Switzerland? Stop 7
Well I´m actually in Bariloche, which is in the lake district of Argentina, the gateway to Patagonia. 
But if they weren´t all speaking spanish, I would of thought I was in Switzerland!
This city rocks! They even named shops after me.
I need to get back here for winter as South America´s largest ski field is down the street and around the corner with about 300 runs with costs coming in around 50% of what they are back in Australia.
Let me start from the beginning though. I actually updated this page when I had a stopover in Puerto Montt on my way from Isla de Chiloe to Bariloche but either I´m going crazy (which is probably more likely) or it hasn´t worked.
Isla de Chiloe was awesome. My whole intentions of going there was to check out the National Park that makes up 35% of the island or something along those lines, but I hardly left the hostel. The weather was poor 90% of the time, so I commited myself to nothing more than seafood, wine, beer and lots of relaxation. I met some great guys from Germany with whom we got absolutely wasted (thanks for the scotch Linda), consumed some of the best seafood I ever eaten, checked out a Chilean Rodeo, cooked up some damn good steaks and chilled out.
There were some really inspirational people in Chiloe, the Germans mentioned above are trekking throughout Chile and Argentina, basically heading where no other man has gone before and getting lost along the way. Another couple that where in our Hostel on the shore were Ben (German) and Mel (Aussie), who on the morning that I took off were on their way to being dropped off in a lake in the middle of the island to make their way back to the ocean by inflatable boat they had purchased in Santiago from a South American version of K Mart. They were giving themselves 20 days to do the trip, but only taking enough food for 10 as they plan to hunt and fish for the rest of it. What I couldn´t belive was that they were only taking 5 liters of wine to last them that whole time (especially if you had of seen what the consumed the previous night).
So anyway after doing nothing for 2 days in Chiloe, which is exactly what I needed, I bussed it back up to Puerto Montt and then across the border to Bariloche. Got in late last night, but have been around the city today and it is just beautiful. The owners of the hostel where I am staying have another hostel on a lake, on a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, so I am gonna take off there this afternoon for a bit before heading back into town for one last night and taking the bus down the treturous (no idea how to spell that) Ruta 40, which is basically a gravel road that hugs the Argentinian Southern Andes and takes you through several small quaint and out of control towns before ending up in El Chalten, where the hiking begins.
Am uploading pictures as I type so if all goes according to plan, after 3 cameras in 2 weeks, I may just have published my first photos of South America.
Let the good times roll!
But if they weren´t all speaking spanish, I would of thought I was in Switzerland!
This city rocks! They even named shops after me.
I need to get back here for winter as South America´s largest ski field is down the street and around the corner with about 300 runs with costs coming in around 50% of what they are back in Australia.
Let me start from the beginning though. I actually updated this page when I had a stopover in Puerto Montt on my way from Isla de Chiloe to Bariloche but either I´m going crazy (which is probably more likely) or it hasn´t worked.
Isla de Chiloe was awesome. My whole intentions of going there was to check out the National Park that makes up 35% of the island or something along those lines, but I hardly left the hostel. The weather was poor 90% of the time, so I commited myself to nothing more than seafood, wine, beer and lots of relaxation. I met some great guys from Germany with whom we got absolutely wasted (thanks for the scotch Linda), consumed some of the best seafood I ever eaten, checked out a Chilean Rodeo, cooked up some damn good steaks and chilled out.
There were some really inspirational people in Chiloe, the Germans mentioned above are trekking throughout Chile and Argentina, basically heading where no other man has gone before and getting lost along the way. Another couple that where in our Hostel on the shore were Ben (German) and Mel (Aussie), who on the morning that I took off were on their way to being dropped off in a lake in the middle of the island to make their way back to the ocean by inflatable boat they had purchased in Santiago from a South American version of K Mart. They were giving themselves 20 days to do the trip, but only taking enough food for 10 as they plan to hunt and fish for the rest of it. What I couldn´t belive was that they were only taking 5 liters of wine to last them that whole time (especially if you had of seen what the consumed the previous night).
So anyway after doing nothing for 2 days in Chiloe, which is exactly what I needed, I bussed it back up to Puerto Montt and then across the border to Bariloche. Got in late last night, but have been around the city today and it is just beautiful. The owners of the hostel where I am staying have another hostel on a lake, on a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, so I am gonna take off there this afternoon for a bit before heading back into town for one last night and taking the bus down the treturous (no idea how to spell that) Ruta 40, which is basically a gravel road that hugs the Argentinian Southern Andes and takes you through several small quaint and out of control towns before ending up in El Chalten, where the hiking begins.
Am uploading pictures as I type so if all goes according to plan, after 3 cameras in 2 weeks, I may just have published my first photos of South America.
Let the good times roll!
posted by Sanchez at 3:41 AM
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