The Promised Land of Steak and Wine

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Buenos Aires
We arrived in Buenos Aires feeling like middle-aged housewives of a morning, following our champagne and Valium-fuelled bus ride from Iguazu Falls. Jimmy, Dylan and I were staying at the renowned party hostel- ´The Milhouse´, in downtown B.A., which turned out to be a trap for all the young Pommie and Aussie backpackers who never seemed to leave the bar. We found that out on our first night, but luckily for us, a friend (Pablo) of a friend from back home was a local and keen to show us around.

First things first though- we were in the land of cheap steak and wine and we had been hanging for weeks to try them. Dinner hours in Argentina range from 9-12, but we were too hungry to wait until then. Jimmy and I had said we would do the ´week steak challenge´ -a steak for dinner every night we were in the city so famous for it. I think we started off at too high of a standard, when we went to a small place with great atmosphere in nearby San Telmo. You could have cut the steak with a spoon it was so tender, and with chips and a bottle of wine it still only came to around $10AUD each!

Later on, Pablo took us to some locals´ bars in the trendy suburb of Palermo on our first night, and we got a taste of why the locals are so passionate about B.A.

The hostel was really good for one thing, its in-house travel agent. On speaking to the guy about our options to get down to Patagonia, he mentioned there was a 1-day flight special that meant we could fly straight there in 3 hours for the same price as taking two buses totally 40 hours! To return from the far south of Chile, there was a ferry that departed once to Puerto Natales. The plan was perfect, we could get the cheap flight, spend 9 days in southern Patagonia, then relax on board the ferry to get part-way back up.I quickly emailed the whole group we had been with in Florianopolis, and not surprisingly they all wanted in.

Luke and Bear arrived from Uruguay that day and we had dinner at a local corner restaurant near their hostel. Jimmy and I had an o.k. steak while the boys went for the more traditional Argentinian Parillada- a mixture of bbq beef, chicken, chorizo and blood sausages and entrails. We later went out with some boys from the hostel that night to some clubs in Palermo.

The next day we went to visit the famous Recoleta Cemetery, known for its ornate tombs and its most famous resident- Evita. On finding hers, amongst the little city of wealthy graves, we put on American accents and asked some other tourists if this was Madonna´s grave. We then walked back through the wealthy shopping district and visited an amazingly converted old theatre, now bookstore. We visited some of the impressive national buildings like The Congress, and back via one of the widest avenues in the world- ´Avenida 9 de Julio´ (so big you need at least 2 green lights to walk across).

Our steak that night was at a restaurant in Palermo. It was a decent steak and still cheap, but we vowed to return earlier tomorrow night to get into the famous ´La Cabrera´ after some of the other boys returned with stories about steaks too big to finish (I know it sounds absurd). Later on we relented and joined the hostel bus group going to ´Pacha´ nightclub- the B.A. arm of the worldwide chain of super-clubs, located on the edge of the river. People go to Pacha knowing that its going to be a ´sunrise night´- taking sunglasses for the inevitable. The club and music were pretty amazing, and luckily for us that didn´t have sunnies, it was an overcast morning the next day.

After a few hours sleep we took the subway out to River Football Stadium to watch a Sunday afternoon game. Unfortunately the more famous Bocca Juniors weren´t playing during the week, so we had to settle for their main local rivals, River. Unlike Brazil where you could buy beer in the stands, Argentinian football is alcohol free (and they still have massive riots). There were even police breath-testing fans on their way in, meaning you couldn´t drink up before hand! Security was tight, as a group of us went and sat on the edge of the fanatical home team section. The skill level was pretty good, with one cracking 40m strike, but apparently it was their second string side against a weak opposition. Just like at Maracana Stadium in Rio, at halftime a massive thunderstorm rolled in and it bucketed down. We decided to leave and get a cab home, but we heard they called off the game with 10 minutes to go because there was so much water.

It continued to pour all afternoon and it caused havoc on the roads. We took a cab back to get that hyped up steak at La Cabrera, but because of the high water levels, our taxi driver stopped 10 blocks short and said he couldn´t go any further! We had to wade through small rivers and hide under shelters along the way as it pelted down. We eventually made it and the steak was as huge as people had said (but still finishable) and the wine was amazing. Pablo joined us and afterwards took us for a tour of the city´s more up-market bars. Even though it was a Sunday night, it was great to see some of the really classy places in B.A., including a converted mansion and a hotel bar with a huge negative-edge pool outside and swan-sculptures for taps in the toilets.

