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Cerro Catedral
View from half way up, before the snow started Well at least on my return to Buenas Aires (BA) I managed NOT to have anything else stolen. Getting my passport replaced was pretty simple, thanks to having got most of the paperwork ready beforehand, and having a professional who has known me longer than 2 years (ie Zoe!) to sign the photos. So I now have a lovely new passport, even prettier than the old one. For a start the pages are green (far more 'me' than pink), with pictures of birds on the them. And also there are no dirty stamps over half the pages. Yet. Much nicer.
So what to do in BA whilst waiting for the passport to be ready? Well obviously - Tango. As both Zoe and I are fond of a little bit of a dance, we decided that a lesson in the typical Argentinian dance would set us up for future excursions onto the dance floor. So off we trotted to a group lesson, and after being shown the basic steps in the first 20 minutes, proceeded to trip over our partners feet for the next hour and a half. My first partner was the tall dark hansome Argentinian that whisked me around
Zoe and I on Cerro Catedral
Wow, skiing for the day! And check out our high tech gear too... head wear is especially designed for skiing! in an almost elegant manner (not quite used to this letting the guy lead business). The next partner was a very much older gentleman, that was very keen on teaching new moves. Preferably ones that involved him holding you very close. Perhaps a little too close...? Anyway after the lesson we actually went to a show and saw how the professional do it. Very impresive, and a lot of fun. And they did the most divine cholate cake aswell...
The next day, new passport chained to my body, we embarked on our long 21 hour bus journey from BA to Bariloche, the heart of the Argentinian Lake District. Now 21 hours on a bus does sound horrendous, but in actual fact is not nearly as bad as you might think. Or at least not in Argentina. You get to sit in deluxe comfort seats that recline to almost horizontal. You get to watch films. You get fed airline food every 6 hours or so. You even get glasses of champagne. It's sort of like flying first class, but for the price of about 25 pounds. Takes a little longer too, but at least you can sleep for a good
Tree Hugging
Zoe at one with her surroundings. Stage one of the hunter-gather lifestyle half f the journey. So we arrived in Bariloche at midday on Thursday 29th June. The town was deserted. It took us awhile to realise why, but then the hotel lobbies were all packed with people glued to the TV. The football was on, and everyone was watching ... we walked to the hostel, and sat down to watch the Argentians lose to in Penalty shoot out. The town, no the country was in mourning. I guess I don't need to explain too much, as the next day England suffered exactly the same fate. Not pretty. And after that the football fever was over, and I haven't dared mention it since.
So the Lake District of Argentina... the name Lake District conjurs up in my mind memories of family holidays trudging around in the cold and wet, getting lost on top of hills, a lot of rain, grey clouds, layers of clothes and muddy walking boots, and finally finding somwhere with a real fire and hot food. Well our first venture into the Argentian version was much the same. Except instead of rain showers, it rained the entire day. We went to a beautiful national Park, and got absolutely
Bosque de los Arrayanes
Trees that supposedly inspired Disney to create Fantasia soaked. We climbed a hill for a view, and saw a vast sea of grey. The stunning mountain backdrop with beautiful lake in the foreground were not even remotely visible. So we sat down enjoying the view and ate like kings (plain bread and water, for those who don't know how royalty dine). When we finally returned we were literally soaked to the skin, and were very pleased to find a warm cosy kitchen at the hostel, with a lovely little lady ready to whip away our soaking clothes to the drier whilst we made ourselves cups of tea / mate and warmed up again.
Fortunately the weather didn't last, and the next day the sky cleared a little, and we were persuaded that a day of skiing might be fun. Yes, unlike the Lakes at home, here there is even a little snow in the winter, and for 30 english pounds you can get a ski lift pass, hire equipment and clothes, and play for a day in the snow. I haven't skiied for over 10 years, so poor Zoe had to help me down the blue runs a couple of times, whilst I did rather inelegant snow
LLao LLao in the sunshine
Quite a different place to the one we visited only 2 days previously, when the only thing to be seen was a thick grey cloud of rain. plough down the slopes, concentrating too hard on staying upright to fully enjoy the view. The view was stunning however, looking down onto blue lakes, with snow toped mountains all around. Even worth the lift pass alone to go and see. Made even sitting in a chair lift fun.
The next day we had been inspired by picture in a magazine to take a boat trip across the lake that lies at the base of Bariloche to the Arrayanes forest. A forest of myrtle trees that apparently inspired Disney to create Fantasia. Quite which part it inspired I'm not sure, whether it was the pink elephants or the dancing broom sticks is hard to tell... however, they are quite spectacular, in a sort of orange and white candy striped pattern, with branches that seem to flow upwards as in water rather than simply growig towards the light. Zoe was taken away with the whole experience, and started communing with all the trees, as is her wont. The sight of a felled pine tree almost had her in tears, lameting the death of a living being whilst hugging the dead corpse. For those of you interested in living the simple live, with a desire to living in a teepee, please let Zoe know, as she is currently looking for volunteers for her commune...
Next stop Chile, where I get to test the new passsport, and hopefuly do a bit of proper trekking. Latest update on the lighter bag ... Ive lost a t-shirt, and as you can see, bought a new camera (or rather Zoe has bought me a new camera, still living off her money at the moment!). Found the lost SIM cards, and can't find my lift pass holder that I'd bought with me. All in all about even I think, although still lighter than I was 2 weeks ago. Just the insurance claims forms weighing me down now!
Hope you are all well, stay in touch, remind me of warm English summers and Wimbledon as I sit in the cold and forget about football
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Mama
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Return of the prodigal daughter!
So good to have the old Anna back - complete with photos! Thought we'd lost you a while ago but I see the dream is still alive and being well stoked by all the wonderful things you're seeing and doing. I would offer to join Zoe's commune but could she guarantee bananas and proper English tea? - you know I can't survive without them!! All love Mxxxxs