After nearly 6 weeks of travel around Argentina, my visit to this rather splendid country is drawing to an end. In two days, I'll be heading off to New Zealand!
The last 2 weeks have seen us heading back north as we made our way from San Martin de los Andes to Buenos Aires. En route, we made a couple of stops - first, at the beautiful, laid-back, wine-lover's paradise that is Mendoza and second at the vibrant, fun-filled city of Córdoba.
Mendoza is a reasonably large city lying in the rain shadow of the Andes. It's a laid-back place - the broad, tree-lined streets make even the centre feel spacious and calm. Add to that the beautiful, lush plazas dotted liberally throughout and (in my opinion, at least) you're onto a winner. In short, I love Mendoza. It's one of the places I'd happily come back to time and time again, if for nothing else than to chill out in the brightly tiled Plaza España with an ice cream and a book.
Mendoza's real claim to fame is the outstanding quality of the wines produced in the region. We took a day trip out to Maipú (a short bus ride away) where there are a multitude of companies renting bikes out to sunburnt tourists to idly - and increasingly drunkenly - pedal between the numerous bodegas. Our all-too-brief tour took us to La Rural (where, along with the excellent wine, they have a fascinating museum with a superb free guided tour), Viña al Cerno (a tiny, back-to-basics bodega with superb chardonnays) and Tempus Alba (an incredibly friendly welcome, and very generous servings of all sorts of delicious reds). All were excellent, and I'd very happily have spent a few more days investigating the other bodegas too... Alas, for we ran out of time.
Back in the city, and there's plenty of wine bars to carry on with the tasting. Although we didn't try any wine there, the Vines of Mendoza looked like an excellent place to go - and the service from the experts at their wine shop (round the corner in the Hyatt hotel) was outstanding. Pablo, who served us, was exceptionally knowledgable about all the local wine, and even gave us a decent account of a bottle Keira had bought from another shop - including all the details of the bodega and chief wine-chap who created it.
We stayed 3 nights in Mendoza (not nearly long enough) before heading off on the overnight bus to Córdoba. Now, you may have noticed how earlier I described Córdoba as "fun-filled", and if you've read my other posting on 'fun' you'll know that I don't necessarily see this as a good thing. Perhaps I just arrived in the wrong frame of mind, or something, because I really didn't take to the place. After Mendoza, it felt cramped, dirty and busy. I'll leave it at that, because I don't think its fair for me to cast judgement just yet - if I come back to Argentina I'll give Córdoba another chance, then decide what I think of it.
So now we're back in Buenos Aires again. It's one of those cliché moments where I say how I can't believe just how fast the last 6 weeks have gone. I remember the day I arrived feeling apprehensive at the prospect of being away from home, friends and family for so long... and now I find that I'm off to the second leg of my journey already!
Next update will be from somewhere in New Zealand... Not sure where yet :)
Thursday 26 February 2009
Friday 13 February 2009
'Fun'
A couple of days ago, we arrived in Bariloche after a 30-hour bus ride from El Calafate. It was late when we arrived at the bus terminal, and we were understandably tired. In our somewhat befuddled state, we mistakenly opted to stay somewhere 'fun' - indeed, the name should have given it away: Fun Patagonia Hostel. I'll stop right there before I start sounding too much like the grumpy old fart that I am ;)
When last I wrote just over a week ago, we were in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Since then we've been to El Calafate (ideally situated for going to see the Perito Moreno Glacier), Bariloche (really great fun) and now San Martin de los Andes (genuinely quite splendid).
In Ushuaia, we found a really great cafe/restaurant (Ramos Generales)... In fact I think we spent the best part of 2 days in there - the food was great, the coffee was superb and the decor really rather tasteful. However, after our first day of indulgence there, we felt it necessary to get out and see some of the local scenery. A few hours walking (and 15 minutes on a ski lift) took us to the Martial Glacier. We were accompanied by a German girl from the hostel and joined later by one of the country's ubiquitous stray dogs, who stayed with us for a good couple of miles. Anyways, 'twas a treat of a walk and needless to say the views were great. The glacier itself is pretty titchy, but it was reet grand to get out and about, and its diminuitive size served to increase the impact of the incredible Perito Moreno Glacier we'd see a few days later.