We spent the final two days visiting the Bellas Artes museum and nearby park with a huge mechanical flower sculpture, as well as going out to Bocca- Diego Maradona´s colourful neighbourhood. For our steaks, we returned for another ´spoon´ steak at our original place after Jimmy and I went to see a local Tango show- giving us a new-found respect for the dance. Jimmy tested out the other part of the beasts when he bought 2 leather jackets for a bargain price. For our final night we booked ahead and took Dylan and Bear to La Cabrera for one last massive slab of meat, before the rest of our Patagonia-bound crew (Tarpey, Sophie and Scotty) arrived later that night. After a few beers, we went straight to the airport to get our 4am flight.

Patagonia
Our first view of Patagonia was at sunrise from the plane´s window and of the flat, dry plains below. One solitary, snaking river cut through the brown desert and shimmered in the morning sun. On landing we could see the impressive snow-capped peaks of The Andes in the distance. We took cabs to the lakeside town of El Calafate and checked into a hostel. We then snacked on some tasty empanadas as walked around town, trying to sort through the myriad of tours on offer at the various agencies. We booked in for the afternoon bus trip out to the Perito Mereno Glacier, a couple of hours away on a scenic road.

While it had been sunny in town, the clouds were hanging over the mountains as we approached. We got a glimpse a few kilometres away of one of the few glaciers in the world that´s still advancing, and the view kept getting better. The bus soon stopped in a small bay and we boarded the boat for a trip out to the glacier. Just as the boat rounded the corner and into view of one of the glacier´s main faces, the sun began to appear through the clouds, revealing the full range of blues in the huge ice wall ahead of us. We were all braving the cold winds on the top deck as we were taken up close to the 30 metre high face and drove across the whole front. As we were heading back, a chunk of ice broke off from the front and crashed into the freezing water, causing a 30cm wave to radiate outwards towards us. It was just a taste of what was to come.

Back on land, we were driven over the hill to the boardwalk viewing platform above the glacier. From there we could see its both faces as well as all the way back up into the valley where it was slowly creeping down from. With a few hours until we returned, we simply sat and watched the glacier intently, almost sensing its 1m per day movement. Every time a chunk cracked off, we let off a big cheer and marvelled at the small swell it produced as the (now) iceberg hit the water. We were mesmerized by the creaking and groaning as if the glacier was alive and we tried to predict where the next piece would break off from. With some beers and snacks, we seriously could have sat there all day, just waiting for the next chunk to crack and fall.

The next day we got an afternoon bus to the small, dirt-road town of El Chalten a few hours north. We had two, 22km treks in mind to do in two days, but by the time we arrived and checked into a hostel, it was already 6pm. Still, ´Team Unprepared´ were willing to still give it a shot. We had named ourselves that due to our lack of any kind of hiking gear or planning for Patagonia. Between the 8 of us, we only had 1 pair of proper hiking boots, while the rest of us had runners, street shoes or thongs. Jimmy planned on doing all his hiking in jeans, Luke had running tights while Dylan and Bear wore colourful board-shorts. We headed up the path in the sunny afternoon light, getting plenty of strange looks from hikers on their way back to town. After a couple of hours of scenic walking through small forests and around lakes, we scaled a small rise to see another glacier and a lake it was feeding, in front. With no one in sight, it was peaceful to take a break and study the frozen river and surrounding mountains. As someone put it, the peaks looked almost fake as how a small child would draw them at schools- sharp and high, like dragon´s teeth.

We made our way back towards town, stopping to look back at the snowy peaks and spot shapes in the mountain face, similar to cloud-watching. The last section was pitch black and with one small torch between us (go team!), it made it hard to spot the path. We eventually saw the lights of town and made it back safely around 11pm. Our idea was to have a quick meal and get to bed, so we picked a restaurant with no customers so the service would be faster, or so we thought. We knew we were in trouble when after all ordering steaks, the owner/ chef/ waiter began climbing into his deep-freezer to retrieve the meat that would (much later) become our steaks. The one-man operation was taking so long to prepare our meals, we all placed bets on how long it would take before we were eating. We even helped ourselves to ´Quilmes´ beers (great name and great beer) from the fridge, so he could concentrate on cooking. After several hours of waiting, our food arrived and it was definitely not worth the wait. We´d had some amazing steaks in Argentina already, but this one was right up there as one of the worst of our lives. Still, after plenty of Quilmes, we were able to laugh about it as we finally made it home at 2am.

