We are here

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Well we are now in Bar. When we arrived the stewardess said that is was going to be very cold. However, it turned out that she was wrong. It was in fact about 60F. It was a little over cast but Bar. seems to be a very beautiful place regardless of the weather. Ok we have experienced some pouring rain and that is not so nice however, made for an interesting adventure. (More on that later.) We got a cab into town and the place looks a lot like Bend, Oregon from solely the natural environment. But in the actual town part it actually more like Banff, Canada. I booked us into a hostel there that was highly recommended by a person I was taking classes with. We had to meet up with the ride up to the hostel at 2:00 we arrived on time, and actually there was time to get food because we needed to cook up there. I was really looking forward to cooking because I have been mostly eating others peoples cooking for some time and really wanted to have my own food. So we walked through town which is very pretty place sort of like a Swiss village. I would say that this place with respect to what I have seen of Argentina is where the people with money are.

When we went through the town to buy food there seems to be no shortage of chocolate shops. One was bigger than the supermarket. The smells coming out the places are amazing. During our first trip into town we did not buy any, but other trips into town we did buy them and have found ourselves some what addicted to them ever since. We hooked up with our ride, and went up the mountain. The hostel is amazingly it has a view to die for of the mountains and lakes. The lake goes on endlessly and so do the mountains. Given the price it cannot be beat. It is a whole $7.00 per night but if you miss the ride up the hill, you have to hike a hellish path up to the hostel from almost anywhere. We hiked most of the time. Once in the dark which made for it own adventure. Spooky and every dog wonders about you. Thank god for the full moom.

Ok back to day one, Since there was still some day light we decided to hike to the top of the Teleferio line. There are several gondolas that run up the various mountains here. The path was incredibly steep there were not switchbacks it was quite a hike up. When we arrived to the top there were other trails to take but we opted not the take them knowing that it was a given going down be would a slide on your ass sort of thing. (Which it was the case.) We got down then made dinner and socialized with the other people at the hostel. It was a late evening but was interesting.

The following day we got up and Sharon wanted to do a real hike. For me personally, I was thinking that the hike yesterday was a real hike, but I guess not. We tried to organize a trip to the glacier but it seems that the planning was a little off and we were going to try to stay the night there, but things were just not working out. So instead we were trying to get the bus out to this ski area the cathedral mountain. We waited and waited only to take the bus into town to see the bus that we were waiting for finally arrive in the other direction. We hoping there were other bus lines that would go to this place but that was not in the cards. So I ended up making arrangements at around 1:00 ish to get a cab which turned out to be what we should have done in the first place. It cost all of seven dollars and I made arrangements for him to meet us in the same at same place at 6.

For me the hike up the mountain was difficult there was suppose to be a trail but they were actually ski trails. Somehow they are easier to envision going down instead of up. There were points where the trail was lost and we had to go through the brush. Sharon was wearing some pants that really seemed to attract there burrs which stuck into you and hurt. After about three and half hours we reached the top. Or at least a location where you could see a view of the glacier mountain in the distance it was mostly clouded over. But there were the tips of the mountains were peeking through the clouds. In some ways made me feel fine about not going there because it most likely meant the weather was bad there. We hiked back down the mountain and Sharon was a bit a head of me. By about twenty minutes I was feeling some pain in my knees and hips. The only way to get down the mountain quickly was in fact straight it was hell on my knees. We however arrived at the same time the cab driver arrived. So we rode back into town Then took bus back into the out to the trail that you need to climb to get to the hostel. We have done this trail before and it was sort of hellish trail where the most direct route is straight up the mountain. We did it in the dark and I found that it was easier to do with no light because the moon was full. When we arrived at 10:00 people were a bit concerned that we had not arrived or called. Opps! I was all hiked out and we eat doctored up leftovers and shared it with two other new arrivals who did not feel like cooking.

It was another late evening again and the day was sort of a down day. We headed off have laundry done in the morning and then arranged for a mountain bike ride around one of the lakes. I was hoping that it would be sort of flat because I was feeling the pain of the hikes two days before. It was not. It was about 26kms of hills. Sharon again was miles ahead of me. And there were times where I was feeling that I was making more progress getting up the hills walking the bike which actually was true. Sadly. WEll I will continue the story later I am alittle behind in my writting I have been doing too much traveling and Having fun. So I will continue this tomorrow Need to eat and catch a night bus back to Caordoba. Much more to write. Rebecca

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