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 :)

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!!!

 

argentina: el calafate and glaciar perito moreno

my bus from bariloche arrived in el calafate after noon...i was greeted with a lovely view of mountains all around, and great weather...awesome...
i found a place to stay, figured out what i wanted to do, and went back to the bus station to buy tickets...el calafate is down the road from parque nacional los glaciares, too far to walk...plus, the parque is rather big, it isn't possible to walk around on my own and see everything...
the buses to/from the parque were more expensive than i expected, i also bought tickets to my next two destinations...there are discounts if you book more than one set of tickets :)

i spent the next couple hours walking around el calafate, which was rather dead...apparently there is a siesta time, because nearly everything was closed until 1500 or so...i saw souvenir shops, travel agencies, restaurants, hotels, etc...nothing "local"...this town is totally dedicated to tourism...which makes sense i suppose, as it is a dry area, with gorgeous landscapes all around...i found an open ice cream shop and tried the local specialty, an ice cream made from the calafate berry...nothing wonderful, i wouldn't bother with that again...i wonder if other flavours were any good...

the next morning my bus left while it was still dark...i was not thrilled when the bus only drove a few streets, then told us all to get out and into a minivan...that was not explained when i bought my tickets...argh...what was explained is that this bus ride doesn't include anything other than transport...people on the bus still have to pay for the boat ride, and bring their own food or buy it in the cafeteria...there is a tourist spiel while everyone is on the bus, i tuned it out for the most part, since it was in spanish...the guide recognized that i didn't understand a lot of what she was saying, so she did occasionally translate a bit for me...

the bus stopped at a couple places along the way so everyone could take photos...if i had been in my own transport there were even more places i would've stopped to take photos, but hey, i'll take what i can get...i liked that the company recognizes that people want to take photos when they see something, and doing it through the window of a moving minivan just doesn't cut it...
once we entered the entrance to the parque the minivan drove a bit further, then pulled off into a parking lot...this was where we had the opportunity to take a boat tour up to the face of the glacier...

it looks big and all from just about anywhere, but as with any glacier you don't realize exactly how big it is until you get up close and personal...it's HUGE...and it moves something like 2m every day, so you can see/hear bits of ice falling off...it's impressive...and cold...and windy...everyone on the boat was taking heaps and heaps and heaps of photos...
i'm glad i had a hat with me, it was really windy and my hair went everywhere...
(i think there were a couple people on the minivan who didn't take this tour, i have no idea what they did during this time...the carpark was in the shade, so no matter what i bet they were cold)

the next stop of the bus was at the cafeteria/trail heads...i looked into the cafeteria to see if they had anything i just HAD to have, they didn't...i had thought ahead enough to bring food of my own so i didn't have to pay extortionate prices...i started off down the trails, my camera at the ready...i got to see a large piece of ice fall, and the ripples in the water...it's amazing loud, almost booming...and though i'm sure the ice is moving fast, it looks slow because it's so large...
i walked on every trail i could find...i wish i'd had another day to explore other parts of this area of the park...there are tours that allow you to go cramponing on the glacier, which would've been nifty, but i don't know if it would be worth it...maybe another time?

it wasn't terribly crowded, since the middle of winter is not high season for this area of the country...
dinner that night was at a steak restaurant, and it was awesome...cooked perfectly...i was underdressed compared to the decor and other guests, but i didn't much care...
the next morning i caught a bus to my next stop, el chalten...

argentina: RN 40

RN 40 is a national highway in argentina that runs down the western side of the country...most of the time, the highway feels as though it is in the middle of nowhere...i was on a bus for a long time, and spent a lot of time on this highway...there were no stops on the bus, this post is mostly about the pictures i took...i was on this highway as i traveled from bariloche to el calafate

argentina: RN40

my bus ride from bariloche to el calafate was long...more than one day...very very long...much of the ride was on RN40, the only north south highway on the west side of argentina...it's a small highway, i doubt there is ever a lot of traffic...the scenery is awesome...
my bus left bariloche (the weather had finally cleared up, just as i was leaving:(  at 0800, i had a front row seat...i had my camera out, and took photos during the entire ride...this bus ride was no different from any other bus ride i took, other than being longer than most...