Crossing into Argentina, South America county number 6, from the dusty Bolivian border town of Villazon. At the Villazon/La Quiaca Bolivia/Argentina border crossing. September 4, 2015.

5121 kilometres. North to south. Just over the border into the Argentinian border town of La Quiaca from Bolivia is the ‘5121 kilometres to Ushuaia’ sign. The city of Ushuaia, in the (very) southern Argentine (& Chilean) province of Tierra del Fuego, is billed as the the southernmost city in the world, a big draw for travellers, travellers who also know it as the jumping off point for once-in-a-lifetime trips to Antarctica. I plan on getting there sometime in mid-November (UPDATE: I arrived in Ushuaia on November 11, 2015, to find the equivalent sign in Ushuaia proclaiming that La Quiaca is 4987 kilometres away. ‘Umm, which sign is lying?’ I wondered), a ways away yet with lots to see before that; I’ll be crisscrossing the continent (I’m en route to east to Paraguay, southern Brazil & Uruguay before heading back through Argentina & into Chile) as I ultimately head south including, of course, my jaunt 3500 kilometres out into the Pacific to Easter Island. On the Argentinian side of the Argentina-Bolivia border. September 4, 2015.

All smiles cycling past the Cabildo on Plaza 9 de Julio, Salta, northern Argentina. September 7, 2015.

A statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Catedral overlooking Plaza 9 d Julio in Salta, northern Argentina. September 6, 2015.

Nowhere does Salta feel more European then here in its central square, Plaza 9 de Julio. At most hours of the day its cafes are full with people sitting around & lazing over a coffee while discussing the day’s affairs and/or reading the paper. It’s a super place to while away a few lazy hours and an even better place to beautiful people-watch. I had breakfast overlooking the plaza both mornings I was in the city. Bolivia felt a millions miles away when sitting here with my sunglasses on sipping my cafe con leche – at times I felt like I was in Plaza Mayor, Madrid or Piazza San Marco/St. Mark’s Square, Venice. The tree-heavy plaza itself doesn’t photograph too well (too much foliage) but the buildings surrounding it certainly do. This is a picture of one of a portion of the facade of one of the plazas standout buildings, the Centro Cultural America. Plaza 9 de Julio, Salta, northern Argentina. September 7, 2015.

The interior of the Catedral on Plaza 9 de Julio in Salta, northern Argentina. September 5, 2015.

Also located on Plaza 9 de Julio is MAAM, Museo de Arqueologia de Alta Montana (Museum of High Altitude Archaeology), a fascinating albeit somewhat eerie affair that controversially displays three impeccably preserved Incan children – although only one is on display at any given time – that were discovered high up a lofty volcano. Needless to say pictures of the museum stars, displayed behind thick glass in high-tech fridges, are strictly prohibited. However, there are no such restrictions in the museums gift shop where this picture was captured. MAAM, Museo de Arqueologia de Alta Montana (Museum of High Altitude Archaeology) in Salta, northern Argentina. September 6, 2015.

The Neoclassical Iglesia San Francisco is not only Salta’s most striking building but it is also one of the most beautiful religious buildings in the country (seemingly, I’ve little to compare it to as of yet). Built between 1750 & 1850, it’s an extravaganza if Italianate Neocolonial exuberance. Pure ivory-white columns stand out from vibrant ox-blood walls with braid-like golden lettering. An accompanying towering campanile is also a standout feature, one that was covered in scaffolding when the church was posing for my camera. Iglesia San Francisco, Salta, northern Argentina. September 6, 2015.

If you want nice views of the city sprawl & distant peaks then best get up here in the morning. If you want to play with light by silhouetting the cable car pods against the setting sun directly ahead, blowing out any decent views of the city itself, then get up here in the late afternoon, or around about the time I was there. Either way it’s a Salta must-do. The Teleférico San Barnardo cable car overlooking Salta, northern Argentina. September 6, 2015.

Terminal de Omnibus, Rosario having just stepped off the 4-hour bus from Buenos Aires. Needles to say I’ve seen a lot of bus stations over the last few months. The Rosario one just happens to be the very latest not to mention one of the greatest thanks to its huge window lettering. Rosario, Argentina. September 21, 2015.

