, or at least go into hills just outside town, but none of that happened...i felt like a drowned rat for two days!

after buying bus tickets to my next destination, i took a taxi to the center of town...the taxi dropped me off at a hostel, i went in to check prices...the prices were significantly higher than what was listed in the guidebook, it was clearly another instance of lonely planet syndrome...(prices go way up after being listed in the guidebook)...i walked a bit, and then randomly ended up talking to a guy on the street...mike, from canada...he said he comes to bariloche every year to lead ski trips...he directed me to one of the hotels he uses, and i was very pleasantly surprised to find it affordable...yahoo!! thanks canadian mike!!

even though it was raining, i hoped the weather would calm down, so i went for a walk...my first stop was at an ice cream shop...YUM...
as i said, the economy of bariloche is built on people staying in town while participating in activities around the town...you can see (when it's not too cloudy) beautiful mountains around the lake...most of the shops in town are of two varieties: chocolate shops, and athletic gear shops...i have no idea why there are so many chocolate shops in bariloche, there are heaps...over my stay in town i think i stepped into most of them, just to see the differences...
i saw a lot of people wearing ski gear, which surprised me, since i've heard that this was not a good ski season so far...not much snow on the nearby mountains, and what snow is there is crappy...i don't know how the number of tourists this season compares to most seasons...my visit was at the beginning of august, so there is still a month for the season to continue...

i walked to the lakefront, hoping for a nice photo or two...that did not happen...it was all grey, low clouds, and really windy...
i ended up having dinner early...the steak wasn't as big as i've been eating during this trip, but it was cooked perfectly...woo hoo!!
on the way back to my hotel a man asked me to go get a drink...he said he'd seen me around town all day, and i fascinated him...uuummmm, no...i was a bit creeped out, thats just wierd...approaching a strange woman after dark is not cool...
instead, the rest of my night was spent working on postcards, i have heaps of them that need to be written...
the next morning, it was still raining...BOOOO...my hotel breakfast was tasty, i ate slowly...i didn't leave my room very early, there was no motivation to do anything with the crappy weather continuing...
i had more ice cream, yum...i took a few more photos...it wasn't raining as hard, but it was still cold rain, and super windy...trying to keep a hold on my umbrella, and keep the rain off the camera lens was a losing battle...
i bought chocolate at several shops...YUM YUM YUM...
that night, i had trout for dinner...tasty :)

germany: garmisch-partenkirchen

i lived in garmisch-partenkirchen for nearly three years after i graduated from uni...a beautiful town in the south of germany...in the german state of bayern, gap (the town designation on german license plates) is only 11km or so from the border with austria...the town is located in the middle of a valley in the alps...mountains everywhere you look...
my flight landed on time, and i took the sbahn to the hauptbahnhof in munich...from there i bought a ticket for the next train to garmisch, i only had to wait 15 minutes...(trains to garmisch from munich run every hour, so i wouldn't have had to wait much longer, even if i just missed a train)...yippee:)

as i was sitting on the train, i listened to the conversations around me...in english i heard someone say i would have to get off the train at murnau, then take a bus the rest of the way to gap...the ticket didn't say this, i figured i would see what happened...it turned out there is work being done on the tracks, so the train stops at murnau, and everyone gets off...there are buses lined up to take everyone where they need to go...the bus ride went smoothly, and dropped me off at the train station in garmisch...
the walk to where i was staying was easy, my memory didn't let me down...well, sortof...i took a couple wrong turns, but realized it quickly and was able to get going back on the right street straightaway...it's been a bunch of years since i've walked that walk...

when i got to where i was staying, i put my bag away, and just relaxed...i stayed with a friend who has a daughter, she came home first...the last time i saw her she was not yet in primary school, so she seemed huge to me...i felt like such an old lady saying "i remember when you were thiiiiiis big"...not surprisingly, she didnt remember me from all those years ago...
i made dinner plans for that night before arriving in town, as i wanted to make sure to see several people...plus, even though i haven't eaten there often, the fiaker is now one of my favourite restaurants in a town full of restaurants...3 hours later i came home, fat and happy:)
i was awake until 0200 that night, and didn't really wake up until 1100 the next morning...so much for getting up early, heading to a bakery for breakfast, then going for a long hike...ooops...

instead i wandered around partenkirchen for a while...when i lived in gap, i technically lived in garmisch, my work was located in garmisch, the gym was in garmisch, and the commissary was located in garmisch...so guess where i spent most of my time...of course i'd been to partenkirchen (i always thought the partenkirchen fest is better than the garmischer fest) but not a whole lot...
after treating myself to gelato (twice) i went home and we headed to the commissary...since i live abroad, there are a bunch of american foods i crave (mostly because they aren't available to me, not because i actually think they are good) and a trip to an american grocery store is a huge treat...afterward, we went to dinner at another of my favourite restaurants, bei marcus...it's in a different place now, and i'm not sure i love it as much as i did, but the food was good, as was the conversation...

