Argentina – Wonders of Traveling

Deprecated: Required parameter $is_script follows optional parameter $list in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 21 Deprecated: Required parameter $handle follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 45 Deprecated: Required parameter $src_cdn follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 45 Deprecated: Required parameter $deps follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 45 Deprecated: Required parameter $ver follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 45 Deprecated: Required parameter $footer_or_media follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 45 Deprecated: Required parameter $handle follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 104 Deprecated: Required parameter $src_cdn follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 104 Deprecated: Required parameter $deps follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 104 Deprecated: Required parameter $ver follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 104 Deprecated: Required parameter $footer_or_media follows optional parameter $register in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php on line 104 Deprecated: Required parameter $path follows optional parameter $expire in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_functions.php on line 54 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php:21) in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/onecom-vcache/vcaching.php on line 614 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php:21) in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/onecom-vcache/vcaching.php on line 622 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/redux-framework/ReduxCore/inc/class.redux_cdn.php:21) in /customers/5/a/f/wondersoftraveling.com/httpd.www/wp-includes/feed-rss2.php on line 8 Argentina – Wonders of Traveling https://www.wondersoftraveling.com welcome to the world of an ex-world traveller Tue, 02 Jun 2020 12:37:24 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.4 https://usercontent.one/wp/www.wondersoftraveling.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cropped-logo4-32x32.png Argentina – Wonders of Traveling https://www.wondersoftraveling.com 32 32 Visiting The Iguazu Waterfalls: The Ultimate Guide https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2020/06/02/visiting-the-iguazu-waterfalls-the-ultimate-guide/ Tue, 02 Jun 2020 12:18:50 +0000 https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=2560 Do you also find yourself daydreaming about your next holiday? Maybe you’re thinking about a trip to Argentina and would like to see the Iguazu Waterfalls. In this blog post I will tell you more about what to expect and how to prepare for your visit.

Disclaimer: this post is based on my visit to the Iguazu Waterfalls in January, 2019.

HOW TO GET TO THE IGUAZU WATERFALLS?

From Buenos Aires you can take a plane to Puerto Iguazu. The flight time is around 1.5 hours. Puerto Iguazu is the gateway to visiting the Iguazu Waterfalls from the Argentinian side.

Did you know that these waterfalls are spread across three countries? You can also visit them from Brazil or Paraguay. I only went to the Argentinian side, but I can testify that the waterfalls are spectacular from this side.

WHERE TO STAY?

I would advise staying in Puerto Iguazu. This city is located about 30 minutes from the waterfalls and has good connections to the Iguazu National Park.

HOW TO REACH THE FALLS FROM PUERTO IGUAZU?

There are several ways to get to the National Park from Puerto Iguazu. The easiest and fastest way is by taking a taxi.

If you’re traveling on a budget, you might be more inclined to take the bus. In that case, you need to go to the bus station of Puerto Iguazu. Several buses leave from here to the waterfalls. Be aware: the bus stop mentioned on the bus is called ‘Cataratas’, not Iguazu Waterfalls.

We paid €3 per person for a one way ticket. The bus ride takes about 30 minutes from the station to the park entrance.

HOW MUCH DOES AN ENTRANCE TICKET COST?

Once you reach the entrance, you have to queue to get a ticket. I will already warn you in advance: you will be doing a lot of queueing and waiting when visiting the Iguazu Falls.

The entrance tickets sets you back €16.50 per person. You will also receive a ticket for the first train. Train, I hear you say? Yes, you have to take trains to get around the park. It’s also possible to walk, but this takes quite a lot of time.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR VISIT?

As I just mentioned, you will be doing a lot of waiting. This is because you have to wait for the train to take you to the central station (Cataratas station).

Once you reach the central station, you can either start several hikes, or you can choose to go to the Devil’s Throat. This is the closest you get to the waterfalls.

To get there, you have to queue for another ticket. The train to Devil’s Throat leaves every 15 minutes. By the time we were waiting for the train to Devil’s Throat, we were already inside the park for two (!) hours. At this point we hadn’t seen any water yet.

When it was finally our turn to get on the train to Devil’s Throat, it only took about 20 minutes to get there. From the Garganta train station, you need to walk for about 30 minutes to get to the Devil’s Throat itself.

You will be walking on suspension bridges that cross the river. The walk is 1 kilometer long. Be aware that you will have to share the view with hundreds of other people. Everyone is fighting for the best spot to see the waterfalls.

This means that it’s not easy to get a picture of the waterfalls. You can opt to get a professional picture taken, for €8. After you’ve admired the view, you need to walk back to the Devil Throat’s station to queue for another ticket and wait for the next train to the central station.

Then you can opt to go on a hike from the central station, or go back to the main entrance. Once again: you need to queue for a ticket and wait for the train.

WHICH HIKES CAN YOU DO IN IGUAZU?

From the central station you can go on several different hikes. The most popular hikes are the superior and inferior circuits. If you go on these hikes, you see the waterfalls from above (superior) and below (inferior).

Superior circuit

This hike gives you a panoramic view of the waterfalls from the upper walkways. On the way you will see parts of the inferior circuit and you will be able to see the Brazilian national park as well.

The walkway is approximately 1.75km long and will take around 1.5 – 2 hours. The hike is relatively easy, you don’t have to mount any stairs. The only thing you have to take into account is the humidity.

Inferior circuit

This hike takes you to ground level so you can admire the waterfalls from below. You will walk through the jungle which means you can enjoy the local fauna and flora (and spiders).

This hike also takes in between 1.5 – 2 hours, depending on if you walk the long or short loop. The inferior circuit is 1.7km long and the difficulty is medium to high. There are some steep stretches and you have to climb up stairs.

