Not So Chile-Bound...
| On the way to El Calafate.. |
February 15, 2006
Okay, so I thought I was Chile-bound…but today I made my way back into Argentina to El Calafate. What I am here to see is the
Perito Moreno Glacier.
I am now realizing that Patagonia is a series of zig-zagging across Chile and Argentina. As if my passport wasn’t already worn in…
Scenery upon approaching El Calafate: light brown rolling hills in the foreground; flat dark brown land for almost as far as the eye
can see; a lake that glows in the far distance because of the sun’s rays glaring off of it; and jagged mountain-tops even further in the
distance.
People in my hostel in Punta Arenas loathed El Calafate. Two people independent of each other were telling me how awful it is.
Then they likened it to a ‘Vail’ or ‘Aspen’. Geez, maybe these weren’t ‘my kind of people’ since that didn’t really sound like it was so
bad. I got here and checked into a great room at a hostel that looks more like a chalet. My room is around $26 US and it is
wonderful. It has heated floors and a great shower and comes with shampoo and conditioner (unheard of for a ‘hostel’!). Then I
walked down the main street. Is it so wrong that I kind of like El Calafate??? There isn’t much originality with the types of shops
but I don’t really mind. I found a great restaurant for dinner. Crab panzotti with squid ink and tomato sauce. And the requisite glass
of Malbec. I’m looking forward to seeing more tomorrow evening.
But why not see it during the day, you ask?
Because I am spending the day at the Perito Moreno Glacier! I could have done the trip where I go out and see it for a few hours.
But then I thought about it and I figured I should see it properly since I came all the way out here just for this. So I am paying more
than twice the price to do a full-day trip. I’m hoping it is worth it.
People have said that it is amazing. I am still not quite sure what to expect…other than a lot of ice?
Okay, so I thought I was Chile-bound…but today I made my way back into Argentina to El Calafate. What I am here to see is the
Perito Moreno Glacier.
I am now realizing that Patagonia is a series of zig-zagging across Chile and Argentina. As if my passport wasn’t already worn in…
Scenery upon approaching El Calafate: light brown rolling hills in the foreground; flat dark brown land for almost as far as the eye
can see; a lake that glows in the far distance because of the sun’s rays glaring off of it; and jagged mountain-tops even further in the
distance.
People in my hostel in Punta Arenas loathed El Calafate. Two people independent of each other were telling me how awful it is.
Then they likened it to a ‘Vail’ or ‘Aspen’. Geez, maybe these weren’t ‘my kind of people’ since that didn’t really sound like it was so
bad. I got here and checked into a great room at a hostel that looks more like a chalet. My room is around $26 US and it is
wonderful. It has heated floors and a great shower and comes with shampoo and conditioner (unheard of for a ‘hostel’!). Then I
walked down the main street. Is it so wrong that I kind of like El Calafate??? There isn’t much originality with the types of shops
but I don’t really mind. I found a great restaurant for dinner. Crab panzotti with squid ink and tomato sauce. And the requisite glass
of Malbec. I’m looking forward to seeing more tomorrow evening.
But why not see it during the day, you ask?
Because I am spending the day at the Perito Moreno Glacier! I could have done the trip where I go out and see it for a few hours.
But then I thought about it and I figured I should see it properly since I came all the way out here just for this. So I am paying more
than twice the price to do a full-day trip. I’m hoping it is worth it.
People have said that it is amazing. I am still not quite sure what to expect…other than a lot of ice?
| The road leading there. |
