After completing our Torres del Paine hike, we ventured into Argentina. The easiest way to do this is by bus from Puerto Natales to El Calafate. Upon arriving in El Calafate, we picked up a rental car so we could be on our own without the need for tours. We arrived to our bed and breakfast and struck up a conversation with the owner that then offered us mate, and we ended up speaking for a couple of hours. This could have been the highlight of the whole trip. We spoke about life in El Calafate compared to elsewhere in Argentina, their tourism industry, and the changes that Argentina is going through. We spoke about politics and travel, people and food. It was invigorating and reminded me again why I love to travel so much.

The next day we picked up some friends we had met on the O Trek in Torres del Paine and the four of us drove to Perito Moreno Glacier. We arrived around 8:30. I wish I had understood the posted information better because if you arrive before 8 AM you’re able to visit for free and completely avoid all people, but even still, we were there with very few others. The tour groups start arriving around 10 AM.

This glacier is quite cool, and cold (Jake’s joke). I’ve seen a few now but the fact that you’re able to get so close to this one from the boardwalk is unique and the sheer height of the ice is really remarkable. Stay just an hour and you’ll see pieces melt and break off, crashing into the water below. It’s a serene place, too, because everyone is listening for the sound of the cracks to see where to look next.

After Perito Moreno we had lunch in El Calafate and continued on to El Chaltén. El Chaltén is still very young in its tourism evolution, with fewer hotels and restaurants than El Calafate but it’s still a charming little town. We were there to hike up to the base of Fitz Roy.

Having learned from our previous mistake of not leaving early enough, we were sure to get a very early start, both to avoid people and the fee that Argentina has started covering to do this hike. We were graced with a peach sunrise that glowed across the clouds. It was chilly as this was the start of autumn but by midmorning it was very comfortable hiking weather. We had about 30 minutes at the top to ourselves and even though the clouds did not part for us, we still felt on top of the world. The hike in total was 15 miles, 3,370 ft elevation gain and took us 7 hours car to car.

As this marked the pinnacle of our trip, we treated ourselves to a 5 course meal, which included a live musical performance – making for a truly heightened experience. It was one of those evenings I will never forget.

Leaving El Chaltén the next morning we had clear skies and crooked necks from continuously looking back at this striking skyline as we drove away. It is odd that these mountains jettison up immediately next to barren plains resembling tundra (the landscape along the road between El Calafate and El Chaltén). It’s one of those places where I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t what we saw and still, it has a sincere beauty.

From that moment, we completely retraced our steps, returning to El Calafate, busing back to Puerto Natales, Chile to fly back to Santiago and eventually to the States. This was the most cost effective way to travel, albeit cumbersome. Argentina has relatively affordable flights within Argentina but as soon as you cross borders flying between Argentina and Chile, the prices skyrocket, which is why we traveled back to Chile by road and only flew within Chile’s borders.

Before our last flight to the States, we spent another half day in Santiago and used it to visit their tallest building (Gran Torre Santiago). There’s an observatory on top that offers far reaching views of this megacity. This was a perfect bucket list trip, with landscapes and activities of all types, and a supportive fiancé who is somehow always down for my crazy ideas.