El Chalten (19 Jan - 23 Jan 2020)

The A350 flight to Joberg (SIN – Joberg - Cape Town) was full. I was seated next to a Singaporean couple heading to Cape Town (we had small chat later) and the husband/bf actually rejected an upgrade of only one person to the premium economy, so that he can sit next to his wife/gf. I was impressed. Since I was sitting at the window, I was paiseh to keep requesting for toilet breaks, only went to the toilet once and it was while we were queuing for toilet that we had our brief chat. I always think husbands who are willing to spend and bring wife to travel are the best husbands, that view has never changed.

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We landed punctually at JNB around 610am, after 10 hours of flying. The airport was in the outskirt, away from the city centre. I passed through the immigration at international transit area and proceeded to the transfer counter. I already had my boarding pass for the next flight, the visit to the counter was merely to request for a better seat compared to the aisle seat at the back automatically assigned by the system. That’s where I first encounter the South African hospitality (or lack thereof). The lady flatly refused and just printed out a boarding pass for me. There were cleaners waiting at the toilets acting friendly, true intentions were to collect tips. Staff inside the airport security were cold. There were always airport staff sitting around the passenger resting area to scroll their phones or chit-chatting with each other. Their attitudes towards each other were always friendly, smiling away, but when facing passengers like me, it was always straight face with cold/sarcastic reply that was typical South African attitude. Honestly, I don’t have much good opinion on this country. There were also airport staff that patrol the transfer counter area and asked for passport (not sure for what purpose). One passenger who were sleeping at the chair woken up by the staff and started arguing with the officer, refusing to show the officer his passport. He was eventually brought to the immigration office. Free Wifi only works for about an hour. After that there will be no free wifi. I found out that there were free wifi near the area where the staff were taking their break, courtesy of a lounge nearby. That’s also the only area where I could charge my phone, with the 3-pin sockets you found in Singapore. All other socket outlets are not suitable for Singapore plugs, even if you use traveller adaptors. No water refiller or water coolers. It is not a friendly airport in my opinion. I had 6 hours of transit in Joberg.

Before I board the Sao Palolo flight at the gate, there will be officers there asking to see your flight itinerary and onward travel plans, in stern face. I showed them the few bookings I have, and were passed through.

LATAM board passengers in groups, and since my ticket is the cheaper ticket, I was in boarding group 6 since the seat was at the back. It was another A350 much to my delight. After boarding, I realised that the flight was not full. I wanted to sit on another row, but was chased away by the ground staff. The air stewardess was quite nice, she actually showed me all the seats that I can move to (except the first row, which has upgrade fee). I eventually settled down at another aisle seat a few rows in front of my assigned row, with a middle empty seat. They served 3 meals in this 10-hour flight, impressive.

Landed in Sao Paolo airport around 4pm punctually. Went through security check and I proceeded to the gate of an earlier flight and tried my luck to see if I can change my 9pm flight to 8pm. The LATAM staff there promptly agreed, no payment needed. There were charging points at the airport, we are back to civilisation. Do note that the spelling of cities at the boarding gates in Sao Paolo airport is slightly different from how the cities were spelled in English, for example:

• London – Londres
• Johannesburg – Johannesburgo
• Munich – Munique

The flight from Sao Paolo to Buenos Aires was not full, so I just move to another empty row. No food served except for one miserable wafer bar. I saved up all the chocolate and wafer bars given out by the airlines for my trekking rations in El Chalten.

Finally reached Buenos Aires at 11pm. The terminal was renovated. The queue at the Banco National cambio was slow moving. On hindsight, I should have just changed my money at El Chalten as the rate offered by the cambio in airport was really lowsy. 1USD = 58 Ars. In El Calafate, I could get 1USD = 65 Ars, and in Buenos Aires city, 1USD = 70 Ars. To make things worse, I only managed to change money after 20 minutes of quieing.

