In this edition are stories of me crossing rivers on slack lines and battling fierce winds on the paso del viento. Except there aren’t.
There ought to be but once more life took a unforseen twist. The twist came not in the form of the border crossing to Argentina. That part went surprisingly smooth. After coming off the ship at Punta Arenas in the middle of the night and sleeping in the terminal I went with a taxi to the border around 2 hours away. That trip cost me about 100 EUR but no public transportation at the moment.
After waiting in different lines I went through the Chilean border quite easily. At the Argentinian side I had to present again a PCR test, health insurance coverage and a declaration. All my documents were accepted and I was through.
Now I had just to get to Rio Gallegos. I asked the first car owner and he agreed to take me along. We had a shortwhile ride and in no time I was in Rio Gallegos. How easy!
First thing I did there was enjoying an Argentinian steak with red wine. Oh yes! It was delicious!
Next day I took the bus to El Calafate and was quite shocked when I arrived. The city is a busy hub full of tourists and all kinds of stores. Not my thing but I cam here in order to see the Glaciar Petito Moreno. And It was worth it:
Next destination: El Chaltén (just about 3 hours to the north). This is the access point to Fitz Roy and seeing the mountain I remembered during my climbing years the stories I heard about this particular mountain. Now, so many years later, I finally see it. What a magnificent sight.
However, upon arrival my problems started. My throath started to hurt more and more and I was sure I cought a cold somewhere. I moved from the hostel to a hotel since I was not sure if it was something else and I didn’t want to risk anybody else (plus, I felt easier coughing in my room than with 5 other people in the room). At one point I went to the reception and asked for a doctor. My luck had it that this was Sunday evening. So, paracetamol it was. But the real difficult thing was the throath. It felt like on fire and I could barely drink something. Long story short, I overcame it and I’m still here 😉 I think a friend of mine is right when she says this was the Omikron version of covid. I don’t know, since I couldn’t test in that small town. But it prevented me from experiencing the stories I wanted to. By the end of my stay I was able to do a 3 day trek that is worth normally maximum 2 days and still managed to be exhausted. Nevertheless, it was good to be outside (again).
Now I am sitting in a bus that leads to Bariloche. Not a short distance and thus it is not surprising that it takes 24 hours to cross the 1.400 km. But I can read. Something I have done extensively the last days.
Covid measures are much more lax in Argentina than in Chile and maybe that was one of the reasons I got it. Who knows?
What I do realize is that the standard of living is very different from Chile. Much poorer. Not surprising since Argentina goes through a devastating crisis every couple of years.
One other thing that is interesting in the Patagonian cities I have seen so far is that there is mostly one-way traffic and the streets are structured in squares. Maybe it’s because the are not that old. I mean, El Chaltén is maybe 100 years max for example.
Another strange thing for me in Argentina is the Blue dollar rate and unavailability of cash. There is an official exchange rate (1 USD = 106 ARS). That one is applied if you pay with credit card or get money from an ATM. But you better not. Because if you go to a currency exchange, or even better, transfer money to yourself using Western Union you get double (around 220 ARS). The only hiccup is that often there is no cash available. I don’t understand. With an inflation rate of about 40% it wouldn’t make sense staying cash under the mattress!? I truly haven’t figured out the system yet but I try to pay nearly everything cash and so take advantage of the better rate.
This is a short report and only a few pictures. Maybe more luck the next weeks 🙂
Love,
Matthias