Bariloche

I arrived in Dina Huapi 1st April to visit and stay with my friends Carina and Mark and their two children Emily (17 yrs) and Mateo (13 yrs). 

Llegué a Dina Huapi, 1 Abril, para visitaba con mis amigos Carina y Mark y sus hijos Emily y Mateo.

Llao Llao Hotel. This is where the very rich people stay in Bariloche

This is were I stayed at Mark and Carina's house - after 5 years back in
 Argentina the construction of the house is a work in process

From left me, Carina, Mark, Mateo and Emily

Mark and Carina share a drink of Mate

View of Lake Nahuel Haupi from the town of Dina Huapi

I am also here to go to school for 2 weeks to try and improve my Spanish. The Spanish school is in the small city of Bariloche a 30 minute bus ride from Dina Huapi. Lessons start at 9am and finish 1pm. There are only two of us in my class and for 4 hours a day we speak no English and have had lots of interesting discussions about Argentinian history, politics and culture. Carina and Mark have also been very patient with me and we try and speak mostly in Spanish. 

Bariloche is a small town situated in the Lakes District and lies within Nahuel Haupi National Park. The area is a paradise for hiking, water sports and ski-ing in winter.

Vine a esta lugar también fui a la escuela Academia Bariloche para aprendar español. La escuela se quede en Bariloche, una ciudad pequeña adentro Parque Nacional Nahuel Haupi. Tomé un colectivo por treinta minutos a la escuela. Empezaba la clase al nueve por la mañana hasta a la una por la tarde el lunes a viernes. Solo dos estudiantes en mi clases y hablábamos en español todo el tiempo sobra la historia, la política y cultura de Argentina. Carina y Mark hablan español conmigo también y estaron muy paciente conmigo.

The square/plaza in Bariloche

View of Lake Nahuel Haupi during drive around the pennisula (Circuito Chico)

Spanish class. From left our teacher Graciela, me and Judith

Outing with the Spanish School. From left school owner Gloria with students Judith (US), me and Katie (US)

Walking near Bariloche at Lake Guiterrez.

My body clock has also had to adjust to a different rhythm here. Many shops close 1pm - 5pm and no-one eats dinner here before 9pm as I had discovered when I went to a restaurant earlier in my travels at 8pm to find I was the only person there. By 10pm when I was ready to leave the place was rocking.

I have also been getting kissed a lot (on the cheek) as this is how everyone greets each other here. Plus more kisses when you say good bye. And no matter where you go: work, hiking etc everyone takes their Mate to drink and share with friends.

El tiempo es muy diferente aquí. Las tiendas cerraban desde a la una hasta a las cinco. La gente comía a las nueve o más tarde. Antes cuando fui al restaurante a las ocho estuvo vació pero a las diez estuvo lleno y ruidoso.

Recibió muchas besos aquí porque siempre la gente se le da besar cuando saludaba y cuando dejaba. Todo del mundo bebió Mate aunque estaba trabajando, caminando, visitando.  Todos las cosas hacer es importante paraba para beber Mate con amigos

Rest stop for Mate on walk

Track sign

Drinking mate on top of  Cerro Llao Llao

Another view from Mt Llao Llao

There are also many other not so healthy activities here in Bariloche such as  eating gourmet ice cream, homemade chocolates, sweet pastries, Dulce de Leche (described by Wikipedia as candy milk), Batata (sweet potato paste), Mantecol (peanut paste),  Alfajores (biscuits/cookies usually with a dulce de leche filling), plus there is fantasticly good and cheap wine to drink for as little as $6 a bottle. I have been doing my best to indulge in all this as much as possible.

Hacia muchas actividades y tentaciones también que no bien para la salud por ejemplo: helados artesanal, chocolate artesanal,  Dulce de Leche, Batata, Mantecol, Alfajores, y por supuesto vino muy bueno y más barato que Nueva Zelanda.  

But of course all good things must come to an end. I spent my last two days in Buenos Aires where I met up with my friend Valeria and also had a bag stolen. Luckily it did not contain my money, passport or bank cards.


El ultima fin de semana fui a Buenos Aires  y encontré a mi amiga Valeria. Durante mi visitante los ladrónes robaron mi bolsa. Por suerte el bolsa no incluye plata ni pasaporte ni tarjeta de banco.

 

Palace of the Argentine National Congress in Buenos Aires

Me and Valeria enjoying a wine at Café Tortoni
This is the most famous café in Buenos Aires frequented by many
of Argentina's rich and famous

Lanin National Park

Me in front of Volcán Lanin.

