Hey hey there,
Well we successfully made it from El Bolson up to Bariloche. El Bolson was absolutely lovely, a small town (and quite gimmicky with fake Swiss ski lodges), but it had a great crafts fair on while we were there, which was actually quite unusual after many similar crafts fairs in Peru and Bolivia. We bought more jewellery (very naughty I know), and had these weird braid things put in our hair - although we have had some comments about our looks - people have mentioned to us that it looks as though we have been travelling for a long time - just another way of saying we look rough I think! Oh well...
The hostel in El Bolson was lovely - a bed and breakfast really, with brilliant comfy beds, - so nice after a horrid journey! We really enjoyed our two days in El Bolson, especially when we were sat under a (small) tree by the fair eating our lunch, and a local guy called Maura came and serenaded us with the guitar... So headed onto Bariloche that evening (only 2 hours away).
Again, lovely hostel and fantastic people there, whoever we were talking to. Many hours spent laughing around the kitchen table, and the kitchen was massive and well stocked full of utensils - very nice after eating cereals with forks and so on... Bariloche is on a lake, and is quite a pretty place, but it feels very touristy. The suburbs are grim and look like there is council housing, and the centre is full of chocolate shops and restaurants and so on. We asked Christian, the guy working in the hostel, what we could do that was cheap, and so he pointed us in the direction out of town. We walked up a steep hill for 30 minutes (rather than take the chair lift), to see gorgeous views of the local lakes, rivers and hills, and then walked through part of a nacional park, past various lakes, to arrive at Lago Escondido. Very romantic setting with a jetty over the lake, and by this time the weather had brightened up so the whole place was beautiful. The woods inspired Walt Disney`s Bambi film, and it was lovely to be walking again. However the mere 10 km was somehow exhausting, quite surprised at just how tired we became!
So on Saturday (yesterday), we headed on another bus at 1pm to Mendoza, and arrived this morning at 8am. Hayley and J have already been here, but kindly left the wine tour until I was travelling with them again (when they were here before I was in Brazil). So we are all checked into a beautiful hostel with a good breakfast (lots of coffee!) and friendly staff - Mendoza Inn.
http://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostels-Albergues-Juveniles-Mendoza---Hostel-Mendoza-inn-002057.en.htm?lswitch=Y
We are going to check out an antiques market, a crafts fair, a couple of plazas and have a picnic in the park today. The weather is hotter - high twenties I think, which is a nice change from being cold down in Patagonia (although Patagonia was definitely the highlight of Argentina for me). And then tomorrow we are doing a wine tour... on bicycles. Think they give us helmets - definitely will need one of those! Especially after just receiving my compensation money from my last run in on a bike with a car...
So we are very happily settled into Mendoza, and are enjoying a lazy Sunday. Wine tour tomorrow, then bus from 9am to 6pm on Tuesday to Valparaiso in Chile. (Have to be in Santiago, 2 hours from Valparaiso, on Thursday at the latest for our flight to NEW ZEALAND! at 10pm... time has absolutely flown!) So nearly at the end of our South American trip now, very very sad.
Anyway, hope all is well in the UK, and will write again soon.
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
p.s. List of things left on buses in South America (by Alice)...
- sleeping bag
- sunglasses
- fleece
- hat (hopefully will lose less when we rent a car in NZ!) xxx
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