Travel Blog

Aha! So Paddy’s day turned out alright in the end. I’ll skip all the bit about the rugby. We all know what happened so no point dwelling on it. Suffice to say after a few bottles of dodgy Argentinian red wine the night before Paddy’s day, we still managed to rise by 10am. This gave us just enough time to head to the local supermarket for booze before the games started. By the end of the first two matches we were actually quite depressed at the results and not even Wales’ victory over England could make us feel better. Just when we were thinking of knocking Paddy’s day on the head altogether and just going to bed, our American mates Aaron and Sarah turned up. So we decided to forget about the rugby and get on with the task in hand. I brought my iPod down to the tv room and we sat making merry with the Americans and our new friend Jo from Kerry. It wasn’t long before we were back on form. So much so in fact that after a couple more bottles of dodgy wine and a few litres of Iguana we were too rowdy for the TV room and were asked to leave. Fine. We were actually due to meet some other friends anyway.

We rocked on to Don Diego, a pub that we had seen advertised as one that would celebrate 17th March. Sure enough, two girls we met in Ushuaia, Beth and Sarah, were there waiting for us. Soon Bill from America turned up and our group was complete! The bar was pretty lame at the beginning and was only slightly more lively than a funeral. The millions of Shamrocks stuck to the walls didn't do much to perk it up either strangely enough. We decided to give it a while though and sure enough around midnight it began to take off. The tables were one by one cleared from the floor and before we knew it the place was hopping. There was great music and since I had my Irish flag I decided that it would be appropriate for everyone there to sign it. And so we wandered around the bar meeting millions of people and getting them to sign the flag. After a while I noticed a microphone stand in the corner of the room and I couldn’t resist incorporating it into the festivities. Soon enough, we were all on the stage in the bar and singing passionately into the mic stand as if it actually held a mic – thank God it didn’t! But it made for some fairly funny photos all the same.

When we eventually decided to head home, we were famished. Although we tried and tried we just couldn’t find an Indian take-away open at 3am in El Calafate. They must be living in the dark ages. Settling for Kinder Buenos instead we continued back to our hostel. To our disappointment we discovered that we were locked out and there was no sign of life from within the hostel. We yelled and yelled and banged on the door but to no avail. We notice a couple of open windows on the side of the hostel but were either too small or too high for me to throw Fiona into. Just as we were about to go back to the club and see if anyone there had a code to get in, a very VERY drunk guy turned up. We thought he wouldn’t be much use to us until we saw what he had in his hand – a piece of white paper with the code to the hostel typed in large bold black Times New Roman lettering! Brilliant. We grabbed the paper off him and lingered long enough to ensure he got in ok too and then ran for our beds.

The next morning we attempted to recklessly ignore the 10am checkout time and sleep in as long as possible. Unfortunately the fecking cleaners came around at 10 on the dot and woke us up by rudely shouting to us to get out in Spanish. Ah well, at least all we had to do was wait around for a bus to El Chalten. Being uncharacteristically disorganised, we had failed to book a hostel in El Chalten. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue and we figured we’d just turn up somewhere and get a room. The problem was that El Chalten is a very small village situated inside the Glacier National Park itself and exists solely to accommodate travellers interested in spending a few days doing some serious hiking. As such, everywhere was booked out. We went from place to place only to be turned away each time. Finally, nearing the end of our respective tethers, we asked one of the hostels that had turned us down did they know of anywhere that wasn’t booked out. It turns out they did and they pointed out the window to a little grey shack with a sign propped against advertising $20 beds. 20 pesos is very cheap and we were a little skeptical. Sure enough as soon as we walked into the house we understood why it was so cheap. Our dorm was barely big enough for 3 beds yet somehow they had managed to squeeze in 15 beds! It was full of other travellers who had the same problem as us and when the room was full of 15 beds, their 15 occupants and their 15 backpacks, there was barely room to open the door. Still we were knackered from Patrick’s day and tired of walking around El Chalten and gladly accepted the bed.

