On my way down South...El Bolson!

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Hi there faithful readers! I am sorry it took me so long to get a new blog out, but I have been cookin up new stories to tell. First, I would like to say THANK YOU for all your wonderful feedback...I love reading proof that people are actually reading and enjoying this since it does take some time and effort. Second, to answer a couple questions. My classes start in early March and I have to be back in Buenos Aires on the 22nd of February for orientation. These couple weeks are just for traveling and getting to know the country. I have plenty of pictures to put up, but it will be easiest for me to wait until I can use my own computer back in Buenos Aires for that. I have already filled up my 2 GB card, so no worries.

If you know people that would want to read my blog, you can either forward them the link, or send me their email addresses and I can add them to my list of recipients.

I will write a sort of ´guide to argentina´according to my experiences when I get settled in to buenos aires.

This is the first chance I´ve had in a while to write a blog and I now realize I haven´t even told you about Villa La Angostura which seems so long ago...thankfully I have been keeping up with my actual journal (Thanks shosh!) and how could I forget such an incredible day. The fact is, I could write 20 entire blogs about my last 10 days here. I´ll start with where I left off.

I showed up to the bus terminal in Bariloche at about 9:15 with no clue as to what time the buses left. I caught the 10 AM bus to Villa La Agostura which was about an hour away along Lake Nahuel Huapi with incredible views the whole way. Even if I had wanted to, I coulndn´t have fallen asleep and missed views like these! We arrived in town and it was immediately obvious that this was a tourist town to the max!

My first step was to rent a bicycle. For 40 pesos I had a bike and helmet for the day. According to the young man who rented it to me, there was no need for a lock because people just don´t steal there. He also recommended me a sandwich place where I went to buy a big sandwich to take with me. I filled up my water bottle and went to the tourist information station while my sandwich was being prepared. I came back, picked up the sandwich and started on my way up over the hill to Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes. This park is a 12 km penninsula that stretches out into Lake Nahuel Huapi. I didn´t realize that it would be a couple kilometers bike ride to where the penninsula actually started, but didn´t mind the uphill/downhill combo on the way there (On the way back was a bit of a different story). I managed to convince the Guardaparques (Ranger) to allow me to enter for the student price of 4 pesos rather than the normal 20 pesos. This price is only for students studying in Argentina and is fairly difficult to get without proper documentation. A nice couple took a picture of me just before I started the bike ride. I started on my bike and quickly realized I would need to walk the first bit of trail. It was a very substantial climb with stairs in some parts. Once I got to the top of that, it was easy to bike the rest of the trail.

There were breathtaking views of the lake and nearby mountains the whole way along the trail peaking through the scattered Arrayan and Coihue trees. Wildflowers in Argentina tend to be so sparse that they seem more special when you do see them. Some of the Coihue trees are huge and the bleached white dead ones can be an incredible sight. With countless uphill and downhill sections, this trail was not easy, especially for a somewhat unexperienced mountain biker. However, it was incredible and I only fell once. An especially long, steep downhill section with stairs made of tree trunks is what made me bite the dust. I was very proud of myself to have gotten down most of the stairs on the bike, but at one section, my balding tires slipped out and set me into the ground and a nearby thorny bush. As soon as I confirmed that nothing was broken and my scratches were fairly superficial...I stood up and realized that I was in a beautiful meadow with a certain purple flower all over (I have seen it in the Redwoods in california).

I was somewhere in between Kilometer 9 and 10, so I didn´t bother dusting off too much as I knew I would be jumping into pristine Lake Nahuel Huapi any minute. I got back on the bike and continued...a family gave me the advice that a log was blocking the trail in a little while...and I soon got to a small lagoon with cattails and magnificent mountains on the other side. Just a few minutes further along the trail I came to the entrance to Bosque de los Arrayanes. I had been seeing Arrayan trees all along my trip and thought those were the spectacle...the fact that they were randomly located made them more exciting to me. However, this area, at the very tip of this penninsula, was completely covered in Arrayan trees which my book says are very rare. They have a cinnamon-colored bark and are super-smooth to the touch.

It was incredible to see so many in one place and I felt priveleged to have made it all the way to the end. It made sense that you had to work hard to see this beautiful forest. Before walking through the forest pathway, I went to sit on some rocks and eat my sandwich. I immediately jumped in the lake and sprinted about 50 meters into the lake. I stopped, floated on my back, and stared up and around at all the incredible scenery. There was a small motorboat in the distance. The cold temperature of the water didn´t affect me at all. It felt so clean, pure and natural. I swam back to my rock clump, dried off with my trusty travel towel and began my lunch. It was a good sandwich but would have been better right after they made it because it was hot at the time...it had gotten just a bit soggy. Either way, it hit the spot. After about 45 minutes sitting there, soaking it all in, I got realistic and realized that I was much too tired to bike the whole way back. Good thing they have a boat service for 45 pesos.

I went back to the forest and walked around, then, after talking to some fellow hikers & bikers, decided to buy the boat ticket. It was about 3:15 and the next boat left at 5:00. I figured it would probably take at least as long to bike back, so I layed down on the dock and wrote in my journal. As I wrote, a large cruise ship pulled up and the tourists began pouring out. How could I think that they wouldn´t find some way to make this beauty accessible to those willing to walk only the 10 meters from the boat down the dock to the forest. Minutes later, another ship arrived and at least as many tourists managed to come out of this one. There were at least 300 in total which seemed incredible for the size of the boats. I knew that their level of appreciation could only be so high without having worked to arrive at their destination.

The boat that I took back to town was filled with people that had either arrived before me or I had passed on the trail. There were only about 5 other bikers. It was a beautiful ride back along the penninsula and I was glad to have done this part of my trip on my own. The scenery tends to be that much more personally exciting when you feel like you have accomplished something independently (it´s even better when it isn´t accessible by cruise ship).

Don´t worry, the day has only just begun.

I arrived back in town and noticed a lot of booths and a stage that were set up on the outskirts of town. It was the 11th Annual Festival of the Gardens. I looked around a bit, then returned my bike and realized I had missed the 6 oclock bus by 10 minutes. I bought a ticket for the 8 oclock bus and bought a beer. I sat down with some girls outside a bar while I drank it and talked to them in spanish. They were living in Angostura just for the summer to work at a hotel and studying hotel management in Buenos Aires.

Since I had about an hour, I went back to the fiar. Walking around, I found some great crafts and had to buy a couple gifts. I ran into a couple girls who were on my boat back from the forest and sat with them while we listened to music. They live in Buenos Aires but were visiting a friend in Bariloche for a few days. We shared a mate (My first in Argentina!)...and they were surprised that I like it! I think I was surprised also...after hearing that it was more bitter than tasty.

I made sure to get to the bus on time and made it back to Bariloche. I bought a ticket to El Bolson right away for 11 AM the next day. I walked to another hostel that I had liked my first time walking around and reserved a room. Then I went back to Gente Del Sur to pick up my backpack, said bye to Adi and continued on my way back to the hostel. Once I had all my stuff in one place, I ran around trying to find an open supermarket as I was very hungry and not interested in sitting in a restaurant. It seemed that each one closed right before I got to them because there were still people inside shopping but they wouldn´t let me in! It was very frustrating and I ended up eating at the fast food joint in bariloche, Rock Chicken. I was very unhappy, but it was still better than American fast food. 12 pesos for a giant steak sandwich with tomato, onions, lettuce, cheese. Too much cheese, and lots of fat on the beef made it very unappetizing. I had half of it and couldn´t eat anymore.

I got back to the hostel and passed out....onto El Bolson!

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