El Chalten to Salta

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The journey from El Chalten to El Bolsen on the famous route 40 would take 2 days with 2 drives of 12 hours and an over night stay. I had not heard that much about the route but Thijs told me the landscape was pretty rugged and definitely worth the effort. We set off on our basic bus at least compared to the luxury we had got used to in Argentina. The road was all dirt or gravel which made for one bumpy and dusty ride but the scenery was very interesting at least in terms of how different it was with barren flatlands leading to towering hills and mountains. It was very desolate with very few other vehicles on the road. As a result it was a surprise when we suddenly found a house in the middle of no where the friendly owners served food and drink. They lived there so must have loved the peace and solitude. At the back of the house was an edge leading down to a huge valley with a river running through it made for amazing viewing as all the guys on the bus took a piss off the edge! We had 12 hours on the bus and the scenery became pretty samey after a few hours so it was a relief when we arrived into the town of Perito Moreno. It was a nothing town where we just had dinner and slept. The next day we set off on the next 12 hour leg to El Bolson for most of the day the road and surroundings were much the same as the previous day so it was just a case of grin and bare it. However once we started approaching El Bolson it all became much greener with numerous farms dotting the way which obviously helped us to enjoy the last few hours of the journey. On arrival we realised our hostel was very cheap because it was some way out of town so after a taxis ride we arrived at what appeared to be someone’s home but inside it was very nice with a family feel. There was an Argentinean guy staying in the hostel from Buenos Aires and the classico between Boca and River was on TV so we settled down to watch. It was very funny as the guy with us was a Boca fan and the owner was a River fan but they were watching it in different rooms so whenever a goal went in or a big moment happened they would bang on the wall to rile up the other guy.

The next day we walked down the town to check it out. El Bolsen is known as a bit of a hippie town but there did not appear to be much evidence of this apart from a small market selling necklaces and other such trinkets. The rest of that day was spent seeing the town and largely on the internet writing one of these blogs. Thijs had arranged to meet a friend of his who he had met in Buenos Aires and was working on a farm locally the next day so we got an early night in preparation for the early start.

The next morning we met up with Thijs friend Rochelle and took a bus down to the lake where we had planned to take a boat on a tour around the lake but it turned out to be much more expensive than we had expected so decided instead to do a short boat journey and then a walk through the surrounding area and then back to town. After the short boat journey we set off but straight away we became a bit unsure of the route we needed to take as the directions we had been given had been a little vague but after a few false starts we eventually chose a path heading into the hills. Our directions had been to head along the path for about 30-40 minutes and we would then need to take a path downwards where there would be a bridge to cross the river. However after a long but enjoyable walk through the picturesque countryside we could not work out which path down we needed to take and we were now too high to be able to see the river. After a bit more walking we made an educated guess on the most used path and wound our way down to the river but by the time we got to the bottom it was clear we had been wrong and therefore had to climb the steep back to the top. We were getting a little frustrated but were still in good spirits so continued walking until we eventually angled downwards to the river but when we got there we could see the bridge but it was at least another 2 hours walk away and we could not see a route to get there. Fortunately a friendly Gaucho (Argentinean cowboy) came riding his horse down the shallows of the river and offered to show us the way this involved heading back up to the top of the hill and along the way he took a shining to Rochelle and was obviously keen on us or namely her coming to his house but we politely declined and headed on the route he had pointed out to us. Despite his promises that this was the way after another ten minutes we came to another dead end as we reached a farm but being unable to find anyone we had to "trespass" until we found a family working away in the fields after explaining our situation in our broken Spanish the farmer offered to row us across the river and took us down to his rowing boat and with some skill took us to the other side. The current was very strong and thankfully we had given up on the idea of walking/ swimming across as it would have ended in disaster. So after muchos gracias to the farmer we headed back to main road and got a bus into town where we settled down to a well earned beer only for Coen the Dutch guy we had trekked with in Torres del Paine to surprise us with his arrival into town. So after a quick beer and a goodbye to Rochelle who had to go back to the farm the three of us decided to hit the town Argentinean style which meant heading to the supermarket buying lots of meat and booze and then heading home to enjoy our purchases before heading out at midnight pretty intoxicated. It was a 20 minute walk into town normally bit it took us 40 minutes as we were ambling along and also stopped to share our beers with some tramps (as you do) before the police turned up kindly told us to piss off and put our drinking companions in the bank of the van charming! The bar we eventually made it to was completely filled with locals and we were stood out as the only gringos but Coen is one of those guys who just seems to attract people and make friends with everyone as before long we had a big group around us many and cervesas were flowing. I don’t remember much from the night but apparently we had a lot of fun so much fun that Thijs eventually found me asleep/passed out outside of the bar and we got a cab home.

