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Since the very first time I saw pictures of patagonia I´ve been dreaming about going there ever since. The complete remoteness, incredible array of wildlife and breathtaking scenery completely lure you in. After having such a good time in BA we thought it might be a bit of an anti climax. But when you´re standing on a boat in front of a 60 metre high glacier, watching flamingos on the lake, cycling through the countryside, hiking up to see one of the top 10 views in the world according to the "national geographic", you know you´ve made the right decision to come here.
Instead of enduring 3 days on a bus we got a flight down to el calafate and stayed at America der sul hostel. The town itself is really small and quaint, but it has an amazing setting on the side of a lake. Our hostel was brilliant. It was really cozy and chilled out, it felt like home from home. Loads of the people we´d met in BA were there along with plenty of others. We had a great time chatting, playing cards & dominoes, reading books, drinking "goon" (new low) and testing our culinary skills. We
even managed to make a pizza with our leftovers and it cost a grand total of 40p. There was alot of food envy, it was a proud moment! Our pioneering hot chocolate (heated chocolate milkshake) was a winner too!
In total over the last week we´ve spent all of 60 hours on buses and I have to admit we´re quite enjoying it. It´s nice to have some down time to read and listen to music. We´ve tried the luxury leather seats in cama and the other extreme no frills semi cama with no service where you wake up and your face is on fire. The highlight was overheating to the point at which I´d ran out of water and had to go to the toilet and swig some of the rancid water to trick my body into thinking it was hydrated!!
From the far south we´ve basically been working our way back up through argentina. After el calafate on the advise of the tour operators in BA because it´s low season we headed to puerto madryn which is famous for its whales and sealife. Unfortunately when we arrived everything was closed for the season. We lugged our backpàcks
to 7 different hostels before we found one that was still open. In the end we only stayed one night but we had some great meals out and the family who ran the hostel were lovely. We were honoured to be invited to try some of the famous south american mate'. This stuff is everywhere. Everyone walks around carrying thermos flasks and mate'cups (I can´t remember the official name). It looks so impractical, but they are crazy about it over here. I´ve been dying to try it. Unfortunately turns out it tastes like an ashtray with water in it, I was so dispappointed. It´s suppose to have health benefits but apparently it´s been linked more to causing cancer. I can now see why!
Bariloche, the centre of the argentinian lake district and home of chocolate was our final patagonian destination. It´s absolutely stunning, it´s very similar to austria with it´s alpine feel.. We caught up with a lot of the gang we´d met up in el calafate and BA. We had some tv time, went for more fabulous steak at albertos and ate far too much ice cream and chocolate. Despite the insane amount of steps, our hostel had
a great view and free dinner, which was really tasty. The local buses are great and we spent a lot of time hopping on and off to go hiking. The best bit was our cycling tour. The route was meant to take us 4 hours but we nailed it in 2, but in the process missed out most of the recommended viewing spots apart from the last one Llao Llao hotel. One of the finest hotels in the world. This place is meant to be guests only but we thought we´d be cheeky and ask if we could go for some lunch. Fortunately despite the shameful dress sense, the good looks and british accents got us through. It was amazing, the service and food was so good. We felt like ladies doing teas. After roughing it for weeks it was a well earnt treat, it was so worth it.
Another 19 hour bus ride and then we´ll be in mendoza, argentina´s wine tasting region. Looking forward to the wobbly bike ride through the vineyards!
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