After a decent sleep, the next morning we picked up some sandwiches from a store and headed off towards the famous Fitz Roy Range. The weather was again perfect as we hiked up to the first viewpoint of the prominent and stunning peaks. The path went over the ridge and down to a lush riverside valley below, where we stopped to drink from the freshest and clearest water I´ve ever tasted, flowing in the glacial streams. From there it was a sharp incline, with switch-backs up the steep face to the edge of the glacial lake, at the base of the range. The view was awe-inspiring, with the frozen glaciers suspended on the steep mountain face, while the sky-blue lake stood out against the brown rocks and dirt. We stood there and had trouble regathering our breath because of the sight in front of us. The others arrived soon after and had similar reactions. After we all exclaimed how amazing it was, everyone then seemed to take a moment for themselves to take it all in. Several people listened to a moving track on their mp3 players- which for Bear and Dylan was some classic Pavarotti. After plenty of group shots, some of us walked down to the edge of the lake to look around the corner and the valley below. It was a huge rock-face basin with a dozen waterfalls pouring down from the glaciers perched high in the peaks above and slowly melting in the warm sun. We returned back to town and got on a bus back to El Calafate, exhausted.

The next afternoon we took a bus across to Puerto Natales, Chile, and checked into a hostel run by a friendly woman we called ´mum´. Mum was extremely helpful, organising everything for us for our last-minute plan of camping in the famous Torres del Paine National Park, and putting on a decent spread for brekky too. We did a big shop for supplies the next morning and got a bus/ ferry to the start of the trail the next afternoon. Team Unprepared were again in fine form and it was clearly highlighted as we exited the boat and passed the line-up of hikers getting ready to board for the return trip. We got some more looks of bewilderment as we passed the line of serious hikers, all decked out in black gore-tex, gloves, beanies, hiking boots with hiking poles in hand. In contrast we had Jimmy- on his way to a nightclub in his black jeans and T-shirt, Dylan and Bear about to hit the beach in their bright boardies, Luke strolling in his thongs, Tarpey off to class with his school bag, Scotty wearing a beanie that looked like rugby headgear, Sophie hobbling with a knee injury already and myself in shorts and T-shirt. For food rations, ´Sub-Team Posh and Becks´ (Tarpey, Sophie and Scotty) were carrying 2 whole roast chickens, cheese and biscuits, and were the only ones who didn´t need a stove to cook their meals on. ´Sub-Team Brosnan´ had $50 worth of fruit and nuts, sandwiches and some pasta dinners, while out of the Solo Sub-Team´s, ´S-T Gourmet´ (Luke) clearly had the edge over ´S-T 2-Minute Noodles´ (Dylan) and ´S-T Random Ingredients¨ (Bear), with his fancy food and bottle of Pisco. We had one pot between us, but no way of heating it. The success of our meals would depend on the kindness of strangers- go team!

We set off with our heavy packs in the fading light and strong winds towards our 1st camp, situated next to the Grey Glacier. We made record time and set up our borrowed camp gear, before cooking our first meal on a borrowed stove. In the morning we went up a small bay opposite the glacier, where a group of icebergs had collected after breaking off and being blown across the lake. Luke silently went over and began crawling his way across the closest one. We soon followed him on the slippery bergs, hopping across as far as we could. We returned to pack up camp and hike 20 odd kms to the next site, at the foot of a foggy valley. That night we fell asleep the sound of occasional ice-avalanches, high in the mountains behind us.

