Buenos Aires (25 - 26 Jan 2020)

301.

302.

303.

304.

305.

306.

307.

308.

309.

310.

311.

The flight from El Calafate to Buenos Aires arrived 30 minutes earlier than expected. I took the more expensive remis to reach my apartment in Recoleta. On hindsight I should take the normal taxi, much cheaper. The security guard of the apartment asked me to come in while I waited for the host. The apartment was quite nice, and use similar key to the one in El Calafate hostel. The lift to the apartment was old fashion, similar to those used in Europe. The host exchanged peso with me at my request, and the rate is 1USD = 70 ARS, the best I had so far. It was very warm in Buenos Aires and I was at the top floor. Lucky the apartment has air-conditioning.

312.

313.

314.

315.

316.

After the keys handing over, I went down to a city park that I passed by taking the remis from the airport to the apartment. I thought I was on the correct direction, but then when I look at my Googlemap screen, it seemed like I was walking further away from my intended destination. So I took a taxi instead. Now it is summer in Southern Hemisphere, so daytime tend to be long and the temperature warm. Everybody decided to hang out. There were people boating, jogging, roller blading in the huge park. I like the greenery in Buenos Aires. They even have jogging tracks and water cooler facilities beside the track at suitable intervals, how cool is that? I was totally immersed in the summer atmosphere of Buenos Aires.

317.

318.

319.

320.

321.

322.

323.

324.

325.

326.

327.

328.

329.

330.

331.

332.

V81:

V82:

V83:
Dancing!

333.

334.

335.

I walked back to the apartment and bumped into a small supermarket operated by Chinese. It’s the first day of Chinese New Year but they told me business as usual in Buenos Aires. When I asked them if there was a nearby Chinese restaurant, they told me only a take away joint was available two blocks away but the food sucked. The boss of the grocery shop was so kind, he brought me over to the joint himself. The food was priced based on weight (very common in South America). I packed my food, cost me 180 Ars.

The landlady passed me a contact of the remis driver for going to the airport tomorrow. I contacted David and he agreed to come and pick me up. In the morning, I went to the McDonalds in the Recoleta Mall nearby to order breakfast and lunch. I intended to bring the lunch to the plane as the flight to Sao Paolo will have little food served.

336.

337.

338.

339.

I was in the airport early, but the immigration queue was long, took me 30 minutes to clear. A bunch of students were going through immigration, they each carry a letter with the passport, which the officers had to check and key in information in the system. Not helping that they were very relaxed when it came to walking towards the assigned counter, took their own sweet time, with chewing gum in their mouths. By the time I reach the aircraft, the boarding was almost over, though I was still early by normal departure timing. LATAM boarded passengers early.

I was seated next to a couple from Mendoza, the husband was a farming engineer for winery. We had a good chat. The air steward of Latam was very funny. He pointed at my burger from McDonalds and asked if the food was from the food cart he was pushing, and everybody laughed. The Mendoza couple was also heading Joberg, but taking South African Airways.

340.

341.

342.

343.

344.

345.

346.

347.

348.

349.

350.

351.

352.

353.

354.

This was the only flight where we had to disembark at the remote gate with no passenger loading bridge. We had to carry our luggage and board the shuttle bus to the terminal building. After the security clearance check, I went to the boarding counter and again, the friendly LATAM staff helped me secure a row of seats to Joberg, all to myself. She even showed me the seat allocation screen to let me decide which row I prefer. Such was the friendliness of LATAM ground staff and crew that made you wanted to fly with them again, never mind if they only serve you cold sandwich, they serve you with a cup of warmness on the flight that melt even the coldest sandwich. Also they have grape juice available on this flight, a delight.

I had a real scare during boarding at Sao Paolo: They needed me to have my yellow fever booklet which I didn’t bring. I explained to them that I was only transiting there and my SQ flight to Singapore was on the same day. Then they asked me if I had any check-in baggages, I said no. After looking at my SQ booking, they decided to let me board the plane. Thank god the LATAM gentleman didn’t make it difficult, else I would have to buy a one-way ticket from Sao Paolo to Singapore, via another city that does not require yellow fever booket. Strangely there were no such requirement when flying from Joberg to Sao Paolo. Otherwise I will get stranded right from the beginning instead of at the tail end. Also lucky that LATAM didn’t really require me to check in my luggage at Buenos Aires through Sao Paolo to Joberg. Some airlines are very particular about cabin luggage weight and often requires passengers to check in bigger baggage, which might have caused me being denied boarding that day. Very lucky indeed.

355.

356.

357.

358.

359.

After landing in Joberg, the SQ transit counter was not operational yet. I waited for the staff, the first thing she did after arriving at the counter was to sleep. I waited awhile more for her to wake up. Before I appeared, she was having a smile and friendly chat with another male colleague, holding her hands. The moment I appeared at the counter, the smile on her face disappeared and the rest was cold transactional replies and gestures, reminded me that I was no longer in the friendly Brazil or Argentina, but in the cold cold South Africa. The airport cleaner asked me for food, I handed her cookies from LATAM.

360.

361.

362.

363.

364.

365.

366.

