Fin del mundo: Patagonia

It's time to have a look at the other side of the border. Again we learn that in Patagonia there's no point in rushing. A girl on our bus when asking if she'll make it to her connection in time is told that there is no point in knowing, because of "la lluvia, el viento, el guanaco".
And indeed it takes us almost 10 hours to reach our first destination in Argentina: El Chaltén, home to the famous Mount Fitz Roy. Well, at least that's what we are told. Due to bad weather conditions though the only glance we get at it is from the bus. Already at the time we arrive it's much too clouded to possible even see in which direction the mountains are. We spend the night and try hiking the next morning (after several warnings not to go too far, because strong wind and rain are on the agenda today). We return after just an hour of walking (completely soaked) and decide to head towards El Calafate earlier than planned.
In the meantime we try to get hold of some cash. Though cards are widely accepted, they don't always work especially in remote areas that have as bad an internet connection as El Chaltén (10 MB for the entire town). But our efforts are fruitless: ATMs here give a maximum amount of 40.000 argentinean pesos (around 40€, depending whether calculated by the official exchange rate or the widely used black market "blue" rate), at a charge of ARS 8.000(!), but most German banks will not accept payouts of less than 50€. We soon learn that other places are even worse. Maybe they won't give out more because of the amount of bills required: the largest one available is for ARS 1.000 (~1€). Legend has it that an ARS 2.000 bills exist, but we don't meet anyone who has ever seen one. We also try to change chilean for argentinean pesos, but the currency exchange closes just as we arrive. The reason: "there are no more pesos - probably until next week."Leggi altro