Argentina Part 1- Long Bus Rides, Lots of Wine, and Spectacular Mountains.

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A couple months have passed since we successfully left Bolivia behind and started our journey to "the southern most city in the world" Ushuaia, Argentina. The following details our tremendously long journey down the entire length of Argentina, 3,200 miles.

Salta and Cordoba

We spent a couple days in each of these cities. Both had nice plazas, beautiful colonial buildings and impressive churches. There was really no draw with either place, just good stops between long bus rides.

Mendoza-Malbec Country

By the time we reached Mendoza we had already spent 35 hrs. on buses and hadn't even gotten a third of the way down through Argentina. We had also incurred another bus meltdown that left us stranded in the middle of nowhere for a few hours waiting to transfer onto a different bus.

We found a great hostel in the heart of the city that had an awesome patio covered in grape vines. Our first day we wandered around the city, talked with others at the hostel to get the skinny on the winery tours, and then in the evening had a crash course on the regions wines with a tasting at the hostel. I have never fancied myself a wine connoisseur and have stayed away from it like the plague for the last few years due to a few evenings that found me over-served and praying for a quick death the following day. On the other hand, we all know Becky likes wine just as much as she likes chocolate milk and can consume mind boggling quantities of both.

The most economical way to see the bodegas (wineries) was to do-it-yourself. Seeing how after a week we were still in sticker shock about how expensive things were in Argentina this is what we choose to do. After no little feat of finding a place that sells cards for the public bus and loading the card up with enough pesos we headed out to Maipu, just outside Mendoza. Here we rented bikes, got a map of the bodega locations, then pedaled off and immediately got lost on some country road, and this was before we had any wine. Once back on track we found Trapiche. This was one of the largest bodegas in the country with huge annual exports all over the world. The winery was over a century old but had undergone a major facelift and modernization. The tour was good but neither one of us really cared for the wine.

Back on our bikes we cruised by a brewpub and swung in for a cold one and our new favorite food, empanadas. We thought it pretty red neck to be drinking beers in wine country, but the artesian beer was way better than the wine we had just tasted. After a long ride we were at the Familia Di Tomassi bodega. This place was sweet. It was a small family run operation dating back to 1869. They have limited production and their wines and they are only available at a handful of places in Argentina. The tour was exceptional and the wines excellent. Becky enjoyed their Malbec so much we picked up a bottle for a hefty $10. It should be noted that the only thing we found cheap in Argentina is the wine. One can get a very decent bottle of Malbec for $3-5. The wine was often less expensive than bottled water. We hit one more bodega that day which was rather unremarkable. We hopped back on the bus both completely sober, for the time being, and returned to Mendoza. In all we learned a great deal about grapes and winemaking etc. throughout the day and enjoyed cruising around at our leisure.

That evening back in the hostel we had a Mate (pronounced mah-tay) tasting class. Since we entered Argentina we saw literally everyone carrying around a thermos while drinking out of a hollowed-out gourd (a mate) using a metal straw (bombilla). We had no idea what the deal was or the ritual surrounding it, but found out that evening. Yerba mate (or just mate, the tea and the gourd are called by the same name) is an unbagged tea/herb that has effects similar to that of caffeine. It comes in many different blends and can be very bitter or sweet depending if sugar is added. It is a social event to consume Mate and there are a number of rules of etiquette, which we broke often. That evening we sat and sipped mate and learned all about the culture for about two hours. Let's just say trying to jump out of a mate circle is harder than jumping out of a gang.

San Carlos de Bariloche

Back on the bus again headed further south. Our next ride took us to Bariloche in the lake district of northern Patagonia. Bariloche is a beautiful resort town located on the shores of Lago Nahuel Haupi. There are a couple ski resorts just outside town and the place kind of reminded us of a Colorado ski town, just not as much glam, but the added bonus of the lake. It was Super Bowl Sunday so that evening we found an Irish pub that had the game televised. At kickoff we were the only two in the bar, but by halftime were joined by a few other Americans who had been wandering all over looking for the game. We enjoyed the game and camaraderie of other football fans. The only bummer was they didn't show any commercials on ESPN Vivo and also no sound. We chilled in town for the next few days and decided to get a rental car for 4 days.

