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Published: September 13th 2009
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Well, I know it took me a long time again to write this blog-entry and I'm already almost half a year behind, but ... there are just too many better things to do, than sit in an Internet-cafe and write blog-entries ... and as I didn't get complaints, I don't feel too motivated, to change this :-)
So I continued my journey on Wednesday the 25th of March in the morning and crossed from Chile to Argentina again. In the bus we got coffee in glass-cups, that was some kind of strange :-) Villa la Angostura is nice, but very touristic, so I decided to "just" have a look at it and continue the same day to San Martin de Los Andes. We arrived at an time, where the most restaurants already closed for Siesta, so I just bought something from the supermarket. I was already like an hour there, when I luckily realized, that there is a difference of one hour in the time of Chile and Argentina (Argentina is one hour ahead) and I really just managed it to get in time to the bus-terminal, to catch the bus to San Martin.
The bus took the old
road of the seven lakes which is really very nice. But somehow it was so much highly praised in my travel-guide, that I was a little bit "disappointed" when I finally saw it (I expected more). Nevertheless it was a very nice, scenic and dusty bus-ride to San Martin. San Martin itself is also very touristic, but has a nice charm of a small village, with lots of wooden-buildings. Somehow even a little bit, like a village in the Alps :-) I found a nice hostel and didn't much more than eat something this day.
The next day I explored the village and even found a shop, that was called "Austria"! And yes of course, it sold winter-sport-articles :-) I went to an lookout, where you have a nice view over the village and the valley. It was really nice, although the way wasn't really signed and therefore a little bit hard to find.
In the afternoon I took the bus to Junin de los Andes. There I went to an Hostel and informed myself about hiking in the nearby park Lanin (with the Vulcan of the same name). Sadly it seems as if my travel-guide is wrong
and there are hardly no trekking-tours for just one day! I decided to try it anyway the next day and take the public bus in the morning to the park. I'll see, what I can do there. The tourist-info wasn't really helpful, so I hope that the administration in the park will be able to give me better information. So I went to a kind of "Calvary", where local artists have made sculptures that mix the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and the local history of the Mapuche. That was really interesting and impressing. When I finally got out of this "park", I realized, that I had entered it somewhere "from the side" and that it officially already was closed ... so I had to climb over the fence there :-)
On Friday the 27th I took the bus to the park in the morning and did get to know some very nice people from France and Argentina. So the journey on the bus was very nice and time went by very fast, while we where chatting. At the Administration (I had to walk back to there, because I missed the correct "bus-stop", asked the driver and he
stopped at the way and told me to go back :-) of the park they could explain me a day-trip to the base of the volcano - that's exactly what I wanted! :-) They said I will have to be fast to catch the bus back, but I think I can manage this ;-) On the way I met a couple from Argentina, that was on his honeymoon and as we had the same way, we walked together and it was really nice chatting with them. The track itself was very nice with beautiful landscape, although for the last half an hour very exhausting. But we managed to see the Vulcan and also to get back in time to catch the bus to Junin. When I arrived there, a storm was beginning and they told me that I have to leave the Internet-cafe I was visiting, because they will turn off the electricity as a kind of security, because there are many trees in Junin and they regularly fall within this strong storms and damage the electricity-masts. I just had left the cafe, as they really turned it off and I had to walk back in the absolutely dark in
the middle of the storm, where I hardly could see my next step and already parts of trees where lying on the streets! It was some kind of frightening, but I managed to get to my accommodation safely. Just to realize, that I sweated a lot this day, but now can't take a shower (without electricity)! Damn! Luckily after an hour the storm began to be milder and they turned on the electricity again, so I could get my shower and go to bed, because tomorrow the bus to Chile (Pucon) will leave at 6:40 and that's really early ... But this story will be told in another blog-entry :-)
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Ricardo Cano
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San Martín de los Andes
A very good place for stay. So , I can see you are having a very good time with unspected situations.- I hope you enjoy all the trip Martin.- I hope see you again, Rick