The trip from Ushuaia to El Calafate was another 20ish hour beast (leaving at 5am, arriving 1am the next morning), but for some reason seemed to pass fairly swiftly. Off to Hostel de las Manos (highly recommended - particularly welcome was the free pick-up from the bus terminal) for a couple of nights. El Calafate allowed more opportunities for lounging around in cafes, but more importantly it is the base for most of the excursions to the Perito Moreno Glacier. We chose the MiniTrekking deal, whereby you get a couple of hours strolling the viewing platforms at the face of the glacier, then a short boat ride followed by an hour and a half on the ice itself. Total cost including the entrance fee for the national park is AR$460 (just a little less than £100) and it is definitely worth it. There's a load of photos at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/gibboniser/PeritoMorenoGlacier - I won't try and describe how amazing it was, but hopefully the photos give you some idea!
Next up we had another monstrous bus journey... this time, 30 hours to Bariloche. There are actually a couple of different routes between El Calafate and Bariloche - one via the shorter, but unsurfaced, RN40 (about 40 hours) and the one we took which goes much, much further via Rio Gallegos and up the RN3... Check it out on a map - the difference in distance is quite incredible. Anyway, on particular journey we were treated to a genuinely plush bus, some awesome 90s party music and a number of films from the half-decent (The Departed) to the painfully, terrible (Little Man). Lessons learnt: drinking wine on long bus journeys is a very good idea.
Bariloche, as I already mentioned, is tremendous fun. We generally managed to avoid too much of that, thankfully, instead choosing to bum around in cafes again. The city itself is renowned as for its chocolate - we probably didn't eat as much of it as we should have!
A short (4 hour) bus ride down the 7 Lakes route brought us to San Martin de los Andes, from where I write this bloggage now. I'm actually planning on getting out and seeing some scenery soon, but otherwise I'll be taking it pretty easy. Of course ;)
When last I wrote just over a week ago, we were in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Since then we've been to El Calafate (ideally situated for going to see the Perito Moreno Glacier), Bariloche (really great fun) and now San Martin de los Andes (genuinely quite splendid).
In Ushuaia, we found a really great cafe/restaurant (Ramos Generales)... In fact I think we spent the best part of 2 days in there - the food was great, the coffee was superb and the decor really rather tasteful. However, after our first day of indulgence there, we felt it necessary to get out and see some of the local scenery. A few hours walking (and 15 minutes on a ski lift) took us to the Martial Glacier. We were accompanied by a German girl from the hostel and joined later by one of the country's ubiquitous stray dogs, who stayed with us for a good couple of miles. Anyways, 'twas a treat of a walk and needless to say the views were great. The glacier itself is pretty titchy, but it was reet grand to get out and about, and its diminuitive size served to increase the impact of the incredible Perito Moreno Glacier we'd see a few days later.
The trip from Ushuaia to El Calafate was another 20ish hour beast (leaving at 5am, arriving 1am the next morning), but for some reason seemed to pass fairly swiftly. Off to Hostel de las Manos (highly recommended - particularly welcome was the free pick-up from the bus terminal) for a couple of nights. El Calafate allowed more opportunities for lounging around in cafes, but more importantly it is the base for most of the excursions to the Perito Moreno Glacier. We chose the MiniTrekking deal, whereby you get a couple of hours strolling the viewing platforms at the face of the glacier, then a short boat ride followed by an hour and a half on the ice itself. Total cost including the entrance fee for the national park is AR$460 (just a little less than £100) and it is definitely worth it. There's a load of photos at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/gibboniser/PeritoMorenoGlacier - I won't try and describe how amazing it was, but hopefully the photos give you some idea!
