Day: 162

So we took this crazy jeep trip with an insane driver who had us painfully bouncing all over Patagonia today. Of course it included meat, many great views, waterfalls (or wasserfalls in German, as I was taught) and an assortment of other things, but I am seriously sore and even bleeding a little from a cut I got banging against the wall of the jeep over a particularly huge bump. I was scared shitless, very rare for me so you know it was bad.

Other than the exhaustion that caused my evening was pretty mellow; the girls made scrambled eggs with ham for everyone, Chris and I brought some beer and vodka (with mixers!) and we all just sat around wimpering from the days pains.

One other thing… Who are all you people out there? I’ve had 600 hits since yesterday so I know someone is reading.  Just give me a heads up to who you are. I mean, really, I’ve put my whole life online for a year. The good and bad days.  Just give me a shout out.

Day: 161

So two of the German girls, Christina and Agatha, live here in Argentina. Camilla is Agatha’s cousin who is down for a month visiting and Chris is traveling alone before he starts his career in mechanical engineering next month in Germany. The reason I say all this is because now I have a couple of Spanish speaking tour guides for the next few days, also it was their idea to plan a trip today to rent mountain bikes and ride the 25 kilometers around the lake. Now any readers who have been around a while know that I enjoy bikes and 25 kilometers (15 miles) is nothing for me. Needless to say, I don’t think the ladies realized what 25 kilometers on a mountain bike over a bumpy dirt road is. It can be challenging for someone who isn’t in bike riding shape. I think the best part of all this (which included some whining and the girls pushing their bikes up hills) is that a few hours before they were giving me shit because:

“You Americans can’t ride bikes! Don’t you all just drive big cars?”

Anyways it was a pretty exciting day for me, we went into the mountains to this little Swiss colony (Colonia Suizz in Spanish) and rented our bikes from a woman who also sold tea, coffee and homemade cakes. The ride was amazing other than one wrong turn which took us back to the main road where we had to continue up 10 kilometers on a street with no shoulder and crazy Argentine bus drivers who would pass you with scant centimeters between you and them. Slightly scary.

I could give you a play by play of the rest of the day, but I’ve been writing for an hour now trying to catch up on the last couple of days so lets just say it ended as any day in Argentina should; With a steak and a bottle of wine.

Day: 160

Blinking awake to a flashlight being shined up and down the isle my first thought was “Damn, and I still on this bus.” I realized I was and that we had just crossed into a new Argentine province so the bus was being checked out for contraband/suspicious thing. I quickly lost interest, closed my eyes, and returned to dreamland. The rest of the morning hours cycled through me sleeping, listening to music, starring aimlessly out the window and reading. When we finally arrived in Bariloche it was past 1pm, I stretched my legs, retrieved my bag from under the bus and set out on an adventure to find a place to sleep.

I grabbed a cab into the city center where my Lonely Planet listed all the hostels, and went to the one that sounded the best. It was, of course, full; as well as the next five within a few blocks of the city center. In fact I went to all the places listed in the Lonely Planet and everyone was full. By this point I had heard some rumors of a couple of newer, yet unknown hostels, so armed with vague directions I started walking. I wasn’t long before I found one but all they had available was a double which was 80 pesos ($27)a night. I told the girl that that would be fine (I was sick of walking around)and if anyone wandered in and wanted to share that I’d be more than welcoming. I was still standing at the desk about to get my key and in walks four Germans, three girls and a guy. In a combination of three or four languages Chris, the guy, and I decided to share one room and the ladies took the other.

After my bag vomited on the floor, I took a shower and sent my laundry to be cleaned. I went out with my new group of German friends to take a peak at the little town of Bariloche, see about some bus tickets for them and go out for another steak for dinner. So far nothing I have seen put has put this on par with Yosemite, someone overinflated the beauty of this place with that line. I figured as much, but was hopeful. I won’t lie though, it is still quite stunning, and when I can buy a filet mignon dinner with two bottles of wine for $13 it really sooths over any problems that might of arise.

One other bit of info just in case you might have been feeling bad for my 22 hour bus ride. The Germans just got off a 42 hour ride that involved three transfers, when they told me this I my heart went out to them.