Travel With Phie

We woke up this morning around the same time as most other days 7:30. We got up dressed and headed to breakfast at the hotel. Today we had planned to go horseback riding in the afternoon, but after checking with the front desk, the afternoon was going to be raining and super windy. We decided to change our time and go in the morning instead.

Once we finished breakfast we headed to our pick-up spot for horseback riding that was just on the edge of town. We arrived and waited for the bus to come pick us up around 8:30.

We waited around 10 minutes for the bus to show up to take us to the ranch (Estancia). We drove around 20 minutes outside of town to the gorgeous Estancia. We parked and had to a bridge across the river to officially get to the ranch. It was super windy, so the bridge was a bit of a challenge to walk across (for sure an experience of its own).

Once we arrive to the ranch, we all got helmets we wore. They split us into groups of who has rode a horse and who had not. I had not, so I expected them to give a brief lesson. Nope. They simply placed me on the horse and gave tips (“pull the reins up to stop the horse” & how to have the horse move forward).

This was such a great experience as we got to see a great portion of the El Chalten valley. The views were absolutely stunning and our guide was awesome. My horse had a mind of its own. The entire time he would randomly just run in front of another horse and smash into them. He clearly had beef with two of the horse as he kept doing it to them when they went in front of us. It was for sure an experience.

About an hour in we stopped for a quick snack in the most beautiful lodge. They had a warm fire going and we got some tea with Torta Frita’s with a dulce de leche dip. It was unbelievably good! During our little snack break there was like little lamb that kept trying to come inside. He would try to sneakily follow humans inside & once they noticed they would quickly shut the door before he could enter and he would just stand outside the door and bahhh. It was hilarious, but also kind of sad. Ashley with her loving soul went out and comforted the little lamb until he fell asleep. We continued to hangout at the lodge for 15ish minutes before we continued on our horseback journey.

We continued to ride through the valley with great views. We ended back up where we started and de-horsed, walk back across the bridge to the van to take us back to town.

Once we got back to went back to the hotel to change and figure out the rest of our game plan since it was a bit windy and super cloudy. Before further plans, we decided to go back to the delicious lunch spot from the day before to get some Empandas. We each ordered two empanadas and the place was busy, so we decided to eat outside. The worker thought we were crazy and were going to get blown away. It was not bad, but then started to rain so headed back inside to a table that opened up. We finished our lunch and decided on an official next plan.

Katherine decided to hangout around town to read her book and find a nice tea shop. Ashely and I decided to go on a quick run and then go for a hike (we ended up just running the hike lol).

We decided to the first part of the Fitz Roy hike, up to lake Capri. This hike was around 6 miles with 1,900 ft of elevation gain. I jokingly mentioned that we should run it to get a run and a hike in. Ashley was totally down, so my joke of a plan turned into the real plan. Most people thought we were a bit crazy as we ran past them but it was a blast. We dressed way too warm and were drenched in sweat by mile 1, but that is also when the wind started to kick in which was “super” fun.

Although the weather wasn’t great the views the entire way were still amazing. We got to the top and met the nicest Brazil couple that we exchanged taking photos of each other. They were super sweet & friendly and were also a bit sad about the views not being as expected. We chatted for a little while before Ashley and I continued our run down. The run down was a bit more challenging as there were a couple larger groups we had to try and pass.Overall the run was wonderful, but we were very excited for dinner.

Sqince we had a while before dinner, we found the nearest place we could grab a smoothie & met up with Katherine. We finished our smoothies and headed back to the room to shower and go grab some Chai. Katherine went to get a massage and Ashley & I went to find some Chai (and myself a coffee). We ended up at the cutest little tea house. I got a latte and Ashley got a Chai tea (I was little regretful as the Chai was unbelievable).

Once we finished our drinks we went back to meet up with Katherine and head to dinner. We had a reservation for La Vinera at 7pm which had the typical Argentinian food. Katherine & I split a steak and Ashley got a pasta. We both agreed that the steak was the best steak of the trip a solid (9/10 and maybe even a 10/10 steak). We also got a bottle of white wine from the Patagonia region which was a great bottle.

It was pouring rain on our way home, but had been dying to try the local ice cream stop in town. We, of course, made a quick pit stop and I am so happy we did. I think it may have been some of the best ice cream ever.

After ice cream, we went back to the room to pack for our long journey the next day. Once Ashley & I were all packed up we decided to hit the town. We went to a local brewery and grabbed a drink. We stayed later than expected till around 11:45pm, but as soon as we were leaving is when the band showed up We were disappointed, but had to wake up at 6:30 the next day so needed to get a little sleep.

We walked back in the pouring rain and then went to bed in preparation for our 9 hour bus ride the following morning.

Buenas Noches!