5 Things you didn't know about El Chalten

1. The internet is next to obselete

As a child of the internet age, of course I have to start with this. There “is internet” and all the places in town advertise that they have wifi, but this is false advertising. If you are expecting US wifi, you will be disappointed.

In El Chalten, it takes several minutes to load a page, and the wifi crashes constantly. At times, it felt like we were going back 30 years.

This was especially problematic as we tried to book a flight, and then confirm that the flight was booked. Dan tried to use Priceline to buy a flight, and after pushing “purchase,” there was a 10 minute period where we had no idea whether the flight was actually purchased. Since there were only 7 seats left on the flight (and the only other option was a 24 hour bus ride) we were very anxious to get the flight.

We later saw a confirmation page, but never received any confirmation email, and couldn’t use Skype to make a call to figure out if we had actually bought the tickets. We finally had to email Nick to get him to take care of it from home.

2.     El Chalten doesn’t have enough power to support the town

Because El Chalten is so remote, and so new, it really doesn’t have the infrastructure to support the people that visit during “high season.” This doesn't just apply to internet, it also applies to electricity. 

Our first night in El Chalten, we spent 40 minutes without power. We were sitting in our room watching spanish South Park, and suddenly, everything went off, and battery-power generators came on. We were pretty surprised.

Fortunately, this is such common occurrence during high season that our hotel was prepared with flashlights, candles, and emergency battery-powered lights. We went down to the lobby to see everyone sitting around, drinking wine in the dark, as if everything was normal.

3.    El Chalten is younger than you

Part of the reason the infrastructure is so bad in El Chalten is that the town didn’t even exist until about 28 years ago, when Argentina got involved in a dispute with Chile about the location of the border.

Because El Chalten is way up in the mountains, it’s tough to draw a line where one country ends, and the next country begins. To stop Chile from claiming the territory, Argentina put up some buildings in 1985, and built an information center for people visiting the park. Within 7-8 years, about 6 families had come to settle in the town.

Today, El Chalten is still relatively empty but rapidly growing (from 40 locals in the 90’s to about 1500 today) and because of this, the power, sewage lines, internet, etc, are regularly pushed beyond capacity.

4.     El Chalten is in the middle of NOWHERE

It takes 3 hours by bus to get from El Calafate to El Chalten, and about 6-7 hours to get to the next city in Chile. It is REMOTE. I think El Chalten was the first place on this trip that I started realizing just how big, remote, and spread out Argentina is. 

5.     El Chalten is a great place to have a beer

If you are going to be stuck in El Chalten, let’s hope you enjoy craft brews. Because there are a lot of them, and they are delicious! 

Small victories in El Chalten

I already mentioned that we had absolutely terrible weather during our Glacier Hike in El Chalten. What I didn't mention is that this weather continued for most of our 4 nights in El Chalten. 20-24 hour constant wind, 30-35 mph gusts of wind, on-and-off rain, and 90% cloud cover. Great weather for looking at snowy mountains.

We didn't get to see Cerro Torre, Mount Fitz Roy, or any of the other majestic scenery we had been hoping for. Our big hike we attempted yielded less than exciting results. 

There's what we're supposed to see, and then what we actually saw.

And in case you didn't believe me that it was awesome, here's some stock photography.

It was really hard knowing this was there, and simultaneously knowing we would not be seeing it in real life. 

While we missed out on the real winners (even though we stayed 2 extra nights to try and beat the rain) at least we took a couple of pretty hikes. 

Hitching a ride to El Chalten

I have never actually hitchhiked before, so, I guess there is a first time for everything.

99% of the time, I’m actually not super “down” with hitchhiking. As a woman, it feels dangerous—both to get into a random car, and to pick a random person up. Plus, whenever I see someone on the side of the road, it always seems like an inconvenience to stop, so I've always hated the idea of making someone else feel that way about me.

But after our harrowing experience on the glacier, and the non-immediate appearance of a tour bus to take us home, I was more than happy to get into a warm car with a couple of strangers. And when our new friend Ayelet started approaching random cars to ask for a ride, I ran up behind her and put on a big grin, as if I were a puppy at an adoption fair hoping to get picked.

The couple that stopped for us were so nice. They were a little perplexed as to why the three of us were 30 minutes outside of town without a ride, but they spoke decent English, and Ayelet and I both speak decent Spanish, so we were ok on making conversation about their home in Brazil, about El Chalten, about San Francisco, Israel, the tour, our travels, and all the other small-talky things you discuss when with strangers.

When hitchhiking, unexpected detours can’t be helped

Just as El Chalten came into site, our driver announced he needed to stop for gas, which in El Chalten can be a 20 minute affair. (There is only one station, with only one pump. Not only do you have to wait in a long line to get it, but you have to wait for the attendant to pump your gas, since you aren’t allowed to pump it yourself.

With the car turned off, it started to get cold in the backseat. Plus, I really had to pee. But, we kept making small talk, and pretended we didn’t mind the wait.

After getting gas, we stopped again for about 5 minutes while our driver photographed the condors flying by. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw our bus drive by. (Apparently they hadn’t forgotten about the tour group after all.)

We were all dead tired and wanting to get back to our hotels, but, it’s commonly understood that when you’re getting a free ride, whoever picked you up makes the rules. So Ayelet, Dan, and I all exchanged tired looks, but kept our impatience in check, and Dan took a picture of the condors too.

When we got into town and were finally dropped off, I wondered if we were not making a faux pax by not paying our new friends. But by the time I got a chance to ask Dan if we had some cash, they had closed the door, and were on their way out of town.

I still don’t think I could ever be one of those travelers who goes from place to place using their thumb, but I do think I have a new understanding of some of the benefits of hitch-hiking. You meet really kind and generous people, you have interesting conversations, and there's something to be said for the unexpected moments you're likely to face on the road.