Chile/Argentina Questions
11-13-18, 03:20 PM
#1
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Chile/Argentina Questions
Hello,
we are two german friends and we are planning a trip from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas in December and January.
And I have some questions:
1) We start in Puerto Montt and we will ride with our bicycles the legendary Ruta 7, Carratera Austral, in Chile. In which towns along the Carretera Austral do we get cash from the ATM?
Are they accepted credit cards for services (accommodation, restaurants, organized tours, etc.)?
2) Does anyone have experience about the connection by boat between Villa O'Higgins and Candelario Mancilla? According to this website, the boat tour is not daily available.
Are there other connections from Villa O'Higgins to Candelario Mancilla in the high season?
Is a reservation for the boat tour necessary in high season or do we have always the possibility to get a place on the boat?
Do you know other options to go from Villa O´Higgins to El Chaten/Argentina if the boat does not go because of bad weather for a few days?
Are there any options on the path between the Chilean border post and the Argentinean border post on the way to Lago Despierto to use a baggage transport by horse, donkey, mule or with a porter? We don´t want to carry all our baggage on this path.
Does anyone have informations about the ferry over the Lago Despierto from the North end to the South end of the Lake? We don´t find any information or a schedule about this ferry on the web.
3) Money in Argentina
Our first destination in Argentina after crossing the border will be El Chalten. I have heard that there is no ATM in El Chalten. Is this correct? Are there other possibilties to get cash in El Chalten (like gas stations or drugstores)? Are they accepted credit cards for services (accommodation, restaurants, organized tours, etc.)?
Which currency is is preferred in Argentina? Argentine pesos or US-Dollars?
4) Transportation of bicycles in busses
We would like to use the bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales. Which bus company travels this route and do they accept bicycles in the busses? Do we need a reservation for the bicycles? Do we need a special packaging for the bicycles, like a bag or box?
5) Any other tips, recommendations?
We look forward to your answers and help!
Anne and Thomas
we are two german friends and we are planning a trip from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas in December and January.
And I have some questions:
1) We start in Puerto Montt and we will ride with our bicycles the legendary Ruta 7, Carratera Austral, in Chile. In which towns along the Carretera Austral do we get cash from the ATM?
Are they accepted credit cards for services (accommodation, restaurants, organized tours, etc.)?
2) Does anyone have experience about the connection by boat between Villa O'Higgins and Candelario Mancilla? According to this website, the boat tour is not daily available.
Are there other connections from Villa O'Higgins to Candelario Mancilla in the high season?
Is a reservation for the boat tour necessary in high season or do we have always the possibility to get a place on the boat?
Do you know other options to go from Villa O´Higgins to El Chaten/Argentina if the boat does not go because of bad weather for a few days?
Are there any options on the path between the Chilean border post and the Argentinean border post on the way to Lago Despierto to use a baggage transport by horse, donkey, mule or with a porter? We don´t want to carry all our baggage on this path.
Does anyone have informations about the ferry over the Lago Despierto from the North end to the South end of the Lake? We don´t find any information or a schedule about this ferry on the web.
3) Money in Argentina
Our first destination in Argentina after crossing the border will be El Chalten. I have heard that there is no ATM in El Chalten. Is this correct? Are there other possibilties to get cash in El Chalten (like gas stations or drugstores)? Are they accepted credit cards for services (accommodation, restaurants, organized tours, etc.)?
Which currency is is preferred in Argentina? Argentine pesos or US-Dollars?
4) Transportation of bicycles in busses
We would like to use the bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales. Which bus company travels this route and do they accept bicycles in the busses? Do we need a reservation for the bicycles? Do we need a special packaging for the bicycles, like a bag or box?
5) Any other tips, recommendations?
We look forward to your answers and help!
Anne and Thomas
11-13-18, 06:42 PM
#2
bicycle tourist
One suggestion: there is a Bike Touring Americas Facebook group that pretty active and will likely also be able to answer questions you asked here.
I bicycled the Carratera Austral in 2017. However, it was with an organized group who handled most of the logistics so I didn't have to pay as much attention.
However a few thoughts on the questions you asked:
1. I don't know all the places with ATMs. I got both money from an ATM in Coyhaique and food from market there. At minimum I would count on Puerto Montt and Coyhaique. Other places are all a bit smaller but some might have ATMs as well.
2. We took the boat from Villa O'Higgins. Our baggage trucks backtracked to cross the border further north. The sequence of ferrys is very much an experience I wouldn't miss. I believe there was a (new) ferry from Puerto Yungay to Puerto Natales if everything went bad - but you would also miss a big piece. In our case, there ferry was on time, though I've also read journal accounts of people who waited a few days.
