You should plan a bit ahead of your trip to San Pedro de Atacama. It's not easy to leave. One company leave for Calama (against the Chilean coast) daily. But two other companies serve Argentina the same days only three days a week. And the buses tend to be full booked. So if you arrive on Monday maybe you have to stay until Friday or Sunday. Everything are costly in San Pedro. Drinks and snacks, sigarettes, etc are somethimes three times the normal price in Chile. Para habitaciones y comidas you can add some 30-50% (most rooms are really small) compared [View Full Entry]

---

---

Adios General !! Adios Carnaval !! Pos los calles de Santiago veo u! Y!! YA!! CAYO!! Y!! YA!! CAYO!! <<En un largo tour por Pudahuel y la Bandera!>> <<La Legua!>> Sitting singing songs from that Pinochet period starting in 1973 I just forgot the time. Drinking vino blanco and singing songs, I was quite occupied New Years Eve. On the bus to Valparaiso I met a bloke from Santiago. He took me up to Paseo Yugoslavo in Valpo which is one of the better wievpoints for fireworks in town. At about 8 o'clock we met his friends. After having internetted for [View Full Entry]

---

---

On the chilean border there was a lot of paperwork. After filling out two forms, one in 4 copies, I had to queue up and deliver one of the 4 copies together with the passport. They registered the form on the computer and I got the embarked stamp from Argentina. They were not interested in the form I filled out on the border when I came into Argentina. On the Chilean side there was another queue. They checked the other three copies against my passport again and registered the form on a computer. It would have been a dream being a [View Full Entry]

---

---

When a south american official say no he means no. You can argue and argue, he will end up by saying no. The argentinian bureaucracy and the system is also totally different from ours. When I was at the Correo in San Martin on the 22nd. of December to send a parcel home, the official first said he got no boxes left (you have to use a box bought from the post office). I needed size no 3, he got only box no 2, which was too small, he said. Then I said I could use no 2 to get rid [View Full Entry]

---

---

I woke up by somebody swearing besides me. It was Pablo, he did not find his mountain sunglasses. You need sunglasses now ? I said. The time was about 02:00, and I had slept about two hours. It was dark inside as well as outside the refugio. And cold. I think there had never been light or heating in that mountain refugio. There has been a change in weather, Mario said. No wind outside, I make the breakfast now, he said. Hearing that, there was no reason for being in the sleeping bags anymore. We were restless and did a last [View Full Entry]

---

---

Since the late summer I have been training for El Vulcan Lanin. Sitting in a rowing machine and training in a studio 4 times a week with a personal trainier. 5 weeks of hiking and climbing in Patagonia. Is my fitness well enough? I really had to try it .... I have been thinking of this event for 4 months now.... I came to San Martin de Los Andes on the 19th of December, 7 days ahead of plan. There could be some waiting because of bad weather or waiting for mountain guides. There are three different weather forecasts in Argentina. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Now I have done my first 4 hours by autobus. I did say goodbye to Ana and the family in the morning. I felt they spoke more clearly and slowly this morning. Maybe they had got my feedback from my teacher already, I dont know. Or maybe I had a good day. I understood everything yhey said. They would have been a wonderful family if they spoke a bit more proper spanish. But they have been thrustful, caring and nice to me. At the bus station I found that 4 companies were driving the route Bariloche - San Martin de los [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yes, I really call it touring the mountains .... Two nights and three days. Some of the pictures from this trip really are postcards! I can assure you I have had trouble to select pictures for this chapter! I left home very early and enjoyed my breakfast on the bus. Tomatoes, crackers, two sousages and some juice. I only bring a 750 cl bottle of water when I know Im able to find water along the track. After leaving the bus the track started climbing immediately. But from 800 metres you can walk for a long time before the forest disappears [View Full Entry]

---

---

Selvom jeg hater det, pleier jeg å få 5 toaster til frokost, samt nytraktet svart kaffe. Jeg har hatet toast helt siden jeg arbeidet i Bristol i England på AIESEC-opphold i 1981. Etter frokost går jeg de 30 minuttene til Laura´s hus. Laura er profesjonell språklærer i skolen her, og dessuten vet hun mye om argentinsk historie og politikk. Hun vet i det hele tatt mye om mange ting. Dersom Laura ikke hadde vært her, hadde jeg vel allerede reist videre. Vi arbeider med spansk grammatikk fra 09:00 til 12:00. De som kjenner litt til spansk grammatikk vet at dette kan [View Full Entry]

---

---

Bariloche ligger i The Lakes District av Patagonia som betyr at omgivelsene består av regnskog med stor variasjon i plante- og dyreliv. Gjennomsnittlig ligger landskapet på 800 meter, mens en gjennomsnittlig fjelltopp ligger på fra 1700 til 2100 meter. Hikingen foregår altså hovedsaklig mellom disse høydene. Landskapet gir god trening, for det er bratte stigninger som kan være utfordrende. Du må ofte bruke armene riktig når du klatrer. De store innsjøene dannet av smeltet brevann, vulkanske platåer, kalde og friske elver og stryk, samt fjellpasseringer gjør dette området meget vakker [View Full Entry]

---

---