Other hikes

You can also find the following hikes in the Iguazu National Park:

Macuco trail: 7.7km – 3 hours
Devil’s throat (from Garganta station): 2.2km – 2 hours
Green trail: 655m – 30 minutes
Isla San Martin: 700m – only reachable by boat first

CAN YOU DO A BOAT TRIP TO THE IGUAZU FALLS?

Would you like to get even closer than the Devil’s Throat? Are you not afraid of getting wet? Then a boat trip to the waterfalls is the best option for you.

This is the priciest way to visit the waterfalls (think around €100). You can book them through a travel agency. We didn’t do this since it was a bit too expensive. But if you want to get up close, this is the best way to do it.

If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to reach out below!

]]> 6 things to do in Buenos Aires https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2019/02/23/visit-buenos-aires/ Sat, 23 Feb 2019 19:25:34 +0000 http://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=2070 After our 2-week visit to Uruguay, we travelled back to Buenos Aires. We spent our last 2 weeks of South America in the Argentinian capital. During these 2 weeks, we managed to see quite a lot of Buenos Aires. In this blog I’ve collected 6 of our favourite things to do in BA.

La Boca

One of the most iconic and colourful neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires is La Boca. This barrio is home to the Bombonera stadium, Boca Juniors’ home turf. As a massive football fan, Simen was dying to check out la Boca and la Bombonera.

Buenos Aires

La Bombonera

Our first stop in Boca was, of course, La Bombonera. The closer we got to the stadium, the more blue and yellow houses and decorations we saw. The stadium is also painted in Boca’s blue and yellow colours.

You can visit the museum and take a stadium tour for only 10 euros. After seeing the cheap price, even I was up for taking a stadium tour. The tour lasted a whole hour and took us throughout the whole stadium and the visitor’s dressing room. If you want to visit Boca’s dressing room, you have to pay another 200 pesos (about 5 euros).

During the tour we learnt a lot about the history of Boca Juniors. The team was founded by 3 Italian immigrants who initially decided to play in black and white the kits. However, considering how colourful La Boca is, they felt those colours were a bit misplaced. So they decided to go to the harbour and pick the colours of the first ship they saw. As it happens, this was a Swedish ship, which explains why Boca’s colours are now blue and yellow. Even for someone like me, who isn’t particularly interested in South American football, the tour was very interesting and entertaining!

Buenos Aires

Caminito

Caminito is the most touristic area of La Boca. It’s a very small area which only covers a couple of streets, however it’s very beautiful and cosy. The streets are full of colourful houses, bars and restaurants. This is probably the area where you’ll see the most tourists in Buenos Aires. It’s a delight to walk around and admire the beautiful houses and stroll the souvenir shops. However, like I said, it’s very touristic. There are tons of people trying to sell things everywhere and it’s very difficult to take pictures without any other tourists in it.

Despite its very touristic feel, it’s definitely a must see in Buenos Aires.

Safety instructions

Boca is considered to be a more unsafe neighbourhood. Therefore we planned our visit in the middle of the day and made sure to be back in the safer Palermo neighbourhood after dark. However, it’s also important to know that it’s best to stay in the touristic areas of La Boca.

Simen had found an interesting restaurant where we could have some parilla for lunch. On the way there, we were stopped and shouted at by a local who very strongly encouraged us to go back to the area of La Bombonera and Caminito. We weren’t quite sure why he was shouting, but we both figured it couldn’t be anything good. So, we quickly turned back and decided to have lunch elsewhere…

Buenos Aires

Football game at La Bombonera

Considering that watching a Boca Juniors home game, is on many football fan’s bucket list, it comes as no surprise Simen wanted to tick that off his personal bucket list.

After doing lots of research, he found the best travel agency to accompany him to the game. This agency is called Landing Pad and offers several tickets to Boca Juniors and River Plate games. Since Boca is a bit unsafe, like I said before, it’s important to go to a game with a travel agency. There are certain rules when it comes to going to the game (don’t wear your Boca shirt in certain neighbourhoods, don’t wear red/white clothes etc.) and Landing Pad will keep you up to date about all of those.

Buenos Aires

Also, it’s apparently extremely hard to get your hands on tickets. A lot of fake tickets are being sold. So if you see a cheapish Boca Juniors ticket, you can be almost 100% sure it’s fake. Landing Pad offers tickets from like 150 – 250 euros.

Simen told me the atmosphere in the Bombonera is amazing. People are singing, shouting, jumping, etc. He had an amazing time even though, unfortunately, Boca Juniors lost.

San Telmo Market

San Telmo Market is a market which takes place every Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM at Plaza Dorrego. It’s mainly an antique market, however, the market has expanded over several blocks (in Defensa, starting from Plaza de Mayo) and is full of stalls selling artesanal handcrafts.

Since we’re not particularly fans of antiques, we actually enjoyed strolling those handcraft stalls a lot more. It’s so cool to see how creative people are and what they can make with their own hands and minds.

There’s also a small food market located in Defensa (the street which connects Plaza de Mayo with Plaza Dorrego) where you can buy home made dulce de leche or where you can try bondiola or choripan on the barbecue.

It’s a very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Museum Nacional de Bellas Artes

I was quite surprised when Simen mentioned that the National Museum of Art houses works of Rubens, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Jackson Pollock, etc. We were both intrigued. Which is surprising, since we hadn’t been to one art museum since we left for our trip. But, it sounded like the museum had an amazing collection, and from what we read online, entrance was free!

So, we decided to pay the museum a visit. As expected, due to Argentinian recession the entrance was no longer free (for foreigners). However, it’s still very cheap. We paid 150 pesos each (around 1.80 euros) to get in.