3. The Candelario Mancilla Border is interesting. It is ~21km from the dock to the actual Argentina/Chile border. This route is mostly an unimproved road that can be bicycled. After that on the Argentinian side it is 6km of single-track trail. Some bicycled it, but they were much bicyclists than me - and I mostly walked my bike and carried it some of the distance. I had luxury of not having to carry my luggage. I don't know what alternatives exist for transporting baggage - but it is the 6km in Argentina that is most important.
4. Not sure of normal times for the ferry across Lago Despierto, but in our case the ferry left at 5:30pm. That gave us just enough time to bicycle to El Chalten by dark.
5. I remember getting money in El Chalten and Google Maps shows a bank. However, following was my more general experience with money in several months in Argentina:
a. The currency is the peso.
b. There is a limit of how much one can withdraw at once from an ATM, Last year the limit was 2000 pesos, but over the past year, value of the peso has fallen 50% against the USD, so not sure if the limit changed. In addition, pretty much every ATM also charged a 100 peso service fee - so it is costing 5% to get money from ATMs.
c. The ATMs occasionally seem to run out of money. As a foreigner, you can't tell if the reason you get an error is because your card doesn't work, or there is no money.
So it also wouldn't surprise me if you find some accounts where someone came to El Chalten and even with an ATM, wasn't able to withdraw money. I ended up carrying a bit more in Argentina just in case I came across ATMs that didn't have money.
El Chalten itself matches my description of a place that is touristy (i.e. shops that advertise to do laundry by the kilo) and in those sorts of places especially, one can get by with credit cards for larger purchases and I believe the grocery store (with some risk a card doesn't get accepted, so bring different types).
Hopefully that is helpful and I would also suggest visiting the Facebook group since it will have more recent travelers.
I bicycled the Carratera Austral in 2017. However, it was with an organized group who handled most of the logistics so I didn't have to pay as much attention.
However a few thoughts on the questions you asked:
1. I don't know all the places with ATMs. I got both money from an ATM in Coyhaique and food from market there. At minimum I would count on Puerto Montt and Coyhaique. Other places are all a bit smaller but some might have ATMs as well.
2. We took the boat from Villa O'Higgins. Our baggage trucks backtracked to cross the border further north. The sequence of ferrys is very much an experience I wouldn't miss. I believe there was a (new) ferry from Puerto Yungay to Puerto Natales if everything went bad - but you would also miss a big piece. In our case, there ferry was on time, though I've also read journal accounts of people who waited a few days.
3. The Candelario Mancilla Border is interesting. It is ~21km from the dock to the actual Argentina/Chile border. This route is mostly an unimproved road that can be bicycled. After that on the Argentinian side it is 6km of single-track trail. Some bicycled it, but they were much bicyclists than me - and I mostly walked my bike and carried it some of the distance. I had luxury of not having to carry my luggage. I don't know what alternatives exist for transporting baggage - but it is the 6km in Argentina that is most important.
4. Not sure of normal times for the ferry across Lago Despierto, but in our case the ferry left at 5:30pm. That gave us just enough time to bicycle to El Chalten by dark.
5. I remember getting money in El Chalten and Google Maps shows a bank. However, following was my more general experience with money in several months in Argentina:
a. The currency is the peso.
b. There is a limit of how much one can withdraw at once from an ATM, Last year the limit was 2000 pesos, but over the past year, value of the peso has fallen 50% against the USD, so not sure if the limit changed. In addition, pretty much every ATM also charged a 100 peso service fee - so it is costing 5% to get money from ATMs.
c. The ATMs occasionally seem to run out of money. As a foreigner, you can't tell if the reason you get an error is because your card doesn't work, or there is no money.
So it also wouldn't surprise me if you find some accounts where someone came to El Chalten and even with an ATM, wasn't able to withdraw money. I ended up carrying a bit more in Argentina just in case I came across ATMs that didn't have money.
El Chalten itself matches my description of a place that is touristy (i.e. shops that advertise to do laundry by the kilo) and in those sorts of places especially, one can get by with credit cards for larger purchases and I believe the grocery store (with some risk a card doesn't get accepted, so bring different types).
Hopefully that is helpful and I would also suggest visiting the Facebook group since it will have more recent travelers.
11-13-18, 08:27 PM
#3
Senior Member
guten tag,
and if you read english reasonably well, I suggest going over to the website, Crazy guy on a bike, where you will find trip journals of recent Chile Argentina trips and probably get an idea of details from these folks also (although as Mev says, a Facebook group will probably have very recent stuff in it)
alles gute and may all your preparations go well.
and if you read english reasonably well, I suggest going over to the website, Crazy guy on a bike, where you will find trip journals of recent Chile Argentina trips and probably get an idea of details from these folks also (although as Mev says, a Facebook group will probably have very recent stuff in it)
alles gute and may all your preparations go well.