The next morning the fog had turned to drizzle and after walking part way up the valley with no visibility, we pulled the pin and instead went straight for the next camp. We stopped along the way to take a quick swim in the freezing glacial lake, with Luke, Bear and Dylan getting some looks of disgust from other hikers by swimming naked. Arriving late afternoon, we were relieved to discover we were allowed a fire at that camp, meaning we could cook our dinner the old fashioned way. In the middle of the night we were woken up by the sound of wind rushing down from the mountains. After a 10 second delay, the same gust violently hit our camp and immediately pulled our tent pegs out of the ground. It continued to happen for the rest of the night, even after securing the tent 3 times and putting logs on the edges for extra weight. At one point the teeth of the internal zip were coming apart in the middle! In the morning, it looked a bear had attacked our 2 tents, but S-T Posh and Becks´ tent had remained untouched. We left our gear and headed up the final 7kms to the Torres del Paine Mirador. The last section was steep and extremely windy, but the view was spectacular and the 2 sharp peaks were almost alien-looking. With freezing rain and winds that was knocking people off their feet, we didn´t hang around too long and headed back down the mountain. We returned to our camp in the valley, where amazingly, it was warm enough to sun bake in the sun. We took a bus back to Puerto Natales and to mum´s place to stay the night and collect the rest of our gear. We filled in the next day buying booze for the ferry trip and Jimmy, Dylan, Bear, Luke and myself stumbled across a 2nd hand clothing store with enough stylish bathrobes for us to purchase.

Navimag Ferry
That night we boarded the cargo/ passenger ferry with dorm-style bunk beds and lockers. The vessel had a dining/ movie room and upstairs was a bar and a big sun-deck with over sized chessboard. We were given a briefing of what the next 4 days would involve and our course through the Chilean islands and fiords. The next morning all 5 of us turned up to breakfast in our robes, getting some laughs from the staff, but weird looks from the mostly serious Patagonian-hiker crowd. It was even stranger when I spent the whole day in mine and showed up for lunch and dinner in it (the others were complaining they were too cold outside on the outside decks). For the next 4 days we rested our legs and exercised our livers with multiple bottles of cheap wine and the national Chilean spirit- Pisco. When the weather was good we were out on deck enjoying the sun or playing chess and watching as we passed glaciers, fiords and snow-capped mountains. During bad weather or the open-water crossing, we watched movies and drank more. I managed to stay in my robe for the entire journey, while the other boys pulled them out for special occasions. The final afternoon, we watched a great sunset and rainbow from the deck before dinner, and had a bingo night/ disco to cap it off. The only complaint was the food was a big let down for the money we paid, being both plain and small in size.

Bariloche
We arrived in Puerto Natales on St Patrick´s Day and went straight to the bus terminal to get a bus to Bariloche, Argentina. The Andean crossing was spectacular and the vegetation was much more lush here in Northern Patagonia. We made it to the recreational town of Bariloche at night, barely seeing the huge lake that sat in front of it. We checked into a basic hostel for the night and found a delicious steak restaurant, before washing it down with a beer in an Irish Pub.

The next day we changed to one of the most comfortable hostels we´ve ever stayed at. Essentially a big wooden house, it had a kitchen that was better equipped than most houses, a big TV room and even its own Parilla bbq grill in the yard. With the area resembling the European alps and Argentina being sympathetic to fleeing Nazi´s, Bariloche has a large German and Swiss heritage. Apart from its skiing in winter and hiking in summer, this has resulted in a great quality and quantity of chocolate in the area. In the main street, every 4th store is a chocolate shop. After getting some great ´street meat´ from a guy selling chorizos in a roll with salsa, we embarked on a chocolate crawl. Similar to a pub crawl, the idea is to visit every chocolate store you see and have one piece of chocolate at each. We even found what is possibly the richest hot chocolate ever- which was essentially a cup of melted chocolate. Needless to say we were satisfied at the end of it. That night we went to a butcher and bought our own steak to cook on the hostel´s parrilla grill for a Team Unprepared farewell dinner. With the Easter weekend coming and accommodation becoming difficult to find, Luke, Dylan, Bear and Scotty were heading north the next day, while Jimmy, Tarpey, Sophie and I were heading 2 hours south. Its not just restaurant steaks that are cheap and delicious in Argentina, with our 1st parilla attempt being a ¨great success¨.

