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It’s about time. Time to turn the page, to close this file and to move on. We came back from our trip in Patagonia 6 months ago and often I checked my notes written in El Chalten. Should I really post that? Is it really necessary to express such a disappointment, to try to explain the disillusion felt when an old dream is confronted to a frustrating reality?
Indeed, El Chalten was supposed to be the highlight and the end of the trip. Hanging out around the Cerro Fitz Roy needed to be amazing. And it wasn’t. The big and ugly touristic business has already changed it: tourism has taken over this part of Patagonia and it is difficult to find a less traveled path without knowing someone in town. Except if you are willing to pay the price.
Reading an article in the French newspaper “Le Monde”, I’m convinced to finally put an end to this trip (in French) :
It perfectly illustrates what you can find in El Chalten. Everybody arrives and lives the same “adventure”, hikes the same crowded trail, drinks the same beer, eats the same diner… before leaving. One has to make it quick to appreciate. By staying, the perspective is immediately different and then, the only choice is to accept… Or to leave, to seek something else. But around, everything is made for the large majority. Just enter the “Casa de Guia” to ask for some advices and you would be answered that here they are selling a service, they are not giving anything. Therefore, one must accept to fit in the mold and hike the classic trails in the middle of the crowd, accept all the scams set up by this biased system. It could quickly become unbearable. Jumping on a less traveled path requires a different organization… At least we tried…
Then, should we ignore El Chalten? Maybe should we just accept to spend a little amount of time there like everybody else? Nature is right there, and allows most to appreciate unique landscapes that would be hardly accessible anywhere else. But should we really be able to enjoy everything so easily? I will definitely leave this place to others who might enjoy it. We came here to seek something that doesn’t exist anymore. What we found is something we try to avoid in general. Maybe we were expecting too much?
Of course, pictures are looking good, but 6 months later I still don’t feel much when I look at them.
Climbing here? In the mountains the rock looks stunning, but is it reasonable to wait weeks just to be able to touch it? For some probably. There is an incredible number of stunning places where it is possible to climb under the sun too…
I finally wish we spent more time in the Chilean Tierra del Fuego, a place still quiet, wild and beautiful. Or in the fjords, in the sea. The last trips in Peru were so intense that I feel again this need to share those experiences. But before doing so, I had the feeling that I needed to bring a closure to this old dream that probably should have stayed one. The curious reader could find my travel notes on this link…
