January 30 to El Chalten

Off I go, bright and early, to the bus for El Chalten; the gateway to the  Argentinian version of Torres del Paine, known as Parque Nacional Los Glaciers. I'm only going to be 60 km north of the top of Torres Del Paine as the crow flies, but the circuitous route around the various lakes and mountains took 7 hours by bus and we're in a different country.

My bus is one of those fancy double decker sightseeing specials and I get a window seat up top.  So what do I do - I immediately fall asleep for an hour!  Getting old, I guess.

First photo - our 10 minute rest stop about midway at the Hotel La Leona (nothing else for miles!).  All the buses are stopping here and the wind is just howling.  I saw 6 cyclists today - 2 couples and 2 on their own.  One of the couples was each towing a bob trailer (that's waaay too much like work).

View of the mountains as we get closer to El Chalten. 

We've arrived.  Here's a look down the main street.  My first impression of the town is that it looks like a sky village in the summertime, except this is their high season.  Lots of people around.

I chugged up one of the trails to the first viewpoint.  Here's the town from above.

Here'a look in the other direction, up the valley  (north) towards Lago del Desierto.  You can see bits of a dirt road on the left side of the valley.  

Laura, did you plan for us to cycle down this road?  The wind is still brutal, but at least it would have been at our back.

I'm in a fancy shmancy hotel room tonight.  Then it's 3 nights / 4 days 

camping in the park and one more night here before I go back to El Cafalate. 

 Last photo - I've never been in a hotel room with one of these before.  Perhaps you guys can do a little research on the web and find a manual for that thing :)

BTW - I bought a drinkable, but not great, bottle of red wine for about $2.  A guy could become a drunk if he wasn't careful.  I'm only going to have a glass or two and put the rest into a jug for the camp tomorrow.

Talk to you in a few days.