the next morning i did get up at a reasonable hour, and finally did the hike i've thought about doing for 12 years...i hiked the kramer...for many people who lived in garmisch, hiking the kramer happened simply because of proximity...it's literally in our backyard...the mountain/hill is directly behind the building in which i lived for nearly three years...yet somehow i never hiked it...i was determined to change that fact during this visit, and i did...woo hoo!! a 5.5 hour return trip hike...the first half is quite easy, the trail is wide, the views are great...the second half is a lot steaper, the trail more narrow (but still very well defined) and the views still awesome...as i got up to the top i was swallowed in fog, (booooo) but I DID IT!!!

by the time i got back down my legs felt like jelly, and my host kidded me about being an old woman...hee hee...it was a struggle to get in the shower, my legs didn't like stairs (especially going down) at that point...
dinner that night was at a classic gap restaurant...well, classic in that every afrc employee has probably eaten there numerous times...zirbel
the next morning i hauled myself out of bed at the completely unreasonable hour of 0700, to meet a couple friends for breakfast at a bakery...one of the friends had a day tour planned, the other was in town visiting and was going to take his pregnant wife around later, so morning was the only option for our meeting...

hobis bakery is awesome, and i always eat too many pastries...good food (heaps of sugar,) and more good conversation...i always wonder why i left garmisch after get togethers with old garmisch friends...
on the way 'home' i wandered around the older sections of town, taking photos...with the amazing weather i knew i'd get good photos of the lovely buildings, and the ridiculous explosion of flowers everywhere...picturesque is usually one of the words used to describe garmisch, and for good reason...classic bavarian architecture, gorgeous flowers, etc...

after a quick change of clothing i went hiking again...this time i followed signs up to the pflegersee, and the old ruins up in that area...not a challenging hike, but it felt good to move again; it helped loosen up my legs from the day before...since garmisch-partenkirchen is located in a valley in the alps, there are great hiking trails all around...a lot of trails i somehow didn't hike when i lived there, argh...
we made another trip to the commissary, and then went to dinner at a classic touristy place, the werdenfelserhof...dinner was with my host, the daughter, and a friend of my host...good fun...adolescent boys did a traditional dance, all the diners give them coins as tips...

the next morning, on the way to the aiport, we stopped at hobis so i could stock up on a few pastries...i miss garmisch!!

kyiv: 3 days to adjust to this time zone

after all of that traveling to get back to kyiv from argentina, i had three days to try to adjust to the east european time zone...it never really worked, oh well...
as soon as i got back to my flat, i dropped my bags, grabbed some money, then went to the office where i pay my internet bill...i discovered it had moved, eeek...thank goodness, there were maps on the door of the old office, so i was able to figure out where to go to find the new office...it wasn't far...i paid my bill, and thought everything was hunky dory...
after picking up groceries on the way home, i found out internet hadn't yet been turned back on...not only was i not able to get online, my computer wasn't even registering any wireless networks...i decided to wait a few hours, maybe it just needed time...by 2100, i still wasn't able to get online, so i walked back to the office...but it was closed...eeek...

since i couldn't get online, i used my evening to take photos from memory cards and put them on my computer and back them up with the external hard drive...it's probably a good thing i wasn't able to get online, there were no distractions...otherwise dealing with all the photos would've taken a LONG time, since the trip was 7 weeks, and i took a lot of photos...
i also used the evening to do laundry...it's easy to dump clothes straight from my pack into the washer...perhaps the dirtiest item was my red jacket...it looked totally different when i took it out of the washer an hour later:)
the next morning i was at the office 10 minutes after it opened...
on the way home, i stopped for fresh raspberries from one of the babushkas on the street...YUM...

i walked back into my apartment building, stepped into the elevator, the doors closed, and...nothing...the lights turned off, the elevator didn't move!!! i'm not claustrophobic, but i am worried when i can't get out of somewhere...i've seen the elevators stop working heaps of times throughout the year, and it often took over a week for them to be fixed...i was NOT keen on the idea of being stuck in there for a week...i banged on the door and yelled...after 10 minutes or so, some guys decided to help me...(they probably felt sorry for me)...another 30 minutes after that, they were somehow able to get the doors open...phew...i felt soooo much better...
needless to say, i took the stairs to get up to my flat, even though i live on the 8th floor:)
by the time i got up to my flat, my internet was working again...yahoo...let the distraction begin:)

one of the things i love about this time of year in kyiv is the explosion of beautiful flowers...there are heaps of flowers planted around most apartment buildings...
i didn't really adjust to the time zone, i kept going to sleep at 3 in the morning, and waking up around 11...that's not like the normal me at all...thankfully, when i woke up the last morning, i decided to double check my flight time for later that day...i'm not sure how, but i had the idea that my flight left at 2200 or so...it turned out i was very wrong...my flight left at 1530...lets just say i got ready in a hurry:)