My thoughts after the this trip:

1. Just need to take the black and yellow cab in Buenos Aires Airport (EZE and AEP). They are ok. They know the roads and places better than the remis.

2. SQ redemption miles/minute for SIN - JNB and SIN- Cape Town are quite worth it in comparison. You can google and search for the routes. For a 10-hour flight, i only need 50k miles to redeeem, which is very attractive. The same 10 hour flight to Europe would require 76k miles.

3. Co-ed dorms seem to be common in the hostels in Argentina. Also their bathrooms do not have soap or shampoo. One has to pay to rent towel. Breakfast in hostel in El Chalten was not included in the stay. One has a choice of staying near the bus station or staying near the start of the trekking trails in El Chalten.

4. Do factor in some time in renting as well as returning rental car in El Calafate airport.

5. Do stay a few more days in El Calafate in case of bad weather.

6. Living cost in El Chalten can be quite expensive. In the quieter winter months, some shops are closed.

7. Meal portion tend to be big in Argentina, do take note before happy ordering.

8. There is one petrol kiosk in El Chalten, and no petrol kiosks between El Calafate and El Chalten. Must take note. Both petrol kiosks in El Calafate and El Chalten often see queue during mornings and evenings. Do factor in queing time for petrol station visit.

9. Credit card payment in El Chalten is common. Exchange rate in El Chalten and El Calafate are better than BA airport. BA city exchange rate with common people are the best, provided you dont get scammed or receive fake notes.

(best rate but highest risk) BA city > El Chalten/El Calafate >> Banco De Nasional in airport (worst rate)

10. Headlight is essential for sunrise hike. Trekking poles are essential too. Windguru is your best guidance when it come to weather and wind in Patagonia, learn how to interpret the wind speed or get someone to interpret for you.

11. You can use Polar Step to trek your trekking routes on the glacier or everywhere you have been. It does not require data, just need to on the GPS signal. Very useful when you do Big Ice Hike, where no defined trails on the iceland will be found.

12. Must bring food (lunch) for Big Ice Hike. You have been warned. One can get hungry easily in cold rainny weather.

13. The road from El Calafate to the glacier has speed bumps nearer to the town. Do not drive too fast. One of the traveller has flat tires when driving back from the glacier to town.

14. For popular restaurants like La Tapira in El Chalten and La Zaina in EL Calafate, strongly recommend to make reservations ahead before visiting to avoid disappointment.

15. For those taking bus from El Calafate to El Chalten, these buses are double deckers, with toilets, and depart at 8am, 130pm and 630pm from both ends. If you like taking pictures, you can sit on the first row of the upper deck. As for the shuttle bus from El Calafate to Glacier, you can also take a window seat to capture scenery along the way.

16. The glacier water in El Chalten is cooling and refreshing.

17. There was a water supply disruption on the day i left El Chalten, which means toilets flushing and washing were not possible. I didnt experience the inconvenience as I left the hostel in the morning while the water was still ok. These are unexpected event that could happen.

18. If you are flying from Sao Paolo to Johannesburg, you need to have yellow fever booklet with you, else the airline has the right to deny you from boarding the aircraft. Do note.

19. For Sao Paolo Airport: You can request for earlier flights or change of seats at the gate counter, not at the transfer counter.

For Buenos Aires airport: Some of the self check in machines are not working, do take note.

20: Wind is the biggest enemy in Patagonia trekking. It could be so strong that some trekkers got nasty fall and couldnt pick themselves up. Flies are nuisance during summer trekking.

21. Do not bring trekking pole into the supermarket, leave it outside the shop.

22. Leave your smelly boots outside the dorm room. Bring your own number lock to lock the locker.

23. Do download offline maps into your Google map for areas that you are going before you leave Singapore. Similarly, download offline Spanish language to Google Translate prior to visiting South America.

24. Note the sunrise and sunset times and temperatures and weather forecast of places that you are visiting and you are going to visit.

25. I really gave my hats off to those cyclists that cycle along the road in the strong wind. I could feel the wind even when i was driving.

26. The charging socket in the hostel requires traveller adaptor. Even then the socket was still loose when plugged in. Use supporting item to ensure charging were really taking place.

27. If you hang laundry at outside the hostel for drying, wind might blow them away. Use clip to secure them.

28. No throwing of toilet paper into the toilet bowl in El Chalten and El Calafate. Buenos Aires is fine.

29. The green space and parks in Buenos Aires are really amazing, especially in summer.

30. The age limit for doing Big Ice Hike is 50. There are mini trekking available as well. The whole Big Ice hike will take 3 hours, and you will reach town around 7pm. Do not book flight out on the same evening, as you might miss the flight.

If you would like to see the pictures uploaded to Google photos, please click the two links below:

Thank you for reading. You can click THIS LINK to return to the intro page of this blog.

You can also click THIS LINK to see my other travel blogs. Thanks for reading!

367.

Flight route i took this time.

368.

Flight route through Qatar.

Camp sites near El Chalten and Perito Merino Glacier were closed on 15 Mar 2020 due to the covid-19 virus. Hikings on Perito Merino Glacier were stopped as well.