Red Shoe Diary

We have reached the end of the road in Patagonia, literally. The road, never paved, does not even exist in gravel form from here, so its boat or horse or foot to get across to Argentina!  Villa O'Higgins, named after the general that defended Chile to independence, (together with a road in EVERY town or city in Chile!) is small and very isolated but has on its doorstep various glaciers, the most impressive of which is the - yup, you guessed it - Villa O'Higgins glacier. On crossing the lake on one of the twice weekly ferries you have the option of taking in a 5 hour detour to see the glacier; this is the trip where they 'famously' haul in a chunk of floating iceberg to chip and serve with the whiskey they give you to toast this moment.  You land on the doorstep of Argentina.  Some 500 meters from the dock, you pass passport control in Chile ( 2 guardas and 2 horses), then walk some 6 hours through mainly woodland before coming to the Argentinian passport control office (2 guardas and 1 large dog, sleeping). At this point you board the once daily boat across the lake or walk around it to pick up the main road (gravelled) to El Chalten, made famous by its location at the foot of the Fitz Roy ranges. We did this in summer, when the views were glorious and the weather fantastic, but its only possible for a few months a year as the bitter winter weather means this border is shut for 7 months of the year.