Hello everyone! Thanks for the updates! Glad your all well! Your holiday sounds lovely Grandad and Maggie- I love a good Greek salad! Well done on your walk Paul and glad your cold didn't hold you back for long! Auntie Debbie, I did see the dancing on Facebook and don't believe you're anything like that! Glad you got Jo back in one piece and he enjoyed a little bit of scenery outside the clubbing. I could quite easily become a nomad and just travel- I'm already planning my next trip to India! Daniel, I'm glad your little family are all good and am truly gutted that I'll miss you at Christmas! So keep the pics coming! Dad, I hope you haven't lost too much money on your recent racing outings and nice to see Ipswich doing well and Norwich losing 4-0. All very close in the league, but fingers crossed! Jake, I must admit my studying of the geography has not been a priority, although learnt a bit about ice glaciers and the changing boundaries of Buenos Aires.
So I got the bus to El Chalten on Saturday at 1pm after having a walk around the town and to a local nature reserve in the morning- bird heaven if you like that sort of thing! it was only a 3hr ride and very scenic with all the snowy peaks and turquoise lagoons! It is a tiny little village- very basic, but very beautiful as it's surrounded by mountains. I checked into my hostel and done some research into the hikes. Got chatting to an Irish guy in my dorm, but didn't really befriend anyone so I decided I would brave the hike to the mount fitzroy viewpoint alone the next day. Quite brave you may think, given my terrible navigational skills, but I was assured the path was well marked. So fairly early to bed to prepare myself, after a nice meal at a vege restaurant. I did try to book flights from el calafate to buenos aires, but i then got an email saying the price was only for Argentinians and it was going to be double, so I left it!
Sunday: set off on my hike about 9, they suggested it was 4.5 hours each way. It was a nice walk through the mountain woodland and up and down over hills. There was a cool viewpoint and luckily it was a popular trail so never far from someone to take my picture. It was a lovely day- warm and hardly a cloud in the sky! The time went really quick- I was thinking about my book and planning that and walking alone for 9 hours certainly gives you a lot of time to think. I got to the base of the main viewpoint, where the sign warns you that you must in good physical condition as it's very steep. It was certainly the toughest bit as it was very unstable, rocky and steep terrain. However, at the top it was beautiful! Looked down on the snow planes, then mountains and then the grey, stone peaks of mount fitzroy and the others, plus you can see several glaciers around in the mountains. I rested here and had my pack up, then climbed down to play on the snow and climb another small peak to get a view of the gorgeous turquoise lagoon full of chunks that had fallen off one of the glaciers! Then I headed back and made it under 8 hours! It was only 10.2km each way though. It was nice because you could drink the water from the streams, so I filled my water bottle with cold, fresh water.
Rachel had arrived at the hostel so I sat chatting with her and then two English guys who we'd met in el calafate also turned up, so we spent the night in the bar chatting which was cool.
Monday
Said farewell to Rachel who was off on the hike I done yesterday. I spent the morning chilling and walked around the tiny town a bit, then got the bus back to el calafate. I asked at the bus station how much it would be to bus to buenos aires and then went to the airline office and found it would be 100peso cheaper to fly and a lot quicker :) the flight was leaving in a few hours too, which worked well and the woman was super helpful and friendly, I think she must have a daughter! She even arranged a shuttle to the airport for me. So I had an hour to kill before heading to the airport, but it was nice sitting in the sun. While I was lurking, a couple from Taiwan come up to me and asked if I was going to the airport and wanted to share a cab. It was cheaper and easier than the shuttle, so I told the shuttle driver and then got a taxi with them. The airport was tiny and the security lax! However, the flight was very nice- I had a row of 3 seats to myself which was lucky as the leg room is a lot less than on the buses. They bought round free food and drinks, even though it was only a 3 hour flight! It was interesting flying in over the city, although a lot of turbulence as we come down. My friends from Tawain got a taxi to my hostel with me, saving me the price of my dorm for the night! I arrived about 11.30 and checked in. It's a huge hostel and could do with a proper clean and it's full of South Americans, but it's ok.