The big problem with us having the crazy night was that we had to catch a bus the next day at 8am on our long journey to Mendoza. I was a mess in the morning and thankfully Thijs although also struggling was able to function enough to get me up and all the bags packed before the taxis arrived to take us to the bus station. The 2 hour journey to Bariloche on a local bus was both embarrassing at the time and funny in hindsight as apparently I got on and the collapsed across four seats in the sixth row, fell asleep and was not for moving which meant that all the locals were too embarrassed to ask me to move as this was obviously not a normal occurrence so were forced to cram themselves into the front 5 rows which led to great embarrassment to Thijs who tried to pretend he did not know me in his own words. When we got to Bariloche we were supposed to being meeting another friend of Thijs for lunch as we had 6 hours to kill before our bus to Mendoza. I could not face it so found a bench in the corner of the bus station and went to asleep Thijs found me in the same spot 5 hours later with a guy laughing in the ticket office next to me who was not sure if I was still alive as I had not moved in hours. We got onto our bus both feeling pretty tired and rough by this point and slept for most of the 18 hour journey.

On arriving into Mendoza we both still felt a little ropey from our night in El Bolsen and the long journey so headed to our hostel looking to relax for the rest of the day. We enquired about doing the famous wine tours of Mendoza the next day only to be told that as tomorrow was Sunday all the vineyards would be closed. Thijs had to leave Monday so it was today or not at all so we sucked it up and headed to see Mr Hugo for his infamous bike wine tour. Hugos wine tour is where you rent a bicycle and cycle to the various vineyards to do tours and try the wine. Mr Hugo was a larger than life character who handed you a free glass of wine the moment you walked in the door which naturally at 10am and with a hangover was the also the lastthing we wanted but we forced it down. So equipped with our bikes and a map we headed out to get some more wine. Our first stop was wine museum where we were shown the old methods of producing and transporting the wine and how the whole wine region was started. The museum had huge barrels of wine with various ages of wine stored. After the tour we were given our free wine but with lots to see we did not hang around. With both of us still not feeling 100% we decided to use the bikes to wake ourselves up and so cycled the 12km to the other end of the vineyard region to the first vineyard on the map. The vineyard was the smallest in the area and was run by a French couple but we were given a tour of their facilities and learnt about the more modern methods of wine production and the types of grapes grown in the region. We paid to try a selection of the wine which after our long bike journey was much more enjoyable. Mendoza is best suited for red wines and after my second tasting I had decided I liked a medium strength red! From here we decided to try something different and went to visit an olive farm where we learnt that it seemed to have as much complexities as wine/grape production as it was vital to pick/choose the olives at the right moment in order to get the correct level of acidity for the oil. From here we headed back slowly to Hugos visiting a couple more vineyards before we stopped to have yet another amazing steak lunch. On returning to Hugos at the agreed time of 6pm we were invited to sit and enjoy some more free wine on Hugo who we soon discovered seemed to have and endless supply as there were more than 30 people there and as soon as someone’s glass was empty Hugo was on hand to fill it up again. After 3 hours there where we had drunk more wine than on the tours we all stumbled to the bus that Hugo had arranged to take us all back to town - what a guy! We had been chatting to a French couple at Hugos and on the bus we agreed to meet for dinner so after a shower and change we headed to a restaurant for more wine and obviously steak before hitting the local Mendoza club at a civilized 2am where we would stay to dance and drink until 8am not bad considering when we got off the bus 24 hours earlier we had both looked completely worn out.

The next day Thijs and I just slept in and chilled out and so on Monday we said our goodbyes with Thijs heading to Santiago and me to Salta. It had been a great 3 weeks and we had lots of great memories to share. My bus to Salta was another enjoyable 19 hours. My hostel in the town was called Essez and I liked it instantly it had a relaxed feel to it and in the middle of the hostel was a small courtyard area where everyone seemed to conjugate and meet each other. One of the great features of the hostel was that in the evening they had a bbq and all you had to do was go to the supermarket and buy some great quality meat at ludicrously low prices and they would cook it. It was a great touch as it meant that most people in the hostel would do this and then sit around together and it gave the place a great atmosphere. I met an English/American couple who were heading the same way as me so we agreed to head up that way into Bolivia.

So the next day we booked our tickets and then went to check out the town which I really liked as it was very different from the other big towns I had been to in Argentina – it had a run down look to everything but this also helped add to the character of the place and its market was amazing with lots of stalls all kinds of western clothes and items as well as cheap electronics. In the evening we enjoyed another fantastic bbq before getting an early night as our bus to the border left at 5am with Bolivia awaiting on the other side.

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