Adorning the back of the Argentine ten-peso note, the massive Monumento a la Bandera is easily Rosario’s standout attraction & reason enough, in my opinion, to pay the city a visit. Finished in 1957, it’s a huge 10,000 m² structure that’s hundreds of metres long, the approximate outline of which mimics that of a ship – representing Argentina – sailing towards a glorious future. Nice. A three part monument, this picture of a man on the steps of the structure’s central eternal flame-boasting Triumphal Propylaeum, which represents the Nation as organized after the 1853 Constitution, was captured from the lookout in the monument’s 70 metre-high Tower, or mast, which both commemorates the anti-Spanish Revolution of May 1810 & houses the crypt of the flag designer, Manuel Belgrano. Monumento a la Bandera, Roasrio, Argentina. September 22nd, 2015.

The views over Rosario, a somewhat flattish riverside city & port on the banks of the Rio Parana, from the Monumento a la Bandera’s Tower are rather impressive, even if the day itself was unpleasantly dull & overcast. The views aside, from this vantage point you can clearly see the ship outline of the monument, something that’s hard to appreciate from ground level. Rosario as seen from the Tower of the Monumento a la Bandera. Roasrio, Argentina. September 22, 2015.

Revered as a hero elsewhere, especially Cuba where he fought most of his battles, Che Guevara seems somewhat ignored by his own hometown. The city does have an official bronze statue to the iconic revolutionary figure & probably its most famous son but it’s located in a somewhat forlorn looking park, renamed ‘Plaza Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’, well out of the way on the outskirts of the city. Only erected in 2008 and unveiled to commemorate what would have been Guevara’s 80th birthday, the memorial was not funded by government but rather by donations from around the world – one gets the impression that the authorities are rather embarrassed about Che & his goings-on. It’s not a particularly attractive monument in a not very attractive setting, meaning it didn’t photograph very well. This setting, an illuminated Guevara-inspired mural in a small square off Mitre street in Rosario’s city centre, & while not an official memorial, proved much more photogenic. Hanging out in a park off Mitre street in Rosario, Argentina. September 21, 2015.

Go West || Stop 1 of 3 || Mustn’t crumble of course but it has been cold, overcast and altogether a tad uninviting here in Rosario – I haven’t seen the sun in a few days. I’m passing through the city en route to Santiago, Chile, for a September 27 flight to Easter Island. Rosario is my first stop of three in Argentina as I head west – the cities of Cordoba & Mendoza will be coming up before the week is out – & I’m hoping the weather improves as I do. But again as I said, mustn’t grumble. On the chilly cobbled streets of Rosario, Argentina. September 22, 2015.

Of course you could change your money through official channels – at official money exchanges. Or you could withdraw money from an ATM, just like I was forced to in Rosario. Both are plentiful but both use the official exchange rate, presently seen here as 9.40 Pesos to the dollar or 10.49 to the Euro. At that rate I’d have received 2,818 Pesos for my US$300, a good bit short of the 4,650 Pesos I received on the street. Needless to say at the unofficial exchange rate, a.k.a. the Blue rate, Argentina is a lot more affordable than it otherwise would be, which is why I withdrew close on US$2,000 from ATMs in Uruguay over the past week ahead of my return to the country. What it all means is that the 30 Peso coffee I just enjoyed cost me €1.70, not almost €3, my 140 Peso-a-night bed is costing me €8, not €13, & the 670 Peso 10-hour overnight bus ticket I’ve just purchased to Mendoza, my next stop, is costing me €38, not €63. Quite the saving. The listed ‘official’ exchange rates on the streets of Cordoba, Argentina. September 23, 2015.

Hanging out in Plaza San Martin, the centre of Cordoba’s colonial heart. The plaza is watched over by a massive mounted bronze statue of the Liberator atop a massive & decorative stone plinth that 1) was unveiled in 1916 to commemorate the centenary of the declaration of Argentine independence, & 2) can be used as a perch for some of the city’s younger residents if need be. Plaza San Martin, Cordoba, Argentina. September 24, 2015.

