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Bariloche Bike Tour
We rented bikes for a day and rode through Circuito Chico... a road that circles through several lakes. Being chased by snow:
Since leaving Buenos Aires we have, for the most part, been very lucky weather-wise. In Ushuaia, we backpacked for four days and on the last day woke up to snow dusting the mountains that we had climbed the day before. In Chalten, we did another 4 day backpacking trip, had sun the whole time until it poured rain on our last day. We talked with some people who were in Chalten less than a week after we left and they said there was shin-deep snow and they closed several of the higher-up trails that we had taken. A couple days after getting back from our Bariloche trekking trip, the first mountain snowfall in the area covered the mountains we had been on and a couple guys at our hostel trekked to the Refugio we stayed at for the first night and they told us there was so much deep snow on the trail that it was hard to find. So, here we are much further north in the desert of Mendoza (same approximate latitude as Buenos Aires) feeling like this invisible force is about to catch us.
Relaxin in Bolson/Bariloche:
Since the last entry, we spent
a couple more days in Bariloche. We rented bikes for the day and rode through a beautiful area outside of Bariloche called ¨Seven Lakes¨ on roads that make up the Circuito Chico. Although the roads were full of hills, we saw some great views and pretty beaches.
From Bariloche we traveled two hours to Bolson, a ¨hippie town¨ (according to Lonely Planet) that makes lots of beer, is famous for trout, and has some good sights. We originally planned to do some more trekking and camping in Bolson. When we got to Bolson and were freezing cold in the middle of the day and found out that camping was only slightly less expensive than staying in a hostel, we changed our plans. So we did a couple of day trips (to a lake and an ¨Indian-head¨ mountain) and for the most part just relaxed.
In Bolson we stayed at a quaint, family-run hostel. The husband and wife were awesome and very welcoming and they had an absolutely adorable 3 year old daughter who I fell in love with! We had some interesting late-night conversations about Argentina and all the corruption here with the husband. We also met some
Bariloche Beach
Found a beach with beautiful views for lunch during our bike tour. interesting travelers at the hostel (found someone from Seattle!), who we hung out with, and cooked with, for most of our time in Bolson. We stayed longer than we had planned, and ended up having to make the really hard decision to move on and leave Bolson on the day that the hostel was putting on what looked to be an amazing ¨asado¨ (BBQ)... the husband had bought 15 kilos of lamb, and as much or more sausage, beef, salami and some good looking wine and had been cooking a great looking chimicuri sauce for days... and he and everyone else gave us hell for leaving early! Bah, if only we had more time in Argentina!
Communication meltdown:
I think that I´ve talked about the lack of clear info in Argentina before, but the day we left Bolson was a prime example of that. We had to take a 2 hour bus from Bolson to Bariloche and then an overnight bus to Mendoza. After buying our tickets to Bariloche we waited for our bus at the terminal in Bolson and in pulled two busses, one had come from Bariloche and was identical to the one we had taken here;
Bariloche Lakes
Bella vistas on the trail! the other was a much larger bus that said ¨Jujuy Province¨ on it (that´s in northern Argentina). The Jujuy bus left and we waited to get on our bus, but they never loaded it. So I asked at the bus company and it turns out that the Jujuy bus stops in Bariloche first and that was our bus! Luckily we were able to catch a taxi to meet the bus that had stopped on the side of the road. So we load the bus and wait to leave... and wait... and wait... Seemed like they had mechanical problems. So they tell us all to get off the bus, get our bags and they rush us over to another, much smaller bus... we load onto that bus (feeling like confused sheep), Jeff and I at the end of the line and there aren´t nearly enough seats for everyone... so Jeff and I end up standing/sitting on the floor surrounded by people for two hours, by the bathroom, feeling very carsick. I should add that a sick girl kept pushing her way through to puke in the toilet we were by, yuck! It took a lot of effort to not get sick.
Biking
action shot (looks like Jeff was sleepy) I talked with an Argentine woman and we were agreed that there should be a large discount for this, but she said there is no way we would ever get one. Then at the Bariloche bus terminal we had to buy a ticket to Mendoza. They accept cash only but there was no ATM even close to the bus terminal (and of course we were only short like $20 anyway). So, we had to catch a 20 minute bus to town, get money, and then wait a long time for the bus back to the terminal. At the terminal I had asked a company called Fletcher if they travel to Mendoza (all the busses are private around here, so you have to get info from each one) and she told me the last bus left for the day but there was another the next day to Mendoza. Another company, Andesmar, had tickets left for the day (although when I talked to one person at the company she said they had nice seats available, almost 100 of them, and later another person said that no, the nice seats were not available). Anyway, when we got downtown I went into Fletcher (same
Log Cabin
We rode through a national park and saw many stunning log cabins with amazing views or lakeside property. Since the bike ride, we´ve been scheming about how to buy property and move to Bariloche. company, different location from the first company I asked at the terminal) to get a quote for the tickets for the next day (if they were much cheaper, we may have waited a night for them) and they told me several times (yes, I asked again and again, making sure I wasn´t confusing my spanish) that they absolutely do not have any trips to Mendoza, ever, at this time of the year. The same company that, at the different location, just told me they travel there! huh?!?! We were just waiting for the cameras and ¨candid camera¨ personel to roll up and laugh at us. :-0
Anyway, we got on a bus that night, for a really good price, watched four movies back-to-back (all English, some hilariously were dubbed over in Spanish, with English subtitles at the bottom for the gringos) and now are in Mendoza. Ironically, we ran into another couple from not just Seattle, but Capitol Hill (although they currently live in Chili), who may know some of our friends back home! So we played games with them last night, drinking free wine at our hostel (a current hostel promotion... for about $6.75 per night we can
stay at this hostel with lots of games and free breakfast and free red and white wine all day)... we are in wine country! We´re planning to check out some of the parks around here and do a ¨wine and bikes¨excursion where you rent bikes for the day and then tour several wineries... hmm, wonder how many bike accidents happen around here?
Well, TTFN... I can´t believe it but we´ll be home in less than 3 weeks!
Oh, P.S. We found a Subway restaurant in Mendoza, much to our (especially Jeff´s) delight!
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Anj
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STP training
Nice job on the STP training, you're beating me! Haha! Good news staying out of the snow, the weather is warming up just in time for your return...nearly 80 today :) Miss you friend, glad you are having fun!