Day 1: On my first day in Argentina I visited the Lanin National Park office and inquired about climbing Volcán Lanin. But yet again the weather forecast was not good for climbing volcanos.

Plan B was to walk south through Lanin national park. But as I was to discover this was not so simple as many of the tracks showing on my map did not exist or were closed for the hunting season. Also many buses operating during the tourist season had stopped running after Easter.

I managed to hitch hike to a place called Puerto Canoa many Kilometres down a dirt road. From here an elderly Mapuche woman and her two grandchildren with some difficulty rowed me and and a couple from Buenos Aires a short distance across the lake to an idyllic campsite.

Día 1: La primero día en Argentina. Viste la oficina del parque nacional porque quería subir Volcan Lanin pero no pudé por mal tiempo.

Plan B: Quería caminar por Parque Nacional Lanin pero no fue fácil porque algún senderos estaba cerrado por caza de ciervo y otras en el mapa en realidad no existe. Entonces tuvé que cambiar mis planes.

Hice dedo a Puerto Canoa al lado del Lago Huechulafquen. Desde Puerto Canoa tome en barco hasta el campamento muy lindo. Mapuche vivían en este parque y tenían cuidado del parque junto el gobierno así que Mapuche se dirigían el campamento y barco aquí. 

View from campsite

My holiday home

Voclán Lanin. View from the south side

Mapuche are the indigenous people here and work together with government agencies to manage the park. When I was hiking  I was surprised to see catttle grazing in the park. I have since been told that Mapuche have historical rights to continue to do this in the national park.

Day 2: I walked 3 hours to another idyllic campsite beside Lake Paimun. I was even brave enough to go for a swim in the lake even though the wáter was freezing. However it was necessary as I had not had a proper wash in a week. The dust and ash here is pervasive and my clothes are filthy.

Dia2: Caminaba tres horas a campamento a Aila al lado del Lago Paimun. Fui valiente y nadar en el lago aunque estaba frio. La primero vez me lavé en una semana por eso fue necesario. También mis ropas estaban sucia porque iba mucho polvo y ceniza.

The best part about holidays is being able to relax and read

Day 3: I walked 5 hours through the forest to Las Termas ( hot pools), a camping ground situated on a dirt road that can take you over a pass back into Chile. It had started raining. At the campground they told me the road into Chile was closed and that there will be no more cars on this road until spring. Luckily the campground owners were heading back into town and offered me a lift thus saving me several days walk down this road to get back to civilisation.

I was dropped off in San Martin. de Los Andes. A small tourist town by Lake Lacar.

Día 3: Caminaba cinco horas por el bosque a Campamento de Los Termas al lado del camino de tierra. Esta ruta va a Chile o San Martin de Los Andes pero el paso de Chile estaba cerrado por inverno entonces no había bus o coches. Por suerte los dueños del campamento me ofreceron llevar en coche entonces no tuve que caminar por dos días para la civilización..

Llegué a San Martin, un buen pueblo al lado de Lago Lacar.

Day 4: I spent two nights and a day in Sans Martin.

Here I walked up to a lookout over the lake at Bandumias and visited the Che Guevara museum which was surprisingly good. Although I did find it strange to find a museum about Che here in a place he never lived but only stayed for two days at the bus station to recover from an asthma attack.

Día 4: Pase dos noches en San Martin. Visite Mirador Bandumias y el Museo de Che Guevara. El museo fue interesante.

 Mirador Bandumias

Graffitti I saw during my walk

Che Guevara museum



Villarrica Traverse

For five days I tramped through the spectacular Villarrica National Park.

Por cinco dias hice una excursion hasta el Parque Nacional Villarrica.

Day 1: Walking through the forest I met a family of Chileans collecting the fruit (Piñones) of the very unusual looking Araucaria tree or Monkey Puzzle tree in English. They are everywhere on the ground and I was given some to try. The taste is very nutty and are considered a delicacy here.

After 6 hours walking I arrived at the first camp site just as it started raining.

I met my first person tramping the traverse when I had to walk back half an hour to find water. Amanda from the US invited me to drink Mate with her before I headed back to my campsite. Yerba Mate is a herbal tea and  Argentinians are very passionate about it. The tea is drunk through a metal straw (bombilla) from a gourd (mate) and is a drink to be shared around friends involving certain rituals.

By the time we finished the Mate it was dark and misty, which made for an interesting walk back to my campsite At one point I did lose the track and thought I was in for a cold wet night out without the comforts of my tent and sleeping bag. Luckily for me I did manage to navigate my way "home" safely.