argentina: buenos aires goodbye

my flight from Ushuaia arrived in Buenos aires as scheduled, and I took the shuttle and public transport to the hostel i'd reserved before the last time I left Buenos aires..since this was my third time arriving in the city, I felt like an old pro...it was a lot easier to get around (yay for the sube card!!) and I knew where I was going...
the place i'd booked was cheap, so I wasn't entirely surprised when my single room had a smushy bed and a sketchy door...plus, it was cold, and wifi most definitely did not reach...
the next morning breakfast was sorely lacking...no milk, no butter, no sugar...so the only option for the hard rolls was dulce de leche...I don't dislike the stuff, but it's not what I want in the morning...lets just say I was only too happy to pack up my stuff and walk a couple kilometers to a different hotel...

one habit I've picked up while traveling is to treat myself a bit during my last night of a trip...I booked a single room in a nicer area of town, it had a bathtub, a proper bed, cable tv, etc...
after getting settled I met up with Lissette at smeterling, the german bakery i'm sure I've mentioned in a previous post...soooooo good...she and I gorged (i'm very good at influencing people who don't normally eat that much sugar:) even though we were planning to go to dinner afterward...since I knew I was going back to Ukraine, I wanted to eat at much goodness as I could while I could...
we went to la Cabrera for dinner...YUM...a great steak place, I wish I could find something that good elsewhere in the world...(meaning, I wish I could find something that good in Kyiv)...

not my hotel, but it looked awfully nice :)

after dinner we met up with a group of girls at rey de copas...4 americans, 3 dutch, 1 swede, and 1 portena...as they say, great people, great conversation...on our way home in a taxi, the driver asked Lissette where she was from; he said she spoke local Spanish, but he could also hear her speak perfect English to me...that's a huge compliment to her :)
breakfast at my hotel the next morning wasn't all that great, but it wasn't awful either...
I met up with Lissette for lunch at la cocina, I wanted more of the yummy empanadas there...i would be happy to eat empanadas all the time, even though i know they aren't great for you...

afterward, we took a bus to la boca...we stayed in the safe area, of course...when lonely planet actually labels a map with "don't go here" then you know it's bad...the weather was stunning, so I pulled out the camera for a few last photos...Lissette also helped me buy a fake boca jr jacket...I have no idea why I wanted one, but I did...while we were hanging out in the area we met celine, a French/Italian...another awesome chick...she ended up tagging along with us for the next few hours...
sadly, that was the end of my argentine adventure...(this time, anywho)...we went back to my hotel and picked up my bags, then the girls walked with me to the departure stop for the shuttle bus to the airport...I was sad to leave :(
due to long flights and time zones, I actually arrived in Kyiv two days later, having totally lost one of the days in between...

argentina: ushuaia...fin del mundo

it took three buses, and two countries to get from el calafate to ushuaia...the first bus (which departed at 0300, ugh) took me from el calafate to rio gallegos...i was lucky enough to find a plug with which i was able to recharge my iphone while waiting in the bus station in rio gallegos...the second bus wasn't nearly as nice as all the other buses i'd ridden around argentina...i was in the front seat, but it didn't give me a view...unless you count staring at a curtain behind the driver a 'view'...ugh...this second bus took me through chile, which was NOT a fast part of the journey...we stood around for what seemed like ages...

crossing into chile involved everyone getting off the dust and queueing in a office of sorts, i think it was a security check...we walked through a metal detector, and our carryon bags were put through an x-ray like you see at the airport...i don't know if they checked any of the luggage carried under the bus?
after getting back on that bus, we traveled along a semi paved road through chile...exiting chile was fine and dandy, there were a couple stalls selling snacks...(i didn't buy anything, but i presume they accepted monies from chile and argentina)...several kilometers down the road was the immigration office to argentina...since i was probably one of just a few americans coming back into argentina, i had another adventure with my visa reciprocity receipt...

this second bus took us to rio grande, where i got on my third and final bus...i think i left my hat on the second bus, boooo...this last bus took us to ushuaia, arriving 4 hours later than i had been told it would arrive,  (this didn't surprise me at all) at 2200...since it was so late, i walked to the first hostel listed in the guidebook and took a dorm bed...
ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world...fin del mundo; end of the world...it's WAY down there...(seriously, get a map out, take a look to see how far south ushuaia is located)...some people ride a bus all the way from buenos aires, which must take ages and ages and ages...

