Patagonia

Perito Moreno, El Chalten & Journey

Perito Moreno

After about 14 hours on the bus going through what seemed like endless roads of bumpy dirt tracks we finally arrived at Perito Moreno (the same name as the glacier we were going to see near El Calafate) a tiny town with a supermarket, church, hospital and a few houses oh and our hotel. 

This was a real ghost town which seemed so remote and far from any other major city or town that it had been forgotten about by the rest of the world. Needless to say that there was no internet so we had no contact with the outside world although there was signal for our mobiles not that we would use them because of the cost! We had dinner in the hotel restaurant which was quite a good serving of steak and chips and then headed to bed which were luxury compared to the beds in Bariloche although beforehand I wanted to find a pharmacy as my foot was really hurting and I could barely walk on it and it had got worse but I was told by the friendly staff at the hotel that the one pharmacy in town would not be open now and that I should go to the hospital if I needed antibiotics or anti-inflammatory so I walked up and across 2 blocks as directed and walked to the hospital although it looked positively closed when I reached what I assumed was the front door as there was no sign of anyone, the doors looked locked and no lights were on but on walking round to see if there were any other entrances to no avail, I came back past the door and saw two people in the reception so I walked up and found the door was indeed open and on entry into reception, a nurse immediately came out to greet me and asked me to follow her. When I showed her my foot she cringed a little and asked the doctor to come along who proceeded to get the scalpel and burst open the pussy skin and cut the rest off with scissors! She then did the rest putting on 2 different liquids (think one of them was iodine stuff) and some antibiotics that was absorbed onto some bandage which she stuck to the infected area. She cleaned it all up and bandaged it up and said listo ‘ready’ with a big smile. I didn’t need to pay anything and it felt much better so I was very grateful. Getting back to the hotel I just wanted to sleep and the beds were comfy and clean which was such a relief as the most welcoming thing about sleep is the bed I find.

So now it’s morning and we have another 12 hours on the road down to El Chalten, the 2^nd stop before we get down to El Calafate where the glacier is. Unfortunately we missed the Cueva de las Manos (Cave of the hands) hand paintings in a cave that are meant to be 9000 years old and are a UNESCO world heritage site but I just didn’t have the will to get up at the time and walk round a cave when I could barely walk as it was and the others weren’t going anyway. Some other time, if I’m ever in this part of the world again! Now perhaps I’ll try sleeping on this cold uncomfy, dirty bus which doesn’t even have a toilet!!

El Chalten

After another grueling 15 hour bus journey on what felt like the longest and bumpiest road ever and several stops at tiny little shacks for foo, to help pull a car out of a ditch and for repairs to the bus (it took quite a battering from all the rocks!), we finally arrived at our destination of El Chalten. 

On arrival outside what we thought was our hostel, we were told our hostel Los Nires was about 9 blocks away still! Just what we wanted to hear at 1am with a backpack weighing more than your body weight! When we finally got there, we were greeted by a nice woman and man perhaps husband and wife who showed us to our room and the man even showed us how to adjust the bolier in case we were too hot or cold at any time. It even had wifi (albeit very slow) but this was the first contact we’d had with the outside world for the last 3 days so it felt like luxury! After some painfully slow browsing and some juice I headed to bed which was extremely comfy and perhaps the best night’s sleep I’ve had in ages!

The next morning I woke at around 8am but decided to stay in bed a little as breakfast served til 9 and we were in no hurry as we weren’t leaving til 6pm. After breakfast and booking our bus from El Calafate to Ushuaia (the most southerly city in the world), we decided to explore a little. As for the town, there wasn’t much to see, a few roads with some shops, restaurants, cafes, hostels, hotels one ATM machine and a bus terminal. This place was learly built on tourism judging by the amount of hotels and hostels and tourists around and you could clearly see what the attraction was just by looking up and around. Despite my foot still bandaged and in pain I wasn’t willing to miss out on the views of the beautiful surrounding mountains even if it meant breaking through the pain barrier! On arrival the previous night I had seen the silhouettes and outlines of jagged mountain ridges and peaks in the darkness but had not anticipated the sheer beauty of what was on display this morning and so after lunch (surprise surprise they had steak but I had omelette for a change) Lee and I decided that we would take the hike up to Mirador de los condors (Watchpoint of the condors) which was only 30 minutes and an exhilarating walk it was too! Behind us were the famous snow capped jagged peaks which were now much clearer than they had been in the morning due to the heat of the day lifting the clouds and due to the fact that we had gained altitude. 

Unfortunately we couldn’t see all the peaks but it was still an exquisite site that was well worth hiking for. I say hiking but it wasn’t too strenuous and we both did it in jeans and trainers which perhaps was not advisable (every other person on the mountain had proper hiking gear and boots) but it wasn’t like we needed it, we did just fine. Once we had reached mirador de los condores, we agreed to go to the higher summit, Mirador de las aguilas (Watchpoint of the eagles) which was a further 30 minutes walk and again was well worth doing, we saw some amazing flora and fauna including bright orange butterflies although they wouldn’t stop for long enough for a photo and eagles hovering overhead which also were too quick for a shot. When we reached the mirador de las aguilas we were awestruck at the view as we had walked far and high enough to gain a view of the other side of the valley which was huge plains as far as the eye could see with exception to a huge lake to the east. Again from here you could go slightly higher to another peak which we did and took in some of the best views I’d ever seen for sure and I think the same would apply to Lee although he has been to many more places than I including the grnad canyon although he said it was certainly up there! I just couldn’t get enough of the jagged snow capped peaks, they were so distinguishable, some pointing out like shards of glass in a broken window! I just couldn’t take my eyes off them! The way back was much easier than the way up and I was almost running down at one point with the music in the ears and wind behind me. My feet suddenly had a new lease of life and I didn’t even notice the right one being dodgy. On return to the hostel, I just removed the bandage, cleaned it, used some antiseptic wipes and put a plaster on it. Hopefully it will heal ok now. Anyway enough about my feet, I’m sure no one wants to hear about them! So that was great, very much an enjoyable and exhilarating experience, just breathing in the fresh mountain air filled me with energy! Being up there having just finished my book made me think back to the reference of the book talking about being in places of extreme natural beauty are huge sources of energy and can fill you with energy which I could actually relate to up there!

Now on the way to El Calafate on the relatively short 4 hour journey where we will stay for 3 nights and where we will take the excursion to the amazing glacier (Perito Moreno) which I’m really looking forward to! This bus is luxury compared to the last one we were on for 15 hours; it even has a toilet and a TV!!