Dia 1: Caminaba por el bosque y conocía una familia de chilenos que recogían los Piñones. Habia muchos en el suelo. Me dieron para probar. El sabor es como nuez aquí estaba una delicia. Después de seis horas llegue al campamento, cuando empezé a llover. Encontre la primera persona hizo la traversía cuando volví treinta minutos para encontrar agua. Amanda de Unidos me ofrecío mate después regresé a mi carpa. La caminata de vuelta fue muy interesante porque la noche estaba oscuro, y había mucho niebla y casi me confunde el sendero. Buena suerte y encontré mi carpa.
 

Volcán Villarica (2847m)

Araucaria/Monkey Puzzle tree

Day 2: The weather cleared and the skies were blue once again. I walked around the volcano through the lava fields with great views of the glacier on the northern side of the mountain. I also got my first glimpses of the other two volcanoes in the area Volcan Quetrupillan (2360m) and Volcan Lanin (3747m) which sits right on the border between Chile and Argentina.

Dia 2: Me desperté y el cielo estaba azul.Caminaba alrededor del volcán por el suelo de lava. Había una vista magnifico del glaciar norte de la montaña. También podía ver los otro dos volcanes en la zona, Volcán Quetrupillan (2360m) y Volcán Lanin (3747m), entre la frontera de Chile y Argentina.

 

Lava field

 
I walked another 6 hours to the next campsite at Rio Pichillancahue. Unlike the night before this campsite was situated right beside the river so I had plenty of water.

Today I met a French couple, a Canadian woman and a Chilean man doing the same tramp. So much for the prediction that the park was deserted.

Day 3: From the campsite it was a short walk to a 4WD track. It is Easter time now and there were many Chilean families in the forest collecting the Pinones.

I checked in with the CONAF office situated here as required before setting off on a steep climb out of the valley to the next campsite at the Upper Estero Mocho at the base of Volcan Quetrupillan.

Caminaba otras seis horas hasta el campamento próximo a Rio Pichillancahue al lado del río entonces tenia mucha agua.

Hoy conocía a pareja una de Francia, una mujer de Canada y un hombre chileno que la misma excursión. No es verdad que el parque esta desierto.

Dia 3: Era la Semana Santa y había muchas familias chilenos en el bosque que recogían pinoñes. Conocía la oficina de CONAF quedaba aquí. Después dejé el  valle y subí hasta el campamento próximo: Upper Estero Mocho cerca del Volcán Quetrupillan.
 

 

 

Araucaria/Monkey Puzzle trees

Volcán Villarica

Me with Volcan Quetrupillan and Lanin in the distance

 

 

Volcan Quetrupillan

 

Day 4: Today I set off to climb Volcan Quetrupillan. I was disappointed I could not reach the highest point due to the very unstable rock. But I did get great views of the glacier and the surrounding countryside. From the mountain I took a short cut accros the moraine and lava fields to reach the track and my next campsite at Laguna Blanca (1600m). This place is magical. I was the only person here apart from a couple of guys hooning around the lake on their motor cross bikes and disturbing the peace. Luckily they left after an hour and I was left alone to enjoy the tranquility of this place.

Día 4: Hoy quería subir al Volcán Quetrupillan. Estuve decepcionada porque no podía caminar a la cima porque la roca estaba inestable. Pero el mirador del glaciar y el campo estaba buenísimo. Desde la montaña atravesé el suele morrena y lava entounces encontré el sendero y el campamento próximo a Laguna Blanca (1600m). Esta lugar es mágico. Estaba aquí sola excepto  por dos hombres que andaba en motocicleta por un hora y haciendo mucho ruido.

 

Volcan Quetrupillan

View from Volcan Quetrupillan

Me standing in the moraine and lave field

Laguna Blanca

Day 5: Today I walked past more lava fields and an old volcano crater before dropping back down into the forest. I ate and sunbathed on the sandy beach at Lago Avutardas before walking out to the road end.

Día 5: Caminaba por el suelo de lava y un volcán muy viejo. Después bajé al bosque y el valle. Pare almorzar  y descansar por la playa el Lago Avutardas antes caminaba el fin de sendero.

Lava fields

Relaxing at Lago Avutardas

The tramp ends about 10 km away from the border with Argentina. I easily hitched a ride to the border and walked across into Argentina. This turned out to be a much faster way to get through immigration as there were massive queues of cars going back many kilometres. One man told me he had been waiting 6 hours in the queue to get into Argentina.

El sendero terminaba a 10 km de la frontera de Argentina. Hice dedo hacia la frontera y caminé a Argentina, lo que fue mas rápido que los coches porque la fila estaba muy largo. Un hombre en la fila me dijo “tuve que esperar seis horas aquí para ir a Argentina".

