Northwards (all the way to Berlin)!

In Ushuaia, I first had to process what I experienced. I took care of my next stops, which meant finding buses, booking accommodations, and gathering various information. I also sorted photos and wrote texts. Then, I flew to El Calafate in 1½ hours. Taking the bus with transfers would have taken 2 full days and cost almost double, so it was an easy decision.

The next day in El Calafate, I went to the 'Perito Moreno' glacier in the morning. Although I had seen some glaciers in Antarctica, this one offers a completely different perspective on these giants. Large chunks of the glacier regularly broke off, crashing into the water with loud cracking and deep rumbling noises – spectacular, even though the 45€ entrance fee + 30€ taxi, which I shared with three others, was ridiculously expensive.

However, I quite liked the town of El Calafate, which is 1½ hours away. It's surrounded by many trees, very green, and has some really nice bars and restaurants. That very evening, I continued towards El Chaltén to hike to the famous mountain 'Fitz Roy' the next morning. The ticket booth was unfortunately already occupied by shortly before 7 am, so we were supposed to pay a 45€ entrance fee, but not with me, not for a hike. So, I went a bit back, turned right into a side street, and walked straight for 200 meters to quickly climb over a fence and find the official path again. After about 3 hours, I reached the viewpoint, looking at two large blue lakes. Impressive, but not worth 45€. Many seemed to think differently, as we encountered large groups and a lot of 'hikers' (again in sport shoes) on our way back. One can also start the hike at 3 am armed with a headlamp to see how the three towers are illuminated at sunrise. Since I'm not a morning person and have already seen a few sunrises, I spare myself the trouble.

It just happened that the next two days it rained and stormed, so I only went on a small hike to a waterfall, and on the other day, I stayed at the hostel. Some hardy souls were not bothered by it, and with the right clothing, it’s certainly doable, but as a fair-weather hiker, I simply didn’t enjoy it. Overall, I found the hike, just like Torres del Paine, absolutely beautiful but overrated, especially for the 45€ entrance fee. I didn’t find the town particularly lovely either; everything here is very spread out, and it looks like its best years are already behind it. The hostel, which was rather mediocre for the price, and the bad weather contributed to my mediocre impression. Nevertheless, I had to move on, but the nearly 90€ bus fare also contributed to my rather mixed feelings about Argentina so far. But anyway, 12 hours later, around 10 pm, I was at the border to Chile, specifically in Los Antiguos. The night was pleasant without other guests. The next day, I visited the small town, naturally going to two viewpoints before I walked towards the border and exited Argentina.

I walked towards Chile, and fortunately, after 10 minutes, two nice women stopped and asked if they could give me a ride. As it turned out, the Chilean border crossing was still 8 kilometers away, and my destination, the city of Chile Chico, was another 4 km further – that would have been a long march with a full backpack. I climbed another small viewpoint and had to spend another night near the border since the next bus wouldn’t leave until tomorrow.

At 8 am, I traveled 4½ hours over endless gravel roads to Puerto Río Tranquilo, where I found a small hostel where I was alone and had my peace :) In the afternoon, I then saw the famous marble caves on the lake. I have rarely seen water so blue, and the caves and rock formations are also impressive. In the evening, I booked a glacier hike I had always wanted to do.

At 7 am, we headed to the 'Exploradores Glacier,' which we reached after 1½ hours of gravel road. Followed by a 2½ hour hike over the glacier, where for the first 2 hours, we walked only through a wasteland of stones since the complete ice was covered with stones. When we reached the ice, we put on our crampons and followed our guides into the first small cave. Wow, it was really blue down here. We continued through another small cave with subsequent climbing; it’s surprisingly easy to walk in crampons. The next ice cave was more of a tube, going about 15 meters deep into the ice; I felt like I was in a blue water slide, just that everything was even bluer, water was dripping everywhere, and to my surprise, there are actually small insects that feed on the nutrients in the ice and sometimes eat their own kind. After 10 minutes, I was glad to be back outside again; I don’t entirely trust the ice and have great respect, especially since it can collapse at any moment. The last cave had two massive holes, and our guide knew exactly how to take pictures here :)

After a day's break, it should go to Villa Cerro Castillo and hike to the similarly named peak. However, I found out the day before that the entrance costs 20€, so I continued researching and found out that the glacier I wanted to see along the Carretera Austral is closed, buses in the north are running less frequently again, and the starting points for hikes are far away from my accommodations. With a car, one would surely be better off here. Coincidentally, there's an airport nearby, and I found a flight heading to Puerto Montt. Since I was leaving Patagonia on short notice, I decided to pay the entrance fee and hike to Cerro Castillo, a beautiful hike but still not worth 20€. The next morning, I went to the road at 7 am so I could hitchhike to the airport on time; who knows when someone might pick me up, unfortunately, buses don't run. To my surprise, it took less than twenty minutes until I was in a car with two Dutch people. Bielefeld! Sure, we know it; our son lives in Bad Salzuflen. I'm always amazed at how small the world is. I was already at the airport at 9 am and now had to kill 6 hours.

