The bus journey to El Chalten turned out to be 22 hours not 20. We saw the La Trochita steam train in the distance not long after leaving Esquel - bonus. The only food we were served was a micro slice of pizza, a slice of meat stuffed with peppers, a lump of bread, a biscuit and a glass of water. Fortunately we did stop at a service station selling cheese and ham butties. In the service station was an old Dodge locked away in a white glass room - obviously someone's pride and joy. We saw plenty of Llamas and Rheas along the way and before it got dark had several films. The films all fall short of expectations, either it's in English and the sound is good but before you reach the end of the film the bus pulls into a bus depot the screens go off and when the journey resumes the film doesn't - you get a new film instead, or the film is in English but you can hardly hear a word of it - in which case you will see all of the film or lastly the film is in Spanish and yes you will see the all of it as well. We are getting quite good at picking out storylines without any audible or understandable dialogue. The journey was fine until a group boarded just for the night section. They sat behind us and one of them removed their shoes and the smell was horrendous. I was going to ask them to put their footwear back on but in minutes they were all asleep, the coach was in darkness and I didn't know which one was the culprit. Eventually I woke, it was light and the smell was gone - we hadn't stopped so they hadn't got off. They had moved upstairs to empty seats, presumably because of my snoring - revenge, ha ha. We arrived In El Chalten and it was positively cold and it rained! What a great place though, tiny in comparison with Bariloche, set in mountains with Mount Fitzroy and Cerro Torre visible as we looked for our hotel. We had read that everyone arrives here with a backpack and it seems to be true, it's a trekking Mecca. We fitted in with our packs but we don't quite blend in with the 'traveller' crowd - I need to grow long hair and a beard, and not wash my clothes and body for a while. To go the whole hog I will have to start smoking, maybe get a tattoo and have as much hanging from my pack as inside it! The supermarkets here (mini markets really) don't sell much but have an extensive range of pasta and sauces for camp stove cooking. The plan was 2 day walks and then a 2 day walk with an overnight camp. We had to book different hotels for our first two days to our night after our overnight camp - everywhere is so full. 1st day walk - 14.5 miles, blue sky, cracking views of Cerro Torre and it's glaciers, breathtaking. 2nd day walk - overcast and grey but clear mountains, 14 miles round trip to the summit of Loma del Pliegue Tumbado (1490 metres) - another great walk concluded with our daily ritual of a visit to the bakery for empanadas - cheapest so far but by far the best. Of course you need something to wash them down so a bottle of beer from the supermercado is the answer. Later that night the wind got up and I was awake with stomach cramps. I couldn't face breakfast so Donna kept me going in mugs of tea. Donna fared better than me but did have her toilet quota for 3 days in less than an hour - then she was fine. Lying in bed the trees were bending and trekkers were fighting the wind in the street outside. It was forecast to get worse as the day went on. El Chalten is only at 400 metres and our planned mountain campsite is at 800 metres. How windy was it going to be up there? The campsite has facilities - a brook for your water and a shovel for your toilet. In light of the weather and my condition we abandoned the 2 day trek. Out came the laptop to find some digs for the night, no rooms at our current hotel, fortunately we managed to get an extra night at the Hosteria we were going to after our abandoned 2 day trek. The receptionist saved the day, he informed us if we caught an 8.00am bus the next day (light winds forecast) 17km up the gravel track we could access our planned route from the north and still tick off most the places we wanted to visit - instead of walking out and back we would just be walking back from a slightly more distant point than planned. Then he suggested a short walk to do immediately. We set off into the raging wind, face protected from the dust and gravel with sunglasses and a buff. Just over an hour later we were at Chorrillo del Salto (waterfall), well worth the effort. The journey back was quicker than the way there as the wind just blew us along, our legs struggled to keep up with our bodies. Back at Hosteria El Alamo there is a long list of what you can't do in your room. No washing - so Donna did our laundry in the bath. No cooking - so I fried up some hot dogs on our camp stove that were planned to liven up our camp pasta meal. We bought postcards but nowhere here sells stamps - we were told you cannot buy stamps as they have to come by road and it's too far! It's not too far for the pasta and beer though (and everywhere sells postcards). We later found out there was a post office and they might have some stamps but it was closed for 2 days. Our last day hike was superb, the wind dropped and Mr blue sky arrived. We were rewarded with stunning views of Glacier Piedras Blancas after just an hour of walking. Donna was going to opt out of the slog up to Laguna de los Tres, but she was glad that she didn't. The views from there were overwhelming. It was a long walk of 22km with plenty of uphill but well worth it. We will miss El Chalten, there are no taxis here as the place is too small and there are mountain views from every street. It's a shame we didn't get to camp in the mountains but we still had a great time here. El Chalten is definitely more popular than Esquel but smaller than Bariloche and as a result we made a lot of friends here that we met repeatedly on the trails and in town - Canadians, Polish (living in sweden), Brits, an Argentinian / Italian couple who live in Belgium and more.