Nine Perfect Days in Patagonia...Day 2

First things, first.

The overall transportation infrastructure in Argentinian Patagonia is like soooooo kewt. Like...we might not have gas today, but we have alfajores every day kewt. I am the kind of person who plans trips down to the hour, 8 months in advance, so you can just imagine my level of anxiety when I realized the state of affairs.

Here's the thing, though: it's all OK. They know. They know they might not have gas, and they know the border check point might take 2 hours instead of 15 minutes and they know you might get a flat tire and be derailed for six hours and miss your check in window time. They know, and its OK. We've got beer and alfajores, man.

So first off, don't worry. You put yourself where you need to be, how you need to be and when you need to be there and don't stress if the winds of fate blow you another way. You'll be fine.

After your day (or two) in BA, you will need to get to El Calafate, most likely through a local airline. We had ZERO issues with our flights in South America, but they are notoriously late and there are often strikes. Here's a travel tip: If you or someone you know speaks Spanish and can translate the airline website while leaving it on their country of origin, you might be able to get a cheaper ticket. It worked for us.

A year before you land in El Calafate (yes, I'm dead serious - a year) book your rental car. If you want to do it RIGHT NOW, I'll wait.

Ok, done?

The thing is when you book your rental car a year in advance you can stand at the check in window and smirk on the inside when other people landing in Calafate think they can book a car upon arrival only to find out that they needed to book it, and I quote "months to a year in advance".

From the airport, it is a 3 hour drive to El Chalten. El Chalten is a small mountain village within Los Glaciers National Park, and a good base for hiking within the park. As long as you have gas, just head straight there - we will spend one day in Calafate before heading to Chile, so no need to stop there now.

 The drive is beautiful in a remote, there's no one except for hitchhikers around, kind of way.

As you approach El Chalten, it will look something like this:

If you are ambitious and have time after check in, you could do some shorter hikes in the area, or get some chocolate and alfajores.

Told you.

We ended up walking around the town and taking it easy the first day we were there. There is almost a college feel to El Chalten - lots of hikers and backpackers, people selling fruit on the side of the road, teenagers riding bikes and younger children playing foosball (seriously). It definitely had a small town, vintage vibe to it where everything felt safe and innocent and you just know that everyone knows everyone and they tell on each other all the damn time.

This was the view from our window. The evening of Day 2 was spent here with a couple 40s, people watching. Because, apparently, that's how we roll when we're in Argentina.

Need to catch up on Day 1?