¡Estoy en Bariloche!

Having a blast! This entry includes 1) me raving about the scenery (probably no one else will find this at all interesting), 2) bus stories, 3) people I’ve met and the things we’ve done. End of short version! 🙂

So since I last wrote… On the way home from the internet cafe, I happend upon an artisan’s market in the Plaza de España (much like Saturday Market for those of you in Oregon). I still hadn’t found a “wedding ring.” I finally found a little booth with a guy selling jewelry; he had this perfect little silver band for three pesos! For an Argentinian, that three dollars, but with the exchange rate, it only cost me a buck! It’s a good thing, too, because I’ve already lost it twice. That’s part of the reason I hate wearing jewelry; I always lose it. It’ll never do for me to have some fancy wedding ring… it’d be the biggest waste of money imaginable, because I’m sure to lose it.

Before I got on the bus Friday night, I kicked off my shoes at the hostel and realized that I’m destined to have a permanent layer of dirt on my feet while I’m down here. It’s kind of funny because my feet look like they have Chaco tan lines, but it’s dirt instead of sun-struck skin.

The bus ride wasn’t terrible like some travellers make it out to be. I slept well, it was warm, the food was tolerable, and I had a seat all to myself for the whole night. The bus kept pulling over, though, completely at random. When we got to Nequen (5 hours from Bariloche) at seven in the morning, they made everyone get off the bus for “10 minutes”. I assumed it was to fuel, but when the bus still hadn’t returned an hour later, we found out the bus was actually broken. So they got a new bus,  transferred  all our stuff onto it, and then picked us back up. Very interesting! I’m glad I don’t have that much stuff to worry about as far as it being lost in the shuffle of something like that.

During the unexpected layover, I met Effie, Martin, and Peter who were all travelling to Bariloche as well. Martin (from England) and Peter (from Scotland) knew each other from a bar where they met in Santiago, Chile, and Effie (from Australia) was travelling by herself. They’re all older than me and all seem to be  permanent  travllers. Peter is funny. He’s the Scot who’s spent the last ten years of his life working on cruise ships as a photographer. He boasts that he’s been to 120-some  countries   and he’s very sarcastic and  judgmental   but in a hilarious way. Martin is the Brit, who looks very much like Hugh Grant and behaves very much like the characters Grant plays in movies. Effie, the  Australian   has the best Spanish of us all. She’s been living in Argentina for a few months taking classes. Her  intonation  makes her sound  Italian, though.

Anyway… the the countryside from the bus window was absolutely amazing. Until we got very near Bariloche, it was mostly desert, but nothing like I’ve ever seen. Tons of purple-ish, reddish, brown-ish cliffs and valleys and scrubby sagebrush-like plants. The colors and scenery around Dubois, Wyoming is the closest I can come to describing it. When we finally got close enough to the foot of the mountains, it was incredible. The Andes are absolutely breathtaking – the colors are similar to those around Maupin, OR, but the majesty of the mountains is much like the Wind Rivers in Wyoming. The river we followed in was full of crystal clear, blue, glacier colored water like the Upper McKenzie. I can’t believe this place. The photo I found doesn’t do it justice. Bariloche itself is on the short of this HUGE lake, miles and miles long. It’s so beautiful. Kind of like Jackson Lake in the Tetons, but the flora is more like that of Oregon. And there are lots of monkey puzzle trees, which are really funky.

The hostel I’m staying at is really neat. It’s built to look like a cabin. Lots of nooks and crannies. Reminds me of the Teton Science School buildings. I hated it at first when I got here. It seemed like everyone was very clique-ish and had been here awhile. I felt like I was intruding on some really established social scene. But, that’s nothing a bottle of wine won’t solve! After a bottle of cabernet shared with Peter, Martin, Effie, and a couple from New Zealand, the four of us (Peter, Martin, Effie, me) headed out for a steak dinner at a restaurant that had been recommended. It was so incredibly delicious, and so cheap! For seven bucks, I got the best steak I’ve had since I’ve been here, fries and my share of two bottles of wine. Mmmmmmm….good! We headed to the bar afterward, and made it home “early” (2a.m.). People stay out VERY late here in Argentina. Dinner is usually around 9 or 10, and the bars don’t even get busy until 1 or 2. It’s completely common to stay out drinking until 6 a.m. I guess if I was still into the party life, I might give it a try.

I think I like the semi-drinking life better, though. We managed to make it out of bed and into town to look for rental cars by 11 a.m. We’re renting a car to do “the drive of the seven lakes” tomorrow. It’s supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, and we save 100 pesos doing it ourselves instead of going on a tour. I think I might leave tomorrow night for Chile. I was considering going all the way to the tip of South America where all the explorations to Antarctica depart, but I think I’d better save that for a trip in the South American summer.

Today, after we got our rental car reserved for tomorrow and ate breakfast, we attempted to climb Cerro Otto (Otto Hill), which rises about 2,100 feet above the town and the lake. We missed the fork for the trail, though, and ended up 2 miles farther than we expected. I think we walked about 8 miles today, which was really quite a bit. It didn’t seem like it at the time, for me, because everything is in kilometers. So, I have this psychology that a kilometer is less than a mile, and therefore not that far. We walked at least 12km in all. Although we didn’t make it anywhere near the top of Cerro Otto, the views were still amazing.

When we got back to town, we tried out this ice cream place that had been recommended. I have never had better ice cream. And those of you who know how much I love ice cream will understand what a huge statement that is. Ben and Jerry’s can’t hold a candle to this place. I wonder if it’s healthier?

Some backpackers, Dan, Dave, and their crew, have just arrived and invited me to dinner. All you can eat for $7. I’m starving, but I can’t eat that much at once. I think I’ll probably go just to get to know some new people. Maybe they’ll want to take me camping!