The museum has 3 floors full of beautiful paintings, sculptures and artworks. I was very surprised to see that a big part of the ground floor was dedicated to Flemish and Dutch painters. We also saw works by Rodin, Manet, Monet, Kandinsky, etc.

The museum was very interesting and definitely a must if you’re into art!

Buenos Aires

Recoleta Cemetery

I always think it’s a bit macabre to have a cemetery as one of your major attractions, however Recoleta Cemetery is definitely a interesting place to visit.

I don’t know that much about Argentinian history or its famous people, but in Recoleta Cemetery you can visit the graves of Eva “Evita” Peron, Argentinian presidents and Nobel prize winners.

The cemetery is full of stately and big mausoleums. It is actually considered one of the 10 most beautiful cemeteries in the world.

Buenos Aires

Japanese Garden

The last couple of days it’s been excruciatingly hot in Buenos Aires. To get some shelter from the heat, we decided to go to the Japanese Garden.

To enter this beautiful garden, we paid 150 pesos (1.80 euros). It looks like a small oasis in the middle of a bustling, hectic city. There are several koi-ponds, red bridges and Torii Gates. We walked around for about an hour, and we both agreed that the gardens felt very peaceful.

There was also room for some pictures of all of Japan’s provinces, which made it clear to us: Japan is rightfully on our bucket list. Maybe it’ll be our next big destination after we come back from our trip?

Other nice places to visit in Buenos Aires:

Palermo: this is one of the most modern and safe neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires and is full of cosy bars and restaurants. It’s an ideal place to stay when you’re in BA.
Recoleta: just like Palermo, it’s very modern and safe. You’ll find tons of nice restaurants and bars here. This is also a good place to stay.
El Ateneo library: one of the most beautiful libraries I’ve ever seen. Although its English section is a bit underwhelming, the library itself is spectacular.

]]> Visiting the Iguazu Waterfalls https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2019/02/03/visiting-the-iguazu-waterfalls/ Sun, 03 Feb 2019 22:14:59 +0000 http://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=2007 After our 5-day stay in Bariloche, we made our way to the Iguazu Waterfalls. Since Iguazu is located on the complete opposite side of Argentina, and we had enough of long bus rides, we decided to fly there. We scheduled a very short visit to Iguazu, we arrived on the 22nd and flew back to Buenos Aires on the 24th.

From Puerto Iguazu to Iguazu National Park

We stayed in Puerto Iguazu, about 30 minutes drive away from the Iguazu Waterfalls. From the bus station in Puerto Iguazu, you can take several buses heading towards the park (usually indicated as Cataratas). We paid €3 p.p. one way.

After 30 minutes, we finally arrived at the park entrance. Here we had to queue for a while to get a ticket (€16.50 p.p.). It was very obvious that the Iguazu Waterfalls are an extremely popular tourist destination.

After purchasing our ticket and entering the park, we had to wait for one of the trains which was going to bring us to the central station of the park. Yes, there are trains driving you around, this shows you how touristic it is.

Iguazu waterfalls

Lots of waiting and queueing

Once we arrived at the central station, we had to queue again. This time to get a ticket to the Devil’s throat station. Devil’s Throat is where you get to see the biggest waterfall from close by. Once you get a ticket to the Devil’s throat station, you have to queue again. The trains leave every 15 minutes, but we ended up waiting for almost an hour before our train left.

However, as is quite common in South-America, nothing is really indicated. We saw tons of other gringo’s, looking confused, trying to figure out this very inefficient system. By now we had been in the park for almost 2 hours and we hadn’t even seen any water yet! Visiting the Iguazu Waterfalls requires lots and lots of patience and waiting in the scorching heat while cute coati’s try to steal your food.

Devil’s Throat

Around 11 AM, we were finally on our way to the Devil’s Throat station. From here you have to walk about 1 km to get to the waterfall. You’re walking on suspension bridges hanging over the river. Once we reached the Devil’s Throat, we had to fight for about 10 cm of space to take a picture and/or a video. It was basically impossible to get a picture by yourself, it was way too crowded.

Since we wanted to get a picture of us and the waterfall, we decided to pay for a professional photograph (€8). The photographers have a small stand on the bridge, which makes it seem as if you’re the only one visiting. In reality, it’s crazy crowded and you don’t really get to see that much of the waterfalls… When you do though, it’s super impressive! I’ve never seen a waterfall this big.

Superior and inferior trail

After spending about 20 minutes at Devil’s throat, we decided to walk back to the station. Once again, we had to queue for a new ticket to get on one of the next trains which would take us to the central station. This time we only had to wait for about 30 minutes.

Once we reached the Central Station, we decided to hike two of the trails: the superior and inferior one. If you do these hikes you can either see the waterfalls from above (superior) or from below (inferior).

Superior trail

The first hike we did was the superior one. This one took about 1.5 hours and took us all the way up to the waterfalls. We stopped a lot to take pictures because it was super impressive.

Inferior trail

After a quick stop to have lunch, we continued hiking towards the inferior trail. As I mentioned before, this trail takes you to ground level so you get to see the waterfalls from below.

This trail took about 1.5 hours as well but can take up to 2 hours if you take the long trail. Since it started to rain while we were on the inferior trail, we decided to cut it a bit short and only did the 1.5 hour loop.

The waterfalls are super impressive from all sides. In my opinion, the inferior trail gives you the best views on all of them, but both trails are a very good option to get close by.

Iguazu waterfalls

Extra option to see the Iguazu Waterfalls: boat ride

For those who have lots of money, a boat ride is also an option. These boats bring you very close to the waterfalls. We had considered it, based on the prices we had seen online: €10-25 (depending on how bad the recession was).

