In a rush to see Perito Moreno Glacier

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Day 123: Thursday 30th October - Returning to Argentina and The Perito Moreno Glacier

Wake up and I'm reunited with the boys who must have returned to the hostel after I'd fallen asleep last night. The three of us catch the bus at 8.30am for the 5 hour journey to El Calafate, to the North East and over the border in Argentina. Immigration on both sides of the border is no problem, but I do notice a sign declaring the Falkland Islands to be Argentinian at the Argentina border. Being in the second most southerly Argentinian region, passions obviously still run high here for the Falkland Islands.

When we reach El Calafate we haven't got a hostel so we end up falling for the charms of a cute Argentinian girl at the bus station who is pushing her hostel. It ends up being very nice, and although a good walk up the hill from the centre., they can't do enough for you at the hostel....confirming my flight to Ushuaia and sorting out a transfer to the airport.

As I've a flight out to Ushuaia tomorrow lunchtime it means that I must really see Perito Moreno glacier today - the stand out tourist attraction of the area, and maybe the raison-d'etre of El Calafate which is touristastic. The three of us decide that the best way to get to the glacier (and the cheapest) is to hire a car at the cost of 80 pesos each (15 pounds). It takes an hour and a half to drive there via a detour to the supermarket to get some lunch. Perito Moreno is still advancing (two metres per day), one of only two glaciers in South America to be doing so, and is situated next to Lake Argentino, the largest lake in Argentina. Shortly before we arrive at the glacier we get our first view of the glacier, its huge and looks special - even in the distance. Once we do arrive, we see its blue tinge and I am impressed by its scale. It is as wide as Glacier Grey (5km at the front), extends back as far as the eye can see (30km in all) and is 60 metres high at the front. The viewing walkways are about 200 metres from the front and it looks amazing.

After spending an hour up at the glacier we drive back to El Calafate and return the car. Walking through the bleak centre of the small town (only 20000 inhabitants) built entirely around tourism we bump into France & Marika (who we met on the Navimag), what a coincidence! Mind you the gringo trail down in Patagonia is a fairly standard route. We arrange to meet them at a restaurant later in the evening. We eat expensively in the best Parilla (grill) in town, washing down a good steak with a bottle of red. We leave the restaurant at midnight and get a taxi back up to the hostel.

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