Hey Hey
I know it’s been a while, but I will try to be brief (we all know how that has gone in the past).
So last you heard we were in Mendoza. We rented bikes for a day and were given a map containing an 11km ride (one-way), 2 delicatessens, a wine museum, a chocolate and liquor shop and 12 wineries with tours. We met a bunch of people and dashed through the museum for our first tasting, followed by another quick ride down the street to somewhere making chocolate and flavoured alcohol. Thus, at 10:30am with one glass of wine down I found myself with a fully prepared shot of 70% absinthe in my hand, while looking across at Ash licking at a delicious spoonful of Dulce de Leche (may even taste better than nutella). I have certainly felt better in my life as I got back on the bike, but we had a full day ahead so I sucked it up and off we went. As a group of about 10 we decided tours were for non-wine-buffs, so we only made it to 3 wineries, and simply bought a few bottles in each place as our ‘samples’! It was an awesome day which finished when we checked our watches and realised we had to dash back to base if we didn’t want to pay a late fee on the bikes.
From Mendoza we went south to Bariloche, a stunning ski village (which I fully intend to return to when the snow arrives!) right on a lake and surrounded by snow capped mountains. This was our first taste of Patagonia and we were impressed. We did have to pay US$20 for our campsite but as we were now in Argentina, prices were starting to become more noticeable. We had a few days in the town and didn’t really achieve anything. We wondered around, didn’t go to any of the tourist sights and still spent a fortune … so we left in search of bigger mountains and less chocolate shops.
We arrived early in El Chalten to clear blue skies, a rare commodity in the area, and an awesome view of the Fitz Roy range which are the most impressive mountains I have ever seen. To summit the main mountain is effectively 2km of vertical ice climbing in 100km+ winds; I decided not to add to Huayna Potosi. The camping here was pretty brutal with our tiny little tent impressively holding up in huge winds that had it bent at angles not even Michael Jackson can lean at. We did a really cool day hike in the area that took us to a lake overlooking Fitz Roy Mountain and drank in a great little German microbrewery … not the cheapest but definitely the best tasting beer I’ve had in a very long time (sorry to all the ‘Gold’ drinkers reading). It’s made with unfiltered glacial melt-water which gives a cloudy look to the beer, but a tip-top taste.
From here we headed to El Calfate for only one reason, Perito Moreno Glacier. We have been told that after the two Polar Regions, the Patagonian Ice Field is the most crucial area of the world regarding weather and climate change. This glacier is its show piece and it really is impressive. We booked on a cool day trip so we would get to walk on the glacier, Ash would get to try crampons and we would both get a glass of whisky with ‘natural ice’. Unfortunately a rather retarded booking system meant we woke up and were not booked onto the trip. Rather pissed off but without another option we simply took a bus to the glacier, did a boat trip and then sat with sandwiches to watch bus-sized chunks of ice fall off into the lake. The whole lake was a turquoise colour from all the minerals and the glacier was massive. 60m tall in the middle, and went back a lot further than the eye can see. It was an awe-inspiring thing to just sit in front of. We could hear it constantly cracking and creaking and were lucky enough to see a huge piece fall off from very close up.
From El Calfate we headed to Puerto Natales to get our wilderness fix with a 5 day hike through Torres Del Paine National Park. We decided to do it the ‘hardcore’ way and camp, carry all our food, clothes and equipment. This way we finished with the ability to look down our noses at the people simply making a day-trip out there and talk under muffled voices about how pathetic tourists can be! The hiking was amazing, first night we were camped alongside a glacier lake with mini icebergs floating past our tent while we cooked dinner. I was amazed how many other campers had no idea what they were doing! I put up around 5 tents that night and others had to help with dinner cooking etc. We were freezing though so moved ourselves into the local Refugio for a cheeky beer in front of the fire. Day two brought some of the weather the park is notorious for and we arrived in camp in good spirits, but wet and freezing! We quickly changed into dry clothes, cooked dinner and hit the hay. Day three had us hiking up the best valley I have ever been through in my life. Imagine Scottish highlands, but with much bigger mountains, a huge glacier and lots of snow. It was the highlight of the trip, and the day was made even better with almost a full day of great weather, a number of Andean Condors swooping around over head, no rain while we set-up the tent, a hot shower, and dinner and drinks with friends in a lovely warm Refugio. We did 4 nights of camping in total, 2 nights next to refuges and 2 nights free camping in the middle of nowhere. The last big day brought more great weather and we were wondering what all the fuss was about. Our packs were starting to lighten as we had eaten most of our chocolate and meals and we were looking forward to an early start the last day for a sunrise view of the Torres Massif. By the last morning we had met a bunch of really cool people, two Swiss with uncountable languages spoken who were rather more used to the whole outdoors thing than others. We had also happened across Sarah … Sarah was not exactly used to the whole trekking and camping thing, and had brought about 5 kilos too much food and snacks. It is also fair to say she was a little bit mental, but she stuck with it, had a class spirit and provided an uncountable number of laughs. She also cooked everyone a breakfast of frankfurters and porridge with all her left-over food on the final morning while sat in the wind and rain, while everyone else hid behind rocks. Sarah if you are reading this you are an absolute legend and we hope all is well! We arrived back in Puerto Natales slightly wishing we could have spared more time to keep hiking but also glad to be back in a bed.
We then planned to head down to Punta Arenas to see some penguins, but we had dinner out with everyone and Ashlee simply couldn’t resist a pisco sour. This is a drink made with raw egg and while we’ve had loads of them in the past I guess this made her ridiculously sick for a couple of days, so instead of heading down to see penguins we stayed in bed, and I was serenaded to sleep with rather loud spewing and groaning. We are now back in El Calafate as we fly to Buenos Aires from here in a few days. We are both absolutely gutted that our trip is now in its last week, but duty calls (for Ash at least) and we are both rapidly running out of money. I scored an addition to my trip and so get to go up to Salvador and meet my family for Carnival. After a year and a half I am very excited to see them, but super disappointed that Ash can’t come. We can’t have it all I guess so I hope everyone will welcome her home with open arms and I will see you … when I see you.
Hope all is well
Matt and Ash x
ps. Hang tough for photos hopefully in the next few days
