Hosteria Le Lac Villa La Angostura

... hike was fairly steady with short ups and down but very long. Mile after mile of barren land with a loosely marked trail to guide us. After a couple hours, we reached Los Banos, an area marked by a warm thermal hot spring. The spring is very hot, but it was regulated by cold glacial water which flows beside. A few well-placed rocks control the flow of cold into the hot to make it just right ...

... enjoyable for me. We have no time schedule, just the intent to enjoy the day. It is getting overcast and Harvey thinks the weather may be turning. I am experimenting with a new variable neutral density filter for my camera and want just a bit more time. We reluctantly get ready to return, packing up the backpacks and putting away the camera gear. The dogs wake up from their nap. As we are descending, we pass a couple on their way up. We all ...

... was prepaid, so we have only incidental drinks and sandwiches. Fortunately, we have enough cash with us since the satellite internet is down and they can't process our credit card. We ask Patrice about an appropriate gratuity; she suggests that we give one amount and that she distribute that equally among all the staff. We are familiar with this in lodges in the western U.S., since there are always people who you never meet but ...

... began to miraculously stay flat on the slope, not up on one edge, went in a straight line, not into a bank and actually went fast, a lot faster in fact than most of the people on the slope! I was also turning, really small, tight turns! I was snowboarding. I AM A SNOWBOARDER!! Holy ****! I was so happy and on cloud nine! I couldn't stop smiling and whooping and yelling and singing and totally being drunk and uncool, but I didn't care! I was doing it!! Four years of persevering and ...

... noch ein bischen in Argentinien. Heute wird mich ein Bus gut 500km suedlich, nach Esquel bringen. Ein Katzensprung fuer argentinische Verhaeltnisse. Dort erwarten mich erneut Schnee, Kaelte, Wind (was denn sonst?!) schoene Landschaften und natuerlich Pisten (oder auch nicht, aber zumindest Bergbahnen)Genaueres spaeter........ Mucho suerte y haste luego mati

... My Head is on Fire!! I didn't know if it was smoke or steam that I could see rising from my baked head in the mirror but either way it wasn't a good sign! Then scalding hot water began dripping from the heater on to my forehead, neck and lap making me jump each time a drop bombed me! As if that wasn't enough Johnny Logan was belting Hold Me Now over the sound system! It was like a very strange hybrid of Chinese Water Torture and Irish Childhood Torture ...

... and the main block every time we made a move in either direction. Very cute. Third day and we were finally able to get out and about. We took a gondola ride up to the top of Cerro Otto (Queenstown comes to mind again...) Cerro means something like volcano. It was great. Incredible views and lunch in the revolving restaurant at the top. I convinced ray to do the walk up a litttttle bit higher so we could see into the adjacent valleys. It was steep in places ...

... couple of vacationing Argentinians in a massive old teal American station wagon that was missing every part that a car would normally have except for a steering wheel nd the front seat. They took us to the road junction that went to Chile, where there were 2 parked trucks and another hitchhiker. I asked the parked trucks for a ride, but they weren't leaving till the next day, and then the other hitchhiker asked ...

Saturday 11 February 2006 Unsurprisingly the Chilean's were up and out of the Albergue way before us and had already installed themselves on the road opposite the campsite in an attempt to hitch their way to the border when we finally checked out. With our abysmal attempt at hitch hiking still fresh in our minds, we decided to find out if money really could talk and help us convince the owner of the site to drive us to the border. Success! We were soon on ...

With memories of the Peruvian government's inflexibility regarding our van permit extension still vivid in our minds, we were very aware of the approaching three month deadline on our Chilean permit. To avoid the possible frustration and hassle of an in-country renewal, we decided to make a slight detour to Argentina. Re-entry into Chile would then provide an automatic additional three months. Sixty-nine km after leaving Pucón behind, we experienced the quickest and most civilized ...