Patagonia last stop - Bariloche

After leaving El Chalten we headed to our last stop in Argentina before heading to Chile - Bariloche. Initially we thought it might be a touristy place where it is just for vacationers but we thought wrong. It was a beautiful city with amazing hiking and nature. We also had the best hostel stay thus far. Great place to stay with great people. Bariloche as a city is know for its chocolates, we sure had lots of it. We also did a couple of hikes. the first day we went to Cerro Compañero, which is supposed to have one of the best views in the world. Yes it was amazing. The second day we hiked a 20km climb up Cerro Catedral. see some of the pictures below. it was spectacular. Well worth the 4 hour hike up.

Patagonia 2nd stop - El chalten

 We left El calafate early morning and  headed to El Chalten. It was a quick, around 3 hour bus ride. We only stayed for one night then head to Bariloche, a two day trip staying over night at a small town called Perito Moreno.
I guess it was good we only stayed one night in El Chalten. The weather was awful. Too cold and winds were around 60-70 mph. We did a few hour hike in the hopes to continue and see the top of Mt. Fitz roy but the clouds were low and the rain did not help. Bit we enjoyed what we were able to get to.
We got ready in the morning and took of on our first 13h bus ride to perito moreno along routa 40

waking up early to catch the first bus of 2 to Bariloche (13 hours)

friends along the bus break stops

true locals of Patagonia sipping on Matte

moon rise in the desert

water ways along the way

small villages along our 13 hour bus ride

Memorials along routa 40

Beautiful Patagonia - 1st stop

First stop: El Calafate. A 3 hour plane ride from Buenios Aires  is the hub of the Patagonia region in Argentina. Right away you notice the quiet, chill air in comparison to the hustle and bustle of BsAs. El Calafate is a small town, fairly touristy supporting the hikers and climbers heading to Los Glaciers National Park. Our first day there we checked into the hostel and walked around town. Also explored the Laguna Nimez, Laguna Secundaria, and walk along the shore of Lago Argentino.
On our second day we went to the southern part of the National park and hiked around Glacier Perito Moreno, one of the most beautiful places I've seen in my life. The nature part of it is phenomenal, high Andes lush mountains  right against turquoise lakes . But the infrastructure of the park takes away from the experience where they constructed metal bridges. I would have preferred to hike around dirt paths. Me and Matthew sneaked out of those trails and had our own adventures :D

Perito Moreno Glacier

sunrise the morning we left El Calafate