Hosteria Del Lago San Carlos de Bariloche

... that first day was largely rained/snowed off and I more or less stayed in the hostel, apart from exploring the town a little (basically a ski resort with not a lot more than tourist shops). Luckily it´s the best hostel I´ve stayed in so far, more like a shared apartment than a hostel. It´s also on the top floor of the tallest building in town, which gives excellent views over the lake and the rest of the town (when it´s not ...

... I took way back last July- in fact it's no surprise we discover a Swiss 'Colony' while mountain biking around the area. It's low season but there's still a fair few backpackers around. The hostel was decent but modest enought - the clean dorms and hot water though gave it a palatial feel thinkin back to the dingy accomodation through the Bolivian Salt flats a week earlier.

... dinner. We headed to the supermarket were the meat counter is an embarrassment of carniverous riches. Huge parts of what must be huge cows are on sale for no money. A huge steak, potatoes, vegetables and the mandatory 1 litre bottles of beer (x2) cost us £5! How are these people not huge? Onwards to Mendoza where apparently the sun shines, and I might be able to fill my toes again...

... and only one club opened that night. Usually they should start filling up by then, but there were only a few sketchy Argentine men hanging out in the dark. The club personnel told us that there was no dancing scene at all on Wednesday or Thursday nights, especially because it was just after the peak season. My plans for bodily motion were foiled. So we resumed our normal cafe/chocolate shop/cafe/bar crawl that next day, per normal ...

... cocoa chocolate. Yes it is as incredible as it sounds, in fact it's better than being dipped in chocolate and being... actually maybe not. But it's close! To sum up, on a scale of 'dropping a nuke on it would be an improvement' to 'as a matter of fact I've just put a deposit on a place' I give it a 'I could live here quite nicely thank you very much'. Till next time amigos! Photos can be found here.

... wrong. For example "adentro" (inside and brace for impact) and "delantero" (paddle forward) really sound the same to me when shouted in the middle of a Class 4 rapid so there were some rather awkward moments where everyone in the raft was inside and bracing while I was paddling ...

... each other until 3AM?!?!<br><br>I'd finally reached the point of no return and was heading to the door to ask them to put a sock in it when they finally stopped yelling and went to sleep. <br><br>In the words of a great philosopher, enufsk is enufsk and enufsk is too much, ag-ag-ag-ag-ag-ag...<br><br><br>Lots of love, <br><br><br>Al &amp; Katie xx

... day that we arrived we went up the Cerro Campanero. From here the views were amazing, the lakes weaved amongst lots of mountains and the colours of the water and forestry were really striking. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town centre. The next morning, we got a little confused about time, well Alex's mobile (our alarm clock) did, so we ended up getting up an hour later than planned. Even ...

... it) and it`s probably the best beer I have ever had. There are like 4 girls that work at the refugio. They work for 15 days and then they get 1 week off. They have to haul up all the food and beer and drinks and other supplies in backpacks. **** that, I had a hard enough time with my small daypack. I just chill outside on some rock formation hanging over a cliff overlooking one of the glaciers. This place is situated in the perfect location ...