Beautiful lake side view
Trip Start
Jan 17, 2008
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123
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Trip End
Jun 30, 2009
Bariloche,
Argentina
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Once through we got on our way to Bariloche, unfortunately the bus station had not cash machine or house of money change only a little newsagent who gave rip off rates, so we change enough for the bus to town and withdrew our new currency
Amazing view
. We headed to the hostel 1004 which is meant to have brilliant views and we were luckily to nab the last four beds, Jon and myself and the American girls we are traveling with. Our room had amazing views and so did the communal rooms and kitchen. Every night the sun would set leaving the sky with a beautiful red lining above the snow capped mountains on the other side of the lake, making it a ritual to have your camera ready. OK so finally in Argentina and we decided to have dinner out and taste some of this tasty meat everyone talks of so we decided to splash the cash and have a parillia which is a massive BBQ of mixed meats, unfortunately I don't think we got the best in town and had lots of fowl tasting bits that I did´t even try. What we did do from then on is go to the butcher and for half the price of dinner buy enough cuts of fresh meat and grill it our self's, thankfully the hostel had good cooking facilities making this easy to do. Delicious, the meat here really is great once you know what to buy and how to cook it. mmmmmmm. The wine on the other hand I think we can leave to Chile.
Whilst in Bariloche we did a lot of relaxing and a hike to the Llao Llao island which was lovely and a great opportunity to see the outdoors of Argentina which really does feel a bit like being in an estancia (Argentinian farm) with horses roaming and such like
Anyone for golf
. The hike took most of the day and fairly easy terrain. All though knowing when to get of the bus was a bit of a pain and meant we have to walk back a few km. On the way home we decided it being such a lovely day that we would go up the chair lift to a view point and evening after reluctantly paying the expensive ride we all were in amazement once at the top, we truly hadn't seen such beautiful scenery, in fact I think it topped New Zealand which is really saying something. Argentina so far is very different to Chile, the people look very different, they are skinner, taller, slim and longer faces and really beautiful. The vibe is very different, music beats are a little faster and people are more blunt, it makes you realise how polite and genuinely nice the Chilean people are. Not to say we don't like the bite of the Argentinians, I think we are just a little out of practice. Fortunately for us the Argentinians speak a lot slower meaning we can actually understand them, pheww. This will mean our Spanish which is coming along will push a little further. Although they do pronounce things here differently and sound a little more Italian then Spanish.
We decided to fly to the south El calafate and managed to bag a reasonable deal which meant we didn´t need to take two days on a bus to get there, so our last night with Amy and Stephanie we decided to make another lovely dinner
Beautifully coloured sunset
. This time we had a few others one of the guys that works there joined us in exchange for a mate ritual. So we made my famous roast potatoes which came out a treat, roasted asparagus and onions and Milanese (veal escallops) which they love here and are very tasty. Dinner was lovely and Habe, the Argentinian gave me a thorougher explanation of how to make mate which is a very common drink here in Argentina. Mate is a yerba herb tea which can be drunk with sugar, more common in the north and with out more common in the south. The ritual is to share the drink and one person has the role to refill every time. Once you are passed the cup you drink until it is all finished and then pass it back to the person who fills it and then passes it on to the next person. It tastes slightly like tobacco and initially is quite strong but after a few times of filling it the taste becomes more palatable. I liked it alot but Jon no so much which makes sense as he doesn´t drink tea at all and coffee often, Habe also gave us an good brand name and after a little while may start to buy it myself.
Bariloche is a beautiful lakeside resort that is full of tourist activities, it has been a great entrance to Argentina but now we want to see the true country and discover further out side the lake district. Bariloche also is the home of chocolate and in preparation of our trekking in the Torres Del Paine we have taken a little stash. the ice creams have also been superb and no doubt contributing to the increase our waists. Ice cream here is part of daily life for people regardless of the weather. When in Rome....................
