The Snowy Mountains

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Next up was a stop in the beautiful ski town of Bariloche in northern Patagonia. Surrounded by lakes it has draw-dropping scenery with a view from the top of the piste that leaves you lost for words... in short, heaven.

We stayed in a fabulous hostel, 41 Below. Kiwi owned but run by a Belgian couple, we met the best bunch of people we could hope to spend 3 weeks of our life with. Israelis, Italians, English, US, South African, Argentinian, Kiwis - all ready for absolute hedonistic fun. Snowboarding by day, eating fabulous food and drinking all night - what more could you ask for?!

Having some trouble trying to put so much fun into words so I´m just going to borrow an exerpt from a lovely South African girl that was part of our fabulous group of new friends that put it so very eloquently it moved us both to tears. Hopefully the photos will tell the rest of the story.

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Bariloche. Can't find the words to describe it. Words are not enough. Just go! It's perfect. Heaven. Happiness. Beautiful. Decadent. Delicious. Snow. Chocolate. Wine. Fun. Yum. Energy.

- Trying to snowboard ... trying being the operative word. Not a snowboarder yet but determined to be one before I die.
- Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate ... any girls dream.
- 41 Below ... THE hostel.
- The gang... it wouldn't have been the same without you.
- The dancing game ... still can't believe I got beaten by a boy and not only once.
- The hostel song ... 10,9,8 and i'm breaking away, i'm all dressed up and ready to play, 7,6,5,4 and i'm all over you, 3,2,1 we're having fun!!!
- The drinking game. The main aim of the game is to drink! What else can you do if you have a litre of beer taped to your one hand and a bottle of wine to the other. And the winner of breakfast in bed was ... me of course.
- Staek sandwiches ... ask Kurt from Orange it is the best take-away in the whole, wide word.
- The Argentian card game Truco ... I never won. Must have been my partners :-)
- Bowling, movies, dinner, wine, dancing, fun, more drinking games

Not enough said ... but there's no more to say. The memory of Bariloche will be with me always.
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Photos

The Lake
The view across the Lake in Bariloche town.

Buena Vista
We gals at the top.

The Man Hernan
The evening staff at the hostel, also #2 on the dancing game ladder.

The Dancing Game
$10 from a discount store - this thing was worth it´s weight in gold for entertainment value.

Chatchooka
Yummy Israeli dinner cooked by Liad (front left), Yoni (next to Liad) and Guy (back right). Yum!

The Boys at the Summit
Fabulous view from this off piste run.

The Drinking Game
A few slight hiccups with the concept, nothing Mariska (pictured) couldn´t overcome. She won the game hands down... Then went straight to bed.

The Drinking Game
Hmm, let´s see what happens if we tape a bottle of wine and bottle of beer to each hand... Answer, chaos.

Johnny the Italian
Johnny liked to spend his lunchbreak entertaining the rest of the cafe with his dancing, very amusing.

Super Cama
The long distance buses in Argentina are super comfortable, fully reclining seats and champagne dinners are included.