On our first day in El Chalten we decided to hike to the base camp of Mount Fitz Roy. Fitz Roy is regarded as one of the world’s most difficult climbs. It’s summit is only reached on average once a year. So no prizes for guessing why we only hiked to base camp! The hike was difficult enough for the first 3 hours but with spectacular views of Fitz Roy itself surrounded by snow and an impressive glacier. However the final hour is a serious uphill climb and although we made it it took a lot out of us. Unfortunately thanks to the wind and cold we couldn’t spend more than five minutes at the top and hurried back down. Although the uphill bit was difficult, the downhill was almost as difficult – a real challenge to your ankles and knees. Then we continued on the 3 hours back to El Chalten. When we arrived back we were completely shagged out and equally as much, we reflected, as we were on the evenings of the Inca trail. After dinner we went to bed at around 8pm since we had to be up at 9pm for a 12 hour day of super-trekking.

The first 3 hours of super trekking took us to a campsite where we were fitted out with crampons and harnesses. Once this was finished we continued on to a river which could only be crossed by zipline. I was excited about trying my hand at ziplining however the strain took it’s toll on my arm and stomach muscles. Once we were all safely across the river, we continued on for a bit but soon had to climb upwards very steeply. After about 20 minutes of this we came to a clearing and spotted a glacier just below. This was our destination and so we spent another 20 minutes climbing down to it. At the bottom we donned our crampons and set off across the glacier. To actually be hiking across a glacier with the type of scenery all around you that Patagonia offers was an incredible experience. I couldn’t believe I was actually there. Soon we arrived at a kind of ice cliff and our instructor tore up it at a ridiculous pace to attach ropes to the top. Then we all had a go at climbing up it using ice axes and the spikes on the front of our crampons. While being great fun, it was very demanding. You have to use every muscle in your body to pull yourself up and when you fall and are dangling there from a rope it’s very difficult to get back into it unless you do it all the time. Nonetheless I made it to the top but hurt myself a fair bit coming back down. I pretty much just fell all the way down and being bashed against the ice didn’t help my already aching body.

To get back to El Chalten we had to do everything in reverse. That meant back across the ice, up the really steep hill, back down the other side, zipline across the river, an hour back to the campsite and then another 3 hours back to El Chalten. We acually finished the whole thing an hour early than everyone else as we literally ran back to El Chalten. We were so wrecked we just couldn’t wait to get back and rest. If I thought the previous day’s hike was tough, this was way tougher and definitely tougher thatn Inca Trail making it the most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done. Once we’d had a bit of rest and a massive meal (I’d only eaten a ham sandwich and a plum all day!) we reflected on the day and it was definitely worth it. An amazing experience even if it does require a few days R&R afterwards. As luck would have it we are about to embark on a journey to Bariloche in the lake district that will take the guts of 2 days. Normally this would be a massive inconvenience but at this stage of our trip we actually have a lot of time left for what we want to do and 2 days on a bus is perfect for relaxing after the super-trekking and preparing for the onslaught of Bariloche – apparently a big party place. Talk to you after!

Well we arrived in Ushuaia but sadly not without hassle. The flight departure time from Buenos Aires changed three times during the course of the day and when we got to the airport we found that it had been delayed. So we finally boarded the plane about 30 minutes after it was originally supposed to land in Ushuaia and after a flight full of stormy rain and turbulence we arrived in Ushuaia at last. After the sheer heat of the last two months I was absolutely gagging for some cool weather and Ushuaia didn’t disappoint. The first thing I experienced as I stepped off the place was a majorly refreshing cool 7 degree breeze which was crisp, fresh and clean. Unfortunately as we were delayed it was pitch black when we arrived and so had to wait till the morning to see the beautiful surroundings of Ushuaia. The hostel had these incredibly comfortable beds with duvets and as we snuggled down for the night we were grateful to be in a place that actually warrants the use of such warm bedclothes.

