旅游小插曲 (24)

今天要讲的故事发生在南美洲阿根廷。阿根廷南部有个小镇，名字是El Chalten。它在阿根廷和智利的边界处，位于Los Glaciares国家公园内。全年人口只有几百人，旅游旺季时人口或近千人。最近的小型机场是El Calafate，相距220公里。 

小镇靠近Torre山和Fitz Roy山等几座高山。地理位置非常适合各种攀山或远足活动，路线很多，难易程度，路程长短，有多种选择。近年来，El Chalten镇成为一个旅游小镇，卖点是《阿根廷的远足之都》。 

我们在2019年三月来见识这远足胜地，有一天的远足自由行。在我们这个约20个人的团中，我们走得最少，只在两条热门路线走了一小段路，第一条路线走到了一个著名的观景点就折回，全程约五、六公里。第二条路线我是孤军独战，走了六、七公里。蔚蓝天空，风月无边，江山如画，不在话下。团中有几位走了三十多公里。 

这次的远足自由行，平安无事，没有故事。这期的故事讲的是我们在这里遇到故人。这个El Chalten偏僻小镇，在圆型地球的另一边，从吉隆坡过去，要转机四次，至少要飞三十多个小时。我们竟然在这里遇到一位老同学！这位陈兄是我大学的同学，我最近一次遇到他该是两、三年前的一个同学聚餐会。他们夫妇是一个六个人的小团，也是慕名来远足。他乡遇故知，可当一个故事吧！

各位可能觉得我们去过很多地方，环游过世界了。比起这位陈兄，我是小韩见大陈。一年中他超过一半的时间在旅游。他著有五、六本的旅游书籍，是南洋商报的旅游专栏作家，FB有750个粉丝，我只有6个。我们这次去南美的阿根廷，巴西和智利三个国家，用了三个多星期，浮光掠影，蜻蜓点水式。这位陈先生，他也是去这三个国家，不过是十个星期，明察秋毫。够厉害吧！

The southern most town/city in the World - Ushuaia, Argentina. ( re-post )

 *WS 19 ( re-post ) - The southern most town/city in the World - Ushuaia, Argentina*

We now move to South  America to look at another delightful small town.  Ushuaia, population: 60,000. We were here in March 2019. Beautiful scenes of buildings against the backdrop of snow-capped mountains. Unique architecture for some buildings.

It is a port of call for cruise ships, big and small, including those to the Southern Antarctica. It is also the gateway to the popular Tierra del Diego National Park. Small tour agency booths line the waterfront. Many shops selling cold weather wear and outdoor gear. 

The town is also famous for seafood, in particular the southern king crab (lithodes santolla). This one cost RM 175. In KL it could cost double. The last photo is a specimen of sea life found at the local museum.

The thundering Iguazu Falls in Brazil / Argentina

*WS 97 - The thundering Iguazu Falls in Brazil/Argentina*

The Iguazu Falls is a series of waterfall bordering Brazil and Argentina, 20% of the falls in Brazil and 80% in Argentina. The rim width of the falls is 2.7 km, about a quarter without water. The main falls are 60 m to 82 m deep. Both countries have national parks named after the falls and both are UNESCO World Heritage sites.  

The Iguazu Falls is in fact one of the top 3 waterfall in the World. The others are Victoria in Africa and Niagara in North America. 

We visited the falls in 2019. It was a rainy afternoon when we were on the Brazilian side. The first 3 photos were taken on this side, with tourists taking selfie in raincoats. On the next day we had a full day exploring the Argentina side. We trekked for several hours along established trails viewing the many falls at different places. The 5th photo shows the Mbigua Falls and the 7th the Devil's Throat where a huge amount of water swirl down the deep curved fissure in the rock to create a spectacular series of waterfall if viewed from below. The monkeys here are the black capuchins, said to be very intelligent.

The Perito Moreno Glacier near El Calafate in Argentina

*WS 73: The Perito Moreno Glacier near El Calafate in Argentina*

The Los Glaciares National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the largest national park in Argentina. It is located in south west Argentina bordering Chile. Within the park is the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the 48 glaciers within the Southern Patagonia Ice Field. The ice field is the 3rd largest in the World, after Antarctica and Greenland.

We visited the glacier in 2019. Walked on long metal decks to admire the glacier from a distance and at different angles The width of the terminus is 5 km and average height 74 m, like an 25-storey building. Look small in the photo. The 2nd photo do provide a sense of scale comparing the visitors on the foreground. 

We were supposed to take a cruise to get near the glacier in the afternoon. However the boat was out of service. Another possible activity here is canoeing, but more for the adventurous ang moh.

The Tierra del Fuego National Park near Ushuaia, Argentina

*WS 62: The Tierra del Fuego National Park near Ushuaia, Argentina*

Ushuaia is a town located at the southern tip of Argentina and often regarded as the southern-most city in the World. In 2019 we visited Ushuaia and spent a day at the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The park was established in 1960, with over 680 sq km of land covering mountains, grassland, lakes, waterfalls and glaciers.  

Many hiking options are available. We chose an easy one for the morning, just 5 or 6 km over low terrain. Shown some typical scenes, and an indigenous Magellan goose. The 6th and 7th photos show 2 endemic parasitic plants at the park. The 1st one is the orange ball-like  "misodendrum punctulatum" and the 2nd one white thread-like "Chinese lantern". Met a biker from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil who has ridden 8,000 km from Rio to reach here.

Trekking in El Chalten, Argentina. ( re-post )

*WS 55 ( re-post ) – Trekking in El Chalten, Argentina*

Now to southern South America

El Chalten is a small village near the southern tip of Argentina. It is located within the Los Glaciars National Park, flanked by the Torre and Fitz Roy mountains. Because of the location it has gradually grown into a popular trekking center and marketed as the Trekking Capital of Argentina. Most tourists come here to trek or hike (more leisurely) and there are many established treks. 

We were here in 2019 on a small group tour. And we had a day of trekking based on our own choice of treks. In late morning the two of us went to trek the initial parts of the popular “Fitz Roy Track”, up to the Viewing Point of the Las Vueltas River and came back, for a total of about 4 to 5 km only. In the afternoon I went alone to trek the initial part of the “Torre Lake Track” up to the Viewing Point of the Torre, or about 6 km in total. Great vista through out. 

First 3 photos on the Fitz Roy Track. The 3rd photo shows the Las Vueltas River viewed from the track. The last 5 photos on the Lake Torre Track. The last photo shows the snow-capped peaks of Torre, Egger, etc, the reward of reaching the Viewing Point of Mt Torre on the track. 

The fittest few from our group trekked around 30 km.