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Published: March 25th 2005
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And so to Bariloche. After 19 hours and one bus breakdown I arrived in the city by the lake. The first thing that hits you about Bariloche is the style of the houses which is very chalet esque and you feel as if you are in Heidi land or something.... Oh ho and one thing that I had heard about Bariloche is the fantastic chocolate they sell here. I felt it my duty to try it for all of you back home and I can tell you - it is divine. Rich and sumptuous and lots of it, everywhere you go and since we are approaching Easter it really is the time for some chocolate 😊
So I got myself signed up for some horse riding. I had the chance in Mendoza and baulked as I was still not feeling 100 per cent so I decided that it was time. Of course with my luck the two others riding are these Israeli guys (SA is overrun by Israelis after they do their military service - 2 years for girls and three for boys they all take a year or two out to travel before University). Ok so these guys have
just been in the army, they are young and fit and kamikaze. So when it comes time to go down the mountain we are given a choice - either the gentle way which of course is my idea and the straight down vertically on a horse way. Guess which one we did. It was absolutely insane and I was freaking out watching the horses in front of me and seeing how they were sliding down the face of the mountain. No sooner have we done the ´hard´part do I feel this sliding sensation and I am off the horse! The saddle had come loose and I literally sidled off into some hedges. I missed some barbed wire by inches. 3/4 of the way up the mountain and you have no choice but to get back on and finish the journey. All I can say now is I am NEVER EVER going on a horse again. If I ever have to I am going to check that there are no mountains. I do have an amazing bruise which got lots of sympathy back at the hostel.
So after that things were pretty uneventful. Took a boat ride around one of
the main lakes and then walked round and island with a forest of amazing trees only found in this area. The tour guides here lurve talking. All the time and the bigger the mike the better. So we had a running commentary throughout the 1 hr + boat ride etc. Great for my Spanish it has to be said since nothing is in English over here. During the course of the tour I started talking to a Guatemalan and two Mexican girls and later that evening we met up for my biggest Parilla ever. Had morcilla (black pudding) again plus tripe which is yummy and lots of other cuts of meat. With lots of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon and my Spanish was flowing as quickly as the wine....
However hang overs are not the best when you have running commentaries all morning from another tour guide. This one was even reading out people´s horoscopes and I got special attention being the only non Argentine on the whole bus! I even got to pose for photos as the English girl!!! Also saw my first glacier in preparation for El Calafate. It has to be said it was very impressive and does not look as good on the photos as in real life. Also as the glacier is melting there are some amazing water falls off the face of the mountain which we hiked to get a closer look at. The glacier is called the Tronodor because of the noise it makes when some of the glacier breaks away. Would you believe it that is exactly what happened when we were there. It must have been the other side because you could not see it but there was a huge thunder like rumble which went on for several minutes.... had to have a hot chocolate to recover 😉
So now I am heading off to the bus station and Puerto Madryn which is on the other side of Argentina in my quest to see penguins. Hope you are all having a great Easter! Also posted all the photos on Mendoza and the water rafting if you have not seen them yet the link is on the Mendoza diary entry......
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/foodiefloozie/my_photos
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anonymous
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Great photos
Congratulations Nats on your Photo albums and amusing journals. Enjoy your dream trip as we share with you... - PAE