I booked a more expensive taxi to the hotel, but the driver did not quite know the way to my hotel. He ended up asking other town taxi driver the way to my hotel. I saw city folks still walking their dogs, jogging, working out at this late hour, truly a city that never sleeps. Reached Hotel Palermo around 1230am, and to my horror the door of the hotel was locked and no staff at the reception was seen. Luckily not long after a gentleman came out and opened the glass door for me. Hotel room key was still the physical metal key, much to my delight. I was wondering how I could flush the toilet cos I could not find the flush anywhere near the closet, only to realised a long button to be pressed one meter up the closet. It must be an IQ tester installed by Mensa and I nearly failed the test. There was a 24-hour McDonalds right across the street.

Sunrise pretty early in the summer, by 5am the whole city was lighted up. The gentleman at the hotel helped me book a city cab to the domestic airport nearby. I took some photos of the beautiful city while in the cab.

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The security staff asked me to check in my tripod, a first. I had never been asked to check in my tripod in all the flights I took. They insisted and so I got it checked in, lucky these days I always go to the airport way ahead of time.

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The flight to El Calafate was full. This time round I was seated next to a couple from Israel. The husband used to work for a project with Singapore police in the 1990s. We had good chat on the plane. They were on a 3-week vacation in a tour group, consists of 37 travellers. When we were landing, we saw beautiful view of the Argentinian Lake.

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Their tour guide.

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The Israel Couple and I.

The couple taught me some Hebrew:

• Toda – Thank you
• Shalom – Peace (greeting)
• Berekesha – you are welcome

Some pix taken before the plane landed in El Calafate in strong wind.

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The arrival area in El Calafate Airport was crowded since all baggage had to be screened for food items, and there was only 1 scanning machine. They asked me to throw my apples away, but left my bak kwa undisturbed. Thank god, those were my trekking ration.

There was no queue at the Avis counter, so I quickly showed the staff my booking. Queue slowly built up afterwards as some people came to return their cars. One gentleman was working with a customer who returned the car with windscreen smashed due to storm. I asked the staff if I could buy all-inclusive insurance, she said they don’t offer it at this particular Avis outlet. We went out of the terminal to inspect the car together, and I had my first taste of the strong wind in Patagonia. The staff advised me to drive slower in windy condition. I was not used to driving stick on the left, so the kind staff sat next to me while I practice in the airport car park. For reverse gear, need to press down the gear stick, different from my previous rental car, need to lift the metal collar. Also I didn’t know how to adjust the side mirrors, so I asked the staff for help again. Finally, the stick skills came back to me. The car only has ¾ full of petrol, so the staff asked me return the car with the same amount of petrol.

I thought the road led directly to El Chalten, little did I know there were a few turns actually. Lucky, I looked at the road signs and saw a turning right sign for El Chalten. Making a mistake in there would have been disastrous as there were no gas stations until El Chalten.

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The names like the Patagonia, El Chalten and Fitz Roy will be seen throughout this blog, so it is good to know some informations related to these two names.

Patagonia:Patagonia is a sparsely populated region at the southern end of South America, shared by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains, lakes, fjords, and glaciers in the west and the deserts to the east. There is an outdoor clothing brand that has the same name too.

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El Chalten: "Chaltén" is a Tehuelche word meaning smoking mountain, as the local people believe it was a volcano for its peak is most of the time covered by clouds.

In 1985, Argentina and Chile had a border dispute to gain and claim rights over El Chalten. There was no war in the end, and El Chalten was awarded to Argentina. Homes, government buildings, and flags of Argentina went up to mark the city settlement.

Fitz Roy: Argentine explorer Francisco Moreno saw the mountain on 2 March 1877. He named it Fitz Roy in honour of Robert FitzRoy who, as captain of HMS Beagle, had travelled up the Santa Cruz River in 1834 and charted large parts of the Patagonian coast during the Second voyage of HMS Beagle.

I stopped for a few times to take pictures, strong winds were felt every time I tried to get down the car and take pictures. I saw the same river that I saw from the plane, which flow into Argentina Lake.

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After 3 hours of driving, finally I reached the tourist office of El Chalten. I got my passport stamp from them, and upon their recommendation, did the Condor view point hike from the trail just outside the office. Condors like to circle this view point to enjoy the updraft. The whole El Chalten town was seen from the scenic view point after 15 minutes of hiking. Cerro Torre, Fitz Roy and other snow mountains can be seen from where I stood as well. The wind was very strong that day, I struggled to stabilise myself at the viewing point while holding my camera. My spectacles threatened to leave my face for good.