However, when we entered the park, we realised the prices had gone up to €50 p.p. Argentinian recession strikes again… Since some people online had said that even €10 was a bit steep for this 20 min. boat ride, we were really not willing to pay €50.

We’re not quite sure you’d see that much more from the boat than you do from the suspension bridges and the trails. If you take the superior or inferior trail, you already get very close to the waterfalls. In my opinion, there isn’t really any point in doing the boat ride.

On the way back, we decided to just walk back to the entrance of the park, otherwise we had to queue for another ticket and another train. The walk back to the entrance took only about 15-20 minutes, so it was definitely very doable.

Next stop: Buenos Aires

Our stop in Iguazu was very short and a bit on the expensive side, but we were both very happy we made the detour. The waterfalls are so impressive and should be on the bucket list of anyone visiting Argentina. You won’t be disappointed!

]]> Bariloche: Seven Lakes Route & Circuito Chico https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2019/02/03/bariloche-seven-lakes-route-circuito-chico/ https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2019/02/03/bariloche-seven-lakes-route-circuito-chico/#comments Sun, 03 Feb 2019 21:29:56 +0000 http://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=1989 As if a 28-hour bus ride wasn’t bad enough yet, I spent the first 2 days in Bariloche in bed. The verdict: tonsillitis. No idea how I managed to pick it up, but it meant that our 5-day visit to Bariloche turned into a 3 day one. We decided to rent a car for 2 days (€40 per day) to explore the beautiful region of Bariloche.

Seven Lakes Route

The first day we drove to Villa la Angostura, which is part of the Seven Lakes Route. This Route is known for its beauty because you drive past gorgeous lakes, rolling hills and rocky mountains. We didn’t manage to do the whole Seven Lakes Route because we didn’t have unlimited mileage.

The Seven Lakes Route usually goes from Bariloche to San Martin de Los Andes and takes about 280 km round trip. Since we were planning on going to Circuito Chico the next day, we decided to cut the trip short and only drove until Villa la Angostura.

The whole way to Angostura was gorgeous, I could see why people advised us to do the Seven Lakes route. It reminded me a lot of Lake Tahoe in California/Nevada. There were lots of pine trees, beautiful lakes with crystal clear water and sometimes even snow-capped mountains.

Bariloche

After we had lunch in Angostura, we decided to continue towards a couple of viewpoints. We were advised to go to the Bahia Mansa and Bahia Brava, two beautiful bays about 4 km away from Angostura. It was clear that Angostura is a very popular touristic destination. There were tons of people swimming, hiking, taking boat trips on the lake etc. It’s the perfect holiday destination year round since you can also ski in winter.

Bariloche

Circuito Chico

The lady at the car agency had advised us to go to Circuito Chico because according to her it was one of the must-sees. So on day 2, we made our way over to the start of the Circuito, about 30 km away from Bariloche.

The Circuito Chico is a 30-km long loop which takes you past more beautiful lakes, restaurants, picnic places, hiking routes etc. A lot of people rent a bike to bike the whole loop since it’s very doable and boasts gorgeous views.

View this post on Instagram

Unfortunately I got sick during our 5-day stay in Bariloche, so we didn’t get to explore as much as we wanted. We did however get to explore the “Circuito Chico”, a beautiful 27-km long loop which offers gorgeous views! #bariloche #argentina #circuitochico #patagonia #loveplanetearth #exploretheworld #travelphotography #rtwtrip #travelblogger #latergram

A post shared by Jolene Follens (@wondersoftraveling) on Jan 23, 2019 at 12:03pm PST

Along the way, there are several viewpoints which offer amazing views over the Lake district area. It was crazy to think that Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas were just across the border (about 300 km to the west). Bariloche and its surroundings were a lot more beautiful than Puerto Varas, in our opinion at least.

It took us about an hour to do the whole loop, including pictures stops. We actually did the loop twice, because we decided to have lunch in one of the restaurants which overlooked the Lago Moreno. This was definitely one of the more picturesque lunch stops I’ve ever been to.

Cerro Campanario

After driving the Circuito a second time, we decided to go to the Cerro Campanario. This is a hill overlooking the Circuito Chico and the lakes and can be accessed by cable car. The cable car set us back €10 each. Once we reached the summit, we not only got to see the Circuito Chico but also Bariloche. It was a spectacular view!

We stayed for about 15 minutes on top of Cerro Campanario, enjoying the views. Afterwards, we decided to head down again and drive back to Bariloche.

Next destination: Iguazu Waterfalls

I was very bummed to not have been able to explore Bariloche a bit more. It’s such a beautiful region! I would recommend it to anyone visiting Argentina, and I’m hoping to maybe return one day.

On our last day in Bariloche, we had to get to the airport by noon to take a flight to Buenos Aires. From here we continued onwards to the Iguazu Waterfalls. Read more about that in my next blog!

]]> https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2019/02/03/bariloche-seven-lakes-route-circuito-chico/feed/ 1 Bus from El Chaltén to Bariloche: bus ride from hell https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2019/01/31/bus-ride-from-el-chalten-to-bariloche/ Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:09:55 +0000 http://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=1972 Our next stop after El Chaltén was San Carlos de Bariloche. Unfortunately, these 2 cities are about 1500 km away from each other, which meant we had to choose between a very expensive flight (€300 p.p.) and a 24-hour bus ride… We chose the latter. Even though taking the bus from El Chaltén to Bariloche was a lot cheaper than flying, we regretted our decision many times. Want to know why? Keep on reading!

Which company?

There are 2 companies which offer the route El Chaltén to Bariloche: Chaltén Travel and Taqsa Marga.

Chaltén Travel offers the route in two legs: the first bus takes you up to Los Antiguos (10 hour travel time). Here you have to change buses and take the bus to Bariloche (12 hour travel time).

