I told people I was going to Patagonia and they looked at me like I'd said I was going to Mars. "Where is that, exactly?" "Isn't it just... ice?" "Bring a coat."
They were right about the coat.
3.5-hour flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate. I watched the landscape change through the airplane window — green pampas giving way to brown steppe, then grey mountains, then ice.
El Calafate is a small town (population 25,000) on the shore of Lago Argentino. It exists because of the Perito Moreno Glacier and it knows it — every restaurant, tour company, and souvenir shop is glacier-themed.
Checked into a hostel ($15,000 ARS/night, about $18 USD at blue rate). Exchanged US dollars at a cueva on Avenida del Libertador — the blue rate was 40% better than my bank's rate. Suddenly, everything in Argentina got a lot cheaper.
Dinner: lamb milanesa at a parrilla on the main street ($4,000 ARS, about $5). I could get used to these prices.
Bus from El Calafate to the glacier: $5,000 ARS round trip, 80 km, 1.5 hours. Los Glaciares National Park entry: $6,000 ARS.
The first time you see Perito Moreno, your brain does a small reset. It's 5 km wide and 60 meters tall — a wall of ice the color of compressed time, blue-white with streaks of grey, stretching across the lake in a way that shouldn't be real.
I walked the metal walkways along the glacier face for three hours. The ice creaks and groans constantly — deep, ancient sounds that come from somewhere inside the glacier. Every 20-30 minutes, a chunk breaks off and crashes into Lake Argentino with a sound like thunder.
I saw a piece the size of a car calve off the face and drop 60 meters into the water. The splash was enormous. The wave reached the shore a minute later. Twenty tourists gasped in unison. It was one of the most spectacular natural events I've ever witnessed.
Optional: mini-trekking ON the glacier ($45,000 ARS). They strap crampons on your boots and you walk on the ice for 1.5 hours. I didn't do it this time. I wish I had.
The 3-hour bus ride from El Calafate to El Chalten ($8,000 ARS) crosses the Patagonian steppe — flat, brown, and windswept, with guanacos appearing on the hillsides and a sky that goes on forever.
El Chalten is tiny. Population 1,600. One main street. A few hostels, restaurants, and outdoor gear shops. It was built in 1985 specifically to establish Argentine sovereignty in the area. Now it's Argentina's trekking capital.
Checked into a hostel ($18,000 ARS/night). Bought groceries for the next three days at the small supermarket — this was a mistake. Everything cost 30-50% more than El Calafate. Should have stocked up before leaving.
Evening walk to Mirador de los Condores (free, 30-minute hike from town). Watched the sunset paint the Fitz Roy massif in shades of pink and gold. No clouds. The granite spires caught the light like a cathedral.
Alarm at 5:30AM. On the trail by 6:15AM. The Laguna de los Tres trek is 20 km round trip, 8-10 hours. Free. No permits.
The first 8 km are through lenga forest — gentle incline, river crossings on wooden bridges, the sound of woodpeckers and running water. I saw a fox at km 3, casually crossing the trail without acknowledging my existence.
At km 8, you reach Poincenot campsite. The trail gets serious. The final 1 km is steep, brutal switchbacks up glacial moraine — loose rock, no shade, wind that tried to reorganize my skeletal structure.
And then.
The Laguna de los Tres sits at the base of Mount Fitz Roy. Turquoise water so bright it looks chemically enhanced. Small icebergs float on the surface. The granite spires of Fitz Roy rise directly above — 3,405 meters of vertical stone, catching the morning sun.
I sat on a rock and cried. Not dramatically. Just — quietly. The kind of tears that come when something is so much more beautiful than you expected that your body doesn't know what else to do.
I stayed for an hour. Ate trail mix. Took photos that won't capture what it felt like. Started the descent.
9 hours total. My knees complained loudly on the way down. Worth every step.
Legs destroyed. Took a rest day.
Walked to Chorillo del Salto waterfall (4 km round trip, easy, free). A 20-meter waterfall in a mossy forest. Brought a book. Sat on a log. Read for an hour.
Lunch at Restaurante Ahonikenk — Patagonian lamb. Slow-roasted, falling apart, served with roasted potatoes and chimichurri. $12,000 ARS ($14 at blue rate). Paired with a glass of Mendoza Malbec ($3,000 ARS).
Afternoon: beer at a cerveceria on the main street while the wind howled outside. El Chalten has a specific rhythm — you hike hard, you rest hard, you eat, you sleep. There's nothing else to do. That's the point.
A shorter trek than Laguna de los Tres (18 km round trip, 6-7 hours) to a lake beneath Cerro Torre — a needle-like granite spire that climbers consider one of the most difficult peaks in the world.
The trail runs through lenga forest and open steppe with views of the entire valley. Wind was stronger today — 60-70 km/h gusts that required leaning into at a 15-degree angle.
Laguna Torre is more austere than Laguna de los Tres. Grey water. Ice chunks floating from the glacier. Cerro Torre disappearing into clouds and reappearing like a magic trick. Less dramatic than Fitz Roy. More mysterious.
Back in El Chalten by 4PM. Showered (the hostel's hot water was intermittent, which is character-building). Packed for tomorrow's bus.
6AM bus back to El Calafate. Morning flight to Buenos Aires.
Last view of the Patagonian steppe from the plane — brown and grey and endless, with white-capped mountains on the western horizon. I pressed my forehead against the cold window and felt the specific sadness of leaving a place that rearranged you.
I'm already planning the return. Next time: the W Trek in Torres del Paine (5 days, Chilean side), Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel, and the mini-trekking on Perito Moreno that I skipped.
Also: better socks.
Patagonia is not comfortable. The wind is relentless, the distances are vast, the logistics are challenging, and the weather will test you. But standing at the edge of Laguna de los Tres at 8AM, watching Fitz Roy catch the first light while icebergs drift across turquoise water — that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
Bring the coat. Bring the merino wool socks. Bring an appetite for lamb and Malbec. And bring the capacity to be moved by something bigger than yourself.
For practical tips on budgets, gear, and logistics, read our 17 Patagonia travel tips. And for the glacier experience in detail, see the Perito Moreno story. If you're combining with Santiago, the Chilean side of Patagonia is easily accessible from there.
The end of the world is worth the trip.