Cordoba’s cream-coloured 18th century part Baroque, part Neoclassical cathedral is one of Argentina’s oldest & most beautiful churches, inside & out. The structure’s external facade, with its two matching bell towers, gets a lot of attention but I was particularly taken by the decorative overload of the cathedral’s Italian Baroque-inspired interior, especially the walls and ceiling, a portion of which is shown here. The Cathedral on Plaza San Martin in Cordoba, Argentina. September 23, 2015.

Most of the present-day Manzana Jesuitica is in the control of the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina’s oldest university dating to 1610. Open as a museum, the Museo Historico Unc Manzana Jesuitica, the complex, the central courtyard of which is seen here, contains, among other delights, Argentina’s oldest surviving Jesuit church, the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus (built between 1640 & 1675), & a library housing a priceless collection of maps religious work & late fifteenth century artefacts. Manzana Jesuitica, Cordoba, Argentina. September 23, 2015.

In the portico surrounding the central courtyard of the Manzana Jesuitica complex in Cordoba, Argentina. September 23, 2015.

The upper portions & immense cupola of Cordoba’s cathedral & a flag pole as seen from a sunny Plaza San Martin. Cordoba, Argentina. September 24, 2015.

The 1628 Monastero San Jose, a working Carmelite monastery in Cordoba, Argentina. September 24, 2015.

Queuing for the bus on San Jeronimo, Cordoba, Argentina. September 23, 2015.

On a high on Cerro Catedral in Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 16, 2015.

Argentina’s very own Route 66, Ruta 40 is the country’s longest road, stretching as it does for 5224 kilometres from the Bolivian border in the north to the southernmost point on the Argentine mainland beyond the (very) southern city of Ushuaia. The very first thing Argentinian I saw having crossed a few feet over the Argentina-Bolivia border back in early September was the ‘5121 Km to Ushuaia’ sign. Some 40 days later, & having crisscrossed the continent in the meantime, I’ve only 2,909 kilometres to go (UPDATE: I arrived in Ushuaia at the very end of Ruta 40, and the world, on November 11, 2015). Kilometre 2212 on Ruta 40 in San Martin de los Andes, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 14, 2015.

Sunrise over Bariloche, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 16, 2015.

Kayaking on 557 km² & highly irregular in shape Lago Nahuel Huapi as seen from Bariloche, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 17, 2015.

Inaugurated in March 1940 and declared a Argentinian National Historical Monument in 1987, Bariloche’s Centro Civico/Civic Centre is the city’s standout architectural highlight, running the impressive Catedral Nuestra Senora del Nahuel Huapi into second place. An impressive & picturesque set of buildings surrounding a broad plaza, itself the focal point of the city, it was constructed in the late 1930s from timber & local greenish-grey stone (volcanic toba). Designed by architect Ernesto de Estrada, it was the first civic centre in Latin America. Its U-shaped design, which was inspired by buildings in the Swiss capital of Bern, is open to Lago Nahuel Huapi & incorporates a clock tower with numerous arches, pitched roofs, arcades, balconies & terraces. Centro Civico in Bariloche, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 17, 2015.

Ski lift of the Catedral Alto Resort on Cerro Catedral in Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 16, 2015.

Mountain vista as seen from the Cerro Catedral massif in Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 16, 2015.

I wasn’t the only person up here brandishing a camera. Cerro Catedral in Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 16, 2015.

Cerro Catedral, Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 16, 2015.

At the Lago Moreno Oeste lookout on the Circuito Chico. One of my first stops on the circuito, the views of lakes & peaks from this point were beyond fairytale-esque. But being midday on a crystal clear day meant the washed-out scene didn’t photograph well. Circuito Chico, Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 18, 2015.

Perched proudly atop a knoll, the Llao Llao Hotel is one of Argentina’s most famous hotels & an obligatory stop on the Circuito Chico. Originally built in the late 1930s & designed to resemble a Canadian cabin, it burnt down less than a year after completion, the result of an unfortunate meeting between a candle and an inattentive & subsequently-relieved-of-her-duties housekeeper. Reopened in 1940, it was state owned until 1991 but is now in private hands. Needless to say all rooms come with killer views (not to mention a hefty price tag). Circuito Chico, Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 18, 2015.

Rehydration time on the terrace of Cerro Campanario, a panoramic 360-degree lookout with awesome views of the whole region & one of the most popular of the Circuito Chico stops. Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, northern Patagonia, Argentina. October 18, 2015.