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I venture further to another view point 30 minutes away - Mirador de Las Agulias - see Viedma Lake. There were cow grazing near the trail, and I was wearing red. Lake Viedma opened up in front of the viewing point.

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I took a different path on returning and ended up not quite sure how to join back to the path. In a haste, I cut through the undergrowth to join back the original trail. That was difficult. I could see the trail but to get to there, I had to make my own trail. I should have just continued the trail and eventually I will be able to get back to the first view point. I continued to drive to town and went to La Tapira to have dinner, a recommendation by a shop nearby. Mutton ravioli was delicious, and no smell. The bread they served was huge and quite unique, never seen in any of the restaurants I had been to. When i read those print outs i brought with me days later, I saw that La Tapira was actually highly recommended by the locals and fellow travellers. The dinner was quite pricey. Afterall the cost of living in El Chalten was higher than Buenos Aires, cos everything has to be trucked here.

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Then I went to the the supermarket next door to buy apples, wow that was a long queue. In general, prices in Chalten was on a slightly high side, but manageable for tourists.

I managed to get a hiking pole from an equipment rental shop, the first shop I approached ran out of the item. They wanted to hold my passport as deposit, I told them I will pay cash as deposit instead, what if they lose my passport. There was another shop nearer to my hostel, which I bought postcard and spectacle fasteners from. I need the fasteners cos the wind was so strong in Patagonia, my specs will fly away in no time. The shop played very good music.

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Got my hiking pool.

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The main street in El Chalten, St Martin's Street.

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Love their architecture.

Finally, at around 8pm, I found Rancho Grande Hostel and checked in. Anna, the receptionist, was very helpful. She offered me room 30 in the 2nd floor further away from the noisy restaurant area (co-ed dorm), but to my horror, all the beds in the room has been taken. So she offered me a private room with free breakfasts for one night instead, what an upgrade. There was a large TV screen that showed live stream from Fitz Roy.

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Anna asked me to consider doing the sunrise hike at Fitz Roy (Laguna De Los Tres hike) on Wed morning. Tonight (tomorrow morning sunrise) was a possibility but since I was given a private room, she suggested to me don’t waste it and have a good rest tonight instead.

I woke up early the next day, to see the sunrise from the Condor view point that I went yesterday. I was not disappointed. The sun painted the towers orange.

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So many different types of birds.

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Drizzle followed though. I returned to the hostel to have breakfast before heading out to do Cerro Torre trek, its complimentary breakfast today. I had 3 choices, and I chose to have American breakfasts. The portion was huge, enough to sustain my trekking needs. They had many jams/butter to go with the toasted breads, of which I must say the unique flavour of Duche De Leche got me really intrigued. It was so sweet and tasted like Dutch Lady condensed milk that I used to add to my milo when I was a kid. A search on wiki yielded the following:

“Dulce de leche is a confection from Latin America prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a substance that derives its flavour from the Maillard reaction, also changing colour, with an appearance and flavour similar to caramel. Dulce de leche is Spanish for "Sweet milk" or "caramel".”

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The rainbow was hanging high above the snow mountain. I met 2 gentlemen from USA on the way to the start of the trail, and they did the trek yesterday, saying it was beautiful. Today they are doing Fitz Roy trek.

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68. Cerro Solo (2121m) in the background.


The drizzle was sporadic, not heavy, and always have the sun still hanging high, so rainbow appeared from time to time. 10km relatively flat trek into the laguna, not that easy for me. I started to realise the distance and time they post on the trek was for normal to faster pace trekker, not based on leisurely trek. The flies were persistent in circling around me, very annoying. They were attracted to trekkers because of the sweat. I kept waving them away like a cow. There were butterflies flying around, beautiful colours.

I also bumped into some parents who have babies on their backs and they trekked to the laguna, thumbs up to these parents.

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Finally reached Laguna Torre, there were a few big ice blocks, and upon strong wind, broke up. Many trekkers there having picnic behind some huge rocks/boulders as the wind was strong. Walking out for another 10km was a tiring business. When I reach the starting point of the trail I was relieved.

