Rob2008

There was a sad farewell to Denmark (despite almost falling out the previous night over a game of the 500 cardgame) prior to hopping in a taxi to the huge bus station Terminal Santiago. I’d booked a ticket online a few days before with Andesmar and after validating my online ticket and checking in it was a short wait for the right bus to turn up before boarding it and settling in for the day (South American buses really did have the most comfy seats some of them were like 1st class plane seats). I‘d heard that the views across the Andes during the journey were spectacular so I made sure I booked a window seat and had my little music MP3 player fully charged. It was also going to be a border crossing (my last ... read more

The bus from San Martin to Pucon was an early 6am start and I recall getting up around 4.30am in order to get ready and take a stroll to the bus station. It was pretty quite with just a few shops open and the ticket office (although I’d purchased my ticket the day before). It was still dark but felt safe and the bus arrived late. Once we got going though all wa fine and it was a short 6 hour bus trip across the border into Chile. Pucon is another charming little alpine town in the heart of the Chilean Lake District. The town sits on Lake Villerrica and there is a little beach where you can chill out. It’s a great place to wander around dipping into cafes, artisan markets and museums. I stayed ... read more

San Carlos de Bariloche is a gorgeous town in Argentina‘s Patagonia region. It’s famous for its Swiss alpine style architecture, chocolate shops and stunning lake and mountain scenery. What more could you want? Maybe a super hostel with a sun deck? A great Irish bar? Craft beer? super steak on tap at the local supermarket? This town had it all!! The bus journey from Puerto Montt was actually really comfortable and i was getting used to these long bus journeys with reclining seats and air con. The journey lasted around 7-8 with a seamless border crossing thrown in and we arrived late afternoon. The navimag crew were all booked in different hostels and apartments but we all arranged to meet in the Irish pub (Wilkenny) that evening. I‘d booked myself, Denmark and Holland into a 4 ... read more

Torres Del Paine wasn’t on the original itinary as it meant doubling back from El Chalten however it was highly recommended by a couple of travellers and some others (Vincent from Holland) were heading in that direction so we went back to El Calafete for one night and then another long bus journey across the border to Chile and Puerto Natales. The border controls were quite strict as they don’t like you taking food across especially fruit so some bananas went out the window before we arrived at Customs. Otherwise the crossing was pretty uneventful and we arrived late morning. I’d booked into the Backpackers Kawashkar close to the town centre and the plan was to get organised and book the trekking for the next day (3 days/2 nights), one night back in PN and then ... read more

The flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate took 3 ½ hours with Aerolineas. The flight on 29thFebruary was at 7am so it was an early start with my Nokia alarm set for 5am. I bumped into quite a few people coming back from their night out on the way to the shared bathroom and I was glad I’d caught an early night and just watched Clint Eastwood’s new film Hoover on DVD. The taxi picked me up at 5.30am and it was starting to get light outside as we headed to the Ezeiza airport. The domestic terminal was quite busy with other flights going to Cordoba, Mendoza and Iguacu. I arrived around 10.30am and the airport is quite small so getting onto the shuttle bus and to the hostel America Del Sur took around 40 ... read more