"You may carry a backpack but you are no 'backpacker'..."

I'm back in good old Provo, Utah.  I meant that too, Provo is my home.  It may not be the most diverse and I realize people get culture shock coming out to Utah County, but I love it just the same.  

After we got back from our backpacking trip throughout Argentina things were crazy and I didn't make time to blog about my adventures so here it goes now...

I should start of by admitting that I am NOT a real backpacker.  I proudly admit that I am a fake, a backpacker wannabe. 

1. I carried too many clothes because I refused to "make do" with two outfits.
2. I refused to camp.
3. I bought things everywhere I went... let's just say that real back-packers are a lot more frugal.
4. I tried eating really simply to save money (because eating out gets expensive)... cheap empanadas and sandwiches from kiosks.  It lasted ONE day before I said to hell with it
   and ate what and where I wanted.
5. I forked out 130 pesos for a private room.  It was towards the end of the trip after two weeks in hostels.  I walked into our 6-person, female-only, hot and humid, smelly, hostel room and there was some weird Israeli guy lying in bed with a girl in her undies. Wouldn't you have said "oh hell no!!!" and gotten your own room too?
6. I insisted on cama-suite for every bus trip we took (like taking first-class instead of coach when traveling by bus).
7. I whined about my ugly toes.  I desperately needed a pedicure.

Even though I am not a real backpacker, my backpacking trip was amazing just the same.

  

Stop One: San Carlos de Bariloche

We arrived after a 25 hour bus ride from Cordoba.  We decided to do laundry, pack, buy bus tickets, say goodbye to our Spanish teachers and book a flight the day we left for our big trip. We basically planned the trip the day we left (after having stayed out all night saying goodbye to friends from church), but don't worry, we made it to the bus station 10 minutes before the bus left.  I was neurotic and ready to strangle one of the bus conductors because he wouldn't let me take my back pack up with me- he made me check it under the bus.  I've decided last-minute doesn't work so great for me (yet here I am blogging while I should be doing my homework that I've just about put off until last-minute).

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous throughout Patagonia.  As we got about an hour away from Bariloche I started looking in my travel book for things we wanted to do, places we wanted to eat and also for a place to stay.

After checking into the hostel we took a tram to the top of a hill to get a scenic view of beautiful Bariloche and Nahuel Huapi Lake.

We woke up early the next day and set out horse-back riding.  I had so much fun... my horse was kind of a dud the guy leading the tour had to kick his butt into gear to get him going but it was fun all the same.

Later that day we took a small bus ride out to Hotel LLao-LLao-

I don't remember why the tour book recommended it but it was a neat trip that only took a few hours.  Someday when I'm rich I'm going to stay at hotel LLao-LLao instead of some rotten old hostel (okay hostels aren't that bad I'm just not a real backpacker, remember?).

The next day we took a really neat tour and saw some more scenery and lakes

behind me is Mount Tronador- a glacier

Up close view of the glacier

It was really amazing.  You can see where glacier has fallen and melted down in the water below.

We then walked up to see a waterfall... it was really lovely.

We had fun in Bariloche.

Stop Two: El Calafate- Perito Moreno Glacier

We took another 30 hour bus ride from Bariloche further south to a town called El Calafate.  It is the gateway to the Glaciers National Park.

We started the day by going out to see the famous Perito Moreno (expert Moreno- named after the geologist Moreno who was an expert I guess).  It is one of three glaciers that is not retreating... it still is moving forward with ice chunks fall off into the lake.  It was amazing, while we were there we heard and saw a bunch of ice chunks fall off and crash into the lake.

It was cold and windy... very windy.  You can see Amanda through the front window of the tour bus hiding out from the cold and being a wimp.

The glacier was absolutely incredible- I have never seen anything like it.

We took a ferry across the lake and strapped these "crampons" (I know, it sounds like tampons) onto our shoes.

Can you see the hooks?

We didn't actually strap them on, the tour guides did.

We went hiking on top of the glacier.  It was expensive but completely worth it!  It was scary at first because I was sure those silly little crampon things weren't going to hold me and I was going to go plummeting to my death, but they turned out to be pretty sturdy.

The consistency of the ice on top of the glacier reminded me of regular ice you'd buy at a gas station- it wasn't like solid ice, but gravely pieces about the size of regular ice cubes.

There were deep crevices where the glacier was melting... they were so incredibly blue and clear!  Absolutely amazing.

The water was so refreshing and clean tasting

When we got to the end of the hike the tour guides had a little "bar" set up.  Everyone had whiskey on the rocks (glacier rocks of course). 

Us little BYU chicks had ice water... it was fun all the same.

I absolutely loved Perito Moreno.  Ironically I planned my Argentina trip for winter semester so I could avoid cold and snow... I didn't know I'd be going so far south and that I would encounter extremely cold weather and humongous chunks of snow...

Tomorrow (or whenever I get around to blogging again) I will add more pictures from El Calafate and then talk about Iguazu Falls, and the ruins of San Ignacio.