Next up we had another monstrous bus journey... this time, 30 hours to Bariloche. There are actually a couple of different routes between El Calafate and Bariloche - one via the shorter, but unsurfaced, RN40 (about 40 hours) and the one we took which goes much, much further via Rio Gallegos and up the RN3... Check it out on a map - the difference in distance is quite incredible. Anyway, on particular journey we were treated to a genuinely plush bus, some awesome 90s party music and a number of films from the half-decent (The Departed) to the painfully, terrible (Little Man). Lessons learnt: drinking wine on long bus journeys is a very good idea.
Bariloche, as I already mentioned, is tremendous fun. We generally managed to avoid too much of that, thankfully, instead choosing to bum around in cafes again. The city itself is renowned as for its chocolate - we probably didn't eat as much of it as we should have!
A short (4 hour) bus ride down the 7 Lakes route brought us to San Martin de los Andes, from where I write this bloggage now. I'm actually planning on getting out and seeing some scenery soon, but otherwise I'll be taking it pretty easy. Of course ;)
Tuesday 3 February 2009
As far south as I've ever been...
Firstly, commiserations to all those of you who are reading this in the UK, where I understand there is rather a lot of snow and some pretty low temperatures. I bet you're expecting me to rub salt in the wound a bit by telling you just how hot and sunny it is over here, but guess what... It's actually pretty cold! When we finally arrived in Ushuaia (after 20+ hours of bus travel) it was 4 degrees. 4! That's about 30 less than it was back in Sierra de la Ventana! And it was kinda raining too! There, I bet you all feel a bit better to know that I share your suffering :)
I think I last wrote from Puerto Madryn. After that, we went to Gaiman - a small place of Welsh heritage (it really plays on this) where we had hoped to gorge on cake and tea. However, the town was in reality a bit of a let-down. I don't mean to offend all the Gaimanonians who subscribe to my blog - it's a perfectly nice place. Just not really very Welsh - I felt a bit deceived. Oh, I also had the cheesiest pizza I've ever had the misfortune to order, but I guess I can blame that on being a veggie in a country world-renowned for its meat. I got a picture of the pizza anyway... I'll upload it along with some other more interesting shots to the regular place later.
Gaiman is a small place; usually a day trip from the nearby Trelew (pronounced tre-ley-ooh, apparently). We'd chosen to stay there 'cos of the campsite, which was absolutely brilliant - set up and run by the local volunteer firemen, I'd recommend it to anyone :) Anyway, I started this paragraph intending to talk about Trelew, and already I've got distracted. Back to the subject. In Trelew, we went to the dinosaur museum (it has a fancy name, but I forget it). Really very, very good - the highlight being the (albeit partial) argentinosaurus skeleton. Photo uploaded to demonstrate just how outragously big this chap was.
After Gaiman, we took the overnight bus about 12 hours south to Puerto San Julian, which turned out to be a splendid place. Another quiet, lazy town, but big enough to support a few more activities. From here, we took a 2 hour excursion to see a magellenic penguin colony - usually occupied by something like 120,000 birds, although there didn't seem to be quite so many as that. On the same trip, we saw cormorants and dolphins. I had actually thought that this was the first time I'd seen dolphins, but in fact I seem to remember them playing in the wake of our ferry between Picton and Wellington when I was in New Zealand. Well, either way, this time it was much closer up, and a different species too - the Commerson's dolphin. Awww, they're well cute. Google it if you don't believe me, 'cos I didn't really get any photos good enough to prove it.
The other thing well worth me mentioning regarding Puerto San Julian was the best - and most unassuming - restaurant I've been to in Argentina. Don Vittorio is a little pasta place we happened across entirely by accident. It isn't mentioned in the guide books, but is sooooo good. Honestly, if you ever find yourself in this town, don't miss it. Not that I can remember where it actually is, or anything useful like that, but seriously. Ask someone, or something. They only do pasta, and they do it soooo well, and with exceptionally friendly service. I'm missing it already, and I was there only 2 days ago!