Tuesday:
Had the free breakfast and then decided to do the free walking tour from the hostel. Everyone else on the tour was South American except a couple from Dorset, so the guide done it in spanish then english. We got the bus to the Boca district which is the working class part of town at the mouth of the river. The buildings are all very colourful, coming from the European immigrants that landed here a long time ago. Learnt a lot about the history and culture. Then headed to a couple more districts- one really old area with lots of grand buildings. One really new, wealthy area. Plus saw the Boca Juniors football stadium and a nature reserve in the city that has been created on the top of an old rubbish dump. Headed back to the hostel. I had been talking with the British couple- they were really nice! We met up later and had the free meal in the hostel bar and they had a few drinks while we chatted and played Jenga.
Wednesday:
On a mission to sort my passport! I headed to the embassy, a 40 minute walk through the city! The woman was really friendly and helpful, but she was adamant that I should miss a country out of my trip so that I could now get my final passport to get me home, meaning I'd have lots of time to sort my american visa and stuff. She gave me the forms and a list of what I needed. Nearby was the recoleta cemetery where there are lots of famous and important people buried, eg Eva Peron. So I visited there. Most bizarre- huge great crypts all with fancy statues and decorations. But in lots of them are the coffins of the dead people, some of which are 50 odd years old! I swear it smelt of death! I mooched back, passed several parks where you got professional dog walkers with about a dozen different dogs of all shapes and sizes attached to them! Back at the hostel, I had my siesta and then met Lucy and Andrew to book tickets for a tango show- we choose a more expensive one with dinner and a tango lesson. I took my laundry to a laundrette- £2.50 to do it all! We walked to the venue- a really grand building decorated with all tango memorabilia! We had our lesson first and I loved it! I wasn't great, but I was better than most and it was really fun! Then we had a nice three course meal. The show didn't start til 10, but it was amazing! More of a cultural show than just tango. The dancing was fantastic- I don't know how they don't trip over each other's feet. It really is a beautiful dance! There was the musicians on stage playing live music. There were singers and then some gaucho style musicians come on playing the banjo, drum and panpipes! They were joined by a guy who danced while waving around a sheet and then used these balls on long pieces of string to swing around so they made music by banging on the stage, but also looked really cool! Never seen anything like that! One of the singers done an operatic, spanish version of "dont cry for me argentina" while they showed clips of Eva Peron- it was very moving! So a great night!
Thursday- said my farewells at breakfast to Lucy and Andrew, a really lovely couple! Then I headed to the embassy with all I needed. After much consideration I had decided that I would take her advice and miss out Uruguay- I spoke to people who had been and looked online and I don't think I will really miss anything! Plus, it means I can see the Igaszu falls from both the Argentinian and Brazilian side, as this is where I'll cross the border now. And it's good for my inca trail permit! So it made sense! She said it would be ready within a couple of hours, but I arranged to go back tomorrow. Found an amazing vege restaurant on the way back! It's a buffet and there must be 200 different hot and cold dishes- salads, every type of soya and tofu, sushi, pies, pastas, stir fries, etc. Back at the hostel I had my siesta- I'm getting good at this- I'm almost a local! Then I had a lot of admin bits to catch up on- boring! In my dorm is a family, where the mum is about 60, from Colombia. But she was on a top bunk, so she took the mattress off and is sleeping on it on the floor?! Haha!
Buenos Aires is a cool, lively city and it feels modern and safe and is about half the price it was in the South of the country which is weird for a capital city! But lots of people had really raved about it and I'm not sure its anything special! There is a big Creamfields concert on Saturday with David Guetta and lots of other big dance acts, part of me is tempted but I don't know if I can party til 6.30am and I swore after Ibiza that I wasn't really into these things! Rachel and Grainee might be going so we'll see.
Take care people! Keep the messages coming!