We had originally bookmarked our first day in Ushuaia for doing absolutely nothing. The last 3 weeks or so had just been full of activities and partying so all we wanted to do was spend the day reading and relaxing. And absolutely no alcohol! Unfortunately this plan was thwarted when we learned from a couple of Israelis at our hostel that buses out of Ushuaia were few and far between and that it is recommended to book the second you arrive in Ushuaia. And so we found ourselves on our day off walking around the town looking for bus companies which is the last thing I wanted to do. However, the Israelis were right. The soonest bus to Punta Arenas in Chile which is where my penguin lives wasn’t for 9 days! We decided that that was too long in Ushuaia and at the expense of seeing my penguin we booked a bus to El Calafate in Argentina. Gutted to get so close to my penguin and not see him but to wait 9 days and then go to Punta Arenas and THEN onto El Calafate would just take too much time.

Since we were down in the town we decided we might as well make the most of it and visit one of the several museums. It was the “Museum at the end of the world” which had all sorts off artifacts from the age of indigenous people. I don’t know how they survived in this cold weather with just a few flaps of seal skin to cover their meat and two veg. We then hit the supermarket as cooking for ourselves was something we hadn’t done in a long while and we were dying for some meat and two veg, not the indigenous variety. Dinner was good and we had an early night. The next morning we were up early since the Ireland V Scotland game was at 10.30am our time. The owner of Galway Irish bar promised us the day before that he would open early for the match however we were sourly disappointed when he turned up just before the game and wouldn’t let us in! We had also persuaded another group of Irish in Ushuaia who we knew to join us there and since they were out the night before and hadn’t slept yet, they weren’t very happy! We had to do something to appease the angry Irish mob so we decided to bring them back to our hostel which we knew had satellite tv. We only hoped that the game would be on ESPN – the South American sports channel. Sure enough it was and we were happy. But only for a short while. Ireland played far below their ability and were lucky to scrape a 19-18 win. Also, rumors that an attempt had been made on Ronan O’Gara’s life at the end didn’t help matters!

After the match we began our healthy living regime in earnest with a hike up a nearby mountain behind the village. Although the trail was poorly signposted we found our way somehow. Most of it was through a forest of thin, tall trees but as we got higher up, the trees became smaller and at the edge of the tree line they were mere stumps. Really weird! After the tree line we were onto the bare side of the mountain. We had already come a long way and the trail actually ended before the top of the mountain so we only continued a short way further up the mountain before turning back. The view over Ushuaia from the where we got to was incredible though. Again we cooked in, delighted with ourselves and although Fi went off for a few bevies with the Irish I still wasn’t ready to douse my liver in alcohol just yet and so headed off to the local cinema to watch Apocolypto – the new film by Mel Gibson. English films in South America are actually in English but with Spanish subtitles so I went along thinking I’d be fine. But as it turns out, the film is originally in Mayan, a South American indigenous language with English subtitles. So the Spanish version is still in Mayan but with Spanish subtitles. Having not taken Mayan in school I didn’t understand the dialogue but as it turns out the plot is simple enough to understand anyway. Another great sleep was had.

