Bariloche.

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17.III.
FINALLY managed to get out of BA after mr bank stuff arrived on the 16th. Was a bit of a shame to leave on St Patrick´s day which apparently is massive in BA, but I had just watched England get humped ny Wales in the Nations and I was in no mood to celebrate. However, the Steve Walsh Appreciation XV fabtasy rugby team finshed in second place, so every cloud............Caught a bus at 1900 to Bariloche. It was a nineteen hour journey but it flew by. Was in ´Cama´class and I got treated like a king! Was just settling down to sleep when the ´Roger the bus boy´ leant over my shoulder and quietly inquired "Would you like any champagne Sir? Or maybe a whisky on the rocks?". It was like flying first class!
Checked into La Bolsa on the morning of the 18th with a girl who was on the bus with me. Glad I took her advice because it was a seriously nice hostel. Its all very Swiss in Bariloche-log cabins, hot chocolates and dodgy jumpers. Bummed around for the first day- the highlight of the day was watching Laura find a used plaster in her salad. Nice.

19.III.
Wanted to hire a bike but, as is my want, I managed to turn up at 1310 when, ouside of Beunos Aires, everything shuts down for siesta at 1300. Classic Will behaviour! So walked a few km´s down the road and took the Teleferico up a mountain and spent a while exploring some of the tracks that are used for Nordic skiing in the winter. Walked back to Bariloche- absolute mission.

20.III.
Actually managed to hire a bike and went off to cycle the Cirquito Chico at the end of Lago Nahuel Huapi. It was about 20km´s to the end of the lake and it turns out the Cirquito is not so ´Chico´after all! 50 km´s- pretty tiring, and managed to convince myself I was in need of a Dulce de Leche fest when I arrived at Colonia Swiss at the end of the ride. Colonia Swiss is a very wierd place- I´m sure it looks totally in keeping when it is snowing, but when it isn´t it is just a strange little group of log cabins that look like they´ve been plonked at the end of a dirt track in the middle of nowhere!

21.III.
Up at 0730 to catch bus to Pampa Linda to do a two day hike. Started walking at about 1115 with a guy called Florian that I met. We went our separate ways though as I wanted to go and see a waterfall at the bottom of one of the glaciers. Pretty spectaular. However, the real views were to be had when I got above the tree line and could see the surrounding valleys and mountains. Absolutely stunning scenery. the refugio I stayed at (Otto Meiling) was even more amazing- perched on a rock in between two glaciers. I took loads of photos but, corny as it sounds, I really dont think they will do it justice. There were quite a few people staying up there (including the army, training for a year-long deployment to Antarctica next year. Note: Squaddies are the same anywhere you go! They do a full day´s training, then decide to run up and down the mountain for a ´laugh´). Met a nice Dutch couple who gave me some good ideas for trekking further south in Patagonia and also persuded me to just pay for dinner instead of cookng the food I had brought up the mountain with me. The people at the refugio cooked up a nice goulash- they have a pretty chilled out life really, just working out of this little building in the mountains. Cooking and cleaning etc in the morning and evening, but otherwise just sitting around in the sun chilling out! Also watched acouple of the guides hike up and ski down the glacier a couple of times-nutters. One of them jumped a crevass. As you do. I´m not sure they´re that in to health and safety in S.America.
I walked up to the top of the glacier (almost) in the morning with a few other people. Was amazing- we walked pretty much up to the border with Chile and could see for miles and miles in all directions. I reached the bottom of the mountain at about 1700. The journey back in the bus was a bit eventful as a bridge had collaped and we had to get ferried accross a river in a boat. Felt like such a tourist taking photos of the bridge! Again, I woud love to add a few photos but I have still not worked out how to! Went to a cool local music bar in the evening. You could have anything you liked as long as it was beer and you didn´t mind sitting ina cloud of smoke so dense you could hardly see the musicians.

23.III.
Did absolutely nada all day- pretended to learn some Spanish for a while but just ended up playing ping pong and chatting to people all day! In the evening, everyone chipped in and we barbequed a goat! Quite a sight. I persuaded a german guy I met called Heike to help me with the infamous chilli bean salad. He didn´t seem convinced and went out for dinner instead! The BBQ was wicked.

24.III.
Up at 0800 to hike up to a local mountain called Fray with Heike. The walk started at the bottom of Cerro Catederal- a place I will hopefully seeing a bit more of if I come back in July to do some snowboarding. Was a reasonably tough hike- unfortuntely Heike´s sense of orientation seems to be as bad as mine and we didn´t manage to find the rufugio at the top (which is supposed to be very easy by the way!) It wasn´t a problem though as we conquered some different peaks and saw some amazing vistas. Had a particularly good lunch-sitting on top of a rock tower eating a chorizo and avocado sandwhich- nnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. got lost on the way down and got to the bottom at about 1900 where a really nice old man gave us a lift back to Bariloche.

25.III.
Got a bus at 0900 to Puerto Montt in Chile at 0900. Heike said he was taking this four day ferry journey down the coast of Chile to southern Patagonia on the 26th and it sounded pretty cool (and pretty cheap too at only 300 pesos. Which later turned out to be 300 US dollars. Not so cheap, but I am sure it will be worth it). Heike is, (obviously) German but he has learnt some pretty good Spanish after two months in BA and he pretty much refuses to speak English, although he can. This has been very good for my Spanish- practicing the whole time. So am now in Peurto Montt in Chile- quite a funny little town but it has its own unique kind of charm, and the people have been very friendly so far. The ferry journey should be cool-especially when it goes accross the Gulf de Pana (?) where the waves can reach fifteen metres apparently.
Next stop Puerto Natales in four days time....

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