Hotel Tunquelen San Carlos de Bariloche

... een nacht een kamer geboekt om geld uit te sparen, dus nu is het een beetje de tijd doden in het hostel met internetten, thee drinken, lezen etc.<br><br>In Ushuaia gaan we couch surfen. Ben benieuwd, heb ik ook nog niet eerder gedaan. Is ieg weer wat goedkoper en dat geld kan ik goed gebruiken in Patagonia, want het is hier allemaal hardstikke duur. Wat het met name duur maakt is, dat je bij alle nationaal parken toegangs geld moet betalen en dat bovenop de tour prijs of de bus ...

... the winter time, the area turns into the Aspen of Argentina and in summertime it is a paradise for outdoors enthusiasts as well as families seeking to soak up a little bit of the wilderness. Bariloche is connected to its natural surroundings and the bus stand by a tremendous local bus system. Arriving haggard and tired from a long 17 hour bus journey, I hopped on the local bus and made my way to my hostel, in the heart of town, La Barraca ...

... clear beautiful blue lake entirely surrounded by mountains. It was like something out of a postcard. The day was calm and the lake was mirror-smooth, which is why I found the heavy-duty touring kayaks complete with skirts to be a bit of overkill. They seemed better suited to sea kayaking or river kayaking than the calm, lazy lake kayaking that we were doing. It was nice being on the water for a little while, though ...

... tracks on the Carretera Austral to Puerto Montt. It looked like an amazing adventure until I received and email from Giuliano: the road's closed because of the eruption of the Chaíten volcano, and big storms in the Pacific prevent the passenger boats from sailing. He was stuck there, had to come back to Argentina to go up to Bariloche, and was telling me not to come over, that it was a dead end. Fair enough. I received the message late the day before my departure, so I didn't ...

Entered Chile without any problems. We planned on going to a national park just inside the border but were being charged the same amount to the antional park as we were to a town 1 hour away so we decided to skip it. Went to our furtherst southern point,Puerto Varas. Struggled a bit to find a camping spot but ended up camping in a lady's backyard that she lets traveller's stay in during the high season. Used her kitchen and bathroom, a good way to make ...

... new friends and I rented a car, got a map, packed a lunch, grabbed our iPods and took off to see mountains, lakes, pine forests, and lots of cows and sheep. We chose a 280 mile route called the seven lakes road and had an amazing time ...

... complete absence of snow outside!<br><br><br><br>We had just enough energy on the way home to check out a few more chocolate shops, which were all really bright &amp; colourful in the darkness.<br><br><br><br>We can't wait to get out in the car tomorrow and do some exploring at long last!<br><br><br>Lots of love, <br><br><br>Al &amp; Katie xx

... beautiful setting, right by the side of the lake, and was very peaceful. We made a campfire by the lake one night and cooked sausages on sticks - very romantic. We spent a day exploring the other side of the lake too which was a lovely walk. Jay even went for an impromptu (skinny) dip in the lake it was so inviting - unfortunately (or fortunately?) he has deleted the photo's! Our walk ended up at a gorgeous little waterfall ...

... rapid to be honest). Me and the French dude in front have to paddle like a one legged duck and it`s pretty tough work, but going down the rapids is more fun than watching Beans drop draws and sit in a chair full of snow outside in the middle of winter for 30 seconds for like $2 or something (or hah, that time in Milwaukee we gave Hogger $2 to drink 2 pitchers of water and then he hurled or even better that time we gave him $10 in Vegas (after he lost ...

... which powered us to lunch where we enjoyed delicious empanadas, succulent fruit, and flan dessert. The winds and travel after lunch brought a different story as we batteled strong head winds caused by a shift in wind direction after lunch. As we motored on the clients were pleased with the jackets provided to protect them from the cold and the decsion by us to cut the trip a little short ...