The next day was the arguably more important rugby match of the weekend – England v France. My hopes that England would actually pull through and win a game for us were low, especially since the messiah was missing. But they did it blowing the tournament wide open! And deservedly so too. Apart from the fact that Ireland have a good chance of winning the championship now, it will make for a good Paddy’s day on Saturday. We watched the game in one of the Irish pubs in Ushuaia with some English, Irish and a Frenchman. Because I hadn’t drank in a good few days, I was well up for a few beers. But one or two later, it was clear they weren’t going down well so I gave up on it. We just spent the day in the bar chatting to the various people and after some Fuegan lamb for dinner we hit the sack. The next morning we were up fairly early to catch the “train at the end of the world”. Everything in Ushuaia is something “at the end of the world”. But the train sadly promised a lot more than it could deliver. Crawling along at a snails pace with irritating music and cheesy commentary we were grateful to arrive at our destination – inside the national park. Here we embarked on a 4 hour hike up to the top of a mountain. The first two thirds was through the forest alongside a stream. The terrain was kind of difficult but fun as we had to duck under branches, hop across streams and drop down ledges. Soon the trees become smaller and less frequent and we found ourselves at the edge of the tree line with a great view over Ushuaia. Unfortunately from here on in, the terrain changed to an almost swamp like marsh. Fi stepped wrongly and as a punishment was up to the top of her sock in mud. Thanks to having lost a hiking boot I was actually walking in my good going out shoes and having seen what happened to Fi I said no thanks! So we decided to call it a day and turn back. We’d already done the majority of the hike including the most difficult bit so we didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty running back down to the bottom having not quite reached the top.

Being a bit wrecked the next day from our previous day’s hike, we figured we’d lie in and stroll up to see the nearby Martial Glacier at our own pace. We jumped in the overpriced chairlift that takes you within a 45 minute walk of the glacier (apparently). As it turns out, the “walk” is up a steep hill and at the top you can only see a view of the glacier. To actually get to the glacier and see it close up, a further hike is required which involves scaling the side of a large rock face to get to it. Although it wasn’t the easy stroll we had expected we decided to go for it since we were there. However close to the top, a serious mist descended and people from the top came back down leaving us alone on the rock face. Fi decided to stay just below the absolute top while I legged it up quickly. I didn’t spend long there and I was soon on my way back down to pick up Fi and head for the bottom of the rock face and out of the mist. We made it down fine and it was never really that dodgy but when we were on the side of the rock face and couldn’t see more than an arm’s length in front of us it was quite freaky. Being a sucker for punishment, the next day I actually climbed the glacier again. Fi didn’t join me this time but the general experience was better because I had bought some brand new hiking boots and there was a perfectly clear sky. Since we hadn’t drank in a while, we allowed ourselves a night out that night as it was our last in Ushuaia. We rocked into bed at 4am, just in time to get an hours kip before our 5am rise to get a bus to El Calafate. The bus was actually epic. For a start, we had to change buses in Rio Gallegos. On top of this, the route from Ushuaia to Rio Gallegos is through Chile. So we had to get off for Argentinian emigration, again for Chilean immigration, off again a few hours later for Chilean emigration and off a fourth time for Argentinian immigration. As a final annoyance, there was a ferry ride in the middle of all this causing more delays and more getting off the bus. Needless to say, only having one hour’s sleep didn’t help. And finally, since all your bags get checked at the Chilean border, all the nice food we had bought for the journey was confiscated resulting in having to settle for a second rate re-heated Milanesa in Rio Gallegos. Grrr!

Still we arrived in El Calafate in one piece at about half past midnight. Somehow we managed to book ourselves in for a tour to the Moreno glacier for the next morning. Not that surprising actually since the Moreno Glacier is the only reason anybody comes to El Calafate. The Moreno glacier is the world’s only static glacier. That is to say it is not growing or shrinking. While most of the world’s other glaciers are melting away, the ice in the Moreno glacier is replaced by snow on the south side as fast as it melts on the north side. This morning we embarked on the tour and it seriously impressed. On a trip like this where you are constantly exposed to new and amazing things, you become immune to amazing things and only REALLY amazing things actually amaze you anymore. But Moreno glacier did deliver. Our drive on the coach through the national park gave us a good view of the glacier as we approached it from a distance. Our first activity here was to take a boat right up to the glacier. Although the weather was quite warm in the national park, close up to the glacier it was bloody freezing! But it’s an awesome sight. This massive chunk of ice just sitting there right in front of you with loads of mini icebergs floating around the boat. After the boat ride, our tour guide (mmm) took us on a walk along the lakeshore to the side of the glacier. At this point we were actually closer to the glacier than we had been on the boat. Thankfully so as during the 45 minutes we spent there, sheets of ice of varying sizes calved off the glacier and plummet into the water with a mighty crack and a sound like thunder. The noise and waves caused by this calving seemed much bigger than it should for the size of the ice slices. After some time chilling out in the snack bar we boarded the bus for the 2 hour ride back to El Calafate. We are currently assembling our plans for St. Patrick’s day tomorrow. We initially thought it would be a bit of a non event since El Calafate is in the middle of nowhere – not even an Irish bar! However we have cobbled together a Motley Crue of Germans and Americans who are going to help us celebrate Paddy’s day and support Ireland in their quest for that elusive 6 nations trophy. We even managed to find an Irish girl from Kerry on the tour today who postponed her bus to El Chaltan tonight just to celebrate with us tomorrow. Should be an interesting one!

