January 18, 2020
El Chaltén is a colorful and incredibly charming town nestled among the mountains in Argentine Patagonia. The moment you step into the town, there is a feeling that takes you back to your childhood; with the colors of the houses, wooden fences, and overall texture, El Chaltén looks as if it popped straight out of a Sims game. One of our favorite houses was a colorful building that caught our eye with its harmony of pink and green.
When we arrived here, the wind was so fierce for two days that we couldn't even step out of the car; we were worried the wind might blow the vehicle away. Only when the wind died down a bit did we get the chance to explore the town.
El Chaltén is located in the northern part of Los Glaciares National Park, at the foot of Cerro Torre and the 3,359-meter-high Cerro Fitz Roy mountains. Thanks to this magnificent scenery, thousands of tourists flock here every summer for hiking and climbing. In fact, El Chaltén is officially known as "Argentina's National Trekking Capital."
The hiking routes starting from here range from short trails lasting a few hours to challenging multi-day treks. Laguna de los Tres and Laguna Torre, in particular, are among the region's most famous routes.
El Chaltén means "smoking mountain." The indigenous people of the region mistook the clouds at the peak of Mount Fitz Roy for smoke emitted by the mountain, thinking it was a volcano; when the town was founded, this name was given to it.
Perhaps that is why El Chaltén feels like a somewhat magical place today. Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre disappearing and reappearing among the clouds as the weather shifts in an instant, the glaciers, and the wild nature of Patagonia give this place an almost surreal atmosphere.
El Chaltén's founding story is just as interesting as its name. In 1985, a border dispute took place between Chile and Argentina over this region; Argentina hastily founded the town of El Chaltén to get ahead of Chile in its territorial claim. No conflict occurred afterward, but today the town remains within Argentina's borders.
Located in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field region, winters in El Chaltén are quite cold, snowy, and stormy; therefore, the town is largely a summer tourism hub. Even in the middle of summer, temperatures hover around 10°C and it is quite windy; summer temperatures here reach a maximum of 18°C. While the permanent population in the early 2000s was around 350, recent data shows this figure has risen above 1,500; during the tourism season, the temporary population multiplies exponentially with visiting tourists and seasonal workers.
The town has been listed among the world's best small towns in some rankings, and the number of tourists almost doubles every year; however, the infrastructure has not yet fully caught up with this rapid growth, which is why new construction can be seen on every corner of the town. Considering we had been traveling in Patagonia for two months without seeing almost any tourists, El Chaltén became the most touristy stop we had seen so far.
Despite being so touristy, there is only one ATM and one gas station in the town. Cell service is also very limited: only one provider works, and that is solely for phone calls, not for the internet. The local population relies on radio telecommunications for daily communication instead of regular phone lines; internet in cafes, hotels, and restaurants is remarkably slow.
With its colors evoking a childhood game, as well as the border dispute and communication challenges behind it, El Chaltén is a town far more layered than it appears. Sometimes the sweetest-looking places hide the most fascinating stories.