El Chaltén, Argentina

bid one last farewell to lonely puerto natales and then back onto the bus to cross once again the unpaved patagonian trail. time enough for a lunch of sandwiches, cucumbers, and tomatoes overlooking lago argentina and then a new bus to el chalten. and then after ten you arrive in the dark, without having bothered to arrange for housing in advance (these little details grow tiresome after a while). off the bus and on with the bag: time to scour this dusty town of 2,000 permanent residents for a bed. the search won't take long though, because these 2,000 permanent residents seem to have very little to do aside from accommodating the uncounted myriads of travellers that make el chalten their base camp while exploring the ineffable beauty of the neighboring mountains.

hostels down here are something different than what the average backpacker might seek in buenos aires. in el chalten teenaged aussies share rooms with grey-haired germans. breakfast starts around 7, and most tenants hit the trails shortly thereafter. you will find a few camp sites scattered across the trails winding through this mountain range, but after torres del paine, they'll seem somewhat claustrophobic and inauthentic. you'll be pleased to find no 'recreational vehicles', but you might be a bit skeptical of those mess-hall sized tents embellished with travel agency decals.

but really, most of the camping you'll see around el chalten won't lie too far from the small town itself. the true charm of this place lies more in the empty winding trails and the spell-binding chalten massif visible (or alluringly invisible) from every hike you'll make. you're no dummy, so you'll have read your lonely planet/frommers/rough guide/etc. and will emit a facile 'ah-ha' as you find first-hand evidence supporting the well-reported fact that the teulehic's poetic christening of the peak as 'el chalten' ('smokey mountain') derived from the nearly-perpetual nebulous wreath which lends the rock a volcanic appearance. if you're lucky, you might even steal a few glances of chalten (also known as fitz roy -- surely renamed for some possibly good reason) denuded of its hoary halo. that would be very exciting indeed. also worth the challenge would be the 25 kilometer round trip trek to the base of the peak, a great place to admire the strikingly blue pools that humbly offer mirror reflections to the majestic spires so that they might enjoy their own beauty.

you may or may not be surprised as well to find that the high touristy prices of dining out will inspire you to take advantage of the slightly less high touristy prices of grocery shopping and self-help cooking. your surprise might even boil over into mild frustration when you discover that finding and cooking a recognizable fresh green vegetable (lettuce and cucumber do not count!) will be much harder than you expected. who knew broccoli was such a delicacy?

it may sound simple on paper, but you'll find these meditative hikes and home-cooked meals to be utterly fulfilling, and, even though forced to rouse yourself at 4 in the morning to courageously face a 30-hour trip to bariloche after only a few days of hiking, you'll be nothing but content as you say goodbye to el chalten and southern patagonia.