Argentina - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 120

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
By plane Esquel Airport is 21km east of town; a taxi will
set you back around AR$80.
Destinations Bariloche (2-3 weekly; 30min); Buenos
Aires (daily, less in winter; 3hr); and occasional services to
Puerto Madryn.
By bus The bus terminal ( T 02945 451 584) lies eight
blocks from the town centre on the corner of A.P. Justo
and Av Alvear, the main street.
Destinations Bariloche (15 daily; 4hr 30min); El Bolsón
(15 daily; 2hr 30min); El Calafate (daily; 29hr); El Chaltén
(daily; 26hr); Comodoro Rivadavia (5 daily; 9hr); Futaleufú
in Chile (Jan & Feb 2 daily 3 times a week; rest of year
2 daily twice a week; 2hr); Mendoza (daily; 24hr).
By train The train station from which the La Trochita
steam train departs is on Roggero, at Brun.

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and Isla Victoria, has Lago Nahuel Huapi
as its centrepiece. In summer, this zone
buzzes with tourists on boating, kayaking,
cycling and hiking excursions. The
southern zone has the best trails and
facilities for hikers, and is focused around
Lago Mascardi , ideal for swimming and
diving in summer.

ESQUEL
Cowboys and urban sophisticates should
feel equally at home in ESQUEL , the main
town in the north of Chubut Province.
Some 340km south of Bariloche, Esquel
means “bog” in the Mapuche language,
a name that says nothing of the town's
arresting mountainous backdrop.
Although Esquel is often relegated to
a pit stop en route to Bariloche or Chile,
the town makes a perfect base to explore
the lush Parque Nacional Los Alerces and
for riding the historic Old Patagonian
Express steam train (see box below) on a
touristic loop. Other local draws include
the tea-house-filled Welsh settlement of
Trevelin , 23km south, and in winter, the
ski resort of La Hoya ( T 02945 453 018,
W

INFORMAT ION AND TOURS
Tourist information The tourist o ce is on Av Alvear,
at Sarmiento (daily 7am-11pm; T 02945 451 927,
W esquel.gov.ar).
Tour operator Tours of Parque Nacional Los Alerces can
be booked through Gales al Sur (Av Alvear 1871 T 02945
453 379) and leave every day according to demand.

ACCOMMODAT ION
Lago Verde Volta 1081 T 02945 452 251, W patagonia
-verde.com.ar. Small but impeccable rooms set behind a
quiet family home with a cute rose-filled garden. AR$200
Planeta Hostel Av Alvear 2833 T 02945 456 846,
W planetahostel.com. A hostel with delightful owners,
wacky artistic touches, an indoor climbing wall and a

skilahoya.com), 12km northeast, where
there are 22km of runs, plenty of off-piste
skiing and a season that often extends
into early October.

THE OLD PATAGONIAN EXPRESS
Pu ng and chugging its way across the arid Andean foothills at around 25km/hr, the
Old Patagonian Express is both a museum on wheels and a classic South American train
journey. Known as “ La Trochita ” (“little narrow gauge” in Spanish), the locomotive's tracks are a
mere 75cm wide. Built in 1922 to connect sheep farmers in isolated, windswept communities
with faraway markets for their goods, the train was put out of commission in 1993 when the
railways were privatized. Immortalized in Paul Theroux's 1979 train-travel narrative, the express
is today mostly involved in short, round-trip tourist jaunts. Passengers pile into antique
wooden coaches, complete with wood-burning furnaces and dining cars, to puff from Esquel
to a Mapuche community plus museum called Nahuel Pan and back (44km return; 3hr;
AR$180). Peering out of the window, you might spot guanacos, rheas and hares - and you
will certainly see cows. If you are really lucky, you may even see “bandits” that hold up the train
on occasion - rest assured that it is an organized part of the experience and no one will be
relieving you of your jewellery.
The train leaves throughout the year on Saturdays at 10am and then puts on extra trips
depending on the season and demand - up to ten departures a week in high season. Ask the
tourist o ce for the latest schedule or call T 02945 451 403. Renovations or strikes sometimes
close the line completely, so check that it is running before you come to Esquel if the train ride
is the main objective of your journey.
Occasionally, the train makes the 165km journey all the way from Esquel to El Maitén, where
there is a museum and railway repair shops.