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There was a cherry seller at the road side near the hostel. The ladies who bought the cherries convinced me the cherries were sweet. The seller offered me one to try, omg sooooooooooooooo sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet and juicy. I bought a kilo. I hadn’t had that kind of sweetness overdose in Cherry since the Rainier days. The ladies translated for me that the seller actually grew these cherries 800m North of El Chalten.

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Love the colours.

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Nice!

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Cool.

After that I went to the grocery store to guy Gatorade and mineral water. When I bent down to pick up the Gatorade, I forgot that my hiking stick will point up, the next thing I know, the stick made 3 bottles wines fell to the floor and they broke. I quickly asked the staff to clean the area, and remove the broken glass, and offered to pay for the wines. I thought they would scold me, but instead, the shop staff offered to just charge me for one bottle of wine. I insisted on paying all damages, 3 bottles. They smiled and said ok.

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The crime scene. Stupid me.

I got back to my hostel and met my roommates. There is an Argentinian lady who did the Fitz Roy trek today, she got amazing pictures from there today, cloudless blue sky with Fitz Roy. She went with another lady in the room but I didn’t happen to speak to her. I didn’t know later I will meet this lady that I didn’t speak to, again in El Calafate. The Argentinian lady told me that she took the 930am shuttle to Hostel El Pilar to start the trek to Fitz Roy, and she was super tired after the long trek.

I ordered lamb stew with rice for dinner, but the portion was simply too huge, plus I was too tired, lost of appetite. Just took some bites and went back to the room to sleep. I slept for 12 hours.

The next morning, I made enquiry about the shuttle to El Pilar Hostel, the receptionist told me that beside the 930am shuttle, there is also one at 8am. I looked at the clock, it is 740am now. I quickly made order for a breakfast, and gobbled down as quickly as I can, and the shuttle bus came at 8am. There were only 2 passengers, me and another UK lady from Norway.

The road from Rancho Grande to El Pilar is unpaved, rocks and pebbles always got whipped up and hit the car body. I don’t think I will drive to El Pilar using my rental car. We passed by Bonanza Eco Adventure Camping site, which looked really cool. They have swing bridge and all sorts of recreation facility within the camp ground. Our shuttle reached El Pilar 20 minutes later.

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There was a hare grazing outside the hostel. I made enquiry if they have a bed tonight, they said they are full tonight as they only have 10 beds and another big group will be checking in the afternoon. The UK lady seemed to be in a rush, so I asked her go ahead without me. The trail from Hostel El Pilar was flatter and shorter (5km vs 8km) compared to the trail from Rancho Grande. There was a steep hike from Rancho Grande which one could avoid if willing to take the paid shuttle to Hostel El Pilar. There were times I will bump into stray trail, but generally the trail to Fitz Roy is quite well marked. Along the way, we will be able to see the glacier Piedras Blancas across the river. The forest shielded us from the strong wind, which is common on any treks in El Chalten.

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Piedras Blancas Glacier across the river



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I reached the junction from the other trail around 3 hours later, the two trails converge to one trail, which is to campsite Poincenot and subsequently Fitz Roy. I will only be doing this last portion tonight, cos this last part is the steepest. So I just peeked at the camp site and continue on to Laguna Hija and Laguna Nieta. This trek link up Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre that I did yesterday. Not many people will use this short cut trek, cos one either do Fitz Roy or Cerro Torre on any single day. I saw two woodpeckers when I was about to emerge from the Cerro Torre trek. I was at 5km mid way point when I finally set foot on the Cerro Torre trek I did yesterday. Now it is 5km walking out the same trail. Cerro Torre was in clouds today.

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After returning to hostel, I asked them to help me book a remis to Hostel El Pilar tonight at 1230am. The staff said I need not leave the hostel so early, leaving at 2am is better. I calculated the time as follow:

• 1230am – 1am : Rancho Grande to Hostel El Pilar by remis
• 1am – 330am : Hostel El Pilar trek to the Poincenot Camp Site (5km)
• 330am – 5am : Poincenot Camp Site to Fitz Roy viewing point (2km)
• 6am : Sunrise

I am convinced that my calculation is correct, so I insisted on 1230am remis pick up time.

