Esquel is a fairly small, uninspiring town. We arrived around dinner time and decided to eat out, amazed by the prices we encountered for basic meals. Argentina had been on the expensive side when we first visited 10 months earlier. Now it was even more so, though we can't be sure if this was due more to the 30-40% annual inflation or the fact that we were getting further south.

Our next destination would be Futaleufú just back over the Chile border, but buses only run every second day, so we had to spend another night in Esquel. This meant finding something to do!

The only real activity is the La Trochita train. This narrow gauge (75cm) railway used to run between Esquel and El Maitén and had been brought to the region after WW2. It had been hugely important for freight movements, and passengers alike from the 50's or 60's.

These days it only runs for about 2 hours from each end of the old track, which isn't far with a top speed of 40kms/hr. From the Esquel end, this took us to a small town called Nahuel Pan.

We arrived at the station half an hour before departure and watched the small engine leave its maintenance hut and hook up with the carriages. While there are first class cabins with padded seats, apparently being a foreigner and having to pay more than twice as much as nationals doesn't entitle you to this luxury. We were banished to the second class Cabins with wooden seats.

As we set off, the guide started to provide a background on the train and the trip we were taking. There was a guide in each cabin. Being the only English speakers on board/only foreigners willing to pay double, we were given an mp3 player with English audio guide.

The train slowly wound its way out of Esquel through some nice landscapes, with the slow progress making it easy to take in the sights. After about an hour and a half we arrived in Nahuel Pan where we were given 45 minutes to explore.

Nahuel Pan is supposedly an old native town, but if it was there don't seem to be any remnants of that. It seems now to be set up solely for the arrival of tourists on this train. Most of the few buildings don't seem very old, and the cars of all the people selling things are lined up behind the buildings. Obviously they have driven from town to meet the train!

We took this chance to take some photos of the engine, a steam engine that had been converted to burn fuel rather than coal. Once the 45 minutes was up we made our way back to Esquel.

The next morning we set off to Futaleufú, back in Chile but only 2 hours away.

LAPFWT