Blogs from San Martín de Los Andes, Neuquén, Argentina, South America - page 5

L'ALTRA PATAGONIA Full immersion nella natura tra boschi, fiumi e laghi E' impossibile immaginare qualcosa di piu' bello che l'ammirabile color blu dei suoi ghiacciai Charles Darwin E cosi', una volta arrivati "at the End of the World" le possibilita' si restringono: o mi imbarco su una nave rompighiaccio e me ne vado in Antartico, o inizio a risalire il continente... Visto che le mie finanze son limitate, la scelta e' facile e cosi' non mi rimane che ripetere la stessa trafila, al contrario: si parte alle 5,00 del mattino. Bus, frontiera, traghetto, frontiera e alle 18,00 son di nuovo a Rio Gallegos. Qui il tempo di prendere un po' di informazioni per il proseguimento del viaggio, salutare Giacomo che si ferma qui, e alle 20,00 son di nuovo su un bus, verso la mia prossima ... read more

Like eager school kids bursting out of the school yard to begin a long vacation, we ended our four weeks of Spanish classes and left Bariloche on March 14. Heading north along a bumpy, unpaved road through "la ruta de los lagos" (route of the seven lakes) we took in the jaw-dropping views and began to dream about the adventures that awaited us. The ride ended at the tranquil village of San Martin de los Andes, where we parted ways for 3 1/2 days so that Bill could head off on a long-planned fly fishing excursion and Carol could explore the lake and mountain area around San Martin. Some notes from Carol: As in Bariloche, I found mostly Spanish-speaking tourists in San Martin, but I did hook up with a 30-something couple from Wisconsin who were ... read more

Back to Argentina Travelling across international borders in South America on a Sunday is never a good idea. Our journey from Pucón to San Martin de los Andes in Argentina, which normally takes 4 to 5 hours, took us a whole 8 hours. We were delayed for three hours outside Pucón waiting for cyclists in the Ironman competition to finish their cycle. They had a worse journey than us though, having to cycle 100 km, swim 3.5 km, and run 40 km on a very hot day. The border crossing at Tromen is surely one of the most beautiful in the world. Both the Chilean and Argentinian customs posts lie beneath the spectacular Volcan Lanin, which towers over everything else in this area (it's almost 1000m higher than nearby Volcan Villarrica). There was a surprising lack ... read more

Liebe Zurueckgebliebene ;-) Wo waren wir? Wie doch die Zeit vergeht, bzw. wie weit man kommen kann in kurzer Zeit. Von den schoenen Straenden Uruguays in die Berge Patagoniens. Auf dem Weg von La Paloma nach Buenos Aires legten wir zuerst nochmals einen Zwischenhalt in Colonia del Sacramento ein, das sich als wunderschoenes, altes Kolonialstaedtchen mit einer sehr entspannten Atmosphaere entpuppte. Sogar die Polizisten waren nett: Als wir einen nach dem Weg zum Hostel fragten, fuhr er uns geradewegs hin. Mit der Schnellbootfaehre ging es dann ueber den Río de la Plata nach Buenos Aires, wo wir den Bus nach San Martín de los Andes nahmen. Die Busfahrt dauerte insgesamt ca. 20 Stunden, war aber wesentlich bequemer als z.B. der Flug. Argentinische Langstreckenbusse sind wohl der beste Weg zum Reisen ueberhaupt: Mit Business Class - Komfort ... read more

Adventure is made up of small bumps which, at the time, feel like nothing more than a continuation of all of one´s previous moments. Adventure is only so called in retrospect, and so being laid up in a cheap hostel in Bariloche, on the western edge of Argentina, with an inner left thigh that decided suddenly to swell to uncomfortable proportions on the bus ride from Buenos Aires will one day be seen as a small adventure, but today it hurts like hell. Though I am a proponent of universal public healthcare, one must also be realistic and, if a country is to go that route, very vigilant. A trip to the free public hospital yesterday administered a stiff slap in the face in the form of long lines everywhere, with seemingly no order being imposed ... read more