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Published: August 7th 2007
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Following BA we ventured south into Patagonia. First stop after another marathon bus ride (27 hours) was Bariloche to hit the slopes of Cerro Catedral, the southern hemisphere´s largest ski center. Chris was keen to re ignite his passion for the snowboard while Kirsty wanted to try skiing.
Bariloche itself was a great little town, surrounded by snowcapped mountains and with some of the best chocolate shops we have ever seen. The hostel also had amazing views... but that´s beside the point - we were here to ski! A girl in our hostel was a ski instructor so she offered her services to Kirsty and another British couple for the day.
Probably the best thing about Catedral was the views - snow capped mountains stretched on for miles. The runs themselves were more for skiers than snowboarders - quite a few of them had uphill bits which meant unclipping and walking which was a real pain. The infrastructure was a bit lacking too - on our last day there a huge dump of snow cut power to the mountain so the lifts weren´t working. It was so dissapointing because all we could see was fresh powder.
Anyway, we had
View of the Andes from our hostel (during the day)
Bariloche is a quaint Alpine style village full of gourmet treats and chocolate to die for. a great few days in Bariloche and from there also visited Llaou Llaou - South America´s most expensive hotel - for afternoon tea and pastries. Backpacking in style! Couldn´t afford to stay there too long though - a whisky and coke was 44 pesos! ($17 AUD)
After Bariloche was the longest bus trip yet, a 32 hour nightmare to El Calafate. Argentinian buses are fantastic and the best way to get around down here, but this was a tester. It was all very worth it though by the time we got to the glacier Perito Moreno , 80km from El Calafate. Perito Moreno is an active glacier, part of a 300km long ice sheet that straddles the border of Chile and Argentina. Each day the glacier moves up to 4m towards the lake at the bottom. It was amazing to see large chunks, some as big as a house, fall off the 50m wall of ice and crash down into the water below. We spent hours staring at the glacier, trying to guess where the next piece was going to fall, hoping to get that perfect photo just as the ice breaks off and the huge splash comes up
as they hit the lake. Needless to say, we never could get that photo.
El Calafate was all the more comfortable because of our hostel with heated floors. Yes, that´s right - heated floors! Travelling in South America is so tough sometimes. Incidentally, this is also the closest we have ever been to Antarctica.
After El Calafate, another bus trip - this one a meagre 17 hours - to Puerto Madryn, still in Patagonia. We calculated that we have done 31 long distance bus trips on this trip. Puerto Madryn is Argentina´s number one destination for marine wildlife. We did a whale watching boat trip which was sensational. The boat took us so close (probably too close) and we got to see a couple of them breech which was really cool. The whales come so close
to the shore that you can also walk down the pier and have them right alongside you, along with a few sea lions.
Following our 14 hour bus trip from Puerto Madryn back to Buenos Aires and having come full circle we decided that no, we haven´t done enough sitting on ´semi-cama´ seats (Spanish for: seats that only go halfway
back so you can´t sleep without cramping ) so we walked from the bus terminal to the ferry terminal and hopped across to Colonia del Sacramento , in Uruguay.
Colonia was a great little town that´s sole purpose was initially to provide a point to smuggle items into Argentina at a time when importing products was illegal. It was also the site of some great battles between the Spanish and the Portuguese. The British also tried (unsuccessfully) to stake a claim as they wanted to have their fingers in the smuggling pie.
Anyway the highlight of this trip had to be lunch when we went (along with another Aussie we met at the lighthouse) to a seemingly innocuous cafe for a quick bite to eat. Anyway, shortly after we got there a singer started performing and about 30 or 40 Brasilian tourists entered and started singing and dancing to the songs. We all joined in and it was the liveliest lunch we have ever had. One of the Brasilians even got up and belted out a couple of croud pleasers himself. We ended up staying a few hours in one of those classic moments that only seem to
happen travelling in South America. The singer told us that he didn´t know any songs in English but would play a popular American song ´para los Australianos.´ We obliged by clapping and pretending that we liked but still don´t know what it was. The high point was probably the passionatly sung cover of Richie Valen´s La Bamba.
Apart from that our two nights in Colonia was spent wondering the cobblestone streets, visiting copious amounts of museums, and drinking wine at sunset.
As I write we are 8 hours away from hopping on a plane to Europe. While we are excited to go there, we will miss South America with it´s vibrant culture, wonderfully resiliant and happy people, and cheap, cheap liquor.
Next stop England! For Chris, returning home... for Kirsty, exploring new territory.
Adios... Kirsty and Chris
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simone
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Hello
Just got home showing Mum and Dad your travel blog, they love the photos. Dad asks does Chris have a drinking problem?? You have a different hat in each photo. Hope England is going well. We love the alpaca/lama and Kirsty Photo "meeting of the minds" and the love heart seat is Simone's favorite. Safe travels. XXXXX