Again, today I slept at 7pm, and woke up at around 12 midnight. After getting ready my gear, tripod etc, I waited for the taxi. Remis came punctually at 1230am, and off we went. Driver was quite friendly. A hare crossed the road when we were driving on the unpaved road in the dark.

After I got down from the taxi, I put on my headlamp, and it was the headlamp that kept me accompanied throughout the 4-hour hike. Despite the fact that I had done the first 5km once in day light, I was still unsure on some parts, and managed to be led astray more than once. Lucky, I double check to ensure the yellow paint marker on the trail was there.

Around 2am, when I was inside the forest, I saw flickering lights ahead, as if some trekkers trying to signal to me. There could not be any hikers in front of me cos I was perhaps the earliest, knowing how slow I trek. I just continued on, and not long after, when I turned my head to the left, I saw the lights not far from where I stood.

It was not light. It was the reflections from the eyes of a cat standing on a fallen tree trunk. The eyes looked totally transparent emerald in colour, and mesmerising from where I stood. I didn’t give too much thought to it, and just continue trekking. Along the way, I saw spiders and tiny frog/toad.

Finally at 240am, I reached the junction near Camp Poincenot. I wanted to take picture of the spires in the dark but I could not even tell where the spires were. It was complete darkness. So I just continued on to Camp Poincenot. From here on, I will be walking on trail that I was not familiar with. This will be the toughest 2km.

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Just when I started walking, already few hikers who rose early from the camp site overtook me and vanished in the dark. They trekked really fast. I started to understand why every trekker dreaded this last 2 kms. The sign that said 1 hour was a joke, do not ever believe the hour indicated on any sign board, just trust your own measurement. After much huffing and puffing, I managed to reach the view point. The actual hour count:

• 1230am – 1am : Rancho Grande to Hostel El Pilar by remis
• 1am – 250am : Hostel El Pilar trek to the Poincenot Camp Site (5km)
• 3 am – 5am : Poincenot Camp Site to Fitz Roy viewing point (2km)
• 6am : Sunrise

At the last part, I actually took the wrong path up the viewing point, so it was harder than I thought. I only realised my mistake on the way down. Another fellow Malaysian (Farouk) from UK heard my accent and asked me if I was from Malaysia. He said I was the third Malaysian he met in his 6 Latin America trip. His brother is working in Singapore for Shell. He just flew in from Buenos Aires the day before, didn’t have any sleep and straight away did this trek. We were trekking buddies for the rest of the day.

He shared with me some "asam" (sour dried ginger slice titbits) from Sao Paolo, I was happy to be able to reconnect with a childhood titbits that I used to take when i was a kid. I just didnt know one can find it in Sao Paolo.

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The sky already show a tinge of beautiful orange when I reach the viewing point. The wind was not strong, as predicted by Anna, using the windguru website. I took the opportunity to take the picture of the spires in the dark using manual mode. I also set up time lapses recording using my phone. The sunrise was amazing. We walked down to the shore of the lake to take reflection. The trek down was on some unstable rocks with sharp edges, I cut myself on a fall, not serious though.

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Amateur attempt on timelapse.

V15A: Click THIS LINK to see a much better timelapse done by another hiker John, whom i bumped into later in the day at the equipment shop in town.

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Laguna Sucia

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Then we walked to see Lake Sucia as well. The two lakes are at different elevations and have different colour. Laguna De Los Tres is blue, Sucia appeared green. After taking enough pictures and videos, we trekked down. I could finally see the trail I walked in the dark. Walking down has never been my strength so I took it slowly. I rested halfway down the steep section together with two ladies from Chile, they shared with me their cookies. They were going to Ushuaia next.

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While we were trekking down to El Chalten, i told Farouk the cat that i bumped into this early morning while trekking from El Pilar hostel. Farouk was skeptical. He said he saw many dogs in El Chalten town, but hardly bumped into any cats. Could what I saw was a puma instead? That really gave me a chill in my spine. From the size, it didn't look like, but one could never be too sure. Especially in the dark. I could only see the eyes and the rough shape of this creature about 100m away from me, standing on a branch. Then again, had it been a puma, I would have been dead by now haha.

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Information on puma, picture taken when I visited the National Park office the next day.

