Partying, Football, and the Lake District

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They say a week is a long time in politics because so much can happen. The same in my opinion applies to travelling. Its just over a week and a half since I have last written and it feels like so much has happened. I have wanted to write sooner but the further South I have travelled the worse the internet connections and speed have been getting. So it might be a similar length before I write again. Anyway on with the story.

Partying
I arrived back from Colonia into Buenos Aires on Saturday night and was keen to do some partying Buenos Aires style. As I have been mostly in backpacker hangouts I was keen to see how the locals partied. Buenos Aires is famed for its nightlife and now that we were into February the nights were swinging back into action after the summer break.

One of my friends in Buenos Aires had got me and Ryan onto the guest list at a record label party at Palermo Golf Club so we headed there. We got in probably more by luck then judgment as I didnt even know the Spanish for guest list! The music played was the deep house, and groovey techno that is popular throughout Europe aswell at the moment and the crowd was young, well dressed, and very good looking. This was because, I was explained, electronic music is the music of the wealthly. I guess you would be hard pressed to find a more exclusive venue then a golf club in the wealthiest district. It was therefore no wonder that looking round many of the girls looked like they were out of an episode of the OC.

Another plus was that the crowd were well educated and therefore spoke English and were also keen to practice their English on me and Ryan. This was a big positive as it meant it was possible to engage with local people in a way that I hadn't previously had the opportunity to do. The night ran from 11pm - 7am, but didn't really appear to fill up until 2am and when we left at 6:15 it looked like there was plenty of energy left for it to go past 7am.

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to experience partying provincial style in Bariloche. I went out with a group of Argentinians, English, and Irish. We avoided the ubiquitous Irish pub and ended up in Reggae-Rock bar. Not really my thing. Here the crowd was dressed like farmers or as one of my new found Argentinian friends told me when I voiced my criticism - Bohemian. It was good fun even if Spanish rock and reggae will take a while to grow on me. Of more interest to me was a night called Evolution of Techno. I headed there on my own after the rock and reggae place as no one else could be persuaded. Again like in Buenos Aires the music was groovey techno and again it was rammed back up to the point I left at 6:30. Leaving I thought that it was great to see that the techno scene is healthy throughout Argentina.

Football
Going to a football match was one of the few things I knew I desperately wanted to do before I even got to South America, and Argentina is famed in the regime for its games especially those involving River Plate and Boca Juniors. I had been really disappointed when I arrived in BA to find that it was the summer break. However, fortunately on my 3rd trip to Buenos Aires I was there for the first league match of the season. Boca were playing away so it was River Plate v Colon that I attended.

I went through an organised trip where the ticket, travel to the ground, and guide were provided. I paid quite a premium for this and though it meant there was a good group of us so the banter was good I felt it would be safe and pretty easy to watch River independently. There was a massive police presence at the game, alot of families watching, and I never felt at anytime an undercurrent of violence. Now im not sure I would stand with the hardcore fans, with my camera and a bulging wallet but thats commonsense. Maybe it would be different at a Boca game, where the area the ground sits in is rougher.

River Plate play at a ground in the north of the city that holds 67,000 it is open oval ground with a running track round it. In the end I would say it was three quarters full. We got there an hour before kick off and my pre-conception was that the locals would do the same and there would be alot of singing in the build up. This proved not to be the case. Like in the UK it filled up close to kick off.

Indeed the main hardcore fans entered after kickoff. It was pretty surreal a space on the middle tier of the terracing had been left free by all the other fans in the section and I couldnt understand why. Then just after the referee blew his whistle I started to hear this drum beat, which got louder and louder, and finally the drummers appeared through the middle tier entrance leading several hundred fans singing and waving flags. They took their place on the empty terracing that had been saved for them and the whole stand then started singing, bouncing up and town, and waving flags, scarfs, and tops. They sang the whole game and after the match aswell, regardless of whether River were in the ascendency or not. They only appeared to have 3 songs, which were sung constantly, always accompanied by the samba style drums. They were very tuneful, rhymatical, and almost hypnotic.

The game itself was a really good game, a 2-2 draw. It was played in a slower pace then England, with not much pressing of the ball. There seemed to be no defensive midfielders at all, and the wingers were given loads of space. All the players were very technical with alot of skill, and this was reflected in the fact there was alot more dribbling then you would see in England. Also the defenders would always try and play their way out of trouble rather then hoofing the ball clear.

Colon had a man sent off in the first half for a terrible challenge, and River went 2 nill up early in the second half. One goal a back post header from a corner, the second a beautifully crafted passing move. Then in the last 10 minutes, having not threatened all game Colon scored twice, and what a pair of goals. Both were 30 yard screamers, 2 of the best goals I have seen at a live football match. Despite that the River fans kept singing, which I was very impressed with.