Taqsa Marga offers the 24 hour bus ride in one go. However, we had read that this bus had broken down before and the 24 hour ride had turned into a 30+ one. Since we didn’t want to risk being on the bus even longer, we decided to go for El Chaltén Travel.

Our tickets were very expensive: €90 per person. It’s very obvious Argentina is in a recession, since all the prices are extortionately high… Compared to 2016-2017, the prices have increased tenfold!

bus from El Chaltén to Bariloche — Destination: San Carlos de Bariloche

First bus: Chaltén to Los Antiguos

Good start: 30 min delay

Our bus to Los Antiguos was scheduled to leave Chaltén at 9 PM. Since we didn’t want to risk missing the bus, we had dinner at the bus station. At exactly 9 PM, we were waiting outside the bus, ready to start the long journey. The bus arrived at around 8.50, but it took until 9.25 for the bus driver to open the luggage compartment. As is pretty typical in South-America, we didn’t get any info as to why the bus was 30 minutes delayed. At 9.35 we were finally on our way.

This bus would take 10 hours to get to Los Antiguos. The bus was not really equipped for a night journey, since it was a normal day bus. The seats didn’t really recline, it wasn’t a double-decker, and there wasn’t much space. It almost felt like a bus you’d take to go on excursions, not a night bus at all. We weren’t quite happy about that, especially Simen with his long legs. But we decided to make the most of it. We got relatively comfortable and at around 11 PM I tried to get some sleep.

At around 11.45 however, the bus suddenly stopped. Simen and I exchanged worried looks. Hopefully there was nothing wrong with the bus… When the driver turned off the engine, we both said: “Uh oh, that can’t be good.” Unfortunately for us, it wasn’t good at all.

Bus troubles

Once again, there was zero information from the bus drivers. We only picked up on what was happening because other people asked for info. Apparently, the clutch of the bus was broken. This meant they could switch on the engine but not actually start driving…

As if that wasn’t bad enough, we were in the middle of nowhere without any cellphone reception! Luckily, one of the bus drivers had brought a satellite phone. The plan was to try to reach someone in Chaltén, and ask them to send a bus from El Calafate. This would take at least 4 hours… Then we realised we were in for a very, very long night.

Unfortunately for us, this satellite phone didn’t seem to work. We had no means to get in touch with anyone while we were stranded in the middle of nowhere at midnight. At some point another bus drove past us, which ironically was the Taqsa Marga bus also going to Bariloche. They picked up our bus driver and decided to drive him to the nearest town, from where he could call the Chaltén office and ask for a bus to pick us up.

New bus arrived, but alas to no avail

Since we realised this was going to take a while, everyone went back to sleep. At around 2.45 I woke up because an empty bus had arrived. I woke Simen up saying that our bus had arrived. The bus was empty and had parked next to us, this had to be our bus right?

Wrong again. This bus turned around and parked on the other side of the road. Everyone was now complaining because we were still not getting any info from the drivers and we had now been stranded for more than 3 hours. After a while, people started to fall asleep again.

Finally on our way to Los Antiguos

The bus driver woke us up at around 6 AM. The empty bus was still standing on the side of the road. We didn’t understand, there had been an empty bus right next to us, but we weren’t allowed to get on?

Suddenly, a bus showed up coming from the other direction. This bus was already full of people, who now all had to get off and get on the empty bus which had been waiting next to us for 3 hours. We were sent on the bus which had just arrived.

What was the point of that bus arriving at 2.45? No one knows. Why couldn’t we get on that bus and continue our journey and thus only lose 3 hours instead of 6? No one knows.

Everyone was grumpy because our 24 hour bus ride had now turned into a 30 hour one… At 6.30 we were finally on our way to Los Antiguos.

Second bus: Los Antiguos to Bariloche

The bus from Los Antiguos was scheduled to leave at 7 AM. Since we had only gotten on our new bus at 6 AM, we were all 100% sure we were going to be stranded in Los Antiguos. No way they’d wait for 6 hours for us, right?

This was the first time that day we were lucky, because the bus did actually wait for us! At 12 PM we finally arrived in Los Antiguos, and managed to get on the new bus to Bariloche. By now we had been travelling for 15 hours, and we still had a 12 hour bus ride to go…

Luckily, the second bus ride was very uneventful. Our bus driver wanted to make up for the delay and actually managed to get us to Bariloche faster than expected. Everyone on the bus was calling their hostel/hotel to inform them we’d be arriving after midnight and not at 5 PM as expected. However, we managed to arrive at 10.30 PM, which was a big relief because this meant we were still able to check in at our hotel.

Flying is a better option

After this “adventure”, we both said we really wished we had flown to Bariloche. This bus ride was a total disaster. We would advise anyone who’s not sure what to do, to take the plane. However, we would recommend booking your tickets well in advance so you don’t have to pay €300 p.p.

Bariloche is totally worth the hassle of getting there. It’s such a gorgeous place and the Seven Lakes route and Circuito Chico are so beautiful! We didn’t regret our visit to Bariloche at all.

]]> El Chaltén: the hiking capital of Argentina https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2019/01/25/el-chalten-hiking-capital-argentina/ Fri, 25 Jan 2019 01:33:35 +0000 http://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=1953 After our short visit to El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier, we travelled onwards towards El Chaltén. This tiny city, with only 3000 inhabitants, is known as Argentina’s hiking capital. Of course, this meant we mainly did hikes while we were here. All hikes leaving from El Chaltén are very well indicated and easy to find, it’s almost impossible to get lost. Read about our hikes and adventures here.