It started drizzling once we were on our way to Laguna Capri, so those who hope to see Fitz Roy in the day trek today were bound to be disappointed. Anna already warned me this, I will see Fitz Roy in the morning beautifully, but afternoon there will be shower. Farouk offered to carry my tripod for me all the way for 10km, a big thanks to him.

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We had waffles near my hostel, and I must say the music played in this shop was way better than those played in my hostel. In fact all the music played by the shops I patronised were all better than those played in Rancho Grande. Every time I sit in the dining area of Rancho Grande I felt like leaving upon listening to their music, very depressing.

We both like El Chalten town very much. Theres no smokers seen here. I couldnt even find a cig butts along the trail or on the street.

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After the waffles session, I sent him to his hostel in the rain. The equipment rental shop was having afternoon break, so I could only return the walking stick after 4pm. There was a long queue of hikers and campers eager to return their gears and rushed for their buses when the shop finally opened at 415pm, 15 minutes after the official opening time. They allow only 1 renter to enter the shop to return the gear at a time. I offered to let all others return first since I was not in a rush. The Asian lady who were rushing complained to me at their inefficiencies, I just smiled and nodded. The rain that started since I left Fitz Roy carried on.

I had two new lady roommates from Israel today. They were part of a big group of youngsters from Israel (what’s new?). As usual, their rowdiness will make you realise where they came from, similar observations had been recorded by others. I just retired to my bed after not sleeping since 12am this morning.

Checked out of the hostel in the morning and wanted to do a hike to Condor view point near Tourism Office one more time before I leave El Chalten. It was still raining so I waited in the Tourism Office and watched the video on Huemul Circuit. It was a tough 4D3N camping trek that requires permit. Harness is required to cross the river using steel cables. More details on this trek in the link below:

https://www.switchbacktravel.com/patagonia/huemul-circuit

I will quote from this website on difficulty:

“The Huemul Circuit is not for everyone – in fact, there’s a reason why rangers don’t mention the trek unless you specifically ask them about it. The mileage is not necessarily long—about 40 miles over the course of four days—but it is involved. Think knee-high river crossings, walking along moraines and across glaciers, ascending 3,000 feet to high passes in 60+ mph gusts of wind, navigating unmarked trails and constant route-finding, and of course, dangling over rivers on the steel cables of Tyrolean traverses. You’ll need to be fairly resourceful and experienced to manage a trek of this kind. If you don’t feel up for the challenge, we recommend any number of the more casual day hikes or overnight trips in the area. That said, if you’re looking for an adventure, the Huemul Circuit is bound to provide. Furthermore, it is possible to hire a guide for the trek from one of the many guide companies in El Chaltén.”

The video warned that rescue will be difficult, and could take days if any mishap happened to hikers on this trail.

The sound of the raindrops on the roof became louder, so I decided to get out of the office when the rain turn into drizzle, pump petrol at the only YPF gas station in El Chalten, and leave for El Calafate. There was a queue of cars at the petrol station. As I was queuing, something miracle happened. Sun came out and the clouds disappeared. El Chalten was back to its glory.

After I pumped gas, I drove back to the Tourist Office and started my trek to the viewing point. The air was especially crisp after the rain. Views were clear, though the spires were still shrouded by some clouds, but it was already the best weather since I last been to Fitz Roy. I thought I will leave El Chalten in gloomy day, never knew there will be a 180 switch that happen near noon time. The condors that like to circulate the view point happily flying updraft in good weather. I also saw the calafate fruits on the tree.

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Calafate fruit.

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After the farewell trek in El Chalten, I finally drove off. I saw some hitch hikers, but my small car could only take one more person comfortably. In the end I gave a lift to a lady backpacker who only need a ride to Ruta 40 junction. She was from Chile, and work in Buenos Aires. She will be heading towards Chile.

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Article that I wrote on Patagonia was published by Singapore newspapers Lianhe Zaobao on 26 Mar 2020. You can right click on the above image, and select "Open link in new window" to see a bigger picture.



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Article that I wrote on Moreno Glacier was published by Malaysia newspapers Sin Chew Jit Poh on 8 Aug 2021. You can right click on the above image, and select "Open link in new window" to see a bigger picture.



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