TravelStream™ news feed for member segacs on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/segacs en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:46:41 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237584300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237584300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237584300/tpod.html Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:46:41 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Punta Arenas, Patagonia, Chile

Southbound again We arrived back in Punta Arenas yesterday evening, after driving all the way back from Puerto Natales. The drive back was uneventful, and we both have a newfound appreciation for paved roads after the last couple of days. We checked into the hostel that Julie reserved for us, which was in a rambling old mansion with creaky floors and antique-looking furniture and skeleton keys for the doors. I was half convinced that I'd find someone's crazy old aunt locked up in the attic. After checking in, we tried knocking on Julie's door but there was no answer, so we left her a note and walked up into the centre of the city to find some dinner, which ended up being at a great pub that had unbelievably giant sandwiches. Stuffed and tired, we headed back to the hostel to get some much-needed sleep. Off to see some penguins An early start, as my alarm clock went off at six in the morning. I had to keep telling myself that we were going to see penguins to avoid hitting it and going back to sleep like I did yesterday. Luckily, the day looked promisingly clear, so it was easier to wake up. Isla Magdalena is the larger of the two main penguin colonies near Punta Arenas, with between 100,000 and 200,000 penguins at any given time. The smaller one, Seno Otway, only has a few thousand penguins and the chances of seeing them were rated as much smaller. So we booked the half-day trip to Isla Magdalena, which involved taking a small catamaran boat out on the Straits of Magellan for about an hour to reach the island. It was a fairly calm day, so the waves were only a few feet high; they can reach 15 or 20 feet easily on a choppier day. Approaching the island, we could see tons of tiny dots, and as we got closer... sure enough, <i>penguins! The entire small island was completely full of penguins. They were black and white, reached up to about knee height, and waddled around, digging into their burrows and standing in their monogomous pairs and occasionally flapping their wings and squacking. They came right up to us, and we could basically get within a couple of feet of the penguins, especially those swimming up from the water and crossing the pathway to get to the sand. We walked up the path to the lighthouse at the top, where there was a small museum and monument to the penguins. I wonder how they all know to come to the island. Hmmmm. Anyway, I think I could've watched those penguins all day. They were so cute and cuddly. I want to adopt one! Sea lions and dolphins We spent about an hour on Isla Magdalena, penguin-watching and taking about a gazillion photos. Then, back on the boat to take a short ride to another island, where there was a colony of sea lions. Not quite as cute n' cuddly as the penguins, and we could only see them from a distance from the boat. Probably a good thing, cause they stink. Anyway, I've seen sea lions up much closer in New Zealand. At that point, the crew of the boat passed out life jackets and we were able to climb out to the side of the boat and sit along the edge. It seemed a bit precarious, especially with everyone sitting on one side... especially when the boat started to go. We all got splashed with a few waves, and Scott dropped a camera battery in the water while attempting to change his batteries on the fly. Then, as we were sitting on the edge, we saw something swimming up to the boat. It turned out to be three beautiful black and white dolphins. They swam up in perfect unison and jumped right up close to us near the boat, and swam around a few times as if to say hello. It was pretty cool. What is this, the U.N.? In our little group of about twenty-odd people on the catamaran, there was a Quebecois couple from Montreal, with whom I spoke French, an Israeli couple with whom I spoke Hebrew, a Belgian guy who I spoke French to, a bunch of Americans who spoke English, and of course several Spanish-speaking locals and tourists. Trying to switch back and forth between four languages was making my head spin. At one point, the Chilean crew member confused matters even further by speaking to the Israeli tourists in fluent Hebrew. Yep, double-take time. Oddly, he thought it was strange that I spoke Hebrew, but not at all&nbsp;strange that he did. Gotta love travel sometimes. Punta Arenas After heading back to the city, we met up with Julie and proceeded to swap tales of the past few days. We found some lunch - more giant sandwiches at yet another restaurant - at least this time I had the good sense to share mine. And we wrapped up what was a great Patagonia-fest. On the way to the airport, we stopped off briefly at the cemetary in Punta Arenas, which is a tourist attraction in its own right, full of monuments and elaborate mausoleums for the prominent families of the area, including the Jose Menendez family. We only had a few minutes so we didn't get to see much, but it was pretty cool. Finally, headed towards the small airport, where we returned the rental car without incident despite the missing side mirror. Goodbyes It had been a really great week, festing with the eTrekkers. Jules and Scott were both heading back to Santiago for a day before flying home. I had a flight a couple of hours later up to Puerto Montt to begin the next leg of my trip. So we hugged and said our goodbyes. We will definitely have to do it again sometime.