I left Puerto Natales this morning at 7:30 for the roughly 5.5 hour bus ride to El Calafate, Argentina.  The ride was very scenic with open grassland.  At one point, I could even see the Torres del Paine in the distance, where I had spent 6 days and 5 nights having my soul blown away by the natural beauty that the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine had to offer.  (I’ll post an article on that soon enough.)
My first impression of Argentina is that I’m starting all over again with learning a new country.  For starters, the money is different.  While considering options to go visit the Perrito Moreno Glacier, I kept calculating Argentinian pesos into U.S. dollars.  Also, since I don’t have a guidebook to Argentina, I’m slowly discovering what the Argentinian Patagonia has to offer through research on the internet- Wikitravel seems to do the trick.
My second impression of Argentina is that I really love starting anew!  There’s so much to learn just from being in a new town or in a new country.  Impressions form instantaneously.  El Calafate in the low season is still expensive explained by the laws of supply and demand.  Based on the cost of my accommodations and food, Argentina seems to be slightly cheaper than Chile.
I’ve been traveling with two French couples and an Australian guy, David, all of whom were on the same bus to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chile.  They’re a great group and I’ve taken it upon myself to learn some French while I’m with the French.  I spent my entire time in the park with David since we were hiking on the same itinerary provided to him by the Erratic Rock hostel in Puerto Natales.  David’s really down-to-earth and as adventurous as I am.  It was great to have him around to share what an amazing experience Torres del Paine was.
I’m still trying to mentally and spiritually process my experience in Torres del Paine.  At some point soon, I’ll post the blog report about it.  Stay tuned.

View Puerto Natales, Chile to El Calafate, Argentina in a larger map