Don´t cry for me Argentina!

---

Hola again chicos!

After a 7 hour bus journey from Puerto Varas in Chile we arrived safely into Bariloche on the west coast of Argentina on 5 March. The bus journey was a pleasure in itself as we were fortunate enough to drive through a long stretch of the magnificent Andes mountain range.

Argentina has contributed to our ongoing passion for South America not only because of its natural beauty and exotic wildlife but also because of its geographical and climatic diversity. In Argentina we have seen vast glaciers, immense mountains and gigantic snow capped peaks. In contrast, we have travelled through lush green valleys, sat on the shores of blue volcanic lakes and even visited a small Welsh town!

Argentina is everything you would expect of a modern country and more. Bariloche, our first stop on the east coast has a German heritage, the impact of which can be felt throughout the city with it’s numerous boutique chocolate shops, German style beer and bratwirst sausages! The locals even have a type of fast food called “Choripan” which is a sausage in a crusty roll served with a salsa of some kind.

One of the innately Argentinean pastimes is to sip on the traditional “matte” drink which is consumed literally everywhere in the country. Matte is a dried tea served with hot water and sipped through a silver straw from the carcass of a dried aubergine or butternut squash. The custom is for whole families to drink from the same “matte” cup and for the drink to be taken all day long. Argentinean families will often carry thermos flasks with them during the day to top up their matte with hot water. There is a very specific technique to making a good matte which includes pouring the tea in to the cup very slowly and then turning the cup at an angle to release the bitter dust. Bariloche was the first place we tried matte which has a bitter taste quite like a strong black tea.

We moved on from Bariloche after a couple of days to the small town of El Bolson further south. El Bolson is known amongst travellers as a “hippie” town with locals offering their wares on the regular “feria artesenal” (craft market). The main attraction of El Bolson however is the surrounding scenery and the national parks nearby. During our stay in El Bolson we took a fabulous day hike to the narrow canyon of “Cajon del Azul”. The walk was very challenging covering numerous types of terrain from steep sandy paths to rocky walls to climb. The last part of the hike however offered some amazing views and also some beautiful rock pools in which we could swim and also drink fresh water from.

Following the route further south we made our way to El Calafate which is famous for the blue tinged “Perito Moreno Glacier”, an enormous glacier measuring 30km long, 5km wide and 60m high. Despite its size, what also makes this glacier exceptional is that it’s constantly advancing in contrast to the majority of other glaciers in the world which are receding. We were lucky enough to be able to see the glacier from both the top (via viewing platforms) and from the glacier lake on a small boat trip along the glacier’s edge. The shades of blue across the immense glacier further enhanced its intensity and when slices of ice fell from the glacier’s surface into the water the noise was simply incredible.

From El Calafate we moved on to the small village of El Chalten. With no mobile ‘phone reception, banks or ATMs El Chalten offers no “touristy” frills but all of this is immaterial when you look up at the towering Fitz Roy mountain range which serves as a backdrop to the village. As El Chalten is so far south in the country the weather can be very unpredictable. On arrival we were welcomed with glorious sunshine so we took advantage of it and did a hike on one of the many mountain trails in the area. The views offered at the top of the hike were incredible as we were able to see some of the glaciers more closely and the numerous green lakes set amongst the mountains.

Following our short stay in El Chalten we worked our way up further north on the east coast to Puerto Madryn which is a pit stop for visiting the nearby national park (Punta Tombo) which serves as a colony for magellanic penguins. Literally thousands of penguins rest and breed here before moving further north for the winter. Apparently it’s the largest penguin colony outside of Antarctica and having seen the number of penguins there we are certainly not surprised! We were able to get really close to the birds and in doing so, see them swimming in a small lagoon in the park.

On our return from Punta Tombo we stopped at a small village called Gaiman which as I mentioned above has a welsh heritage. We were intrigued to find out that the local school still teaches welsh as a primary language! There are numerous cute welsh tea houses scattered within the village where you can indulge and have a Welsh tea consisting of cakes, breads and tea (of course!!).

After Puerto Madryn we moved further north to the famous city of Buenos Aires, which is amongst other things, the heart and soul of tango dancing. We stayed in a lovely hostel in the heart of San Telmo, the antiques and art area. On our first couple of days in BA we explored the weekend market and the numerous antiques shops scattered around the San Telmo area.

During our stay in BA we also visited “La Boca” which is the poorest district of the city. You can notice the difference in the levels of poverty as soon as you enter the area. Tourists are advised to be careful when walking around La Boca but we stayed in the very touristy “caminito” area in order to see some live tango dancing. It was beautiful to see the different styles of tango being performed live in front of us. I tried to get Deep to take a tango lesson with me (well, while in Rome…) but unfortunately he wouldn’t budge! Never mind, at least we got to see some live dancing!!

We also took some time to visit the other main districts in BA including Palermo which is a large area of parks and gardens. On our way back from Palermo we visited the famous “Cementerio de la Recoleta” which sits in Recoleta, one of the most affluent parts of BA. The cemetery is unlike any other I have ever seen. It is almost like a small city featuring rows upon rows of “streets” housing ornate tombs accommodating generations of rich Argentinean families. To this day, the famous Eva (Evita) Peron rests in the Duarte family tomb within the graveyard.

Whilst in BA we also tried some of the famous Argentinean steak which is without doubt the most tender steak we have ever had. We decided to “do as the locals do” and go out late to eat so I think it was about 1am by the time we actually sat down for our meal! It was good fun but Deep and I both agreed that we prefer a slightly earlier meal at 10pm! Some of the locals were only just sitting down to eat at 2am!!

We moved on from BA to Puerto Iguazu in order to see the immense Iguazu waterfalls which sit within the Parque Nacional Iguazu. The falls are amazing and their sheer size and intensity can only really be appreciated when standing by the edge of the biggest fall, “Garganta del Diablo”. The power of the falls literally takes your breath away. We decided to see the falls from both the Argentinean and Brazilian sides (a total of only 2 hours in Brazil …… and we were illegal as we did not get our passports stamped) which offer different views of the national park and falls. The wildlife within the park was beautiful and we were lucky enough to see numerous types of butterflies along with a small crocodile basking in the sunshine!

After Iguazu we moved further north still to our last Argentinean destination of Salta which serves as a stopping point for most travellers coming to or going from Bolivia. We stayed in Salta for a couple of days and used the time to replenish stocks, get laundry done and generally rest before moving on to Bolivia.

Argentina has been a country of surprises and one which Deep and I would love to go back and explore further. Our next stop is Bolivia so watch this space…

Adios for now amigos…

---