El Chalten Travel Blogs

Arose in the morning truly thankful that I was at El Pilar as opposed to out at the campsites of the previous two evenings.  The rain was still coming down steadily, pitter-pat against the windows of my room.  Wasn't sure what we were going to do today with the weather as n…

We’re lucky, the weather is great. Today, early in the morning we’ll leave El Calafate heading to El Chalten. Jos had made sandwiches while I was still in bed, what a great partner she is. The bus leaves at 7:30, so after taking a shower we rushed to the bus station. There were several busses w…

El Chalten is about a 4 hour drive from El Calafate and feels even more remote.  We passed a lodge on teh way that the 3 gringo´s Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid (and his wife) stayed at for a month after robbing a bank early in the 20th century.  It isn´t hard to imagine that they felt …

I thought El Calafate was small, but compared to our new destination it´s an absolute metropolis. El Chalten is pretty much the bare minimum, or less perhaps. There´s a few hostels, a couple of restaurants and bars, a bakery, one police car, a fire engine, no ATM and a few hundred outdoor ent…

If towns were people, El Calafate would be a 50-something moneyed tourist all togged up in spanking new Gortex walking gear that´s about as likely to see serious action as a rubber johnny in the Vatican. El Chalten meanwhile, would be a rather more more unkempt teenage relative, only gradually fee…

Crossed back into Argentina again after Chile.  But almost didn´t.  We were held in no mans land between Chile & Argentine border for seven hours because the Argentinian border police weren´t happy with the truck´s insurance.  So after numerous phone calls back and forth they …

We arrived late night at our hostel, Rancho Grande, in El Chalten. The next day Eric, Justin, and Clare set out early for their day of ice trekking in the glaciers. I opted for the cheaper (or, free) option and joined an Irish girl I met for a 6 hour hike in the mountains. Little did I know this wa…

Ja, jeg ved godt jeg har sagt det mange gange, i loebet af min rejse. Men den her gang mener jeg det! Jeg slap endelig vaek fra Calefate og naaede frem til El Chalten, en lille tourist flaekke, men ikke mindst med den mest fantastiske belligenhed lige op af Fitz Roy. Efter megen soegen fandt jeg mi…

Bussed to El Chalten with Eva and Han - who had appeared out of nowhere at the razor stand at the supermarket in El Calafate. Sleepy little town located perfectly in a picturesque valley beneath the Fitz Roy and Torre mountains. 28th was my birthday and we celebrated by hiking out to the Torre Gla…

Our trekking to Fitz Roy

Glaciers, steak, lamb racks, animals, penguins, chocolate, jam, mountains, waters, etc...there is something for everyone in Patagonia. For more information, please go to http://www.travelchump.com

5 months and 5 countries... so far just a few photos with writings to come

The last 2 days in El Chalten gave us wonderful clear skies and so we actually got to see the mountains! Horah! Fitz Roy suddenly appeared, looming above the village as if by magic. Off we went into the park both days and did a couple of fantastic treks to view the mountains and take a lo…

"An unbelievable piece of work, a modern masterpiece" - Rav Singh, News of The World * "A rollercoaster of emotion" - Jeremy Paxman, Newsnight * "Shocking" - Keeley Goding, first lady of Hiscox * "What a twat" - Stuart Sheldrick, Accountant of the Year 2007 * "Can you make sure you phone me every week" - Mum

So after a couple of days driving we get to El Chalten. We get ourselves in to a nice wee hostel and then head out for dinner. I have one of the biggest and nicest steaks ever!!! And of course a few beers. A couple of us check out some pubs but as it's a small mountain village there's not much doin…