Refugio El Manu San Carlos de Bariloche

... ever go to Argentina, DO NOT EAT HAM ON A BUS. Poor Al spent the rest
of the day, and most of the following one, feeling pretty rotten.

We saw lots of teenagers in Bariloche because every October, to
celebrate the end of high school, Argentina's final year students pile
into buses and go on chaperoned trips to Bariloche (or Villa Carlos Paz
- we know which destination we prefer!). They get driven around in
their buses to see the sights, wearing ...

... day before. She had a Land Rover waiting for us and a number of other travelers to take us back to the hostel. We arrived at the top floor of the tallest building in town to the penthouse that is Hostel 1004. It is incredibly cozy and has the BEST views of the lake and mountains than any place in town. The architect of the building had designed the top floor penthouse for himself when it was built, so that he could have the best seat in the house. The current owner of Hostel ...

... option. Trivia Question #6: Chile is the home of the driest desert in the world, what is the name of said desert? Have a great 3-day weekend, does it make sense when I say that every day feels is a holiday when you are backpacking? Michael ´I never felt magic crazy as this I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea I never held emotion in the palm of my hand Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree But now you're here Brighten my northern sky´ Nick Drake ´Northern Sky´

... to hire a car and spent 2 days on our own agenda. Despite someone putting the steering wheel and the gear stick on the wrong side it was actually a pleasant drive. The lakes are huge and the scenery, as ever, was beautiful. The lonely planet had described the route as being on a 'good dirt road'. Once again someone at the lonely planet needs to be given a good thrashing ...

Aventures argentines Argentinian adventures ---------- El Calafate (la ville, pas le glacier) n'ayant pas été une expérience inoubliable, j'étais pressé de partir. Mon ami Giuliano avait son billet de bus pour le lendemain de la virée au glacier, et sachant que nous allions dans la même direction m'avait gentiment réservé une place aussi. Mais au terminal de bus, au moment de payer, deux heures après la réservation, elle avait disparu... Et pas de place nulle part dans les bus jusqu ...

After 28 hours on a relatively comfortable bus, we finally arrived in Bariloche around 11 pm, and took a cab to what we thought was going to be our hostel. Turned out they were full. 45 minutes of wandering around the hostel area of town revealed they were all full. The last one managed to help us find a hotel that had a double room for us. Bariloche is a picturesque town with wonderful Austrian/Swiss style wooden buildings especially the main square with the main centre ...

... better! Funny how things have changed from Bolivia, where if there was a reclining seat you would be happy! The journey was fairly uneventful and we got to Bariloche at about 10pm George having booked us into a hostel over the phone. We arrived at the hostel and checked in. It was a funny place completely made from wood, with a great kitchen. Rooms seemed to exist everywhere and people would emerge from the ceiling randomly ...

... I heard that excuse I would be semi-rich. Ok, well, I tried. I walk my bike down this sandy decline in order to get to the lake and I find a rock to sit on about 20 feet out in the lake and I just chill and let my sensory perceptions become overwhelmed. I talk to some American girl there who is chilling with her Argentinian boyfriend and they are both super cool but they would be a lot cooler if he wasn`t there as she is pretty decent even in a bikini (most ...

... this way as it enabled us to cross the Andes by bus, something that we may not otherwise have got the chance to do. The bus ride was pretty uneventful, though at the Argentinian immigration and customs control they decided that one of our bags looked the most suspicious and so we had to empty our bags on the side of the road whilst everyone else watched - fair enough, there wasn´t anything else to do. They didn´t find anything though, so ...