Picture of Patagonia
Our latest bus ride brought us to El Chaltén, a charming town on the Argentinian side of Patagonia.
It’s worth mentioning - the bus system in South America has been amazing so far. We’ve taken over 7 buses to date through Argentina and Chile, ranging from 90 minutes to 9 hours. They’ve all be reliable, comfortable, and overall friendlier experiences (even with the border crossings) than the Bolt buses back on the East Coast. Hoping our luck doesn’t change here.
En route to Chaltén
El Chaltén felt like what I had originally imagined the other Patagonian towns to be like. Carved into the foothills of mountains, a bit rugged with little greenery, a small single-street neighborhood littered with hostels and local spots. But...maybe not so small that the single ATM in town constantly runs out of cash. Luckily we got by with Visa and the kind understanding of others.
Sunset over Mt. Fitz Roy in Chaltén
Unlike Puerto Natales that was hike-heavy, we struck a good balance between time in the town versus the mountains. We were fortunate to meet a few friends from the W Trail in town and had our first real night “out.” For a small town, Chaltén has some surprisingly good restaurants and bars, including La Vineria for drinks, Maffia for homemade pasta, and La Senyera for a hearty carbonada, a traditional Patagonian stew (you can find them and other recs on our map, too).
Dinner at Seynara with friends we met on the W. Lots of steak, carbonada, empanadas and wine.
And of course, the trails. Mt. Fitz Roy looms proudly over the town, a panorama that is quite literally the Patagonia logo. The two most popular hikes give you terrific views of mountain range - Laguna Torre (5-6 hours) and Laguna de Los Tres (7-8 hours). Both were easy-medium difficultly, but our sore bodies from the W managed to work through them slower than usual. To give our joints a needed break, we cut Laguna de Los Tres a little short and squeezed in some V-Day massages instead.
Happy we’re taking a (short) break from hiking - off to the glaciers next!
