The morning dawned with us docking in Ushuaia and my head pounding (deservedly so). Dave and I grabbed our gear, hugged all and sundry and headed of to the airport to catch an early flight to start our Patagonian experience. I discovered that sea legs and a hangover are a mighty combination when you are back on land.
We flew from Ushuaia to El Calafate then caught a bus for a couple of hours up to the tiny town of El Chalten.
This town was only created in 1985 to cater for the hikers that march daily into the mountains to stare in wonder (or ascend for those fit and brave enough). The town itself is on a valley floor between a series of huge mountains. The Fitz Roy mountain is the highlight and the reason so many go to this area.
We were dropped at one end of town and after some series misdirection by a local shop owner we eventually found our hostel. Nice enough place with a great view of the mountains out the windows.
When we arrived the weather was clear with a bit of cloud but overall quite reasonable. We were about to learn our first lesson of Patagonia. Weather here is changeable!!! It took us about an hour to find our hostel and in that time it went from reasonable to deteriorating. Thankfully after we had made it to the hostel the real Patagonia kicked in. Wind!!! And I don't mean small gusty breezes, I mean Wind with a capital W.
It got to the point where we had to lock the room door as the wind kept pushing it open and Dave was wondering if we should move the bed away from the windows in case they blew in. I have never heard anything like it. We had noticed there were no tall trees anywhere as we had bussed into El Chalten and seemingly this wind is why. It would take quite some tree to withstand the ferocity of the gales.
Luckily for us we found a restaurant near by and feeling a little worse for wear after such a big day we revelled in the hearty fare. Looking forward to sleep and hoping that tomorrow the sea legs will have gone so walking becomes easier.
The photo above is Dave pouring a "penguino" of red wine at the restaurant. Loved the way they presented house red.
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