The Argentinian flag flying at the very blustery Rio Jeinimeni border crossing between Chile Chico, Chile & Los Los Antiguos, Argentina. October 31, 2015.

My first choice was to head south, and south only, via Ruta 40 from Perito Moreno to El Chalten, a 700 kilometre, 13-hour bus trip (Google says you can do it in a car in 8 hours). But, & with no such direct bus available, at least not for a few days, if at all, I ended up going, as seen here, east to join the coastal Ruta 3, the world’s southernmost highway, before then heading south to Rio Gallegos & then west on Ruta 5 to the runner-up destination of El Calafate, a 1,313 kilometre trip that took 18 bus hours (Google estimated 14 and a half car hours).

06:17 || I woke early today, just after 5 a.m. Sunrise was still an hour away & when it came, as it does from the east, it cast armadillo-shaped shadows of the bus across the Patagonian steppe to the west as the bus headed south down the Ruta 3 towards Rio Gallegos. Bus shadows on Ruta 3 in Patagonia, southern Argentina. November 1, 2015.

07:47 || Morning coffee & steppe wildlife views heading south on Ruta 3. Amid the constant mind-numbingness of the landscape, I was periodically treated to the sight of guanacos, wild llamas, scattering away from the road as the bus passed (lots of sheep too), my first time seeing llamas in the wild in Patagonia. Travelling south on Ruta 3 in Patagonia, southern Argentina. November 1, 2015

11:17 || This is a distant, very distant, shot as seen from Ruta 5 of the distinctive peaks of the Paine Massif of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine across the border in Chile, probably some, I guesstimate, 80-100 kilometres as the crow flies from here. Chile’s most visited attraction & one of South Americas’s biggest draws, it’ll be a week or so before I get to explore the park myself. Needless to say I’ve never been to Torres del Paine but I’ve seen enough pictures over the years to instantly recognise the unmistakable jagged peaks of its Paine Massif, the centerpiece of the park, even from afar. According to my guidebook, ‘nothing can prepare you for your first sight of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine’. Well I certainly wasn’t expecting my first sighting of it to be from a bus crossing the southern Argentinian Patagonian steppe. El Calafate bound on Ruta 5 in Patagonia, southern Argentina. November 1, 2015.

11:29 || Back seat view on Ruta 5, Patagonia, southern Argentina. November 1, 2015.

12:30 || Almost there. The view from the back row of an almost empty bus 17 and a half hours in & some 30 minutes out of El Calafate. There are glaciers emanating in those hills, the reason I was looking forward to (finally) getting off this bus. Heading west on Ruta 5, Patagonia, southern Argentina. November 1, 2015.

The 60 metre-high snout of Glaciar Perito Moreno, the Canal de los Tempanos (Iceberg Channel) & boats on Lago Argentino as seen from the system of elevated walkways on Peninsula Magallanes of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 2, 2015.

Resting by the frozen Laguna de los Tres in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 4, 2015.

Boating on Lago Argentino in view of the Glaciar Perito Moreno in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, Patagonia, Argentina. November 2, 2015.

Accessibility assures Glaciar Perito Moreno is one of the major tourist attractions in southern Patagonia. A well-developed tourism infrastructure is in place on the tip of the park’s glacier-facing Peninsula Magallanes, an infrastructure well geared to accommodate the hordes that come to ogle at the glacier on a daily basis: there’s a large visitor centre; an overpriced café/restaurant; the usual array of souvenir shops; and an extensive system of elevated wooded walkways offering information on, and various views of, the glacier itself. Just be prepared to pay handsomely for the privilege of seeing this icy beast – getting yourself to the position of being able to view the glacier is an exercise in financial damage limitation, even using the so-called Argentine blue rate for purchases, so much so that I was somewhat surprised they don’t (yet) charge to use the onsite toilet in the visitors centre. Suffice to say, visiting & viewing the glacier is a wonderful experience; it’s a truly wondrous sight. It’s just a vastly overpriced one, so much so that you cant help but feel taken advantage of, something that may overshadow a visit. Unfortunately it did mine. Viewing the Glaciar Perito Moreno from the viewing platforms across the Canal de los Tempanos (Iceberg Channel) in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 2, 2015.