El Chaltén

Day 1: Condor lookout

On our first day in Chaltén, we only arrived in the afternoon. In order to prepare ourselves for the longer hikes on day 2 and 3, we decided to go for a short afternoon hike to the Condor Lookout. The trail to the Condor lookout starts at the visitor’s centre and the whole hike only takes about 1 hour. Ideal to get some walking rhythm in those legs!

The trail up to the lookout is very accessible and not steep it all. It gradually makes its way up to the lookout from where you get a gorgeous view on the Torres and Mount Fitz Roy. As the name indicates, it’s a great spot for condor spotting. We were up there for about 5-10 minutes and spotted 3 condors!

El Chaltén — View on Mount Fitz Roy and the Torres from Condor lookout

Day 2: Laguna de los Tres

On day 2 of our stay, we decided to do the longest hike: Laguna de los Tres. All blogs I’d read said this hike was a must since it boasts the most spectacular views on Mount Fitz Roy. However, it’s a very long and tiring hike. The whole hike takes between 7 and 9 hours and is 22 km long (round trip).

El Chaltén

Most popular hike in El Chaltén

The hike starts from the parking lot at the end of San Martin road. We decided to start the hike at around 10.15, aiming to be back at 18.15. The first part of the hike is gradually uphill, offering some gorgeous views of the neighbouring valley and the Rio de las Vueltas river.

Very steep last kilometre

Basically, the first 9-10 km of the hike are very doable and not too demanding. Some parts are a bit steeper than others, but it’s generally not very hard. The hardest part is the last kilometre. The first 9 km took us about 3 hours, while the last one took us a whole hour! That says a lot… The last kilometre is basically straight up. The trail zigzags up and our calves were hurting a lot. Everyone was out of breath and impatiently waiting to reach the lake.

We had to take several breaks to catch our breaths, that last kilometre was killing us! At some point I thought we had finally arrived, only to see another hill just around the corner. It was merciless. Finally after an hour of suffering, we reached the Laguna de los Tres.

El Chaltén

Gorgeous views

In my opinion, the suffering was worth it. Simen didn’t entirely agree since he felt like the effort didn’t weigh up to the reward. Also, the views reminded him a lot of our hike to Mirador base de las Torres in Torres del Paine. We had lunch at the lake, enjoying the views of Fitz Roy and the gorgeous blue lake, before making our way down again. We were back in Chaltén by around 6 PM, happy to give our tired legs some rest!

El Chaltén

Day 3: Laguna Torre

The last hike we did in El Chaltén was Laguna Torre. This is also a longer hike, 18km, but only takes about 6 hours. This hike brought us to the Laguna Torre, which gave us beautiful views on the Torres (the 3 towers).

The start of this hike was a bit more difficult to find. From San Martin street you’ll spot a sign pointing you in the right direction, but at certain points the road forks and the signs disappear. Not very convenient… You basically have to keep walking straight (don’t take a right) towards the hill. The trail starts behind the houses at the back of Las Loicas street.

El Chaltén

The start of the hike is quite a lot of uphill and downhill, but all in all the road goes up quite gradually. The first part is mainly uphill, while the second part is mainly downhill. After walking through a valley for about an hour, you’ll reach a forest (the most boring part). After the forest, it takes about another 2 km to reach the lake. Those last 2 km are relatively easy.

After our heavy hike from the previous day, we were very happy to reach the Laguna Torre. The lake itself isn’t as beautiful as the Laguna de los Tres, since the water has a more greyish colour. However, the views are still very beautiful!

After a quick lunch and some pictures, we decided to walk back. We were both happy to take a hiking break after our many hikes in Torres del Paine and El Chaltén.

Next stop: Bariloche

Our next stop was San Carlos de Bariloche. But to get there, we had to travel for 24 hours by bus! More about that in my next blog.

]]> Visiting the Perito Moreno Glacier https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2019/01/20/visiting-perito-moreno-glacier/ Sun, 20 Jan 2019 22:02:59 +0000 http://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=1935 Our first destination on the Argentinian side of Patagonia was the town of El Calafate. This town is a 7 hour bus ride away from Puerto Natales in Chile. The main reason for our visit to El Calafate was the world-famous Perito Moreno Glacier, about 80 km away. We opted for a guided tour, organised by Patagonia dreams (€60 per person).

The tour operator picked us up from our hostel at 8.45 and after a couple of other stops, we were on our way to Parque Nacional los Glaciares. We drove for about one hour, until we reached the entrance of the park. Here we had to pay for our entrance ticket (700 pesos, €16). If you pay by card, you have to get off the bus here to pay at the ticket booths. If you prefer paying in cash, you can stay inside the bus. Staff members of the park board the bus and sell you the tickets there.

From here it takes another 30 minutes by bus or car to reach the ferry stations. On the way to the ferry stations you get tons of viewpoints from where you get amazing views on the glacier. The Perito Moreno Glacier totals 250 km² and is the second biggest glacier in Argentina (the Viedma Glacier is the biggest at 970 km²!). The minute you lay eyes on the glacier, you’ll be impressed by its size and beautiful blue colour.

Boat ride to the Perito Moreno Glacier

Our guide got us our boat tickets, so we didn’t have to worry about anything at all, and we embarked the boat once we arrived at the station. The boat ride took 60 minutes and brought us up to 100 metres away from the glacier. Our boat was filled to the brim, which meant we were about 120 people in total. The boat had indoor seating for everyone, but the outdoor area is actually not that big.

Since, obviously, everyone wanted to get a good look of the glacier, the outdoor areas were full of people. At times it felt a bit like we were packed in like sardines. Luckily, we were one of the first ones out, so we got a chance to take pictures before everyone else started to arrive. However, after a while, it got a bit too packed for Simen, who decided to admire the glacier from inside the boat.

