Lakes Crossing=Long Crossing
Trip Start
Jan 14, 2008
1
19
22
Trip End
Mar 05, 2008
Where I stayed
Bariloche,
Argentina
Saturday, February 23, 2008
We boarded our first of four buses that would take us to the first of three ferries that we would take to get into Argentina. Our path was going to be Puerto Varas to Petrohue, over Lake Todos Santos to Puella over Lago Frias to Puerto Allegre to Puerto Blest over Lake Puerto Pañuelo and on through Lago Nahuel Huapito Bariloche. The trip was to take us a little over 12 hours. We soon learned that one company has a monopoly on the trip and well into the trip we also learned that a little competition wouldn't hurt, especially after crossing the border.
We stopped at a set of waterfalls about an hour outside of Puerto Varas. An unnecessary stop if you ask me, as the bus abandoned us for an hour when in fact seeing the waterfalls takes 20 minutes max. I gather they had to drop the bags at the pier and this was one way for the driver and the guide to buy some time. We did get some nice views of the Osorno volcano, so it wasn't all that bad.
Upon re-boarding the bus, we were taken to Lago Todos Los Santos, where we had an hour and a half ferry ride to the 100 person town of Puella where we had lunch and some people stopped for the night before continuing their journey. Lunch at the hotel was short but good and 45 minutes later we were back on a 4 wheel drive bus where we would travel 27 kilometers in an hour and a half over the Andes mountain range where we would pass through customs. Passing through Chilean customs was a breeze. Organized, fast and convenient. Argentinean customs on the other hand was a little bit of a mess. Our guide gathered all of our Passports and took them into a hut on the banks of Lagos Frias that was being remodeled. I actually think it may be in a 10 year process of remodeling. Regardless, our guide left us for 45 minutes to defend ourselves against the bees as they stamped our passports and took the smallest bags to be checked by customs. The whole process was unbelievably unorganized and soon enough there was a very large, very noisy tour group from Israel that joined our trip.
After a hellish trip through Argentinian customs after climbing over the Andes and losing an hour at the peak, we were pretty ready to be in Bariloche, yet we had two more boats and two more buses to endure. Yes, it was beautiful scenery, yes it was a beautiful day, but seeing that we were still only half way there was painful. Another short boat ride, another short bus ride and we were at Lago Nahuel Huape where we boarded an already crowded smelly ferry with people who were on a day trip from Bariloche and found a seat next to the rear gas filled engines of the boat. The one saving grace on the ride was the seagulls who entertained us by eating crackers out of children's hands and meeting a very nice girl who works in Providence, RI where Andrew is from for a family whose son Andrew used to play baseball with and was in Andrews sisters class. Small world. She was doing the Lakes Crossing as part of research for her agency Colette Travel. She had heard some nightmare stories from her clients about the trip and the company that makes the crossing and wanted to see why there were issues. Upon our arrival in Bariloche I think we all came to understand why people were not happy.
As all the locals disembarked the boat, we were kept on the boat an extra hour to wait for the last bus to take us to Bariloche. Again, everything was so disorganized and we were worried that with this as our introduction to Argentina, what the rest of our trip would be like. But after finally getting on the bus at 8:30pm to take us to town, we were enamored by the beautiful views, the enchanting swiss chalet style architecture and the lake and mountains in the background. Immediately we knew we would like Bariloche, even if it would be 9:30pm by the time we would arrive at our hotel.
We were transferred from the bus station to our hotel and immediately made 10:30pm reservations at a restaurant Andrew had read about named Kandahar, owned by an ex-ski racer from Argentina. All of the frustrations melted away as soon as we had our first sip of Malbec and first bite of the most unbelievable steak empenada. If I could describe heaven, our empenada would be it. I had a delicious homemade Gnocci, but had a little food jealousy when Andrews spectacular steak arrived. His steak was perfection, Andrew went as far as to call it a work of art and yes, we may be eating steak for our remaining 10 days in this country after that experience.
By the time we finished dinner at Midnight, we were exhausted and we retreated back to our hotel, where yet again it was unseasonably warm, but had learned to order a fan and slept clear through until 9:15am... the latest we had slept since Abel Tasmen in New Zealand.
We took our time getting ready and walked around the adorable town of Bariloche. We had one of the best coffees we had ever had at Antigua Cafe near our hotel with an unbelievable croissant. Yes, we will be fat upon our return home. All the great effects of the walking, hiking and athletic activities will disappear in Argentina as we plan to eat as much as we possibly can, especially when 2 delicious coffees and croissants cost about $3. We browsed through the shops, visited the handicraft booths and had a fantastic Mexican lunch of Steak Fajitas and Margaritas before leaving for our 7:50pm flight to Buenos Aires. I think we could have certainly spent a lot more time here in Bariloche, but seeing that the best ski mountain in Argentina is 20 minutes away, all I can say is that I have a feeling that we may be back.