All glaciers are basically a (very) slow moving jagged mass of gravity-propelled ice, a river of crevasses & jagged, spiky, leaning & unstable icy peaks. Needless to say Glaciar Perito Moreno is no exception, although this particular glacier glowed like I’ve never before seen a glacier glow (I could thank the clear blue skies for that). Marbled in places & deep blue in others – areas of pressurised de-oxygenated ice, the deeper the blue the more oxygen-starved the ice – I particularly loved the glowing blue of portions of the glacier innards, blues that seemed to get more neon-like as the afternoon shadows passed across portions of the ice wall; I spent many hours staring at this thing. The lighting may have (very subtly) changed but the scene never did, & nor did I ever get bored. Seeing vast chunks of ice drop off into the so-called Canal de los Tempanos (Iceberg Channel) fronting the glacier and bobbing away from the ice wall out into Lago Argentino, the largest lake solely in Argentina & South America’s third largest overall, was quite the spectacle, albeit a rare one. Much more common are the sounds – the thuds, the cracks, the creaks, and the grinding – of nature’s glacial soundtrack. At the Glaciar Perito Moreno in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 2, 2015.

A dMb rarity, a panorama. This image shows the grin-like, 5 kilometre wide span of the glacier ice wall. Yes, left to right, or right to left, is 5 kilometres, give or take a few hundred metres. It also shows the galcier winding down some 15 kilometres from the heights of the Hielo Continental Sur (the Southern Patagonian Icecap), not to mention the 60 metre above water portion of the glaciers 210 metre-high snout. As impressive as those stats are, they don’t measure up to other glaciers elsewhere in the park – Glaciar Upsala stretches for 60 kilometres while Glaciar Spegazzini towers over 120 metres above the water, all of which pales in comparison to the 100 kilometre-wide, 400 kilometre-long & 2.5 kilometre-deep Lambert Glacier in East Antarctica, the world’s largest glacier. This picture also shows, to the left of frame, the edge of the park’s Peninsula Magallanes, location for the aforementioned visitor centre & system of walkways. Although classed as a stable glacier, meaning it’s neither advancing nor retreating, periodically pressures from ice weight push the glacier frontier to such an extent that it makes contact with the peninsula, effectively damning a section of Lago Argentino and leading to a massive rise in water levels. This eventually causes a spectacular rupture, billed as one of nature’s most awe-inspiring spectacles and one that last happened in 2012. At the Glaciar Perito Moreno in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 2, 2015.

I took a 1-hour ‘scenic’ trip on this boat to get a different perspective on the glacier. I needn’t have bothered; the boat trip didn’t offer much & you actually get closer to the ice, a lot closer, via the walkways of the Peninsula Magallanes. If you want to get real close you can opt to go on a glacier hike (& I can only imagine how much you’d have to fork over for that), something I did on the Fox Glacier in New Zealand. Better still, save your money (that is if you’ve any left after getting yourself to the glacier in the first place) & bring a good zoom lens. Boating on Lago Argentino in view of Glaciar Perito Moreno in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 2, 2015.

The small 4 bedroom Hotel La Leona is an historic wayside inn on Argentinean Patagonia’s Ruta 40 half way between the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares access towns of El Calafate and El Chalten. Despite heavy restoration and swarms of tourists (it seems every bus in either direction stops here), the place still oozes a true ye olde charm. Built in 1894 by a family of Danish immigrants, the Jensens, it was here, in 1877, that Francisco Moreno, the aforementioned 19th century Argentine explorer, was attacked and badly wounded by a female cougar, an incident that gave the hotel & the small river that runs through the area its name – la leona means lioness in Spanish. Bearing witness to a lot of regional history, the Leona’s main claim to fame is that in 1905 Robert LeRoy Parker & Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, a.k.a. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, stayed here for almost a month. They were, and after robbing a bank in Rio Gallegos, passing through the region en route to the Chilean border. Today the site (& hotel) is a convenient place to break the El Calafate to El Chalten journey and chances are if you’re on a bus you’ll be stopping here whether you want to or not. The historic Hotel La Leona, a popular stop on Argentinian Ruta 40 between El Calafate & El Chalten. Patagonia, Argentina. November 3, 2015

By the edge of Laguna de los Tres in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 4, 2015.