Over the next four days we drove the shit out of a Chevy Corso. We put on over 700 miles, more than half of which were on dirt roads. We bottomed the car out countless times and it was making some strange rattles and absolutely filthy when we returned it. After successfully making our way out of town we headed into Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi and drove around the seven lakes loop. We stopped frequently to admire the views, picked up a hitch hiker and didn't get too lost. The scenery and the clarity of the lake water was simply amazing. Later that day we drove north for a few hours through more beautiful mountains surrounded by lakes and breathtaking vistas. We eventually ended up in Junin de los Andes. This little town is supposedly the flyfishing capital of Patagonia. We stopped in a couple shops and got the skinny on where to find public water then found a hostel.

We awoke late and after breakfast headed a dozen miles north to the Malleo River. This was a beautiful river with miles of public water which was easy to wade. We fished all day covering miles of river and ended up catching a number of nice brown and rainbow trout. Exhausted after being in the blazing sun all day we returned to town, picked up a dozen empanadas and called it a day. Heading back south on different roads we stopped to fish a few rivers without much success, just a few small trout. The scenery was just as spectacular as the way up to Junin, beautiful lakes and peaks. On our last day with the rental car we headed south of Bariloche to another part of the national park and Mt. Tronador. Here we saw our first glacier of the trip, a black glacier. It was pretty sweet to hear chunks of the glacier breaking off high above us. It truly sounded just like thunder (trona).

We greatly enjoyed the freedom of having a car for four days and not having to deal with bus schedules and designated routes. Having returned the car in questionable condition it was back on a bus heading a few hours south to El Bolson. We only had one day in this small little town, but wish we would have planned a few more. They have a great "hippie" market in town and just an overall cool vibe about the place. Our time was limited because we had already booked a two day bus trip further south.

Ruta 40

Route 40 is one of the longest highways in the world. It starts at sea level, crosses 20 national parks, 18 major rivers, and 27 passes on the Andes. Although we didn't travel its entire length we travelled down a large chunk of it. We had discovered the best way to get to our next destination, El Chalten, was to do a two day bus trip as opposed to a 28-30 hr. nonstop bus. The bus departed early in the morning and we travelled for about 12 hours through Las Pampas (plains). The scenery was pretty lame, kind of like driving through Kansas. Occasionally we had a glimpse of the Andes far off in the distance, but not very often. The bus finally stopped for the night in a shitty little town, Puerto Moreno. Everyone on the bus stayed in the same hostel as well as ate in the same restaurant. We were pretty sure there were no other options in town. The next day was more of the same until we turned off Route 40 and headed west. We arrived in El Chalten at sunset and got our first glimpse of the Fitz Roy range.

El Chalten

This small little town supposedly is starting to blow up with tourism and is known as the "The trekking capital of Argentina". We awoke to sunny skies the following morning so headed out on a trek on the Tres Lagos Trail. The trail was pretty easy with slight climbs, but mostly flat. We headed down a beautiful valley following a glacial river. Upon rounding a bend we saw Mt. Fitz Roy and were simply in awe. Continuing on to a view point we stopped for a bit, took a ton of photos, and were fortunate to get some views without the peaks being cloaked in clouds. Venturing further down the trail we started a wicked steep climb up to the glacial lakes at the base of the range. About half way up the weather began to change and the wind started ripping. We continued on to find it only got windier and colder. We found a little spot out of the wind and hunkered down and had our lunch. By this time the peaks were covered in clouds eliminating our views and Becky's hands were numb. The climb back down was brutal. It began to rain a little, the wind got stronger and it was very slippery and cold. Back on the valley floor the sun came out as we headed back to town. The hike took us about 7 hrs. and we were both pretty worn out when we returned to the hostel. The following two days brought all day rain and were spent hunkered down in the hostel since the town offered nothing other than trekking.