We actually left Pto San Julian slightly earlier than expected, just 'cos it was rather difficult to get seats on the bus for the next leg of our journey. After just one night at the municiple campsite (actually quite nice - great sea views) we got a 1.30am bus (which actually left at about 2.30) to Rio Gallegos. From there, we boarded a slightly less plush bus to make the journey to Tierra del Fuego. Whilst it wasn't the most comfortable trip, the 20ish hours seemed to fly by. Some of the views along the way were incredible too, although by the time we reached the mountains the sun was setting. In some ways, this made waking up in the next morning a real treat, as of course it was dark when we arrived in Ushuaia. I had no idea when I went to sleep in the hostel how incredible the view would be when I woke up... it really is a beautiful setting.
Now I'm sitting in a fab little cafe/restaurant drinking the best beer I've had in Argentina - Cape Horn - and getting slightly tiddly as I try and write bloggage and upload photos. I have no idea if what I've just written makes sense as I don't proof-read this blog. If it doesn't, get over it ;)
I think I last wrote from Puerto Madryn. After that, we went to Gaiman - a small place of Welsh heritage (it really plays on this) where we had hoped to gorge on cake and tea. However, the town was in reality a bit of a let-down. I don't mean to offend all the Gaimanonians who subscribe to my blog - it's a perfectly nice place. Just not really very Welsh - I felt a bit deceived. Oh, I also had the cheesiest pizza I've ever had the misfortune to order, but I guess I can blame that on being a veggie in a country world-renowned for its meat. I got a picture of the pizza anyway... I'll upload it along with some other more interesting shots to the regular place later.
Gaiman is a small place; usually a day trip from the nearby Trelew (pronounced tre-ley-ooh, apparently). We'd chosen to stay there 'cos of the campsite, which was absolutely brilliant - set up and run by the local volunteer firemen, I'd recommend it to anyone :) Anyway, I started this paragraph intending to talk about Trelew, and already I've got distracted. Back to the subject. In Trelew, we went to the dinosaur museum (it has a fancy name, but I forget it). Really very, very good - the highlight being the (albeit partial) argentinosaurus skeleton. Photo uploaded to demonstrate just how outragously big this chap was.
After Gaiman, we took the overnight bus about 12 hours south to Puerto San Julian, which turned out to be a splendid place. Another quiet, lazy town, but big enough to support a few more activities. From here, we took a 2 hour excursion to see a magellenic penguin colony - usually occupied by something like 120,000 birds, although there didn't seem to be quite so many as that. On the same trip, we saw cormorants and dolphins. I had actually thought that this was the first time I'd seen dolphins, but in fact I seem to remember them playing in the wake of our ferry between Picton and Wellington when I was in New Zealand. Well, either way, this time it was much closer up, and a different species too - the Commerson's dolphin. Awww, they're well cute. Google it if you don't believe me, 'cos I didn't really get any photos good enough to prove it.
The other thing well worth me mentioning regarding Puerto San Julian was the best - and most unassuming - restaurant I've been to in Argentina. Don Vittorio is a little pasta place we happened across entirely by accident. It isn't mentioned in the guide books, but is sooooo good. Honestly, if you ever find yourself in this town, don't miss it. Not that I can remember where it actually is, or anything useful like that, but seriously. Ask someone, or something. They only do pasta, and they do it soooo well, and with exceptionally friendly service. I'm missing it already, and I was there only 2 days ago!
We actually left Pto San Julian slightly earlier than expected, just 'cos it was rather difficult to get seats on the bus for the next leg of our journey. After just one night at the municiple campsite (actually quite nice - great sea views) we got a 1.30am bus (which actually left at about 2.30) to Rio Gallegos. From there, we boarded a slightly less plush bus to make the journey to Tierra del Fuego. Whilst it wasn't the most comfortable trip, the 20ish hours seemed to fly by. Some of the views along the way were incredible too, although by the time we reached the mountains the sun was setting. In some ways, this made waking up in the next morning a real treat, as of course it was dark when we arrived in Ushuaia. I had no idea when I went to sleep in the hostel how incredible the view would be when I woke up... it really is a beautiful setting.
Now I'm sitting in a fab little cafe/restaurant drinking the best beer I've had in Argentina - Cape Horn - and getting slightly tiddly as I try and write bloggage and upload photos. I have no idea if what I've just written makes sense as I don't proof-read this blog. If it doesn't, get over it ;)
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