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Published: December 10th 2007
Last time we wrote we were still in Bolivia. . . . That feels like it was months ago!
We survived the 17 hour train ride! We knew we were in for an adventure when we showed the man at the station our tickets and he smirked to his coworker as pointed to the last car on the train. Needless to say we were riding with the locals. That wasn´t bad except we stopped at every town along the way where people were shuffling on and off the train with their HUGE bags of things to sell in the next town. Oh, and this was all happening between 11pm and 4am. . . . we didn´t get much sleep that night.
Crossing the Argentina border was also interesting. It took us over 2 hours to get across the border because they had to search through everyones bag! And the whole time we were worried that we weren´t going to make it out of Bolivia.
There wasn´t anything to see at the border town so we caught the first bus (which left literally 5 mins after we arrived at the bus station) to Mendoza. Mendoza is a great city in the heart of wine country. The city actually reminded me a lot of Portland. Very outdoorsy, a lot of big parks, and a ton of outdoor cafes. It was very easy to waste a day in this town!
The first full day we went to the huge city park just on the edge of town. It was a really warm day (about 85-90 degrees) so we had to make a couple ice cream stops along the way! On the far side of the park was a zoo that was really nice, with tree-lined paths and a lot of animals in decent sized cages. Much better than other zoos I have been to in Latin America!
The best part of the day was when Matt got attacked by the black panther. . . . oh, and we have it on video. The panther did not have a very good disposition to start with. He was showing his teeth and growling when we got there, so Matt felt it would be a good idea to taunt the cat. . . . no one said he had any common sense! I was over looking at the other panther and I can hear Matt saying "Here kitty-kitty-kitty, Here kitty-kitty-kitty" to which the "Kitty" responded with a loud growl and huge paw swatting the cage. Matt jumped about 50 ft toward me and I´m pretty sure he screamed like a girl! We have it on video so I will try to upload it for all of your enjoyment. Oh. . . another thing about the zoo. The paths were so close the animal´s cages that we could reach our hands into the lion and tigers cages if we felt so inclined. . . . Matt decided against this after the encounter with the panther!
The next day we went on an all day wine tour that was offered through our hostel. We visited 4 wineries, 1 olive oil factory, and 1 chocolate/liquor factory. The tour was decent (we didn´t get as much wine as we would have liked!) but the valley was beautiful. On the tour we bought one bottle of wine, one bottle of chocolate hazelnut liquor and a bottle of olive oil. Not bad for a days work. After that we had an all-you-can eat BBQ at a neighboring hostel. Unfortunately, it didn´t live up to its name. It was good food, but definately not all we could eat. We did meet some good people that we got to hand out with for the next couple days.
Oh. . . and we got to watch the Civil War game online at the hostel. We found it very difficult to describe American Football to a hostel full of Europeans and South Americans. . . it doesn´t mean much to them! Either way, Matt and I were around the computer with a beer in hand, cheering at the screen! Wish we could have been there for the post Beaver victory celebrations!
There were a couple Americans at the hostel to join in on our excitement. Actually, one of the guys was from Portland and knows Jessica who I worked with right before we left! The next day Matt ran into a guy from Oregon State when he was buying his fishing license. Small World!
After the football game we went to a Disco with some of the people from the hostel. I guess you could say it was an interesting experience. The place was really crowed, really smokey, and nobody was really dancing. We heard that Argentinians really like to dance. . . . however, this was a poor showing. It didn´t help that the DJ changed the song every 45 secs. . . . we didn´t stay there very long.
We stayed in Mendoza for a couple more days, just relaxing around town before we headed south to the Lake District. We stayed in Bariloche for one night. The town was really pretty but it was really cold and windy! The town is know for it´s chocolate, however we managed to avoid that and gravitate to the first microbrew we have had since we left the states. We ended up having a beer with a couple from London who suggested we check out Villa La Angostura. . .. so the next day we packed up and caught a bus north.
The town was really pretty! It felt like a much smaller version of Whistler. Actually, the whole area feels like a ski town. It is nice but really cold compared to Mendoza. We camped by the lake about 3km outside of town. The campsite was windy but it did come with our own dog for a few days. The dog met us as soon as we arrived at the campsite and guarded our tent while we left. We had to leave him after 3 days but it was nice while it lasted!
While we were on the lake Matt made very good effort at trying to catch a fish. In other words he spent most of the time we were there walking up and down the bank of the lake casting. . . . unfortuanatley it was to no avail and we ate steak for dinner instead!
After 3 days in Villa La Angostura we decided to try our luck at hitchhiking back to Bariloche. It was only 70km so we figured someone would have to pick us up. The first day we just wanted to go about half way to one of the many campsites that are on the lakes and rivers between the two towns. We walked the 3km to town, stopped at a grocery store to pick up some food for dinner and breakfast. Then we started the long walk outside of town. We walked for about 4km with no luck, but we did manage to find a brewery and felt it was only right to stop for a beer. Then we were on the road again. We ended up walking the whole way to the first campsite because NOBODY picked us up, but there sure were a lot of people who honked at waved as they sped past us!
When we got to the campsite we were greeted by the camp host who was very friendly and couldn´t believe that we walked 16km with no one stopping to give us a ride. We got a great little campsite on the lake and the camp host told Matt to meet him later that night at his house and he would take him fishing. Of course Matt would never pass up an opportunity to fish with a local! We set up camp and relaxed a bit before Matt went fishing. Lucky for Matt his caught his first fish in South America, and it was one for the books. It was an 8lb rainbow trout. . . . However we didn´t get to eat it for dinner because it was too big for us to eat in one night. So instead Matt made me eat fried spam and pasta 😞
After a good sleep (we were exhausted from the LONG hike with our heavy bags) we set off again to try our luck at hitchhiking back to where we came so we could buy a bus ticket to El Bolson. We are happy to say that our luck was MUCH better the second day. Within 5 minutes a couple from Greece stopped and picked us up. You should have seen the look on Matt and my face when someone actually pulled over. We had mentally prepared ourselves to walk 14km again! I honestly don´t know if our bodies could have made it the whole way!
So, we got to town, booked our bus tickets, ate a quick lunch, and were on the road again. We are now in El Bolson. It is the self-proclaimed "hippie town" of Argentina. Which means there are a ton of fresh veggies, homemade jams, and jewlery available. Matt was a little worried before we got here (even though he is turning into a bit of a hippie himself on this trip). To his relief it is also a logging town so there is a nice balance to everything. There is a market here ever Tues, Thurs and Sat and we are looking forward to seeing what it has to offer. We found a nice little studio with a kitchen, bathroom, and dining set for only $20 a night. It has been really nice to cook for ourselves in a real kitchen again. The restaurants have been great, but there comes a time when you just want your own food again!
We are in the process of looking for a place to stay for about a month. We want a place we can be for the holidays without having to pack up and move every 3 days. This seems like a good area. . . it´s relatively cheap, their is a lot of fishing for Matt, and plenty of things around town to keep us occupied for a while. Plus its still a little chilly down here. It´s not quite summer yet. We figure we will give it another month or so before we try to make it to the end of the continent!
So far everything is going great. . . . Hard to believe we have been gone for almost two and a half months! We hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for the holidays! If you are in Portland stop by and give Haley lots of hugs and we will talk to you all soon!
Sorry for no pictures. . . . the port on the computer doesn´t work. We´ll try to find a place soon where we can upload because it is amazing down here!
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Erin
non-member comment
Sounds fun
glad to hear you are both well and that Matt caught a fish. I can't even beging to imagine how his lip would be dragging on the ground if that hadn't happened. It snowed here this morning---love it! Can't wait to see pictures. Be careful! e