San Carlos De Bariloche, Argentina
Monday, December 19, 2005
A loooooong bus ride and unfortunately a short stay in this beautiful Lake district area of Argentina. We departed for Bariloche (a town south and west of BA in the Argentina Pantogonia), luckily on a very pimped bus (no chicken buses so far, most likely in Bolivia Iīm sure of it), we went essentially "coche cama" class and the bus had only three seats across, both seats upstairs and down. Nice, comfortable, first class seats, on the topside. We opted for the very first two seats up front since we knew we would have the best view once we got into Pantagonia. We could have gone "executivo" for an extra 3 bucks each and been served vino and champagne during the 23 hour ride but they didnīt have the same seats available. I opted for the view, (believe it or not!) The bus station in Buenos Aires was quite the overwhelming experience since they have so many buses to choose from! It is essentially the way the locals travel as airline flights are quite expensive. My Spanish still needs some work but we chose what we thought looked to be a good bus, ended up being a good choice
! We had lots of comida and drink served to us on these special lap trays and we actually slept. Anyway enough about the bus, (I guess when I think of all of the various types of overnight transport I have taken in my travels, this bus was muy bueno!!.) The landscape of what is the Argentine Pantigonia is vast and open. I look forward to seeing more in Chile. The lake area we stayed in was surrounded with snow capped mountains and lots of lupine in bloom! For those of you unfamiliar with lupine it is a beautiful tall wildflower that blooms in clusters on long spikes. There are thousands in bloom of all colors- blue, purple or pink (about12-15 mm. long.9 In addition, to the lupine the brooms (a type of bush) was also in bloom with bright yellow flowers. With all the green trees, flowers in bloom, the lakes contrasted against the tall snow capped mountains made for quite the beautiful scenery! The town was quaint and full of ski and chocolate stores and several St. Bernard dogs running around, almost thought I was in Switzerland! We rented mountain bikes for the day and rode over 40 miles in what is called the "Circuito Chico". What we thought was going to be a fairly easy ride felt like it was all up hill!! Needless to say my bum and my legs were quite sore at the end of the day! We even got drenched at the end of the ride by golf ball size rain drops and some hail!! Yes, an adventure but the vies were incredible and we treated ourselves in the town of Llao Llao by visiting the famous five star Llao Llao Hotel that sits atop a hill in a luxurious setting, with all the snow covered mountains and crystal clear lakes! Wasnīt sure if they would let us in since we had just rode our bikes 25 miles up and down hills and we were not looking so 5 star! But, with a smile and little cleaning up we got in and sat on the patio and had lunch with a few beers overlooking the incredible million dollar view! And the best part, Heineken beers were only $2.30 a pop! Gotta love good value when you can get it! Now, maybe some of you can understand why it is hard to go out in America! Well as soon as I find a decent computer I will upload some of my photos. We plan to head further south and eventually go into Chile to visit the Torres Del Paine national park.
Comments
Burmese Days
Sorry, sorry, sorry for not writing in such a long time (has been a lot of moving these last months, but at least we are now really settled together in Berlin).
We are very happy to see you two travelling again - although we are a bit disapointed as we hoped to see you around in Asia next month (just bought two tickets Berlin - Bangkok) and not in South America ;-)
Stay tuned and have some ot those good value beers on us!
Marie und Sebastian
Happy Holidays
OMG, I swear, I don't know anyone else like you two!
I refer to you guys as 'The Wild Thornberrys' LOL...I'm glad to hear that all is well. Travel Pod? Man, I'm sooo behind. Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with us, especially of things I may never get to see in life. Well, you guys take care and have a great & safe holiday season.
these pictures are so nice . can u share more pictures?