We only spent one night at the Brazilian side of Iguassu Falls. First thing the next morning we grabbed a taxi over the border to the Argentinian side. While the falls were impressive the day before, they are far more so from the Argentinian side. There are a couple of little one and two hour trails that lead through the rainforest with natural spots along the way for viewing the many individual waterfalls that make up Iguazu falls. There is also an iron walkway that leads out into the river to the very edge of the largest fall – the Devil’s throat. At the end of this walkway the view down over the edge of the falls is incredible. Also the splashback from the waterfall gives a refreshing respite from the vicious heat. Once wed walked all the trails we headed back to the bus station to wait for our overnight bus to Buenos Aires!

After the madness of Rio de Janeiro, we came to Buenos Aires with the intention of relaxing a bit. Forget it! Buenos Aires is as mental as Rio but in its own more chilled out kind of way. Everything really does happen later here. People wake up at 2pm, eat at midnight and don’t go out until 2am! We arrived about mid morning giving us time to see some of the city. We walked around downtown all day and headed back to our hostel to freshen up in anticipation of our first Argentinian steak. We decided to hit San Telmo that night as it seemed to have a good few cool bars there. It did! After a delicious steak in a small restaurant that the locals seem to use we hit the square where we sat listening to live jazz and drinking delicious red wine. We spent the rest of the night barhopping and having some epic chats where many of the world’s issues were discussed. Great first night in BA!

The next day we woke up at 2pmish which is pretty standard for the city. We decided to hit Recoleta and walk around the cool cemetery. Resting in the cemetery of Recoleta are some of Buenos Aires’ more affluent members of society. Some of the gravestones were impressive while others were just downright pretentious. Some of them were practically 2 storey houses! Amongst the people laid to rest there was Evita so we had the obligatory look at her grave. After this we went to see a kind of modern art museum nearby but headed back soon after for a nap before another night ahead. I can’t remember how it happened but we ended up back in San Telmo again! We had cooked dinner for ourselves so forwent the steak this time. But again we hopped from bar to bar until the end of the night.