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238349840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238349840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238349840/tpod.html Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:43:38 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Back home once again. The flights were more or less uneventful. The security was the most stringent I've ever seen from Buenos Aires, and that's saying a lot, considering I've flown to Israel five times. They hand-searched everyone's luggage three times, in addition to two scans and an argument over a travel-sized tube of toothpaste. I'm not sure if it makes anyone feel safer, but it certainly makes everyone feel annoyed. On the other hand, the mood at the airport in Buenos Aires was jubilant, as the Argentinian soccer team beat Venezuela 4-0. Cheers could be heard from all the passengers at the gates.The flight from Buenos Aires had two choices for dinner: ham, or ham. Oh, and for breakfast? More ham. I'm not making this up.The good news is, I made the tight connection in Miami. The bad news is, once again, my backpack did not. I'm starting to think that the baggage handlers at the Miami airport aren't particularly good at their jobs. Oh well, what can you do? At least this time I'm in no particular rush to get the bag back. All it contains is laundry, anyway, which I'm more than happy to procrastinate.So now, I'm back in Montreal, where most of the snow seems to have melted in the past two weeks, and the Habs are still clinging to eighth by a thread. I'm pretty sure I had an amazing time on this trip, though I will need to catch up on my sleep and review my hundreds of photos to decide for certain. South America has intrigued me and I have barely scratched the surface, so I will certainly be heading back there one day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238281080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238281080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238281080/tpod.html Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:31:17 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Another scorcher today. The mercury said 30 degrees but the air said much hotter, thanks to the humidity. This morning, I took care of some last-minute details at the hostel, like finding a cash machine to settle up, and once again trying to find change. It's become something of a full time job here.Then, I caught the bus to the Recoleta neighbourhood. The famous tourist attraction in Recoleta, of course, is the Recoleta Cemetery, where the wealthy and prominent citizens of Buenos Aires were buried throughout history. The cemetery is very large, full of lavish sculptures and mausoleums. Of course, the most famous tomb is that of Eva Peron, and, kind of like the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, there were large tour groups who seemed to just make a beeline straight there, snap a photo, and leave. I spent about as much time as I could stand the heat, wandering around, snapping photos, and at one point I kind of latched onto a free guided tour. Except I didn't know it was free, so I was trying not to make it too obvious that I was listening in, until the guide gestured to me to join in and said the tours are all free there. They covered some of the history of the city, the famous people buried there from past presidents to artists to even sports figures. Extremely interesting.After that, all I really wanted was water and air conditioning, not necessarily in that order. I left the cemetery to stumble upon the city's largest craft fair, which takes place every weekend on the grounds outside the Recoleta Cultural Centre. I had a nice lunch at the nearby Buenos Aires Design centre, overlooking the plaza, and after that, I spent some time browsing the shops at the Design centre, and then the art, jewelery, handicrafts, and various other items at the craft fair. Despite the heat, the crowds were out en masse enjoying the day. It was a nice way to spend my final day in Buenos Aires.At the moment, I'm back at the hostel, hiding out under the air conditioner. Soon it will be time to leave for the airport to fly home. I'm sad that this trip has come to an end, but it's amazing to think of everything I've seen and done in only two weeks.Catch you all back in the northern hemisphere.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238198160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238198160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238198160/tpod.html Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:07:10 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Just across the river Plate What do you do when you only have a few days to see a huge country? That's right: Take a daytrip to another country. Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, is just across the River Plate from Buenos Aires, and as such, it's a popular daytrip. It can be reached by catamaran in under an hour. Unfortunately, all the fast boats were full, so I had to take the slow ferry, which took three hours in each direction. That's six hours on a boat to get to this town. It had better damn well be pretty special, is what I was thinking. Well, it was a nice day, but nothing all that special, to be honest. Colonia is a sleepy little town, which maintains a lot of its original Portuguese architecture, so UNESCO has declared it a heritage site. There's not a whole lot to do there, though. One main street with restaurants and shops selling the same cheesy souvenirs over and over again. It was also incredibly hot today, so after a few hours walking, I was pretty beat. Cobblestones and legends The ferry ticket I booked included a short city tour, which explained the history of the town. Colonia was founded by the Portuguese and kept changing hands every few years between them and the Spanish, until the Portuguese were kicked out once and for all in the early 1800s. It still maintains a lot of its original architecture, and there are a bunch of ruins, such as the city wall and the Viceroy's house. One of the original Portuguese streets is known as the Street of Sighs, and it is said that if you walk up and down it, you will get all of your wishes in love granted. Sounds terribly romantic, until you learn that the origin of the legend was that the street used to house prostitutes who would service the sailors who would come to the port. Yeah, maybe not so romantic after all. I really only had the afternoon in Colonia, but it was enough to pretty much see the town. I had a delicious lunch of homemade pizza in a wood-burning oven, had an ice cream, wandered through the plaza and the craft markets a bit, and then returned to the ferry port for reverse customs and immigration to go back to Buenos Aires. We got a great view of the sunset from the ferry deck as we set out. Ham and cheese, anyone? The saga of dinner on the ferry is one of those travel anecdotes that bears telling. See, my ticket included a voucher for what they called a "snack on board". I was pretty hungry by then and the ferry would take another three hours to reach Buenos Aires, so I went to the snack counter to exchange the voucher. I was handed a ham and cheese sandwich. The subsequent conversation with the cashier went something like this: Me: Do you speak English? Him: Yes, a little. Me: Do you have any vegetarian sandwiches? Him: No, ham and cheese. Me: I'm sorry, but I don't eat ham. Do you have any other kind of sandwiches? Him: No, only ham and cheese. Me: What are all those? (Pointing to a variety of different sandwiches) Him: Ham and cheese on bread, ham and cheese on croissant, ham and cheese on roll, ham and cheese on wheat... Me: Okay, well, can I have something else instead of a sandwich, then? Him: Voucher is only for sandwich. Me: Doesn't matter, I'll pay. What about those empanadas? What kind are they? Him: Ham and cheese. Me: Okay, how about the salad? Him: It's a ham and cheese salad. Me: Seriously? Okay, do you have anything on this ship that does not contain ham? Anything at all? Him: One moment please. (Consults with other cashier.) Here you go. (Hands me a bottle of water.) Me: Water? That's it? Him: Well, it does not contain ham. Me: Erm... gracias? Needless to say, it wasn't exactly the best dinner I've had on this trip. I did manage to supplement it with a caramel cereal bar of some sort, but it wasn't exactly gourmet dining. If you are planning to take a ferry to Colonia and you don't eat ham, pack food. Back to BA Returning to Buenos Aires, I fought my way through the myriad scam artists to get a legitimate taxi. I may be a dumb gringa tourist but I know it's not $40 pesos back to San Telmo. $15 is more like it. Since I'd been in Uruguay all day, I had no opportunity to sort out my Argentinian cash situation, so I was stuck with only a hundred-peso note to pay the cab fare. Of course, the taxi driver refused to accept it, so I had to ask for change from the front desk of the hostel. They wouldn't give me change either, but they fronted me the cab fare and charged it to my bill. More fun stuff. All in all, I am glad I got to see a small glimpse of Uruguay on this trip, though if you are planning to go, I suggest booking in advance to make sure to get the fast boat. It's really quite a schlep on the slow ferry. One more day...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238126040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238126040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238126040/tpod.html Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:34:38 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Buenos Aires highlightsToday was all about exploring Buenos Aires. I jumped on a city tour in the morning, as a quick way to see a lot in a short period of time. Getting there was interesting, as I got to experience Buenos Aires's subway system at rush hour. Anyone who has ever complained about Montreal's packed metro cars needs to count their blessings. At least our metro is somewhat ventilated, and there are a few places to hold on. Here in BA, everyone just jams in and bounces around like a concert mosh pit every time the antiquitated subway cars jerk to a sudden stop. By the time I reached my stop, I felt like I'd been on a roller-coaster ride.The city tour started off from Calle Florida, past the Plaza San Martin, and headed north to the ritzier parts of Buenos Aires. Beginning at the United Nations Park, we saw the city's giant metal flower, a landmark of sorts that is part art, part folly. It opens each morning and closes each night, and nobody really knows what the point is, but it gets photographed a lot.We drove through the green leafy avenues of Palermo, watching the dog walkers and the people out for a stroll, though on a Thursday morning, they were few. On