The border

Safely through the border I walked the 2 km to Tromans at the base of Volcan Lanin to camp.

Cuando llegué a Argentina caminé 2 kms a campamento Tromans cerca de Volcán Lanin.

Santiago and Pucon

After more than two years I am returning to explore more of South America.

I left home at lunch time on March 19 and arrived in Santiago airport March 19 at 1pm where I was very kindly met by my friends Pau and Lucho who took me out to lunch. They had spent a year traveling and working in NZ which is where I met them some years ago.

Después de dos años tengo volver a Sud America para explorar. 

Salé de casa Marzo 19 y llegué en Santiago el mismo dia. Mis amigos Pau y Lucho me buscaron al aeropuerto y me llevaron a almorzar. Yo les conocí cuando pasaron un año viajando y trabajando en NZ hace unos años.

Lucho, Pau and me

La Plaza del Armas 

View from Sans Cristabel of Santiago
Mirador del Sans Cristabel

From Santiago I took an overnight bus to Pucon. This town is set beside Lake Villarrica and the Villarrica volcano. It is like the Queenstown of Chile but on a smaller scale. I stayed at La Poza campsite which is in a lovely setting surrounded by lots of trees but has been badly neglected. The showers and toilet block werre run down and filthy.

In Pucon I signed up with a guiding company to climb Volcan Villarrica. This volcano forms the dramatic back drop to the town and last year it erupted spewing ash as far as Argentina. At night time you can see the fire raging in the crater from Pucon.

Desde Santiago viaje en bus a Pucon durante el noche. El pueblo esta al lado del Lago Villarrica y Volcan Villarrica. El pueblo es como Queenstown en NZ pero es mas pequeña. Me quedé en el camping La Poza por un noche. Fue un lugar muy lindo con muchas arboles pero las duchas y baños estaban sucias.

Quería subir al Volcan Villarrica entonces me organizé ir con una compania de guia. El año pasado este Volcan entre en erupcíon. La ceniza voló a muchas partes de Chile y hasta Argentina. Por la noche se podia ver el fuego desde la montaña.

Volcan Villarrica

At 6am twelve of us assembled at Aquaventura guiding company ready to climb the volcano. I noticed in our packs we even had gas masks for the trip. We were driven up to the ski field on the mountain where we were to start our climb. The weather was cold, windy and misty. Fortunately CONAF (National Forest Corporation) not the guides made the decision that it was not safe to climb the mountain.

I was not particularly upset about this and happy to save the $200 fee for something else. As previously arranged my pack and I were left on the mountain to start the Villarrica Traverse. The parting words of the guides were that there was no one else in the national park but me. Undeterred I set off with my monstrously heavy pack. As I struggled under the weight the mist lifted and I got my first close up view of the mountain.

A las seis de la mañana encontramos en la tienda del guía. Doce personas estuvieron listos para ascender a la montaña. Fuimos en bus hasta la zona de esquí, arriba de la montaña. El clima no estaba bien. Hacía frío y mucho viento y niebla. Afortunadamente CONAF (Corporacion Nacional Forestal) decidieron que no podríamos ascender seguramente el volcán.

No estuve muy triste. Hice una excursión en el parque nacional Villarrica – la traversa Villarrica. Me dejaron sola en la montaña y empecé la excursión. Los guías me dijeron “No hay nadie en el parque ahora”... igual no tenía miedo.  Cuando se levantó la neblina pude ver la cima de la montaña ahora de cerca.

The trip home

I arrived in Santiago at 10am, twenty-two hours after leaving Bariloche feeling a bit haggard. Only to discover that the bus dropped me off at a different terminal than the one I had expected. When I asked the taxi drivers at the terminal to take me to the Central Bus Terminal they looked at me blankly. I tried to explain as best as I could in Spanish that I wanted to go to the terminal where the airport buses leave from. The taxi drivers refused saying that it was just around the corner but that they could take me to the airport. I tried to explain that I wanted to go to the bus terminal as they had a place to store luggage as my flight home was not leaving until 11.20pm that night. But again they just looked at me blankly and refused to take me anywhere. This was a bit awkward as I had my bicycle box and backpack each weighing 23kg, plus two carry bags. I ended up dragging my bicycle box a couple of blocks down the street asking passers-by who kept saying the terminal was just a block away. I asked a couple more taxi drivers and they also refused to take me. I finally discovered that there was an airport bus stop several blocks away but not the bus terminal. Luckily I was rescued by the Lonely Planet Guide: South America on a Shoestring which I had on my Kindle. I discovered that there are in fact four bus terminals in Santiago. It took a while but I finally figured out the one I wanted to go to. This was a big help when I hailed down the next taxi driver who not only agreed to take me but managed to squeeze my bike box in the back seat which was not easy. Ten minutes later I was much relieved to find myself at the right bus terminal and was finally able to put my luggage into storage for the day

