iceberg | Blue Lapis Road

DAY 80 (1 OF 3) – ICEBERGS, LAGO ARGENTINA, PARQUE NACIONAL LOS GLACIARES (SOUTH), EL CALAFATE, ARGENTINA

With the rain and cold temperature, today was certainly not favorable to do a full-day lake cruise. Originally we planned to go ice-trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier. Unfortunately a few days ago we discovered that all ice-trekking at Perito Moreno was fully booked up in the next few days. We opted for the alternative of doing a lake cruise to visit the several famous glaciers along the west side of Lago Argentina. At 7am the tour organizer picked us up from our hostel. By 8:30am we were among the few hundred of tourists lining up at the dock to pay for the national park entrance admission. It was the most touristy event we experienced in Argentina similar to the Iguazu Falls. One after another, about five catamaran left the pier at Puerto Bandera, bringing hundreds of tourists westward to the first glacier, Upsala Glacier. When our boat entered Brazo Upsala, icebergs of different forms and sizes began to appear. The translucent blue of the icebergs was absolute captivating that even in today’s poor weather and lighting, the colour seemed to glow in the various shades of grey. A close encounter of the icebergs was certainly something we couldn’t achieve without a boat. The icebergs were so beautiful that many passengers, including us, were willing to brave the rain and cold winds to stand out at the boat deck as long as we could endure.