Backpackers´ Paradise

Cerro Torre peaks over Lago Torre with perhaps Glacier Torre? We forgot the glacier´s name.

****************** We finally decided to spend the money on the internet cafe (Happy birthday to you all) and added pics for the last several posts. Check them out if you want. ******************

I would continue the theme of "Campolina" here, but I think it
probably was a bit trite even before I started. I can't help to
mention though, that "Been spendin' most our time, livin' in a
Backpackers Paradise," would have been a nice addition to the album,
and would have segued perfectly into our next destination, El Chalten.
It sounds French and quaint, but is Argentine and rugged. Its two
main festivals are its annual rodeo and Trekkers convention (not to be
confused with a truckers convention). It was founded in 1985 due to a
land grab with Chile, but 1885 seems more appropriate as it resembles
the set of some Hollywood western more than a modern town. Basically
It's main draw is its severe landscape. On one side you have desert
and the other the Andes mountains, jutting out of nowhere from the
flatlands. Two strking peaks, cerro torre and cerro Fitz Roy (aka El
Chalten), dominate the skyline and the lens' of the mainly transient
population of tourist. It is wind whipped, has more hostels andrestaurants than permanent residents and it was an absolutely stunning
three days we spent there.

Two of these days were spent hiking a combined 30-35 kilometers and
one was spent hiding from the rain, which is especially nasty because
the Andes creates this cold, vicious jet stream that flows through the
center of town and into the open desert plain. This leads to
horizontal rain that is cold and fast and stings. Because we forgotto buy dinner before the rain and because the masses were hungry (me
being the mass) I was forced to throw on some shorts and sandals and
brave this storm; chalk up a mark for romantic tent dinner, icy cold
cheese sandwichs.and frostbite.

El chalten was perfect. It was my favorite hiking outside of Ushuaia
and I got to eat a local speciality of lamb bread bowl/pot pie (Beth
had tomato soup, which came with freshly baked bread and a chive cream
dipping sauce that made Beth drool). Good food. Good hiking. GoodEl Chalten.

Imagine if Ralph Machio could have waxed here.

(Note: the aforementioned peaks are supposed to be kind of a big deal
in the rock climbing community, hence the annual Mecca.)

Next stop was Los Antiguous, our attempt at getting off the beaten
path of tourism. A small town which forced us to take Ruta 40
(cuarenta), similiar to famous route 66 in that it runs across (inthis case up) the country and through a load but sand--literally, as
most of the road is unpaved, hence our 13 hour bus ride for just over
about 200 kilometers. Billed as beautiful, I'd compare it to riding
in a sauna while following a hippie van, if that hippie van was
smoking dirt instead of grass. Great sunsets though.

Don´t hate the hiker, hate the trail.

Los antiguous, on the other hand, is an oasis in the hippie dirt
desert. It's known for cherries, berries and farms; This is exactlywhat the town consists of, except we came in the offseason so
everything was already picked and bottled. So, we wandered the
streets, ate some fresh chocolate and took in the picturesque Lago
Buenos Aires, South Americas second largest lake (which reminded me of
Lake Tahoe, but clearer water and no casinos). We stayed two nights
and a day and a half, which felt about right even if we could camp for
a grand total of $1.50US a night. Then we headed off to our Mecca,
the beer and veggie capital of Argentina: El Bolson.

Now if you made it through all that, you get a prize. A guest post
from our liberal, west coast, Jewish, NRA correspondent and my formerroommate Ben Nadler, who wants you all to know that "I don't talk to

that guy any more."Lago Buenos Aires in Los Antiguos