Thru the Andes to Argentina

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(We are now at a beach resort in Venezuela for some downtime before we come home - it's too hot for the beach right now by the way. Thought we'd take this opportunity to try to catch up a bit with the blog)

Tue 7 to Wed 8 Dec – Through the Andes to Argentina

6am alarm to get to CruceAndino office in Puerto Montt to get the bus to start our Andes crossing.

This involved a few bus and boat journeys past lakes and mountains. Shame about the weather – it was cloudy, raining, and cold – but beautiful.

Peulla, the half-way mark, is on the banks of a lake nestled between mountains all around. There are only two hotels here, we opted for the cheaper of the two but it was closed at the time so we got a free upgrade to Hotel Natura Patagonia. Result! - A stunning hotel in a spectacular location.

The next day we crossed the border into Argentina (still in the mountains) by bus. Then boat – bus – hung around for 3 hours after lunch – boat – waterfalls – boat and finally bus to San Carlos de Bariloche.

Bariloche, Argentina

Bariloche is beautifully situated on the shore of a lake at the foot of snow-capped mountains and is a major ski resort in the winter season (it's Spring now).

Unfortunately, we couldn't see the mountains because it was raining. It was cold and windy as well! We found an Irish bar but Ken was disappointed as they only had bottled Guinness.

Thu 9 Dec to Fri 10 Dec - Bariloche

Weather and visibility worse .. yet more rain, sleet and stronger winds! We had hoped to go up the Teleferico – nice views and revolving restaurant – but unsurprisingly it's not operating.

This part of the blog should have been filled with lots of photos of stunning scenery but we took about four! Oh well, things don't always go to plan.

Sat 11 Dec – El Calafate

Leaving Bariloche for flight to El Calafate the sun was out and we could see the mountains surrounding Bariloche for the first time.

Went to a Parilla (grill house) for our first taste of Argentinian steak .. bife de chorizo (rump steak). Mmmm... Portions were large, the meat was really tender and delicious.

Sun 12 Dec – Perito Moreno Glaciar

We're loading all these photographs under a separate blog .. and deservedly so.

Mon 13 Dec – El Calafate

We had thought about horse-riding, but it was much too windy (198 kph).

A nature reserve - Laguna Nimez - was just around the corner from our B&B so we went to explore. Walked along Lago Argentino to get closer to an iceberg for photographs. The wind was behind us all the way. We struggled to walk back with the wind sand blasting our faces. At times we were at nearly 45 degrees. Hard work but fun!

Everywhere so far in South America has had lots of stray dogs, but here they are fat and very friendly. They lick your hands, wag their tails and follow you.

Tue 14 Dec – Buenos Aires Here We Come

Our flight was full – they had overbooked it (despite the fact that we booked it months ago) so they moved us to a later flight that was not direct. It doubled the journey time from 3 to 6 hours. We flew with Aerolineas Argentinas – wouldn't recommend the airline – we've flown with them only twice and both times flights were delayed and the leg room is the worse we've ever encountered.

Buenos Aires Here We Come...

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