El Chalten

I have the privilege of typing this blog on a prehistoric computer where every key stroke takes about 1 minute before it pops on the screen. At least there´s a coffee bar down below me so I can run and have a cappucino after each paragraph. So don´t be too suprised if things don´t make sense after my 3rd cup.

I´m afraid today´s blog will not include any pictures because

1.) They won´t give me the key to their wireless network so I can´t upload a picture from my iPhone
2.) They haven´t been introduced to USB ports in this country yet so I can´t download pictures from my regular camera either.

But enough with the technical talk.

We caught a bus to El Chalten this morning at 7:15 am and got there around noon. Worth mentioning was a bus stop in this historical hotel for a peepee stop and snacks. Turns out Butch Cassidy et. al. made a ¨technical¨stop there way back when after robbing some bank. I had no idea these guys had made it so far south. I wonder if they had a chance to taste the same delicious coffee and banana bread I had. Nah...probably not.

Anyway we settled down in our hostel and hunted a travel agency to confirm our next domestic flights. If you thought customer service sucked in the US then please come visit Argentina and you´ll have a total new perspective on things. Patience is of the essence. And god knows I can have a short fuse. But being on vacation I found it rather entertaining. More details when I return.

Today was suppose to be an easy treck where we had decided to check Mont Fitz Roy. What was suppose to be a ¨short¨hike turned into a 20 km ordeal!!!! Poor Liang was sandbaging and Susan was so tired that she tripped on some root and fell over. No harm down, just a few scratches on the pricey camera dangling on her neck. Oh and my chicken legs are still doing fine but my feet are starting to feel the last 110-105km we´ve done in the past 8 days. Sorry for you Americans but I thought km sounded much worse than me quoting a number in miles.

It´s now 12:45am and my travel mates are probably sound asleep for a short hike tomorrow morning at 6am to catch the sunrise over Fitz Roy. Personally I think I`ll catch it in my dreams and recoup a bit. :) But I´m sure they´ll pull me out of bed.. :(

On this note time for a shower because I must really stink and I should hopefuly be able to blog from El Calafate where the internet .....well still sucks ass. Otherwise it´ll be from Iguazu Falls the following day.

Good nite all and sorry for the lack of photos today. I will definitely post a comprehensive set of pictures when I return in the U.S. I´ve taken some 950 so far so I´ll have a lot of work to get it down to a more decent number.

PS: I just read all your comments and really laughed my arse out. Please be aware that no penguins were harmed on this trip. Can´t say the same about our intestinal tracks for eating so much meat though. :) But....I had a salad and pasta today and it was heaven!!