Miraculously I managed to meet up with my friend Maria Celia which involved a telephone conversation in Spanish which is no easy task when you are not fluent. I met Maria Celia when I first arrived in South America back in September when I had taken the bus to get to Bariloche. She had been very patient and spoke me even though my Spanish was very limited and even took me to her parents home in Osorno for breakfast during the five hour wait for my bus to get across the border to Argentina. Maria Celia wants to be a photographer and moved to Santiago earlier in the year to do a course. Although right now she is working ten hour days at one of the stalls at the Artesanal (traditional craft) Market. One thing you notice here is that people work very long hours for low pay. In Bolivia and Peru it was not uncommon to see a person sleeping at their stall in the market.

Maria Celia and me in Santiago. 

As Maria Celia was working I went and checked out the National History Museum but was exhausted after an hour not helped by the fact I had to read all the information in Spanish. It was also a stinking hot day and I was sweating profusely with no prospect of a shower until I got home to NZ. So after having a short nap in the park and saying goodbye to Maria Celia I headed off to the airport feeling ready to come home.

On reflection I would not describe my holiday as relaxing. In fact at times it was quite stressful and often tiring. It was however challenging, interesting and lots of fun. I met some really nice people along the way some of whom I hope will visit me in NZ. I also learned to speak a little more Spanish. Although my biggest disappointment is that I don't speak and understand Spanish better. But I would need at least another six months for that ……. if only!?

 - The End - 

Christmas in Bariloche

I spent Christmas here in Bariloche with my friends Carina and Mark and their family and friends. Celebrations here begin on the 24th. We started the day by getting up at 5am to hike up Cerro (Mt) Villegas which is a small mountain behind Mark and Carina´s house. Four adults and one eight year old made it to the top where we were lucky enough to see two condors flying around the mountain. We also had great views of Nauhel Huapi Lake. Bariloche and the surrounding mountains. The weather was perfect with no wind and we were back home in time for lunch.

On the summit of Cerro Villegas. From left to right; Me, Theo, Carina and Mark

There were eleven of us at the house on the 24th as Manuela also joined us in the evening to celebrate Christmas. In Argentina it is the norm to have dinner very late at around 9 or 10pm. Something I still find hard to get used to. On Christmas Eve we ate homemade pizzas at about 10.30pm and were ready to go to bed but we waited up to midnight to open the presents. My present was a Mate (pronounced mah-te) gourd and a metal straw which you use to drink Yerba Mate which is the national drink in Argentina.  It is traditionally drunk with family or friends. Instead of having a cup of coffee or tea you share a mate. The same gourd and straw is passed around everyone and after each person has had a drink it is refilled with hot water from a thermos. Argentinians are so passionate about this drink that you see them carrying around their thermos and mate gourds everywhere.

After having almost a month of very hot perfect weather Christmas day turned out to be very windy and with cooler temperatures. These were not ideal conditions for the traditional Argentine Parrilla (BBQ) Mark and Carina hosted. But undeterred they successfully cooked a whole lamb over a fire  which took about five hours. I was well catered for as I made vegetarian patties and also had BBQ eggplant and cheese - yum! There were sixteen of us at the BBQ and it was a good opportunity to practice my Spanish. Although I did have to take a two hour siesta in the afternoon to recover from the late night before. 

In Argentina Christmas celebrations begin on Christmas Eve. We opened the presents at midnight. From left to right; Manuela, Mark and Emily

 The perfect present to keep both adults and children entertained. This was Mark´s present from his sister.

Traditional Argentine Parilla (BBQ) on Christmas Day. 

Mark and Carina´s family and Mark´s sister´s family giving a performance of E Te Ariki to everyone at the BBQ. They had performed this song earlier in the day at church. Back Row (left to right); Emily, Melissa, Eric and Emma, Carina. Front Row; Mateo, Mark, Elisa, Theo. 

Me drinking Mate

 On December 27 I had to say goodbye and catch the bus back to Santiago to return home. I have really enjoyed my month in Bariloche. Carina and Mark have been amazing and it was fantastic to finally be able to visit them and experience life in Argentina. Mark´s sister´s family from NZ was also visiting at the same time and staying in the house so there were five adults and five children altogether. Yet it all seemed to work as everyone was busy just enjoying being on holiday except for Carina and Mark who still had to work. I was also lucky to meet Manuela who was an excellent companion at the Spanish school and to go hiking with.