We took a bus the next day down to the hippy-retreat town of El Bolson, situated next a glacial river in a beautiful valley. Being Easter, we continued our sweets binge at the local food and craft market and at a great ice cream place. We also discovered a gourmet empanada shop that made to order and had such recipes as smoked trout. Another farewell and another steak dinner, as Tarpey and Sophie headed back to B.A. the following day. Jimmy and I rented some mountain bikes and spent the day riding on some fun tracks in the nearby hills and forests. The next day we returned to Bariloche to visit the ski mountain of Cerro Catedral, getting great views over the lake and back country. We went back to our cosy hostel and wasted no time returning to our favourite street-meat vendor and chocolate shops. We again cooked a delicious steak dinner on the Parrilla grill, this time with a rare salad to go with it and the Quilmes. The next day we took some Canadians from the hostel to what they confirmed as the ´best hot chocolate ever´, before getting an overnight bus up to Mendoza with the aim of switching from chocolate indulgence to wine.

Mendoza
We arrived in the leafy city of Mendoza in the early morning and went for a walk around town, visiting some of its many parks- designed as clear areas for future earthquakes. In the afternoon, we took a bus out to the nearby famous wine area of Maipu, where we rented some mountain bikes to do a bike-winery tour. It was such a relaxing way to do a winery tour, and quite funny to see the standard of tourists´ riding deteriorate throughout the day. We tasted and bought some nice wines- particularly the Malbacs and a rare Torrontes. We also tasted some locally distilled absinthe at the end of the day and met some Argentinian guys who were doing similar. We took the bus back together and went for some beers at a outdoor pub back in town, before they had to return to B.A.

The next day, Jimmy and I took a bus out to the small town of Uspallata to stay at a health retreat-type hostel. Our reason was to go out to the foot of the highest peak outside the Himalayas- Mt Aconcagua, at 6,962 metres. We would have loved to climb it, but didn´t have a spare 2 weeks. The altitude at the foothills was still 3,500m, and you sure noticed the lack of oxygen on even a small incline. The 2nd most prominent mountain in the world was epic, but hard to put in perspective at 10kms away and 3.5kms below its peak. It wasn´t until we read on the information sign that the glacier on the edge facing us was 300m thick! We were also amazed that we walked for a few hours in its valley and didn´t see another person. Only when we were heading back did we see a few tourist vans turn up. That night we went out for one last Argentinian steak, which true to form was delicious and cheap. We returned to our hostel to drink a bottle of wine and look up at the clear stars, recalling what a great time it had been in Argentina/ Chilean Patagonia. The next morning we were heading back into Chile (only 50kms away), but like Brazil we were sad to be leaving Argentina- for now.

Highlight
One word- Patagonia.

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Photos

Welcome to Tango Country
Street graf at Iquazu Falls

Buenos Aires
When the city comes to life- late at night

B.A. Bookshop
The grand ex-theatre, now bookshop

Night Owls
Jimmy, Luke, Dylan and I at Pacha

River Stadium
Just before it really fitted its name, courtesy of those black clouds

Bocca Street Art
Paintings of their king- Maradona

Tourist Sign
How you often feel as a tourist

Tango Show
The skilled dancers do their thing for the dinner crowd

Now That´s a Steak!
The hearty portions at La Cabrera

Patagonia Skies
Above the Perito Mereno Glacier

Perito Mereno Glacier
Watching from above for sections to break off

Afternoon Hike
Our late trek out from El Chalten

Team Unprepared
In front of the photogenic Mt Fitz Roy

Iceberg Walking
Luke lays claim as the first human on this berg

Glacier Lake Swimming
Tarpey tests the water

Camping in Torres del Paine N.P.
The calm before the storm- when the tents were still standing

Torres Del Paine
Jimmy and I in front of the Torres del Paine peaks

Navimag Ferry
Our trusty vessel

Oversized Chess
Me (in my ship robe) battling Scotty

Last Day Sunset
On the top deck

Fangio Fuel
Normal, Super or Fangio Racing Fuel? (the equivalent of having Schumacher fuel in Germany) And yes, even it is less than 90c a litre!

Parrilla Grill BBQ
Jimmy, getting excited about more meat for dinner

Chocolate Heaven
The 2nd food group in Bariloche

El Bolson Scenery
The ´alternative´ town´s central park

SPLIF Indicator
What every hippy town needs

Mendoza Wineries
Where riding and drinking is encouraged

Mt Aconcagua
10kms away, just shy of 7km above sea level and the glacier, mid-face on the right side is 300m thick!