Border crossings can be confusing at the best of times. Language barriers, different customs, paperwork, they don’t tend to be simple. But crossing from El Chalten in Argentina to Villa O’Higgins in Chile was definitely one of the more interesting experiences I have had. Two days of hiking, an unreliable boat across a lake, with incredibly peaceful scenery every step of the way. Whilst planning our next move from El Chalten, the lack of online resources for this border crossing proved a challenge. Thankfully the English rock music loving Argentinian man working in our hostel was on hand to let us know how it was done.
After spending a week in El Chalten, one of the most beautiful mountain towns I have been lucky enough to visit, we were planning to go further north to Bariloche. Our wallets didn’t agree. At the time the Argentinian Pesos was experiencing huge inflation so a one-way 24-hour bus to Bariloche cost around £200. We were left with 2 options: try to hitchhike 600 miles to Bariloche along ‘Ruta 40’ or cross back over into Chile and hitchhike the Carretera Austral, a 1,240km road stretching from Villa O’Higgins to Puerto Montt known for its hugely diverse landscapes: glaciers, rainforests, marble caves, it is all beautiful. Considering the prices at the time, we figured a few weeks on the Chilean side of Patagonia was the more reasonable choice.
Instructions at a Glance
How to get from El Chalten in Argentina to Villa O’Higgins in Chile:
- Bus from El Chalten to Lago del Desierto (1.5 hours)
- Hike 12km along the east side (or get a boat) from the south to the north-end of the lake, where the Argentinian border patrol is located
- Hike 22km from the Argentinian border patrol to Candelario Mancilla, located by Lago O’Higgins.
- Boat from Candelario Mancilla to Villa O’Higgins over Lago O’Higgins
The In Depth Instructions (and our Experience)
The day of leaving El Chalten arrived. We were picked up at our hostel by a minibus for a 90 minute drive to Lago del Desierto. 37km north along a dirt road, Lago del Desierto (Desert Lake) is a beautiful body of water surrounded by waterfalls, glaciers and mountains. Even if you aren’t crossing the border to Chile, I would still highly recommend taking a trip here. El Chalten is amazing but some areas can be fairly crowded. Lago del Desierto is more peaceful, a great way to spend the day if you want to get away from the crowds.
Upon arrival we grabbed a drink and a small snack from a food truck and prepared ourselves for the following two days of hiking. Over the previous few weeks we had been trekking almost every day, however this time was different. We had 65 litre bags on our back and smaller 20 litre bags on our front. A four month South America trip across different climates and ecosystems called for more luggage than we could fit in one bag. I also didn’t fancy rotating two T-Shirts and pairs of shorts for 4 months.
*There is an option to get a boat across the lake, but that costs $40,000 Argentine Pesos and what’s the fun in that.
The start of the hike crosses over the Rio Cañadon de los Toros via a suspension bridge. From this point it was 12km of rolling hills with at least 20kg of bags. It wasn’t really the weight that was the problem, more the feeling of constriction from having a bag on the front and back. It’s not too bad walking through a city when you’re backpacking, but navigating around a lake with a few river crossings was definitely a challenge at points.
To help navigate the length of the lake, the occasional rock is painted yellow to let you know you’re going the right way. It is generally fairly obvious where to go, but keep an eye out just to be safe so you don’t wander off into the wilderness. In some sections, you will go a while without the guiding rocks, so it’s best to have the GPX file downloaded just in case.
Around 4-5km in, you can walk through a wooded area to your left onto a beach looking over the lake. To the south, Cerro Fitz Roy, looking just as dramatic as when we stood looking up at it from Laguna de los Tres. This time we were much further away, and without people from the US speaking at a ridiculous volume about their sex life sitting 2-metres apart. This became a common theme over the next 24 hours (the Fitz Roy view, not the sex life talk), gradually seeing it getting smaller behind us. We ate lunch at the beach, taking in the amazing views and the relief of eating a sandwich rather than feeling like one ourselves between the bags.
The hike came with one other problem too. Horseflies. So many bloody horseflies. We’d seen a few here and there in Torres del Paine and El Chalten, one of them really liked my blue hiking shirt (turns out they like bright colours), but this place was different. They were everywhere, and they bite. They don’t seem to leave any damage but it feels like getting pricked by a pin every time they decide to sink their teeth into you. From experience with horseflies in the UK, if each of the bites in Patagonia had the same effect I would have been walking around looking like the Michelin Man. I’m glad that wasn’t the case.
After 4-5 hours and 12km of getting annoyed at flies and heavy bags whilst trying to keep a positive mental attitude, which isn’t too challenging in that scenery, we eventually made it to the northern tip of the lake. Here, we arrived at tonight’s campsite, the Argentinian border. This was definitely the most scenic border patrol location I have ever seen. Directly straight down the lake, the Fitz Roy towered over the surrounding landscape. Again, looking smaller than when we’d enjoyed the views at our lunch stop. We had a swim in the lake, made some pasta on our stove on the beach, got attacked by horseflies, and watched the sunset before heading off to the tent to get some recovery before hiking almost twice the distance the following day.
