Mon 24th Nov: To El Calafate

My bus to El Calafate wasn´t until 12.00 so I had a few hours to kill. I found an internet cafe and posted a quick happy birthday to "Él Senor" himself, Danny K, the little prince of Fingal. It took so long to upload I thought I was going to miss my bus. Thankfully that didn´t happen and by midday I was on the bus rolling northwest for the 350km to El Calafate.

I half watched a terrible Pierce Brosnan film, dozed and looked out the window. Soon the snowcapped peaks of the Andes appeared on the horizon, far away on the edge of the plain. They looked small and distant. We´ve been travelling through what feels like high plains, the clouds and sky appear very close. Sometimes, as the land and clouds stretch away into the distance they create a tunnel effect as the gap between land and clouds appears to narrow gradually until they meet on the horizon.

As we near El Calafate the landscape finally changes, and changes abruptly. The high plains end at a cliff edge and drop down to low ground. 100km away the mountains rear up to sharp craggy summitsa lot closer and a lot larger now. A lake comes into view, its waters a bright aquamarine. As we come close to this lake, lago Argentino, El Calafate suddenly appears from under a fold in the land. It doesn´t look to be much, a scattering of houses stretched out across a sloping ridge. We don´t see the centre of town from the road. Its hidden down in a hollow between the base of the ridge and the lake shore.

At the bus terminal I see a lady holding a sign for the hostel I intend staying at. I go over to her check the price. Its ok so I wait as she rounds up a scatter of backpackers, brings us over to a minibus and drives us to the hostel. This was handy. I pay for a dorm bed in a 3-bed room but tonight I´m the only one in the room. Happy out!!

I don´t do much this evening. I´m tired after three days on buses. I have a quick look around. El Calafate is very touristy. It is thriving off the big attraction of the Perito Moreno glacier. Its the only reason I´m in this town and, presumably, the only reason most others arrive here. Its not cheap. Almost everything in town is more expensive than elsewhere. Its the typical tourist trap. There´s nowhere else around to stay so they can charge what they like here. There´s not a whole lot of interest in the town. Its in an odd location 90km from the glacier.