Chocolate City

We love this area, not surprisingly because it's just like home in Canada- British Columbia and Alberta. The rest of the country is very interesting as well as you have been reading, parts that are like our prairies, others like the deserts of the interior of BC. But, when it comes to forests and lakes with spectacular mountains, our soul feels at home.

Diane takes a break,

The ruta 40 is an adventure in itself as it changes from pavement to gravel, sometimes disappearing to become another road number. There are many opportunities to wander off into remote areas for wonderful tranquil wild camping, a welcome change from the touristy towns along this trek.

We wandered around for many days in this stretch of lake district, balancing our camping experiences between lake shore and forest and even some days in the towns. As usual we are treated very well and have had nice friendly times with locals, who have invited us to join their family get together. They are interested in us, where we live in Canada, most know of Vancouver and Toronto, and where we have traveled. They are interested in hearing about our experiences in other South American countries and most of all they love to hear that we are having a great time in their country-Argentina. The most important words a traveler can utter are "your country is beautiful".

OK, they like this wood/stone look. A LOT

More than other south american countries, Argentina and Chile to some extent, but mostly Argentina, share similar passions as Canadians do for touring and camping and barbecuing. Sunday family barbecues are the most cultural event that we have observed, parks and campgrounds come alive with family's visiting, playing futbol, cooking and eating together. A ritual so rich and such a great part of who they are, these, Argentinos and Chileanos. We feel honored to have experienced these traditions on both sides of the border.

In talking about culture I cannot underestimate the ritual of the Mate, of which we as well have adopted in a small way for our afternoon tea but here they drink Mate from morning to night, the Argentinos more so than the Chileanos. One Chileano said to us that Argentinos are crazy for their Mate. We also have had the honor to drink mate at family barbecues both in Argentina and Chile. Barbecues are called parillada in Chile and parilla in Argentina and are performed differently according to area or preference. Large stone structures, usually opened but some are enclosed like an oven, others are mettle drums with closing lids, while others are just basic fire pits with a grill. The oddest set up we saw was a metal cross big enough to hold a portion of meat, half or leg of lamb or pork which leans across the coals to slowly cook. Such large portions of any combination of meat are cooked, chorizo, chicken, lamb, beef, pork and there is an order to the cooking and eating of the meat which is often but not always served with fresh salads or vegetables. This is a tradition that many of the over landers have adopted, especially when we are together as a group.

A LOT

This portion of our travels took us as far north as Junin de los Andes where we turned south to return to Bariloche for a reunion with our group. The group; us, a dutch couple, a Belgian family and a French couple who met months ago in northern Argentina on our southerly trek to Ushuaia, have become a community along with others from time to time. For what ever reason we have bonded and become family and planned or unplanned, it is very nice to be together for a few days. There are many wonderful folk roaming around here who have become friends but just happen to be on a different pace than us and it is difficult to meet again. There is a rhythm or pulse that happens amongst travelers moving through countries and we each belong to one, meeting and re-meeting each other while never meeting others. So, to Bariloche we all arrive from different directions to this planned reunion, the last time some of us will see each other for a long time. We have become the "you are here" club and will continue to communicate and support each other and have reunions in the years ahead.

Yes

I could have written paragraphs about each wonderful and beautiful spot that we visited along this stretch; blue silken lakes that can quickly turn into white caps, huge trees in protected forests, spired mountains and volcanoes but , since summer is winding down here, (like September in Canada) I really wanted to tell you a little of our summer experience here.

But the views are spectacular