the weekends, Palermo is packed full of people out enjoying the day, so much so that they close the roads through the parks to vehicles and only allow pedestrians.Next, we drove to the Recoleta neighbourhood. Recoleta is famous for its giant mansions, European-style architecture, and the Recoleta Cemetary, where all of the city's famous and rich are buried. The city's former wealth is very evident in Recoleta and Palermo, with giant mansions that are now mostly museums and government buildings, but which used to belong to single families.City centreWe drove along Aveninda 9 de Julio, one of the widest streets in the world, and one of the craziest, traffic-wise. We passed by the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires's famous opera house and theatre, which has been closed for renovations since 2006. They keep delaying the date that it is supposed to re-open. Then, onto the Obelisk, which, mysteriously, is a major symbol of Buenos Aires despite having no real significance that anyone can discern.The next stop on the city tour was the Plaza de Mayo, the city's main square and home to the Casa Rosada, the Pink House. Kind of like the White House, but, well, pink. The Plaza de Mayo is surrounded by government buildings, museums, and the city's cathedral. On the way out of the Plaza de Mayo, we noticed black smoke coming from a nearby building. One of the city buildings had caught fire.La BocaFrom there, we headed south to La Boca, one of Buenos Aires's most famous neighbourhoods. Though it's a very poor area, it is famous for its bright, colourful buildings, and of course, for its soccer team, the Boca Juniors. Sure enough, our first stop was the Boca Juniors stadium, where we could appreciate the passion that is Argentinian futbol close up. Boca Junior is one of the two main clubs in BA, the other being River Plate. Wearing the wrong colours in the wrong place at the wrong time could get you maimed or worse. Even Coca-Cola, the stadium's principal sponsor, had to change its colours to black and white because the Boca club wouldn't allow red - River Plate's colour - anywhere on the stadium.The colourful houses are most notably viewed in Caminito, an open-air museum with the preserved heritage buildings, surrounded by shops and restaurants and street artists and all that is touristy. La Boca isn't considered very tourist-friendly by night, but by day, it is certainly overrun. The houses were originally built by the city's Italian immigrant community, and many have been preserved. At the time, people lived crowded several families into a house. These days, it's not much better, or might even be worse, as we passed by one of the city's most run-down shantytowns on the way past the Old Port back to the centre. What a contrast between the sprawling European-style mansions and luxury of the northern part of the city and the abject poverty visible in the south. Argentina's economic collapse at the beginning of the decade took its toll, to be sure.The not-so-picturesque waterfrontThe Old Port isn't much used anymore. The new port, Puerto Madero, is much more up to date, and is in Retiro, the centre of the city. That's where the city tour ended. I had lunch at Puerto Madero, overlooking the port and the dirty brown water. Interestingly enough, this waterfront is a really happening spot in Buenos Aires, full of restaurants and shops. You might think it was pretty. Well, it's not, but I guess they make do with what they have.Protesters and pigeonsIn the afternoon I went back to Plaza de Mayo to people-watch a bit more. There was no sign of the earlier fire, so I guess it had been put out. The plaza is the main spot for various protesters to hang out, and that day was no exception. Notably, the Mothers of the Disappeared held their weekly vigil, which they have been doing every Thursday like clockwork for the past three decades, fighting to learn the fate of the approximately 30,000 people who "disappeared" during the Argentinian military dictatorship of 1976-1983. They gathered and set up a table with literature and information, and then walked around the plaza, with many people looking on. There were also several noisier protests, including one that seemed to be about a teacher's strike, and another that looked like it had something to do with the construction of the aforementioned Colon Theatre. And plenty of people just out enjoying the day, including lunching office workers, and a bunch of children playing with the many pigeons.Then, back to the hostel for a short siesta, which was much needed by that point. It's not ridiculously hot here, but it's very humid, so it feels worse than it is. All of that walking around was exhausting. One thing about travel, you definitely learn to appreciate little luxuries like air conditioning.Tango, anyone?Finally, it wouldn't be a trip to Buenos Aires without taking in the cheesiest of tourist attractions: A tango show. These shows take place nightly all over Buenos Aires, but particularly in San Telmo, where I'm staying. The one I went to included a beginner tango lesson before the show. Basically, it consisted of a big group of backpackers stepping on each other's feet to tango music for a half hour. I didn't learn much of anything, but I had a good time.The show itself was very lively, with great dancing, lavish costumes, and a live four-piece orchestra and singing. There seemed to be a plot of some sort, though my Spanish was certainly inadequate to follow it. I don't think it mattered much, though, since it was really all about the dancing.A