EXPERIENCES

La Trochita or Old Patagonian Express is a historic tourist train -with small trail, from which comes its name and founded in 1945- that allows you to make a journey into the past. Starting from the Esquel railway station, we travel 18 km to the Nahuel Pan station, the place of residence of an important Mapuche Tehuelche community. There, while the train makes the maneuvers for the return, you can visit the Nahuel Pan Museum that preserves the heritage of the original peoples and the House of Crafts, where pieces of silver, wood and textiles are exhibited all made by the population rural area that make a direct sale on this site.

• At 08.30 is the pick up from Hotel in a Van After that, it takes the route to Lodge El Pilar (18 km), where start the hiking to Fitz Roy. Taking the valley of Rio Blanco, we can see the first balcony to Piedras Blancas Glacier. From there we walk another 1.30 h until reaching Rio Blanco Camp site, another hour up the trail reaching Laguna de los Tres. From the lake, there are even better panoramic views of Cerro Fitz Roy! You can also see Laguna Sucia and Lago Viedma in the distance. After lunch (no included) we start the return to El Chaten taking the trail to Laguna Capri. • This tours finishes at about 6 pm. RECOMMENDED CLOTHING FOR ALL THE TOURS IN EL CHALTEN: gloves, sunscreen (facial and labial), cap fleece or wool coat, hat , scarf or neck coat, waterproof jacket, waterproof pants or synthetic fabric, appropriate footwear (preferably trekking boots covering the ankle), sunglasses. Tip: in Patagonia clothing layers should be taken to adapt to frequent changes in temperature.

Day 1: departure from Salta city towards south, through Route 68 along Lerma Valley whose points of interest are Chicoana, Quebrada del Escoipe, Cuesta del Obispo (road with abundant curves), Piedra del Molino (highest point of the route at 3384 m.s.), Los Cardones National Park and Tin-Tin straight. Arrival to Cachi at lunch time. The trip continues down Route 40 to admire mountainous landscapes with towns of great enchantment. Bordering the Calchaquí River, we can observe historical towns such as Seclantas, Molinos, Angastaco, San Carlos and Animana. By the end of the afternoon we arrive to Cafayate. Overnight. Day 2: after lunch we return to Salta through Quebrada de las Conchas (Shells’ ravine) visiting the peculiar rock formations caused by rain and wind, such as The Amphitheatre or The Devil´s Throat. We arrive to Salta after crossing the Lerma Valley.