Despite our late night we woke up pretty early the next morning. This was because we wanted to catch the craic in San Telmo square – yep. We went to San Telmo again! But this time not for the bars but the street entertainment and market. There was much fun going on with musicians, tango dancers and those guys who stand still and only move when you put money in their bucket. After wandering around the streets for a while we headed for Boca to see Caminito. This is a street with an assortment of brightly painted low houses made of wood and metal that burst upon the eyes in a scene that could almost be from somewhere in Scandinavia Also Boca Juniors had a big football match on that day and we went to see if there was any atmosphere around the town. Sure enough there was and we ended up getting caught in the crowds and being dragged towards the stadium. It was once we were there that we first considered actually going to the match. One thing led to another and after a lot of faffing around with dodgy ticket touts we found ourselves standing at the back of the terrace in the stadium about 20 minutes before kick off. Boca Juniors are the best team in Argentina – or so we had been told! At half time they were 1-0 down and really not playing the best. Soon into the second half San Lorenzo had scored another and the tension in the crowd was really heating up. Since we were in the cheapest area of the stadium where all the hooligans go for, we decided we would leave the match 10 mins early to avoid the crowds and getting caught up in any potential riots. However about 15 mins from the end, Boca conceded another goal. We ran! The second the goal went in we felt the tension go from bad to worse and we weren’t going to wait around and see how the fans would deal with the loss! Back at the hostel we abandoned our plans to cook for ourselves again. We could barely speak we were so fatigued so cooking was not something that we were going to do. We headed for San Telmo again for another steak. Since we were so wrecked we planned on just eating and hitting the sack. But once we felt the pull of San Telmo we couldn’t just go so once again, for the 3rd night in a row we found ourselves bar hopping around San Telmo. However we didn’t stay as late as other nights and had a reasonably early night for Buenos Aires.

Plans to go to Colonia Del Sacramento in Uruguay the next day were abandoned. The sheer lack of sleep in the last few days had exhausted my body and I just couldn’t do it. So for once I actually had a decent nights sleep. Instead we spent the day shopping. Fi and I went our separate ways for the day and I ran some errands I’d been planning on doing for a good while. We also changed hostels for boring reasons that I won’t go into. When we met up back at the gaff we bumped into a guy we had met in the other hostel and we went to see some percussion workshop/performance thingy that was on. Unfortunately we missed it by a week and it wasn’t on. So what did we do? Went to San Telmo for steaks! As Fi and Will had met a pair of Argentinians and were blabbering away in Spanish I decided to leave and find my own craic. I knew there was a party going on back at the hostel but it was crap. So I headed for a random bar where I met a few people and had the chat for a few hours before hitting the sack.

The next day we went to walk around Palermo which is an area of BA full of parks and green areas “perfect for smooching your honey” according to the lonely planet. After walking around these and the Japanese gardens, we also visited Evita’s museum. Back at the hostel we met a couple who were staying in our dorm. We had tickets for a tango show in café Tortoni but arranged to meet them in San Telmo afterwards. After Fi cooked up a delicious pasta and veg dinner we went to the tango show. It was amazing! Unfortunately flash photography wasn’t allowed and the non flash photos didn’t really come out. The first half of the show was kind of like a musical. The band consisted of double bass, piano and accordion. The music reminded me a bit of Jacques Brel. Three male and 3 female dancers danced the tango while acting out a scene at a brothel while a guy dressed as a waiter sang. We were suitably impressed at half time but had no idea the best was to come.

Just after half time we were treated to a couple of percussionists who gave a performance that I couldn’t even begin to describe. The rest of the show was a mixture of tango dances and singing. On a high from the tango we grabbed a cab to the bar in San Telmo where we met Graham and Jen. This was our wildest night and I think we arrived back at around 6am for a few games of pool at the hostel. The next day was a write off and we spent it in the cinema which was great for us since we hadn’t been in 2 months. That evening we had the obligatory pints in San Telmo again but this time we went to a bar down at the docks first to catch some of the atmos down there. Today it is lashing rain but really hot so I’m drenched in a mixture of sweat and rain. This evening we fly to Ushuaia where its apparently snowing and 0 degrees. Thank Christ! I’m beginning to get a bit sick of constant hot weather and sweating from morning to night. A bit of cold will do me good. Sadly though BA is probably the last of the really good weather we’ll get on the whole trip. With the possible exception of Cairns, any other hot places we’ll be in will be very overcast so we won’t get a whole lot of sun. Oh well! I guess I can’t keep this tan forever.

Some piccys from Brazil and Argentina to keep the masses entertained! You will notice a distinct lack of pics from Rio De Janeiro. This is because we were using disposable cameras there as you´re a sitting duck for muggers if you carry around your digital camera.

Street entertainment in San Telmo square, Buenos Aires