I set the alarm to wake up for sunrise, around 5:30am. Some baby geese were walking along the beach past the tent as I poked my head out of the door. I enjoyed this for a minute before falling back to sleep for another hour or so.
We woke up properly at around 7am, packed down the tent, made some oats and a coffee, then went to stamp ourselves out of Argentina. This was a very quick process, we were in and out within a few minutes.
Today involved a 22km hike to Candelario Mancialla, where we would then get the next available boat to Villa O’Higgins. A few river crossings, balancing along branches to reach the other side, and a lot of boring gravel roads. The first 5-6km is through woodland, then you will come across the physical Chile-Argentina border which was fun to see. We stopped here for a few minutes, happy to be back in Chile, then continued the slog. It wasn’t a particularly exciting hike, there were a couple of spots where you can look back and spot the Fitz Roy disappearing in the distance, but the novelty of that was slowly starting to wear off too. We did stop and enjoy our lunch looking back at it, knowing it was the last place we’d be able to see it.
After a fairly forgetful few hours we made it to the Chilean border patrol building. We were grateful to get inside and drink some cold water as it was a hot day, especially with all of our baggage. This stop ended up taking longer than we’d expected, given how quickly we were in and out on the Argentina side. They needed clearance from INTERPOL that we weren’t criminals, and said it could take up to a few hours. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad, and we were sorted within an hour. It had been quite a welcome break really.
At this point the scenery had improved again, with views of the mountains surrounding Lago O’Higgins/San Martin (Chile and Argentina have different names for this lake). It looked how I imagine the Fjords in Norway to look. They are only a couple of hours by plane from where I live, so it wouldn’t take long to prove/disprove my theory.
We followed the road down into Candelario Mancilla. I’d seen on the map that it was a small village. We arrived, and I think calling it a small village would be very generous. There must be two or three houses, a small boat port and a campsite. We made our way to the campsite to set our base until the next boat out of this peaceful, picturesque place. We were hoping it wouldn’t be too long as we didn’t have a huge amount of food supply left.
Now then… the boat. Supposedly there are only 2 people who operate boats between Villa O’Higgins and Candelario Mancilla. As of December 2024, they are run by:
- Alfonso: +56 9 6621 5046
- Cabañas y navegación Las Ruedas: +56 9 6627 8836
Each of these cost $60.000 CLP per person, although with Cabañas y navegación Las Ruedas, you can pay $55.000 CLP if you pay online through wisepay. (As of December 2024).
These boats are also very weather dependent. The wind in Patagonia can be extreme, so crossing an exposed lake in those conditions doesn’t sound so safe. After messaging both contacts, we had arranged to get the boat the following day depending on weather. This was a relief as we had heard of people being stuck here for up to a week as the boats couldn’t run. There’s worse places to be stuck though.
At the campsite it was just me, my girlfriend and an Italian man named Allesandro who was bike-packing the Carretera Austral, as many people do. We planned to hitchhike our way up instead, which took significantly less leg power. We drank coffee and got to know Allesandro, discussing his fascination with the first two men who come to mind when you think of Manchester: Noel and Liam Gallagher, who we still occasionally message each other about now.
The next day came, and the weather was perfect for the boat crossing. The agreed time was 4pm, so we arrived 20 minutes early, giving us time to sort our luggage and anything else that needed doing beforehand. The boat was there, but the drivers weren’t. As well as us three from the campsite, a couple more cyclists and hikers had arrived in time for the crossing. We sat there for a while twiddling our thumbs. About an hour later, two young guys slowly made their way down to the port, in no rush whatsoever as if they were perfectly on time without any mention of the fact they were late. It felt like being back in the UK using the trains again. It wasn’t a problem though, the lake was a perfect light blue colour, and the surrounding mountains set a beautiful backdrop to sit and watch the world go by.
The lake did end up being quite choppy, and it wasn’t a particularly pleasant boat ride. It felt at times as though the seat and roof above me were playing tennis and I was the ball. An hour after leaving, we made it to the port in Villa O’Higgins, feeling slightly seasick and with a couple of bumps on top of my head. From here we took a short bus ride to the village we would be staying for the night before starting our hitchhiking adventure the following day.
A small village that almost feels like the end of the world, Villa O’Higgins is home to around 600 people. There are a few mini markets, with very unappealing looking vegetables. It is located 571km from Coyhaique, the nearest city, so if they rely on deliveries from here you can imagine why the veg wasn’t in the best condition. We had a beer and some pasta with Allesandro to celebrate making it, enjoyed a night in a proper, then woke up early to try and navigate our way out of the southern tip of the Carretera Austral.
Overall, this experience was amazing (minus the insane amounts of horseflies). It was challenging at times, especially with all of the baggage, so if you are on a multi month backpacking trip with a couple of bags, be prepared. When it starts to get tough, have a look around you at the mountains, glaciers and waterfalls. This always helps. Also, it is 100% worth the effort to experience the diversity and
