Argentina (2001)

Holidays and short breaks
Argentina (2001)
Chile (2002)
India (2003)
World trip (2005-2006)
Libya (2008)

Pictures
1 Croydon to Paris
2 Paris to Iguazú
3 Yacutinga
4 Yacutinga
5 Yacutinga
6 Iguazú
7 Salta
8 Purmamarca
9 Bariloche
10 Bariloche
11 Puerto Blest
12 The long walk
13 Pesca a la trucha
14 Paragliding
15 Ushuaia
16 The end of the road
17 Tierra del Fuego NP
18 Beagle Channel
19 Tren del fin del mundo
20 Perito Moreno glacier
21 Upsala and horse-riding
22 4x4 adventure
23 Hot air balloon
24 Tango
25 Oh no, the trip home!
26 Home, via Paris
27 Back to normality

Argentina

In March-April 2001 we went on holiday to Argentina, for a month. It was more than a "conventional" holiday, but not travel in the independent sense either. We produced our own itinerary and made a lot of advance bookings independently and with the help of TravelBag. Looking back on it, that was no mean feat, and it all worked out beautifully. What we lost in spontaneity, we more than made up for with the sights we saw and the things we did. It really was a dream holiday. Aah, Patagoniaah...

We went for four weeks and wanted to see lots of different places. Buenos Aires was our hub for getting around this vast country (eighth largest in the world?) We travelled to Iguazú, for the incredible waterfalls, to Salta, in the northwest of the country, to Bariloche, in the Argentinean "lake district" at the northern border of Patagonia, to Tierra del Fuego, the "end of the world", and back up via El Calafate, by the spectacular glaciers running down from the ice-caps that lie over the southern Andes, finally ending our journey with a few days in Buenos Aires.

During our holiday we did all sorts of stuff that we had never dreamed of before. Somehow it all came so easy and we were in the right frame of mind to give anything a go, whether it was jungle walking, trout fishing, horse-riding, hot air ballooning, paragliding, or simply driving right to the very end of the very last road on earth (assuming there are no "roads" on Antarctica?), until we could go no further. And best of all, whilst we were knackered by the end of it all, we felt on top of the world. Holidays don't come better than this we thought, and although Chile and India have been spectacular in their own ways, Argentina will always have a special meaning for us as our first "proper" trip.

We missed out on large chunks of Argentina. For example, we never even went near the wine districts around Mendoza, or whale country around the Peninsula Valdes (it's that sticky-out bit below the bay south of Viedma on the map above, and apparently a unique place for whale-watching - we thought about going there as the first stop on our world travels but it wouldn't be the right time of year, October is the right season).

Diary

Click on a highlighted date to go straight to that day's entry or use the links on the left.

Books, Films, Music, Links, etc.

For more references, check our links section.
•	Fictions, The Aleph and The Book of Imaginary Beings, by Jorge Luis Borges.
•	Far Away and Long Ago, by W.H. Hudson. An account of a childhood in the Argentinean pampas.
•	In Patagonia, by Bruce Chatwin. Now a classic but I remember "discovering" it before Chatwin became a household name and was pretty pleased with my find. Most of Chatwin's other works are also worth seeking out. Can't say I think much of the man himself though, he sounds like an arrogant egoistic piece of work.
•	Yacutinga Lodge: www.yacutinga.com Eco-lodge not far from Iguazú falls.
•	Hotel Mascardi, Bariloche: www.mascardi.com Wonderful setting by the lake.
•	Hotel Tolkeyen, Ushuaia
•	Hotel Kau Yatun, El Calafate

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