Hopefully I will have a chance to witness games in other South American countries so I can see how the games compare.

The Lake District
Last Tuesday I caught another 20 hour bus journey down to the Argentinian Lake District. This a mountainous region in Northen Patagonia, on the east side of Argentina where it borders Chile. It is eye achingly beautiful, countless lakes of varying sizes, giving way to forested mountains. It reminds me alot of the Sierra Nevada mountains I passed through in California last year, but there are definitely spots where you could be in the European Alps. Indeed, I have even visited a Swiss colony where Swiss settlers made their home in the shadow of the mountains. In common with our own lake district the only thing that is predictable about the weather is the wind. Thus for the first time I have been wearing warm clothes, even a jacket, and have managed to get myself completely soaked in the rain.

It is one of the major holiday destinations for Argentinians, and for Argentinian students it is almost a right of passage to come to the region to hitchhike, camp, and hike. Accordingly I have had the opportunity to meet and chat to alot more Argentinians then I have had in other places and have found them a very friendly, outgoing, happy people.

The first place I stayed was San Martin Dos Andes. This is the hangout of the rich, and as such caters for them, thus I found it expensive. Additionally it is a gateway to multi-day hikes, which unfortunately I dont have the equipment or the necessary experience to do. That said by just walking into the mountains I was treated to some pleasant scenary and have some fantastic photos of the lake. It also allowed me to take the bus to Bariloche over the Route of the 7 Lakes. This is an unpaved dusty bumpy road through the mountains that afforded spectacular views of 7 of the lakes in the region. Unfortunately as its a public bus it doesnt stop for photos, which is pretty frustrating, and for the first time I wished I had a car so I could take the route at my own leisure.

After Buenos Aires, Bariloche is easily my favourite place I have been to in Argentina. It has a gorgeous location on Lake Nahuel Napi, it has excellent public transport, and has a really good backpacker scene. From here I have been able to go hiking in the surrounding mountains, and cycling round the lake and its many penninsula´s and inlets. On my first day here I climbed with an English couple I met in the hostel to the mountain refuge on Sierra Lopez, which is 1680 metres above sea level. It was a demanding hike, very steep at times but the views of the area were tremendous and it was without doubt another highlight of the trip.

One of the main attractions of Bariloche is cycling the Chico Circuito which takes you around the lake shore. I did this with an Irish girl called, Noreen. I had met her on my second night in Buenos Aires on the pub crawl, and we keep bumping into each other at various different places. Her planning is only slightly better then mine so it came as no surprise that we went cycling with a hangover, with no lunch, and got soaked in the rain. It wasn´t much fun at the time, but one of those things you can laugh about after the event.

Yesterday I visited El Bolson. This is town about 160km from Bariloche, which is famed as a hippy hangout. A place that managed to retain its laid back counter culture attitude even through the period of the military junta. I had been debating whether to go for a day trip or to stay there a couple of nights. My past experience of hippy hangouts has never been good. They are described as spiritual and laidback, but when I have got there that seems to translate to dull and full of backbackers with dreads listening to reggae music all day. My mind was made up for me when I met 2 American girls in a hostel who told me El Bolson was great, they hadn't done much there they said, they then went and put their Ipod on the stereo and played Reggae music. I thought not my type of place and decided to go on a day trip, on one of the days they hold the bi-weekly market. This was the first call on my trip that I have really regretted. I loved El Bolson and was frustrated that I hadn't gone for a couple of days.

Its location in a valley between 2 mountain peaks is stunning, and its small and easy to walk round. The mountains and river that surround it offer plenty of hiking and walking possibilities. The market too while centred on the usual hippy jewellry, art, and clothes offered homemade food, which made use of the fact that the valleys microclimate is great for growing fruit and vegetables. Thus I had the nicest empanadas I have had in Argentina, a fruits of the forest tart, and blackberry and red stout beer.

There was no well off western dreadlocked backpackers posing as hippys because they are too spolied or lazy to do something constructive, all the hippys were Argentinian and it seemed to me that the olive skinned latin look seems to be suited to the hippy style. It also works in their favour that they were all goodlooking. That said maybe the sun has gone to my head on this trip and is messing with my cynical ways. I even found myself chilling out by the lake in the sun, listening to some Argentinian Reggae bands. I nearly even bought their CD!!!! Nearly.....

I now leave Bariloche to go to the otherside of the counrty to Puerto Madryn, which was a Welsh colony, and is famous for its wildlife. Im quite sad as I could definitely have spent more time in this region.

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Comments

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Partying
Oh wow! The partying sounds like so much fun! Sounds like you are having an amazing time Irish! Look after yourself x