Fortunately we got another decent weather day and set out on a trek to Cerro Torre. The terrain was quite similar to our previous hike. After a few hours we made it to a glacial lake at the base of Cerro Torre. We were yet to see the peak of the mountain as clouds continued to hover around. Again we hunkered down out of the wind and waited for the clouds to move on. Unfortunately the clouds never moved on and we needed to head back to catch another bus south. Obviously living in Colorado we are accustomed to all the natural beauty the Rockies provide. However, we found the towering granite peaks and glaciers around El Chalten much more awe-inspiring and intimidating than the mountains back home. We also had no idea this area is one of the world's top destinations for hard-core climbers.

El Calafate

After a mere 3 1/2 hr. ride we arrived in the very touristy town of El Calafate. We found out there was a big annual festival going on so we headed down to the park and took in a little fair food and saw a not-so-good Argentinian rock band. Our reason for heading to this part of Argentina was to visit the massive Perito Merino glacier. We had to join a tour to visit the glacier so we hopped on a bus and headed to the park. We choose to do the "alternative" tour which was vastly different from the normal tour-hardly. Instead of taking the highway to the park we went down a dirt road that took twice as long and then once in the park we went on a lame 30 minute walk along a lake. Eventually we made it to the glacier. There was a massive collection of steel catwalks that fronted the glacier with viewpoints at varying heights and proximity to the face of the glacier. We wandered all over for a few hours and were fortunate to see some massive chunks of the glacier calve and go thundering into the water. What makes the Perito Merino glacier unique is that is one of three advancing glaciers in the world. It is also massive in size, 35 Km. long, 5 Km. wide and 60 m. tall.

We returned to the hostel around 5 pm and then spent a brutal 10 hours fighting off sleep so we could get on a bus at 3 am. We were headed to Tierra del Fuego and the city of Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world. The bus was supposed to be about 18 hrs. but ended up taking 24 hours. The ride was significantly longer because it took about 1 1/2 hrs. at the Chilean border and then when we reached the Strait of Magellan the wind was ripping so hard the auto ferry wasn't running across the Strait. We sat parked for five hours until the ferries started operating. It was still a rough crossing and once across the road was no longer paved for the next couple hours. Getting out of Chile was a piece of cake and we finally arrived in Ushuaia at 3 am. Some how we found a taxi and got to our hostel which still had someone up working the front desk- very lucky.

Ushuaia

We had made the dash to Ushuaia in hopes of getting on a last-minute cruise to Antarctica. Over the past few days we had been in contact with a woman and were lead to believe there were two spots left on a boat departing the day after we arrived in Ushuaia. As it turned out there only ended up being one space available, for a female passenger. After much discussion, Becky decided to ditch me and head out on an 11 day cruise to "The White Continent". Not wanting to sit idly in Ushuaia for the next 11 days I got online and found a sweet last-minute week of fishing at a lodge only 3 hours away in Rio Grande. Becky left the following morning and I left the day after. (Becky plans on doing a separate blog entry about her amazing trip to Antarctica.) My week ended up being amazing as well. I stayed at the Villa Maria Lodge and spent six days fishing the very famous Rio Grande. This river is known as the world's best sea run brown trout fishery. The entire week was first class. The other anglers were great, the food was gourmet, and the fishing was unbelievable. I caught the largest trout of my life, a 23# pig. In all I landed around 35 sea run browns with half of them being over 10 lbs. I had never dreamed of having the opportunity to fish the Rio Grande on this trip. We were both extremely lucky to get to have once in a lifetime experiences, just unfortunately not together.

After my week was over I hopped back on the bus and returned to Ushuaia to wait for Becky to return in a few days. I landed at a great hostel, hooked up with a fun group of other backpackers and spent a few days going to a rugby match, eating empanadas, and drinking. Once Becky returned we shared pictures and stories of our adventures and two days later were back on a bus headed to Puerto Natales, Chile.

Becky will be writing about Chile, Argentina Part II, as well as our short stints in Uruguay and Brazil. We hope all of you have enjoyed your Winter and are having a good start to Spring.

Schuyler & Becky

Lots more pictures below.

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