few observationsNeedless to say, it was quite a busy day. Buenos Aires is an amazing city! It does, however, have a few quirks. For one thing, it's virtually impossible to get change, anywhere. Nevermind the hundred-peso notes (around $30) that bank machines love to spit out; nobody will touch those with a ten-foot pole. But even smaller notes are frowned upon. I tried to pay a $6.55 grocery total with $7, and got yelled at for not having the correct change. Sheesh! Also, Portenos - as the people from Buenos Aires like to be called - don't like to wait in line. They push, they shove, they elbow, but they don't wait. All that said, this is a great city full of history and culture, and it's easy to see why people love it so much.Early start tomorrow for a daytrip to Colonia. The trip's almost over, sadly. Gotta make the most of the last couple of days.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238032800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238032800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1238032800/tpod.html Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:41:32 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Welcome to Buenos Aires, the city with the tango in its soul.I caught an early bus to the tiny Bariloche airport this morning for my last internal flight within South America, this one a two-hour jump to Buenos Aires. I was really sorry to leave Bariloche; it's such a beautiful spot with a great atmosphere. But I was really looking forward to this final stop on my trip. Buenos Aires has so much history, culture and legend that it seemed impossible I wouldn't enjoy my time here.Arriving early afternoon, I checked in to my hostel in San Telmo. Unfortunately, this hostel is a bit institutional, and lacks the charm and chill vibe of the last few places I've stayed. But it'll be okay for a couple of days. I booked a couple of activities for the next few days. Unfortunately, my timing is off as far as futbol is concerned: The big Argentina-Venezuela match on Saturday is too late in the day for me to attend, since I'm flying out Saturday night. But I'm sure it'll be on every TV screen in the city, so I'll probably catch it somewhere.I set out on foot to explore the city a bit this afternoon. I walked up to Calle Florida, which is a long, famous pedestrian shopping street crowded with people, stores, restaurants, street vendors and performers, hawkers, and pretty much everything else you can think of. It goes on for blocks on end. I spent some time browsing in the shops, picked up a few souvenirs, and finally made it to Plaza San Martin at the end of the street. The square was full of what looked like giant decorative teddy bears. Upon closer examination, I realised that it was actually a UNICEF exhibit called the United Buddy Bears, which has traveled around the world for the last number of years to represent peace between nations. There were 140 bears on display, each decorated by a different country. I spotted Argentina, of course, as well as Chile, the US, the UK, Ireland, Israel, but alas, no Canada. I asked why not, and the answer was that Canada was having trouble finding a sponsor. Boo.On my way back to the hostel, I got to see something I'd heard a lot about: An impromptu tango show on the street. The street performers did a few numbers for the crowd right in the middle of Florida Street. It was great!A few observations, now that I've been in Argentina a few days: The Spanish is much tougher to understand than the Spanish spoken in Chile. It's faster, and the accent is weird. My Spanish isn't nearly as good as I thought it was, and I think it's getting worse by the day. (On the other hand, my Hebrew keeps improving by leaps and bounds, thanks to all the Israeli travellers I keep meeting everywhere I go.) Argentina also isn't as rich a country as Chile, a fact that is evident from the buildings and the services, though not from the prices - both Chile and Argentina are very expensive countries. And the people are even more futbol-obsessed in Argentina than they are in Chile, if that's even possible. All in all, this seems like a great city. Crowded, noisy and busy, to be sure, but full of culture and charm.More from Buenos Aires tomorrow!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237949520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237949520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237949520/tpod.html Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:18:57 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Bariloche, Argentina

Another sunny, clear, perfect, beautiful day in Bariloche. Today, I took the bus out to Nahuel Huapi National Park, to one of the mountains called Cerro Campaniaro. The views from the top are supposed to be unparalleled. There is a chairlift that goes to the top, but there's also a hiking trail and it's only about a half-hour hike, so I opted to walk it. Well, it may be a short hike, but it's short n' steep. The incline of this walk put even the steepest pitches at Torres del Paine to shame. Most of the way was straight up, with the last portion being a scramble with hands over rocks to reach the summit. I walked it slowly, pausing a lot to take photos along the way, and made it to the top in about an hour. There's a little cafeteria up top that was packed full of tour groups and such. Anyway, the view really was amazing. Since it was so clear, I could see for miles, with a great view of the entire area's lakes and mountains and the towns below. Truly spectacular.After cheating and taking the chairlift back down - no way could my knees handle that hike in reverse - I headed back to Bariloche. Lupper at a pub followed by a bit more chocolate (who could resist?) and then more wine and poker with the hostel crew. I think Bariloche is one of my favourite places in the world and I will be very sad to leave tomorrow.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237863240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237863240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237863240/tpod.html Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:49:50 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Bariloche, Argentina