From Puerto Montt, I went directly to Puerto Varas. It felt like coming home early. The houses look like home, restaurants, workshops, and shops are named 'Rademacher', 'Weisser', or 'Seemann', and it smells like autumn. From Puerto Varas, I took a day trip to Frutillar, an even more German town. We visited the local museum and ate cake until we couldn’t eat anymore. We were able to place our orders here in German without any problems, and the best part was that the cake tasted really good for the first time in 7 months, just like home.

I continued on towards Bariloche. When I arrived at my hostel, I saw that Arminia was leading 2:1. It couldn’t be true, but there were still 45 minutes to play. Even in the 95th minute, I hadn’t really thought that I would have to plan my way home now. I bought myself a beer and wandered aimlessly through the city, occasionally needing to hold back a tear or two, can this really be true?! I spent the next 3 days watching videos of the game and the surroundings, reading reports and newspaper articles. I had restless nights and had to figure out how to clear my mind. What do I do now, what else do I want to see, what can I still see later? Buenos Aires, a football match between Boca Juniors and River Plate, the Iguazú falls, the south of Brazil, and Uruguay I will skip - I can do that again on a 'normal' vacation. The plan in my head looked like this: Off to the north of Argentina, then over to Chile to the Atacama Desert, to Bolivia, to Lake Titicaca, to Machu Picchu, and then gradually back towards Berlin.

Since I still hadn’t had my mind set for hiking, I spent the time booking as many flights as possible. The flight from Bariloche to Salta was the first, then the train ticket from Bielefeld to Berlin, hotel in Berlin, then a flight from Lima to Cancun, and finally from Cancun to Amsterdam, what a twist :)

In Salta, I started to feel better; at least I could slowly process everything and now looked forward to the week at home. One question still remains: where to next?

But first, I explored Salta, a beautiful city, but I had no desire for a museum or an overpriced ride on an old cable car; two nights was too much, but anyway, I moved on to Humahuaca.

Here I found a really beautiful little village; too bad that renting or riding scooters is so uncommon in Central and South America. Since I can only stay one night, I can’t see everything here; my bus to San Pedro de Atacama leaves the day after tomorrow at 9 am, an hour further south to Purmamarca. But first, I checked out the 'colorful mountains' in Hornocal. Whether they really have 14 different colors is debatable, but they are truly impressive, and we were perfectly on time for sunset. The viewpoint is already at an altitude of 4300 meters, so after a small climb, I was already out of breath. In Humahuaca, the food tasted surprisingly good; the soup was delicious and the llama was well-prepared, even if it wasn't entirely my thing, but I had to try it.

In Purmamarca, I went to a small viewpoint; here the mountain should have 'only' seven colors. The little town is also quiet and beautiful; there’s bread for sale everywhere, and there’s something happening at every corner.

In the morning, I crossed the border towards Chile one last time and then continued towards San Pedro de Atacama. Upon arrival, I saw the crowds of tour operators, all of whom had the same offers, so we decided, as always, on the cheapest. In the afternoon, I met Fereshteh from Iran. We had already met in El Calafate, El Chaltén, at the border to Chile, and now in the Atacama Desert.

Together, we planned to drive through the desert, but we met two Swiss people who kindly gave us a ride, so we didn’t have to rent a car ourselves. On the way to the El Tatio geysers, we realized that even the desert in Chile is not free. The geysers cost 15€ for entry, the hot springs, and a gorge we wanted to visit on the way back were a staggering 35€ and 21€ respectively. This was for 7 warm pools and a gorge where one could take a stroll. The sights we had on our itinerary for the following day were meant to cost similarly. So we decided to ride a mountain bike to and through the 'Garganta del Diablo' gorge before heading to a viewpoint in the evening. On the way back, it was a bit dangerous without light on the busy desert road, but we managed it. I am now looking forward to Bolivia, my last country, where I have not yet been.