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Published: April 4th 2006
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Day 13
After our last night in El Calafate we wake up at a reasonable hour to prepare for the next leg of the trip - hitchiking to Bariloche. After deciding not to go to the next town North (El Chalten), we make a slapdash sign saying ´NORTH´ in black felt tip and hit the road. It becomes a bit of a joke with everyone at the hostel due to messy writing and the piece of card which was falling apart... We leave full of naive confidence...
Our first problem is trying to find the right location to stand with our sign. We move around several times, picking up advice from passers. Eventually we return to our original location on the side of a road leading out (we think) north of the town. Many drivers acknowledge us as they drive past, with various hand signals presumably meaning "I´m heading south", "My car is full, sorry" and "I´m not leaving town". Some signals may have meant much worse but we were trying to be optimistic.
After five hours we are considering plan B which was taking the 36 hour bus journey. But just as we are about to give
How to ruin a good photo...
In one simple hand gesture... up (I think Matt´s exact words were "let´s give it ten seconds"), a guy stops and beckons us over to his van. Result!
We run over a chuck our bags in the back where his dog Tina is sitting. We ask him where he is heading "Rio Gallegos" he replies. Our excitement at merely being picked up completely overshadows the fact that this isn´t exactly where we want to go. We head off out of town, Matt getting stuck into Spanish conversation and me admiring the views. When the initial excitement wears off, I turn to Matt and we agree that we are infact heading in the exact opposite direction to where we needed to go. The guy obviously hadn´t read our sign and was just chuffed to have some company on his way home.
Another five hours later we find ourselves in Rio Gallegos bus terminal, practically unable to be any further away from Barilcoche. The next bus isn´t until the morning so we decide to cut our losses and take a night bus to Comodora Riveira where we´ll wait for another bus there. Gutting.
Day 14
The next day is spent, from 8am, waiting
Sweaty backed Cory
A nice ´pumpkin´ coloured shirt I hasten to add... for our bus at 10.30pm in a town that clearly doesn´t get many tourists - judging by the looks we get as we walk around looking for a cafe. Our first sight is an old man taking a piss with his back to a busy road down onto a beach. Where the hell have we ended up!? We spend the day reading, drinking and eating to pass the time and finally board our bus.
Day 15
Feeling groggy and tired we step off the bus, have a coffee and head to our hostel in Bariloche. The weather is horrible for the first time so far. We find somewhere cheap to eat steak, relax in the hostel, make some dinner and have an early night. The forecast is much better for tomorrow.
Day 16
By midday Matt and I are looking like first class trekkers. Not ´trekkies´ just to clarify - this isn´t a sci-fi tour. My big bulky boots, light weight trousers and ill-fitting fleece with a rucksack complete the look, we look like we´ve been trekking for decades. We fit in well round these parts...
The bus drops us off at the foot of
a big hill, but I´d like to call it a mountain from this point on. Groups of people are hopping onto a chair lift to take them to the top. The walk looks very steep but we´re not dressed like this for nothing so we take a deep breath and start to walk through the hilly woodland leading us to the top. It´s hard work at times but when we reach the top an hour later, the views are sensational. Panoramic views of several huge lakes and moutains surround us. Lake Nahuel Huapi shimmers infront of us, stretching off into the distance in the bright sunshine. It feels like we are as high as all the mountains in the Andes, looking across to dozens more distant peaks, each as impressive as the next.
We sit and share a picnic of bread and ham in the wind, admiring the views before setting off again. Our descent is far quicker, bounding down the steep terrain in no time and hopping onto a bus back to town, invigorated after our first trek (more of a gentle amble than a trek). After buying our bus ticket into Chile we have a relaxed evening
drinking and eating....
Day 17
An early start allows us to arrange to hire a car with Cory, an American chap we met in El Calafate and a couple of others. We drive to El Bolson as our rafting trip has been cancelled. After some initial confusion we get onto the right road and drive two hours to the town.
A hippy market is going on so we weave around stall, sampling locally brewed beer and fresh fruit. Stalls are mainly seling handcrafted goods, fresh produce, souveneirs, jewellery and clothes. It´s the sort of place where you would really like to buy something but it would basically be for the sake of it. Plus I´m only about a tenth of a hippy compared to everyone else here. Should have worn the tie-dye gear, damn.
We then head to Bosqe Tallado, a shady grove half an hour out of the town on the top of a huge hill. Here there are sculptures carved from tree trunks. After a steep walk to the top, we came to a clearing where a dozen or so carvings stood, overlooking the valley in which El Bolson lies. The carvings ranged from
bizarre, abstract shapes to detailed portrayals of cowboys... most were surreal to say the least. After an exploration of the site we headed back to Bariloche as it was growing dark.
Day 18
A slow start to the day means we only have time to say our goodbyes then hit the dusty road to our first port of call in Chile - Valdivia. As we past through the Andes on a particularly uncomfortable bus ride, the scebery evolves into almost tropical, lush grenery with huge plants, waterfalls and rivers filling canyons on either side. The lakes on the Chilean side are still enough to be mirrors, reflecting the clear sky above.
The Chilean border is strict so we are asked to take everything off the bus and have our passports checked, twice. These stoppages are frustrating an add hours on to the journey.
We are treated to a spectacular sunset as we pull away from the mountains. As the sun drops, the hills and lakes are coated in shades of pink and orange as far as the eye can see. The moment was ruined though, due to the bus drivers decision to play Argentine music videos at full blast, featuring yet another curly haired greas lover with atleast three women per video.
We arrive at our hostel at about 9.30pm, after being continuously hassled at the bus station by women trying to get us to stay at their homes. After a long and tiresome bus journey, it´s hard not to be rude... We get an early night.
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Gurth & Peters
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Rather be doing a dissertation..........
Thomas and Matthew, wassup; i love that. South Africa looks amazing boys....whatever you do, if you get the chance DO NOT watch 'Hostel'; the new Tarrantino film. The journals are quality, please keep them coming, it gives us five mins off our dissertations. Keep it real bluds xxx