Argentina

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As I mentioned, the start of our journey into Argentina was something of a nightmare. A taxi took the two Irish guys, James and I to the bus terminal. It was there we incurred our first proper theft; a small invaluable bag to any thief but very valuable to us. It contained my mate gourd (an early birthday present) and 8 months of knitting work. Typical, 9 months travelling in impoverished and developing countries and we have no problems, we set foot in the relatively prosperous and developed Argentina and incur our first proper theft.

The walls inside and surrounding the bus terminal were propped up with bags, bundles of material, people and dogs. We searched and searched in vain for several hours before giving in to the dismal situation of a 5 hour wait outside in the freezing cold. 11pm (the time the bus was due) came and went. We took it in turns to ask the unhelpful operators about the status of our bus. The answer was an unchanging, 'diez minutos'; (10 minutes)
and 'No hay problema;' (there is no problem).
An hour and a half later, having missed another 2 functioning busses to our destination, we were informed that the radiator on our bus had broken. Another one would be sent.

Finally a bus did come. It was cold and uncomfortable and was only going to Jujuy but this was significantly better than the midnight air, there was no way to get our money back and it would be impossible to find a reasonable bed so we boarded with due glee. Not long after we had managed to get ourselves into deep sleeps the bus came to an abrupt stop, lights were ablaze and the bus was boarded by armed guards demanding that we got off immediately. The bags were unloaded, the night was even colder and we were made to stand shivering in line until the guards went through almost every bag. About an hour later we were permitted back on to the bus. About two hours after that we had to change busses, and not long after that I realised in all the confusion I had somehow lost my sleeping bag case. The bus from Jujuy to Salta was very comfortable, a bit of a kick in the teeth really as it was the bus we had paid for and only lasted about two hours and of course, by this time it was morning, the sun streamed through the windows and it was impossible to sleep.

Things improved after that. Salta was nice for a big city, although we had been expecting somewhere much smaller. Most of our time there was spent replacing lost items (all except the sleeping bag case which proved more difficult than initially apprehended).

From Salta we went to the wine district Cafayate. Cafayate is a beautiful little town surrounded by mountains stretching off into a hazy horizon. The hostel we stayed in provided free wine tours which we readily took up and had a fantastic balcony overlooking the town and its spectacular surroundings. The sun constantly shone while we were there which more than made up for the cold Argentine air. Unfortunately the hostel also had bed bugs thus I had a rather swollen body for most of our time there. The little buggers only seemed to go for me so James was bite free and thus had to put up with my moaning. The incessant itching turned me a little crazy for a few days (no change there then).

A champagne breakfast started off our third day in Cafayate as we celebrated the arrival of Mia and Eva into the world. We spent a good deal of time trying, often unsuccessfully, to get onto skype. The North of Argentina has surprisingly little wifi. Other highlights included a spectacularly beautiful bike ride to some waterfalls which we never found, although for a while we thought we may have found gold there and wine flavoured ice cream!

Leaving Cafayate was harder than expected. There were only two busses. One at 6am which we missed as the alarm on our phone was set to Bolivian time, and one in the evening which would get us in to Tucuman late. We managed to book a hostel in Tucuman over the phone however, and thus took the late bus and got into Tucuman at about 1am. The hostel was disappointing. Expensive, no curtains, and we had to make our own bed (which is fine if you’re not paying much but this was one of the most expensive places we'd stayed yet). An uneventful day was spent in another big city and we took the bus that night to Mendoza, another wine region.

In Mendoza our plans dramatically changed. Initially we were disappointed, expecting a picturesque little pueblo we were faced with yet another big city. We strolled around the shops and went into some of the ski and snowboard shops to pass the time. There we discovered that the following day was a free skiing day in Las Lenas (Argentina's best resort). All we had to do was rent gear and buy a bus ticket and we could ride all day without paying for the expensive lift pass. And that is what we did. We rented boards and trousers and boarded a bus at midnight.

