August 17th, 2016

For better or worse, I generally have an aversion to tourist attractions. Perhaps the fact that they are usually set up to facilitate easy access takes something away from the experience. I find that things are always more satisfying when you have to work for them and endure a little bit of discomfort. Maybe it’s because of the overpriced westernized food and crappy plastic souvenirs that will just end up in a dump somewhere on another side of the planet. Or, perhaps it’s the company, which is a bit too familiar. At the end of the day, all of these things run contrary to the reasons I went traveling in the first place; to push myself outside my comfort zone, experience new and different things, and meet new and different people.

The Perito Moreno Glacier is definitely a tourist attraction. There are beautifully constructed board walks offering a multitude of levels and angles from which to view the glacier, as well as a beautiful restaurant and gift shop with floor to ceiling windows. You can even order a Scotch on ice from the glacier. Never the less, it is a spectacular natural wonder of incomprehensbile volumes of ice stretching kilometers back from sheer blue walls dropping into Lago Argentino. It was the biggest sheet of ice I had laid eyes on since trekking in Wrangell – St Elias National Park two continents away and over a year earlier in Alaska. Nearing the end of my journey I could honestly say that I had pushed outside my comfort zone, experienced new and different things, and met new and different people. All of this had left me more than a little weery, and really, looking out over the glacier from a board walk suited me just fine.

T