Monday 26th November
Today we are a quarter way through our trip. We seem to have been in Argentina for ages, but we are moving on to Chile tomorrow and we will miss the great food and the coffee. The scenery and the people I think will be just as great. The economy in Chile is much more stable than in Argentina so, as visitors, it will be more expensive for us.
Checkout today is at 10am so we decided to have a lie in and then run to the waterfall before breakfast. We were curious that the route there seemed to just follow the road, but on the way back found the footpath that wound around the side of the mountain giving great views over the town and the river valley.
Bill (in front, as usual) disturbed a hare and we saw a now familiar collection of birds, as well as a black-crowned night-heron. The waterfall was lovely and fell into a deep clear pool that looked very welcoming, although the sign forbade swimming.
Back for breakfast and showers / packing and then a lovely relaxed hour in the ‘happy place’ on the top floor of the hotel which has a huge comfy window seat in the eaves, looking out over the mountains and village, which is where I am sitting now...
We decided to head into town to pick up some empanadas for our picnic lunch - shock horror - the nice Argentinian bakery nearby had sold out. We located another panaceria near a shop selling local artisanal goods. The hand woven goods were beautiful colours that reflected the mountain colourscape on a sunny day. Kathy had to exercise self restraint as space and luggage allowance was already borderline...
We tried La Cerviceria for coffee. Kathy thought I was taking her to the ‘service area’ rather than the local brewery...! We ordered 2 latte and the charming bubbly waitress informed us the term in Spanish is lacrimosa- a glass of hot milk with a teardrop of coffee! The cafe walls were covered with old multinational newspapers that had become faded and worn. Vintage climbing kit decorated the room and the lights were set into old tree stumps hanging from the ceiling. We watched some wonderful food being served from the kitchen and finally gave in to ordering lunch - and receiving complimentary nibbles in the form of savoury popcorn, and a small pottery bowl of vegetable soup with home made crisp savoury pastries. Main course was an excellent baked pumpkin dish and another bowl of Locro - the local staple- beef and sausage stew with butter beans, pearl barley and carrots. All served in local hand madd pottery dishes. The in-house brewed craft ales - ‘Blond’ and ‘Bock’- were also tasty. Everything about this place charmed us completely.
Finally we set off for a quick nature ramble part way along the only route that we hadn’t tested- the path south west towards Loma del Pliegue Tumbado. We climbed up through woods and then open alpine grasslands / scrub in the sunshine for an hour or so, and then went back down to the hotel. We squeezed in a couple of cups of tea in the comfy hotel lounge before heading to the coach station.
The return coach journey from El Chalten back to El Calafate was just as pleasant as our outward trip. Comfortable seats, leg rests, air conditioning, spectacular scenery and warm sunshine. We sat back and read all about the next stage of our journey - the Torres del Paine National Park - and the famous hikes and landmarks there.
On arrival, the taxi driver was waiting to whisk us off to the Patagonia Queen hotel for a hot bath, a cold beer and dinner.
All checked into room 101, we set off in search of dinner. The local guide we met last night recommended two places - ‘Mi Rancho’ (closed) and ‘Isabel Cocina al Disco’. The latter is nothing to do with dancing but all about gaucho style cooking pots like flat bottomed cast iron woks in which Argentinian portions of meat and vegetables are cooked and served. We arrived after 10 but still had to wait for a table and got chatting at the bar to a local guide we’ll acquainted with all sorts of helpful information - including the best local beer!
Dinner arrived. We shared a main course - four large chunks of fillet steak served in creamy mushroom, peppercorn and onion sauce with roast potatoes. The place was absolutely buzzing. Once again several groups arrived after we had started dinner, including two families with young children. We are baffled as to when the Argentinians actually sleep!
After dinner we wandered home enjoying the sights of El Calafate by night - an all night cake shop, a first floor bar, fitted out like a library, with floor to ceiling windows, most of the shops still open...!
Back at the Patagonia Queen, however, all was quiet and we tumbled into bed, anticipating our early start tomorrow.