The glacier is quite active, and at times there were big chunks of ice falling down, which was really impressive! After taking dozens of pictures and admiring the glacier for about 50 minutes, it was time to head back to shore.

View this post on Instagram

Patagonia has been amazing! We not only did tons of wonderful hikes, but we also visited the Perito Moreno glacier. This glacier totals 250 km2 and is the 2nd biggest in Argentina. #peritomoreno #patagonia #elcalafate #loveplanetearth #argentina #exploretheworld #travelphotography #travellove #travelblogger #nofilter

A post shared by Jolene Follens (@wondersoftraveling) on Jan 19, 2019 at 1:56pm PST

Hiking with a view on the footbridges

After our boat ride, the bus dropped us off at restaurant Nativos de la Patagonia. Here we got about 2.5 hours of free time to explore the footbridges. There are several loops which depart from here, which all offer amazing views on the Perito Moreno glacier. The most scenic one, however, is the “yellow trail”. This trail brings you past the first and second balconies. From these balconies you’ll be able to enjoy spectacular views on the glacier. We hiked both the yellow and the red trail.

The footbridges are very safe and secure, and are an easy way to hike close to the glacier and get amazing views. Along the footbridges you’ll also spot professional photographers who will take your picture for you, if you’d like.

After our hikes, we went to the restaurant for a quick snack before hopping on the bus and heading back to Calafate. The whole excursion took about 7-8 hours and was very nice and very well organised.

]]> Mendoza & Cordoba https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2018/12/18/mendoza/ Tue, 18 Dec 2018 08:25:53 +0000 http://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=1812 After our 5 day trip to Valparaiso, we travelled to Mendoza, Argentina. We crossed the border at Los Libertadores, which was a very easy and straightforward border crossing. We didn’t have to fill in any forms or documents and didn’t have to declare any items (unlike crossing the border to Chile). The only thing we had to do was, show our passports and give them the address of our Airbnb. After checking our bags, we were granted entrance in the 7th country on our trip.

Our first destination in Argentina was Mendoza. This city is known for its wine-making, and is considered one of the 9 Great Wine Capitals. The inhabitants of Mendoza refer to their city as the “International Wine Capital of the World”. Very modest, those Mendocino’s.

The city is part of the Argentina Wine Route and is home to hundreds of different wineries. The ideal destination for Simen!

Mendoza

Tierras Altas Wine Tour

It comes as no surprise, that we took advantage of this opportunity and went for a wine tour. These wine tours are quite expensive, prices vary between €100 – 400, which was a bit out of our budgets. Usually these tours come with a very fancy dinner, which racks up the price a lot. Since we both didn’t feel like paying that much for a wine tour, we decided to go for one of the cheapest options possible (€7 pp).

Mendoza

We took a taxi to Tierras Altas winery, about 15 minutes away from downtown Mendoza. Here we got a 2 hour long wine tour where they taught us about the different stages of the wine-making process. We got to taste the wine at these various different stages, which was quite interesting (and very bitter, in my opinion). They also taught us how to tell what type of wine it is (colour, smell, taste, etc.). Since I’m not a big fan of wine, I thought this tour wasn’t really going to be that interesting. However, it was actually a lot more interesting and fun than I expected. For Simen it was twice as fun, since he got to finish all my wine!

Mendoza Bus Tour

Like many big cities, Mendoza also has a bus tour which takes you to all the highlights of the city. We took this bus tour for €10 per person. On the way we drove through Mendoza city centre, made our way to a massive city park, saw one of the World Cup football stadiums and drove to Cerro de la Gloria (a hill which boasts beautiful views over Mendoza). The whole trip took around 2 hours and was a nice way to kill some time. The tour through the city itself wasn’t that spectacular, but it was nice to see some more of Mendoza’s surroundings. Especially the drive through the park and Cerro de la Gloria was very nice.

We did feel like this tour was a bit overpriced and also not very well organised. Foreigners got headphones to listen to English commentary, which was completely out of sync with the Spanish commentary. At times we had no idea what they were talking about or what we were supposed to be seeing.

Acuario and Serpentario

While we were waiting for the weather to clear up, we decided to go to the aquarium (€1.5) and serpentarium (€2.5). The aquarium was quite small and didn’t have that many interesting fish. However, it is the home of “Jorge”, one of the biggest sea turtles I’ve ever seen. He was definitely the highlight of the aquarium!

Afterwards, we decided to go to the serpentarium as well (just across the street from the aquarium). We were greeted by this sign:

mendoza

The second Simen laid eyes on the word “Anaconda”, he wanted to go inside immediately. We were lucky to have the whole serpentarium to ourselves, which meant we got to explore and admire the snakes for as long as we wanted. The first snakes we saw were boa’s. Since we both hadn’t really been to a serpentarium before, we were already impressed by the size of these boa’s. However they are considered “smaller” snakes compared to other ones. We clearly had no idea what was waiting for us!

mendoza-serpentario-2

Once we saw how massive the pythons were, we both got a bit uneasy and uncomfortable. The only thing separating us from these gigantic snakes, was a small cage and some glass… At some point we heard a very weird and unknown sound and both our “fight or flight” responses kicked in. We quickly had look at the other snakes and made our way out of the serpentarium. I must admit I was quite happy to be far away from all those dangerous snakes…

Altas Montanas tour

Argentina is home to the highest mountain on earth, outside of Asia: Aconcagua Mountain. Since I like hiking, I really wanted to see this mountain from closer by. Unfortunately, the weather forecast in Argentina isn’t that reliable… During our 3 first days in Mendoza, it was supposed to rain so I didn’t want to book a tour. I opted for another day when it was supposed to be nice weather. Boy did I regret that…

View this post on Instagram

Argentina you are beautiful ?! Can’t wait to explore the south in a couple of weeks. #argentina #mendoza #southamerica #travelgram #travellove #travelblogger #exploretheworld #wanderlust #totravelistolive #latergram

A post shared by Jolene Follens (@wondersoftraveling) on Dec 5, 2018 at 11:27am PST

We booked the Altas Montanas tour for €35. This tour was going to take us to the Andes and Aconcagua Mountain. When we left, the weather was still quite nice. Our first stop was a beautiful lake with gorgeous views on the high mountains. However, once we continued the tour, it started raining cats and dogs. The temperatures also plummeted and our guide didn’t think it would be a good idea to go on our 1 hour hike in Aconcagua National Park. The mountain was completely covered in clouds.