On my first evening in my present location of El Chalten, the Fitz Roy access town, I made my way the short distance outside of town to the Mirador de Los Condores (Condors Viewpoint) for a nice overview of the Fitz Roy sector peaks. The evening was cloudy & although I waited the clouds weren’t going anywhere; I got no presentable images of the vista in front of me… or so I thought. As I was despondently making my way back to El Chalten the clouds decided to break for a split second just before the sun disappeared below the horizon, briefly illuminating the western sides of the peaks in the process. It was glorious. This is a stitched panorama showing, among other peaks, the star attractions of, from left to right, the cloud-covered, needle-like Cerro Torre (3,120 metres) & the bulks of Cerro Poincenot (3,002 metres) & Monte Fitz Roy (3,375 metres), the tallest of the lot. The peaks of the Fitz Roy sector of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares as seen from outside the town of El Chalten, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 4, 2015.

With some stiff competition, Cerro Torre, seen here with a wisp of cloud hanging around its summit, takes the award for having the park’s most needle-like form. Although a relatively modest 3,120 metres high, it’s the highest peak in a four mountain chain (the 3 other peaks all descend in height as seen here to the right of Cerro Torre itself). A combination of its slender form & an ever-present mushroom of rime ice at its very summit, a result of an ever-present, battering gale, meant it defied climbers until as recently as 1974, the year the first verified accent of the peak was made (another 1959 accent wasn’t verified). Even today, it remains one of the most difficult & least climbed peaks in the world. The last rays of the day on the distinctive, needle-like peak of Cerro Torre in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 3, 2015.

For the majority of the 10 kilometre outward trek, from about the 3.5 kilometre marker, the peaks seen here are ever-present, always in view & increasing in size as you approach them. This is a picture captured approaching the end of the outward trek, approaching the halfway point, a picture of trekkers tackling the last obstacle, the final moraine ridge from the top of which one is treated to what has to be one of the most awe-inspiring alpine settings on earth. Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 3, 2015.

The view from the ridge at the end of the Laguna de los Tres trek is one of the frozen (in winter only) glacial Laguna de los Tres ringed by a crown of granite peaks, the most prominent of which is 3,375 metre-high Monte Fitz Roy (centre) & 3,002 metre-high Cerro Poincenot (left). Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 4, 2015.

Look carefully and you’ll see, bottom right, hikers looking very small on the ridge facing Monte Fitz Roy. The peak was christened such in 1877 by Argentine explorer Francisco Moreno in honour of the Beagle who, with Charles Darwin aboard, had visited the region in 1834 and had viewed the Andes, albeit from a distance. First scaled in 1952, its 3,375 metre height wouldn’t reach half the height of some Himalayan peaks but, and thanks to its sheer granite faces, it still ranks as one of the world’s most technically difficult ascents. Fronting the massive granite peak of Monte Fitz Roy in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 4, 2015.

Twenty kilometres total – 10 out & 10 back. Kilometre markers on the Senda Fitz Roy (Fitz Roy Track) in the Fitz Roy sector of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 4, 2015.

A frontier-esque & largely lifeless town at the confluence of two rivers, El Chalten looks & feels like something of an afterthought; it does little to hide the fact that its sole reason for being is to service the likes of me who come here to trek or climb its surrounds. The town bills itself as the trekking capital of Argentina, something it tries to validate by the presentation of a massive wooden backpack in the centre of the town’s Avenida M. M. Guemes. While there’s not a whole lot to do in the town itself and services scarce, it’s not a bad place to spend a few days and I found it more bearable than its larger southern counterpart of El Calafate, access town for the glaciers. Avenida M. M. Guemes, El Chalten, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 5, 2015.

The town of El Chalten as seen from near the start of the Senda Fitz Roy (Fitz Roy Track) in the Fitz Roy sector of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southern Patagonia, Argentina. November 4, 2015.

Ushuaia, the World’s End & the end of Argentinian Ruta (Route) 40, the country’s longest road. Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. November 14, 2015.

Soaring high over Ushuaia. This picture was captured from a vantage point overlooking the town (& the Beagle Channel) after returning from a hike to the Martial Glacier, another popular Ushuaia must-do. Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. November 15, 2015.