breakfast was included in the price of my hostel, it was awesome!! the best part was the egg station...i got to cook eggs howeva i wanted :) ...sunny side up, in case you were curious...
it was windy and snowy that day...ugh...not really what i wanted, but not horrid either...since it was sunday, not a lot was open...ooops...it's hard to wander around a town when the weather is driving you crazy and nothing is open except for expensive cafes...i did find an open souvenir shop, there were HEAPS of postcards, and just about any other souvenir i might possibly want...

this is a town from which soldiers headed to the islas malvinas depart, so there was a memorial dedicated to those who gave their lives during that ill fated mess...
i only wandered around until mid afternoon before calling it a day...i found a place to eat an early dinner, then hung out in the common area of the hostel...my big accomplishment was turning in laundry to the hostel...it was sooooo nice to have clean clothes again :)
the next morning i gorged on breakfast (again) and packed up my stuff...i left my pack in the hostel, then walked around town again...the weather was a lot better, there was some sun, and i was in a better mood...i stocked up on postcards, wandered around the port area, and generally enjoyed the colours of the city...

since ushuaia is bordered on one side by mountains, there is a lot of skiing...in other words, there are a lot of outdoor activity shops in town...i looked around a lot, it was soooo tempting to buy a new winter jacket, and snow pants...
i returned to the hostel and picked up my bags, then walked 2 kilometers and checked into another hotel...i wanted a room to myself for my last night in ushuaia...after checking in, i spread out postcards everywhere...i wanted to make sure everyone on my list was going to get at least two...(i know, i'm crazy)
i woke up to a hotel with no power...that wasn't terribly fun...it came back on soon enough, thank goodness...

what was not turned on was hot water in my room...i had to go to the front desk to ask for the hot water to be turned on so i could take a shower...ugh...
i used my last couple hours to walk around more, finding areas i hadn't seen...it was sunny and lovely, and i wanted as much vitamin D as i could get...the taxi to the airport cost me more than i expected, and i also had to pay a departure fee...since i'm american, i had to pay more for that fee...argh...i had to exchange some money to do that, at least i was able to do so at the blu market rate, not the official rate...i was really annoyed, and i'm sure it showed in my behaviour...i hate these surprise fees...

i had two security checks before the flight (don't know why)...the flight hurt my ears, a LOT...it's a three hour flight from ushuaia to buenos aires...
i would love to return to ushuaia, and explore more of that province of argentina...there is a (reportedly beautiful) national park close by, i want to see it...ushuaia is also where many ships heading to antarctica depart from; antarctica is definitely on my bucket list...

argentina: el chalten

el chalten is another town entirely based on tourism...it's actually located inside parque nacional los glaciares...it's on the other side of a lake from el calafate...you don't have to pay the park entrance fee when you take the bus to town, thank goodness...
i took an early bus from el calafate to el chalten, the ride was only three hours...as we approached el chalten i was stunned by the scenery...who doesn't love driving close to big mountains? beautiful...before taking us to the bus station, the bus stopped at the park office, where everyone was able to get maps and information about hiking routes in the area...

the bus then dropped us at the bus station, from which i walked down the main street of el chalten to find a place to stay...since i was visiting in the middle of winter, not much was open...i walked into one hostel, but couldn't find anyone inside...the door was unlocked, and the radio was playing, but there was no one there...strange...
the only open place i could find was almost at the end of town, which turned out to be rather convenient...i paid for a dorm bed, and ended up being the only person in the room...(one of the benefits of visiting in winter:)...the wifi signal didn't reach all the way to the bedroom, but that was okay, as there was a nice big communal room in which to spend time...

the weather was AWESOME!!! i followed my map, which showed that the start of the hike i wanted to do was at the edge of town...it was very well marked, easy to follow, full of expansive views...this hike was called the cerro fitz roy...i kept stopping for photos, there were just so many amazing views...i took a short break at a lake (totally frozen over, yahoo!! i didn't have the guts to walk out on the ice, not knowing how thick it was) to take it all in...from there i kept walking to a turnaround spot called poincenot...so many colours in the landscape, beautiful mountains, etc...it was amazing...
i had steak for dinner that night at my hostel, it wasn't great...booo...

the next morning the weather was awful...crazy windy...so windy that i had to lean forward in order to make forward progress...i was really glad i had my hat!
the hike i'd chosen for that day was called cerro torre...it would've had more fantastic views, if only everything hadn't been covered by clouds...completely covered...then the rain started...so not only did i feel as though i would be blown off the hiking trail, i was getting wet...ugh...photos were out of the question, i gave in mentally and decided to just be wet...i didn't walk the entire trail, as it became water logged and i didn't have waterproof footwear...nothing was dry...

back at the hotel i killed 2 hours by writing postcards...(i still had a lot to write!)...then i walked back to the bus station to catch my bus back to el calafate from which i'd booked another bus ride...
i wish i'd had more time in el chalten...there were so many other hikes i wanted to do, and the scenery was brilliant!!! someday i will go back!!!