The guide decided to skip this stop and go for lunch early. When we arrived at the lunch stop, we were caught in a snowstorm. A snowstorm! In the middle of Summer! It was clear this was very exceptional since the Argentinians started clapping and taking lots of pictures and videos. Just our luck… I’m never trusting the Argentinian forecast again.

Cordoba

After several days in Mendoza, we decided to take the bus to Cordoba. We still had some days to fill and stayed here for about 4 nights. Cordoba is a much bigger city than Mendoza, and has some very nice squares and churches. There weren’t many options for sightseeing, so I won’t go into more detail.

In my next blog I will write about our 6-day stay on Easter Island!

]]> Wonders of Traveling is going on a trip around the world! https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2018/04/12/wonders-of-traveling-rtw-trip/ https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2018/04/12/wonders-of-traveling-rtw-trip/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2018 06:00:36 +0000 http://www.wondersoftraveling.com/?p=955 After months of keeping it a secret, I can finally announce that I will be leaving soon to go on a trip around the world! Together with my boyfriend Simen I’m going to leave Malta in July to go traveling for a year. Curious about the countries we will be visiting during our RTW trip? Then definitely continue reading because I will tell you all about our plans.

Traveling the world has always been a dream of mine. I figured now was the best time to do it, before I officially settle down somewhere. I spent the last 3 years saving up for this once in a lifetime trip, and I’m so excited that in only 3 months I will finally be able to make my dream come true. It took me a little while to get Simen on board, but ever since he said yes, we’ve both been super excited and are really looking forward to July 12th.

Our travel style

Since Simen had only about half the amount of time to save up for this trip (compared to me), we decided to backpack. Our aim is not to sleep in fancy hotels. We’re going to try to not spend too much money, which means we might be spending some nights in hostels or even tents. We’ve also opted to go to cheaper countries because of this reason. However, we are going to go to some more expensive countries as well (they were high up my list), which is why we might have to resort to camping. I personally love sleeping in a tent, but Simen isn’t such a big fan, so we’ll see how this is going to go!

RTW trip

From Central America

The first stop of our RTW trip will be Mexico. For a long time, Mexico wasn’t even on our list. We were thinking more about Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. However, after hearing a lot of people talk about how beautiful Mexico was, we started considering adding it to our trip. After doing some more research and looking at pictures on Instagram and Pinterest, we were both completely convinced. Now it’s even the country Simen is looking forward to the most!

After Mexico, we will be heading to Cuba! To be honest, going to Cuba hadn’t been on my list for a very long time. However, it would be cool to see the country as it is today, before it starts changing. I feel like we will be traveling back in time when visiting Cuba, and I’m now super excited about exploring this beautiful and mysterious country.

RTW trip

To South America

I have been dreaming of going to South America for years, so after Cuba we will be flying to Ecuador. Here we’re planning on going to Banos, Vilcabamba, Cotopaxi, Cajas National Park, and many other highlights. After Ecuador, we will be traveling down towards Peru, of course to see Machu Picchu. However, there are so many more things I’m looking forward to in Peru: Nazca Lines, Colca Canyon, Lake Titicaca, Cordillera Blanca, etc. We will be crossing the border with Bolivia and stay here to check out La Paz, Salar de Uyuni, Potosi, and tons of other highlights. After Bolivia we will go to Argentina and Chile (Patagonia!), including Easter Island.

RTW trip

Next stop: Oceania

After 6 months in South America we will be flying to New Zealand. Here, my parents will join us for a little bit. Our initial plans were to only stay in NZ for 3 weeks, but we quickly adapted those plans. We will most likely get a working holiday visa so we can stay in NZ a bit longer without breaking the bank too much. This is also the reason why we won’t make a stop in Australia. If we do NZ and Australia, this will cost us too much money (and to be honest, I’m too scared of the huge spiders they have down there!).

RTW trip

Last stop: South East Asia

The last continent we want to explore on our RTW trip is South East Asia. After NZ we will be flying to Indonesia (Bali), where we will be staying for about 2 weeks. Here we will also meet up with Simen’s family who will be celebrating Easter with us. After Bali we will make our way to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. We might visit some more countries (I’m also very curious about Myanmar), but that will depend on time and money. The aim is to fly back to Europe some time June/July 2019.

Preparations for our RTW trip

Since we’re only 3 months away from our departure date, this means the preparations are in full swing. We’ve booked our first 4 flights, scheduled appointments to get all the necessary vaccinations, ordered new bank cards, etc. There is still a lot that needs to be organized, but I feel like we’re right on schedule. If you’re curious about the practicalities of going on a RTW trip, make sure to check this site regularly because I will share all those things with you!

If you have any tips for traveling as a couple or RTW traveling, please feel free to leave a comment below. Also, if you have already been to one of the countries we’re going to and have recommendations I would love to hear them, so please don’t be shy!

]]> https://www.wondersoftraveling.com/2018/04/12/wonders-of-traveling-rtw-trip/feed/ 4