Bariloche

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We arrived in Bariloche Friday morning (11ish) to another beautiful day in another beautiful place. We tried hopping off the bus close to downtown, but they wouldn´t let us get our bags so we had to stay on until we reached the terminal, which of course is inconveniently far out of town. Going through our normal routine, we figured out how to get to the town center, where we could camp, and booked our bus tickets to Santiago. It was a little disappointing to book our tickets out before even seeing the place, but because of the bus terminal location it would have cost us $12 pesos just to get back to it later. Plus a lot of time and quite a bit of inconvenience.

It took maybe an hour to get organized and then we set off for our campground. It was about 13 kilometers out of town so we rode the $6 peso/person bus ($1.25 ish USD) through town and out to the site. The first place wanted $40 pesos/person, so we walked 800 meters to the next place which was only $30 pesos/person. The campground was right on the lake. It had a small boat dock and tons of room. It was pretty dead though. Not a lot of people around.

Sidenote: it is mid-September here in the US equivalent. Their busy season is January and February. By March things clear out. And we have really seen the evidence of that lately. This campground was just another example and more were to come in Bariloche.

After setting up camp we hopped back on the bus and went back in to town to explore a little and see what we wanted to do. The National Park Info guy was very helpful, as was the tourist info woman. We made a plan to do some hiking in the National Park around 24 kilometers out of town.

That night wasn´t great for either of us with sleep. A large tree branch came down with a huge crash over night and the dogs barked all night long. Don´t worry parents, we check our camping area for troublesome tree branches so we weren´t in any danger. Still, it was unnerving. And the dog barking sealed the deal.

Since the hiking we wanted to do was further out of town we decided to head out to Colonia Suiza and find a new campground for Saturday and Sunday night. It has turned out to be an awesome decision.

Colonia Suiza is a super tiny historic town that has been around since 1895. And by super tiny, I mean it seems like it can´t have a population of more than 100 (it does, just seems that small). We found a great campground, complete with a hostel so if it rained we could migrate indoors and not get wet from the tent. The town is still incredibly quiet. Much of the shops, restaurants and whatnot are shut down. The local brewery (yeah, I was surpised too with such a small town) has a sign saying it is closed until Santa.

Saturday, after getting settled in, we took off for a walk around Lago Moreno, another huge glacial lake that is 50 meters from our campground.

Sunday has been a day of champions. We awoke around 9 and set off for a nice relaxing hike in the park. At a little before 12 we made our way back to town to experience a really cool, authentic type of BBQ. It is called Curanto. And while getting the whole story was tough, it either was brough to southern Chile from New Zealand or vice versa and has migrated over to southern Argentina.

They dig a hole in the ground and start a fire. In the wood fire they put a bunch of rocks that get really hot. Once the stones are right, they cover them with a layer of leaves. The food then goes on top of the leaves. Carrots, potato´s, apples, beef, chicken, chorizo, pork, and a pumpkin with cheese and peas in the middle are the main ingredients. I think in Chile they do more fish. The food is covered with another layer of leafy branches, some cloth, and then a layer of dirt. It cooks for an hour or so, then they peal back the layers to reveal an amazing meal. The Curanto we had was sponsored by the city of Bariloche (with some proceeds going to the local school) and was a big community event. We ate in the community building and were entertained by three teenagers singing the popular local tunes. The food was incredible. The band was pretty good too. The lead singer looked a lot like Mike.

Odd note on Curanto. I´m not sure if there was something in the leaves or what, but Sarah and I both felt a little tipsy after our meals. We hadn´t drank anything other than our lime flavored water, so it had to be something in the food. Very odd feeling.

With our bellies about as full as they have been, and with our cool cultural experience under our belt, we just wandered around town the rest of the day. And for a town that takes 5 minutes, literally, to walk from one end to the other, that takes some doing. I grabbed a local brew and Sarah a coffee in one restaurant and watched a small rain storm roll in and out. We wandered in to a dessert shop where Sarah got a homemade chocolate cake that seems to be amongst the best she has eaten. Perhaps she wants to elaborate.

Bariloche is the first town we are leaving where I feel like I am not ready to go. Sarah has felt that way about a lot of places, but for me this is a first. Usually I feel good about what we have seen and done and am comfortable leaving, even if I know there are things we missed. Bariloche is another story. I wouldn´t say it has been my favorite place on the trip, but there are so many more things I´d still like to do here.

Unfortunately we must move on. Tomorrow we start a long bus trek back to Santiago before heading up to Peru.

Post Post Additions

Geez, I forgot probably the best story of Colonia Suiza.

Sarah´s spanish is getting really good. I guess there are certain levels of understanding other languages. The basic hi and bye. General, basic communication skills (my level). Then I think there is a big jump to story telling. And finally I think you know it all when you dream in that language, or at least that´s what I´m told.

Well, Saturday, Sarah hit the story telling level and it was awesome. We went in to the ice cream shop to get Sarah some chocolate ice cream (she loves chocolate ice cream). Sarah was talking to the ice cream shop guy trying to understand the different kinds of chocolate he had. At one point Sarah taught the shop guy that Uva is Grape. Then she asked about Chocolate Suiza. Sarah said Chocolate Sucia. The shop guy looked very perplexed and then started lauging because she just called his chocolate ice cream Chocolate Trash. He then corrected her pronunciation and explained that it was a rum and some kind of fruit chocolate ice cream. While still laughing at the Chocolate Trash, Sarah then told the story of the infamous Peanut Butter incident. I thought the shop guy might break out in tears from all the laughter.

So, moral of the story, Sarah is rockin the Spanish less than 3 weeks in to our trip!

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Photos

Curanto
Step 1 - Dirt with Hot Stones

Curanto
Matt was trying to take pictures from afar until this guy (the Curanto maker) said ¨you gringo come closer¨

Curanto
Hot Stones, Leaves, now adding veggies & meats

Curanto
Adding Leaves on Top of the Food

Curanto
On top of the leaves some type of woven sack is added to guard the food, then dirt on top

Curanto
Removing the dirt and sacks

Curanto
And here is the tasty meal created