The bus arrived at Las Lenas at about 7am and as soon as the lifts were open we were off. We rode all day in fresh powder and sunshine with only a short break to eat the sandwiches we had made for lunch. Superb. At 5pm we were back on the bus and back in Mendoza by midnight.

After a couple of restful days in Mendoza we took the bus to Bariloche. Notably, this was the first bus that actually provided me with a veggie meal. My vegetarian option consisted of ham and pork but it was different to James' so I suppose that is a start. Even more notably we played a game of bingo on the bus, hosted by the conductor. James won first prize, a bottle of Mendozan Chardonnay!

Snow-wise, Bariloche was a disappointment, especially after Las Lenas. In short, there was no snow, the resort hadn't even opened. The hostel we stayed in was great however. It had awe inspiring views of the mountain backed lake and a great common area with board games such as Monopoly which we enjoyed over one and a half bottles of wine. I think it is important to state at this point that I won.

We then went further south to experience the whales and Wales. First stop was Puerto Madryn where we went whale watching. We had been told that the best time to go was after 1pm so we spent a while exploring the town first. We took a stroll to the waterfront and saw the mammoth creatures playing off the piers. There sheer size was perhaps the most remarkable thing, and their proximity to us was incredibly close. We watched for about half an hour until they drifted away with the tide and then returned to the terminal for a snack. A taxi then took us to Play El Doradillo where we saw vast numbers of these immense creatures playing and possibly mating in the shallows not more than 10 feet from where we were standing on the beach. Standing there and watching them was an almost other worldly experience. I simply cannot find a way to put into words how remarkable it was.

After delays (ironically due to snow) and two replacement busses we were on our way to Rio Gallegos from where we took a connecting bus to Calafate to be inspired by yet another one of nature’s massive marvels. This one was Glacier Perito Moreno, one of the few glaciers left that is still advancing. The glacier was up to 70 meters high at its face and we were able to watch as a 70 meter high icicle broke off and crashed down into the lake below to become a floating iceberg. Another extraordinary day.

A 3am bus took us back to Rio Gallegos from Calafate and then on to Esquel, notably discussed in the Paul Theroux book I have just been reading thus; ‘There was nothing to these places, I thought, until you were on top of them. I did not know at that moment that we were on top of Esquel. I had expected more...nowhere.' Our arrival, although at a bus station rather than a train station and about 30 years later, felt remarkably similar to his. We had intended to go on to the Welsh town of Trevellin, founded by an Evans no less, but it was raining heavily and there was very little to do in Trevellin (only half an hour away) until the tea shops opened at 4pm (and it wasn't even 8am) and thus, reluctantly, we admitted defeat and headed back to Bariloche, via the hippy town of El Bolson.

It was still raining heavily when we reached El Bolson, thus all the artisanal stalls that the place is renowned for were closed. We went to the tourist office who informed us of some pleasant sounding cabanas for 80 pesos. Excitedly we headed out into the rain again to find the cabanas. An hour later, and soaked to the bone we found them. We had misread the map. The owner of the cabanas advised us that we had arrived in high season and thus the surprisingly cheap cabana (it was beautiful) was no longer surprisingly cheap. It was 150 pesos (about £24). We got him down to 120 and had a very enjoyable night making a special dinner in our private kitchen. Not even the power cut and consequently cooking in the dark could dampen our enthusiasm. It was almost like being back at home.

It was with a twinge of regret that we left the next morning for the bus station. The journey to Bariloche was again very wet and rainy. The weather had hardly let up since Calafate. We spent a couple of days there, in the same hostel as before. James equalised so we are now at one all in the monopoly stakes. From Bariloche we took an overnight bus to Santiago.

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Photos

Bariloche in a blur
after one and a half bottles of vino

Comments

[I]

"It was there we incurred our FIRST PROPER THEFT." I like the way you write Lauren. Good to see you guys still having fun in this long long journey. Very best