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The flight to Argentina actually went back in time in that we arrived earlier than we had left Auckland which was pretty weird. Before the trip we were worried about flying with Aerolinas Argentinas because apparently they are really unreliable and use outdated planes. But the flight was fine, and so was the internal one that took us down to El Calafate in Patagonia, having spent a night in Buenos Aires to break up the journey. Naturally we kept it quiet for that night in BA as we were to return after Patagonia for a long stay. So that night we stayed in this really old but nice hotel run by a very sprightly old man who having spoken to, realised that I was a tad rustier on my Spanish than I was expecting. Or maybe he was deaf I don´t know. So when we got to El Calafate, it was absolutely freezing, and we were hardly equipped having enjoyed mostly sun during the trip so far. So we pretty much just wore layers of T-shirts to keep us warm. Anyway the town is not what I was expecting (although I don´t really know what I was expecting). It looked exactly like a quaint little alpine village from a ski resort in France or somewhere, with big wooden lodgings and lots of shops selling wooly clothes that was too expensive for us to buy. Just to give you an idea of the recent upturn in tourism in this place, I don´t think I have ever seen a more out of place uber-casino, it was an odd and slightly embarrassing imposition on the surroundings which otherwise could be described as cosy. So anyway we weren´t down there for very long so had all our tours and activities booked up the afternoon we arrived. The first day we went to the Perito Moreno Glacier, the only other advancing glacier in the world along with the Franz Josef Glaciar in New Zealand that we had hiked on not too long ago. But this one was much different. Firstly it was on water, and not in a valley like FJ, and it was absolutely massive, like so big you can´t get your head around it. On the trip there, we first took a boat really close to the side of it at another ungodly hour in the morning when the sun was low, but which to be fair made for some amazing views and an opportunity for another overabundance of photos. Then we went up to the viewing balconies for a more panoramic view of the front and top of the glacier, and christ it was one of those rare sights that really physically takes you back. At the highest point, the expanse in front of my eyes was truly one of the most breathtaking things i´ve ever seen. My entire visual filed was taken up by this landscape of jagged white peaks expanding off endlessly into into the distance in between snowcapped mountains and clear blue sky and blaring sun (lucky). It took me a while to take it all in before I starting shooting off about a million photos. There are loads of platforms where you can see the glacier from loads of different angles. But what was most striking was because the glacier is always moving, all the ice crashes into itself as it moves forward, making it sound like there was a war going off hidden deep in the glacier with all the loud smashing and shattering. The thing stops advancing at a point, about 400m from the closest viewing platform, where bits of the front fall away into the water every so often. It was a little wait to see it happen, but it was worth it, and we caught a lot of it on film! We stood patiently as we heard the crashing isolating on a point where little crumbles of glacier would drop off. Then with an almighty cracking sound, like tons of glass smashing at once, entire faces of the glacier would fall away and smash into water, splashing water and ice particles high in the air before massive ice berg remnants would float back to the surface. It was one of the most spectacular events I´d ever witnessed! Luckily we got to see it happen a few times and got some good videos. So after an unbelievable day of cruising around gazing at Perito Moreno, we couldn´t sit back an relax the next day as we went up to a town in a more Northern part of Patagonia called El Chalten, which has the highest mountain in Patagonia, Fitz Roy mountain. But when we got there, we had six hours before the bus left again, and the only 2 walks worth doing were both 3 hours one way. One was to a glacial lake and the other was to a viewpoint of Fitz Roy near the base of the mountain, but because there were points on the former where you got good views of the mountain anyway, we chose that. So of course we had to blitz it, which we were used to after the Abel Tasman fiasco in New Zealand. So off we went on a pretty picturesque track through the valleys and red woods (it was Autumn) of El Chalten at lightning pace, much to the bewilderment of all the people we passed. But it wasn´t too bad and the scenery was really nice so distracted from the aching legs. And we got some good views of Fitz Roy, with a rather jagged peak which is supposed to be a mother of a technical climb and looked pretty cool. We finally got to the lake and again it was a perfect sunny day so we got some amazing views of the glacier and the lake which had little floating icebergs scattered around which was cool. After wolfing down our packed lunch and banging off another ton of photos as quickly as possible, we cruised back and although we were tired by that point, made it back to the bus with a half hour to spare. So it was a pretty jampacked couple of days, exhausting physically and mentally due to the things we saw. It was quite simply phenomenal down there and the first place on the whole trip I can see myself definitely going back to, because we barely scratched the surface of Patagonia and still had an amazing experience, so the imagination boggles at what more it has to offer.
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