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Hello!
After all our walking around Bariloche, we needed a break. We had a lazy day in town on Friday. Then we did a day trip to El Bolson on Saturday (the 16th) to visit the town and feria (market). El Bolson is the Berkeley of Argentina. Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday their is an artisanal fair in town with close to 300 vendors. Hey, even hippies need an income. Ana felt right at home in the nuclear free zone. We went on a spending spree in the market. Ok, not a spree, this is us we are talking about. We bought a handspun and woven woolen scarf and earrings for Ana, a maté (gourd cup for maté preparatio), a bombilla (straw for maté drinking), hand-made wooden buttons, and snacks (empanadas and yummy waffles). All this for less than thirty American! Ahhh, the devaluation of the peso. It has devastated the Argentine economy, but made it affordable for us to travel here.
For those of you asking, "What the heck is maté?" You´re online. Look it up. Just kidding. It is a drink similar to really strong green tea that is incredibly popular in Argentina. People tote their matés,
Piltriquitrón
The "big bag" that gives the town its name. bombillas, and thermoses around everywhere. It is an integral part of Argentine culture.
We had Chinese food that night back in Bariloche. Beef and potatoes are real good, but we needed a break. We caught an overnight bus at 11:15 pm headed for Bahia Blanca on the Atlantic Ocean. It only took 13.5 hours. Actually, it´s not as bad as it sounds. The long distance buses in Chile and Argentina are quite luxurious. Much better than Greyhound. More like those big tour buses you see in the states. Generally very clean and lots of leg room. Some of the overnight bus seats even recline completely flat.
Bahia Blanca is a big, non-touristy city. We arrived mid-day to find the center of town completely abandoned. Even the tourist office was closed. Then we realised it was Sunday. Practically everything shuts down for Sunday. We consulted our guidebook for things a that might be open.
We ended up visiting the Museo del Puerto and having afternoon tea with a pair of Argentines. Bahia Blanca has many different immigrant groups. The different community groups trade off hosting the confiteria (snack bar) and providing entertainment on Sundays. We happened to visit
on Croatia Day. We enjoyed Croatian sweets and a choir performance. The museum is described as "not to be missed" by our guidebook, but if it weren´t for the snacks, entertainment, and company, we would not recommend it.
We planned to use Bahia Blanca as a base to explore a number of neat areas near the town (beaches, mountains). We quickly found out that traveling in the off-season can be a real pain in the big toe. It took us a full 24 hours before we managed to leave. First, the schedules for most of the transportation were greatly reduced. Next, we had several near misses finding bus connections. The information guy at the bus terminal quoted us wrong times. The bus company office closed 45 minutes early. Combis which usually have more frequent service than regular buses were also running only once or twice a day. We finally managed to get on a Combi bus to Monte Hermoso, a small beach town about 100km east of Bahia Blanca.
We arrived here yesterday to find it pretty empty. Over half the hotels, restaurants, and shops are closed until September (Spring). We have the town and the beach pretty
much to ourselves. High season is obviously summer. One of the draws is that the sun rises and sets here over the ocean. However, since it is autumn, the sun is setting well inland. Another draw is the warm ocean temperatures, close to 80F in summer. Again, since it´s autumn, we are experiencing cooler water temperatures. Don´t get us wrong, the water is still much warmer than in California. Also, the town is very relaxing and worth a visit in autumn if you want to get away from other tourists for a while.
Today we walked around town trying to find the Monte Hermoso that the town is named after. We walked along the beach down to the lighthouse which we had been told was only open Saturdays and Sundays in low season. However, we were lucky and found officers from the Argentine Armada working near the base of the Faro Recalada (lighthouse). It is normally closed during the week because they might be working farther away from the lighthouse, but if they´re working nearby they allow visits. They invited us to climb up the 325+ steps on our own. 300-500 people a day visit the lighthouse in the
Hotel Confiar
We are staying at a luxury one-star beachfront hotel. Private bath, tv in room, beach service (beach towels, chairs, umbrella), private parking, and breakfast included. All for us$14 a night. summer, but we had it all to ourselves. The winding steps can be dizzying, but the view is worthwhile. The lighthouse will celebrate its centennial on January 1st 2006 and become a national monument.
We are planning on being in Buenos Aires in a few days. We are eagerly anticipating our visit to the first large city of our trip. It is also amazing to us that we are a quarter of the way through the trip. Time is going by quickly. Each day we feel that we should some how be accomplishing so much more. More sightseeing! More reading! More blogging! The days just aren´t long enough.
Let us know how things are at home.
Ryan and Ana or Ana and Ryan
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Daniel
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Hola
Me gusta que te haya gustado Argentina Te comento que hay muchos lugares muy lindos como Mar del Plata,Buenos Aires,Bariloche,etc,etc Saludos adantec@hotmail.com