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Published: February 15th 2007
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After an excellent time in Pucon we headed back to Argentina over the Andes - our first stop Bariloche.
The journey was pretty spectacular despite it raining for most of the way. We found a nice hostel and stayed there with Graham and Lynny. The main reason to go to Bariloche is for skiing and hiking. We heard that the snow was not so great so left the skiing for another resort but managed to do a really good hike one day.
The best evening we had was ten pin bowling. Six of us went along having heard the pin replacement machines were something special. Only after a couple of goes did we realise that the pins were being put back up by hand! There was a whole team of guys at the end of the ally dodging balls and replacing the pins - more than once a ball was sent down which they had to jump over! It was a great night and we ended up in one of the many bars for a few drinks.
We were also in Bariloche to watch Argentina exit the world cup. It was a good game and the local crowd
very passionate but at the end nothing could have prepared us for the tears and misery. Immediately after the game there were people crying in the streets and all the "Vamos Argentina" signs were being taken down and rubbed off shop windows. For Argentina the world cup was truelly over.
The next day we saw England get knocked out as well - a real shame as being in a country so passionate about football it took a back seat and continued without much coverage!
One evening we had an excellent cheese and chocolate fondu and the others we managed to cook up some great English dishes. Toad in the Hole a particular favourite - although our new Canadian friend was not overly impressed.
The best day in Bariloche (even though it was raining) was a hike we did around the lakes and mountains. It started at the hotel Lao Lao and we walked for a good few miles to colonia suisse. We passed through bamboo forests, beautiful lakes and waterfalls, a climbers cemetary and finally ended up in a suisse settlemnt in the middle of nowhere. A really good day getting back to nature!
We left
Bariloche and the rain and headed for Malargue to go skiing at Las Lenas. The journey was long but through some great scenery. Arriving in Malargue we found a hostel and got organised for skiing for the next 2 days. Only an hour and a half away Las Lenas is a pretty isolated resort but set in the Andes and surrounded by sme pretty rugged peaks.
We got all our gear, bus ticket, ski pass for about £20 - the best value skiing in the world. Arriving at the resort there was a lack of snow - but enough to have fun with. The sun was out so Sally and I headed straight for one of the shutes coming down the front of the mountain. To get there we had to pass a rope that warned us not to go any further - or we would have to pay $5000 for a rescue! Not deterred we had a great and steep run down the front of the mountain. Arriving at the bottom we were approached by two Uruguayans who wanted us to show them the run we had just done. They had been to the resort for 8 years
and never tried it! We took them up and they loved it - good guys who invited us for lunch but didn't pay!
We spent one more day skiing which was ok but overcast, when we left we heard it snowed so much they had to close the resort! Las Lenas is a great little resort and the off piste potential is second to none!
Our final meal in Malargue was an amazing steak - cooked right in front of us by the waiter/owner who made things up as he went along! We were eating before going on an overnight bus journey to Mendoza so thought the best way to sleep on the bus wold be to get drunk - it didn't work and we all felt awful the next morning!
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