Another beautiful sunny day in the lakes district. Today, I explored the town a bit in the morning. I got some groceries, changed some money, other mundane tasks like that. I also sampled a bit of the chocolate that the town has on offer. As a certifiable chocoholic, I have to give it two thumbs up.This afternoon, I went kayaking in the national park. Together with an Italian girl and a couple from Holland, we headed to a crystal 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. We had a picnic snack on the opposite shore consisting of coffee and some Argentinian cakes before heading back. The only annoyance was that, since it's the end of summer, the yellow jackets were rampant. Despite them, however, it was pretty much a perfect day.In the evening, the hostel crowd enjoyed some excellent Argentinian wine over a rousing game of poker. This place is really great, and I still think I may never leave.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237766580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237766580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/segacs/10/1237766580/tpod.html Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:53:07 -0400 South America - March 2009

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Bariloche, Argentina

Goodbye Chile, hello Argentina.Today, I took a 6-hour bus ride across the Andes from Puerto Varas to Bariloche. The ride was mostly uneventful. The buses in Chile are very comfortable, double-decker buses with reclining seats, and the views as we wound through the mountain roads were spectacular. We crossed through national parks, saw volcanoes and snow-capped peaks and beautiful blue lakes. It's early fall, so a few of the leaves are starting to change colour high up in the mountains but mostly, everything is still pretty green. It's easy to see why this region is such a popular vacation spot.The border crossing took about an hour, first with a stop on the Chilean side to clear exit customs, and then a perfunctory passport stamp on the Argentinian side. Immediately, the Spanish accents became more difficult to understand. That was the main noticeable difference so far.Bariloche is a bigger town than Puerto Varas, and a popular base for the nearby national parks. It is famous for its German-influenced architecture, and the whole place has a ski town feel to it, which makes sense considering this is a ski town in the wintertime. It's also famous for chocolate; every second establishment seems to be a chocolaterie. There is one chocolate shop as big as a football field, where you can watch the chocolates being made. I think I'm in trouble here. The hostel here is pretty cool, up on a hill with a view of the lake. I meandered around town a bit after arriving. There was some big concert in the main square, but I didn't linger long since it seemed like a political rally of some sort. There are people out everywhere just enjoying their holidays - tourists and Argentinians alike. This seems like a really great spot to hang out for a few days.I hear the Habs are continuing their meltdown. Boo. Come on, guys, get it together!
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Puerto Varas, Lake District, Chile

Welcome to Puerto Varas, in Chile's Lakes District of Northern Patagonia. This sleepy lakefront town is my last stop in Chile, and my first stop on the solo portion of my trip.I got in late last night after a flight from Punta Arenas up to Puerto Montt. More language confusion, as I got to practice my still very rudimentary Spanish with my airplane seatmate and with the driver of the van from the airport. When I got to the hostel, the owner greeted me in French. Turns out that not only is this hostel French-owned, it's also next door to a chocolaterie. I think I'm in heaven.Puerto Varas is very picturesque and is a popular base for lots of activities and trips in the region. Instead of going on one, however, I opted to take the day off today. I wandered around the town a bit, took a book down to the lakefront and read and people-watched for a while. I discovered that the supermarket sells bottles of pisco for about 5 bucks, so I bought one as a souvenir. I browsed in the shops selling jewelry and handicrafts. And I caught up on some long-overdue blogging.Tomorrow I'm heading across the Andes into Argentina. To wrap up the Chile portion of my trip, I really have to say that this is an incredible country. The people are reserved but so very friendly. The scenery is amazing and, given the geography, so diverse. Yes, it's an expensive country, and no, I don't speak much Spanish, but it feels like it would be an extremely liveable country. I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of all there is to see and do here, and I would definitely love to return.<i>Ciao, Chile! More tomorrow from Argentina.
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