We are in Bariloche in the Lakes District of Argentina. This is supposed to be where Hitler Retired. I've guessed this from the title and cover of a Spanish book in a shop earlier this week. The guy knows how to pick a good spot - this is the Argentinian Switzerland. It's all very alpine, there are lots of wooden buildings, good chocolate and even rodelbahns. Laura points out how you just cant get away from Hitler. I point out how you've imagined an evil dictator on a small wheeled cart going down a hill. Possibly we need to spend more time in Germany.
That sun article reminds me of the tale of Hitler's visit to Knoydart.
The journey here has been pretty good, and we haven't had time to update the blog much. We left Arica in the far north of Chile on the 26th, and took a 40 hour bus journey - interrupted by a quick curry in the nicest Indian restaurant in Santiago. We then missed our bus from Santiago to Temuco, but Turbus put us on the next bus that evening. You might think that missing a connection would be a pain - and 40 hours on a bus would be the sort of thing the CIA would do to Pakistani teenagers, but you'd be wrong. Chilean buses (we've mostly gone with turbus) are cheap and comfortable, and the company doesn't gouge stranded travellers. Chile has better public transport than the UK. If we had only deported Pinochet, they might let us in on the secret.
The only unnerving thing about the journey was that just before we went to sleep, the conductor asked for our passports. He then pocketed them. Que freak out. Que farcical conversation with minimal shared language asking what he was doing. Identity theft? Crazy Chilean laws? A man explained that it was the law and everyone else handed theirs over and we got them back in the morning. On another internal bus we had our bags searched at a check point. Another oddity is that at Arica you have to buy a platform ticket from a special ticket office in order to get onto the platforms.
Temuco is a nice town - with real coffee and excellent chocolate (Cassis in the mall which is very European in appearance). Unfortunately we suffered from pickpocketing in the bus terminal only 2 minutes after arriving. The reason we were there was to rent a car. At this point, having rented in Norway, the US, Canada and Argentina, we expect to at some stage to go to Turkey and have a conversation like this:
Anyway, First car rental lent us a really nice clean car that we knocked around, bottomed out on a dirt road and covered in dust. Not too bad on the scale of things. Also, it was a relief to see water, grass and trees after all that time in the desert. It's very different to when we were last in Argentina, cooler, greener, a bit richer and no more need for the clay dome-shaped ovens outside peoples houses. The cars are just as battered and the meat just as tasty. Another thing we have noticed about the Argentinian people, and to some extent the Chileans, is the importance of family. Everyone talks about their family and we even saw a parade which was a celebration of an extended family. Driving in Chile was much easier than in Argentina due to road markings and less recklessness from other drivers.
We drove into the shadow of the volcano at Conguillio national park. The volcano last erupted over new year in 2008 - everyone had to be evacuated and it left areas of the park devastated. The roads are lined with warning signs, volcano traffic lights, and the odd helipad. We were in the land of the Mapuche people (who have had a hard time of it) and whole forests of Araucaria trees (monkey puzzle). It was spectacular. We camped in the park over new year. To anyone thinking about going the camping is expensive but it's a nice site with lots of hot water. Once there, we tramped up into the woods on the start of a traverse of the mountains. Sadly, to get to the top of the traverse one needs tons of gear that that we were not carrying. Also, the area for camping along the traverse had the biggest, hairiest spiders we've ever seen - sleep would have been a challenge.
After our stay in Conguillio National Park we headed out for some cheaper camping in Melipeuco and found a gem of a place. Turismo Relmucura - camping and a dinner with two glasses of wine for about 20 sterling. The host was very welcoming and gave us dinner in her house with a view of the volcano. We got to eat pinoñes, the pine nuts of the Araucaria tree. Cake, chocolate and costs (including fuel - the fuel filling man laughed at Laura´s bunch of notes) have all improved on the journey south.
We jumped on the bus down to Puerto Varas - which is very German. There are two German schools and you can buy küchen and apfelstrudel as well as empanadas. The next day we headed though the Cruce De Lagos to Argentina. We were sad to be leaving Puerto Varas, and there is lots to come back for. This is the old road, featuring 4 buses and three boats. We were a bit nervous about it, since it looks more like a old person thing to do. We got on the bus and it was full of older, somewhat richer, people. They were also people who were staying in a place with a good shower. Things got off to a rough start as we were some of the last people to get on board, and folks weren't willing to share their second seat. Its hard to tell if this was a possible smell or just being grabby. We jumped off at some waterfalls, and everyone got in a neat queue for tickets (apart from the possibly-smelly heroes of this blog, who had a empanada. (side note, this was the first breakfast that wasn't bread and cheese or muesli and water for a while). Breakfast here is poor - white bread with jam or cheese is standard. Fortunately in Bariloche I had a bacon omelette.
The falls in Parque Nacional Vicente Peŕez Rosales were kinda British - there were tons of people, there were safety fences, someone came over and complained about Laura standing on a rock. Laura then insisted on rocking a bench.
You just gotta fight the man. The first boat had great views, though it was a bit full of people. Annoying people. I've noticed that men (and it is normally men) like carrying big cameras on these sorts of trips. I like to imagine that there's a pecking order going on, and the guy with the most camera gear is the alpha male of the pack. His genes and opinions on gear are spread widely. From time to time, a challenger rises. One this boat the fight was between a guy those camera lens was longer that my arm, and another guy who had two massive SLRs.
We got to a tiny village at the far end of the lake, and everyone mercifully wandered off. Wandering was helped by the descent of horseflies the size of bumblebees. These can bite. If you want to experience a bit of South America without leaving your sofa, squeeze the flesh on your arm with pliers until you draw blood. Thats what it feels like. Laura claims they can bite though clothing.
We did go ziplining through the trees, and watched a few birds. Zip lining is great fun. We should do more of that. The lake was massive, and the locals own boats rather than cars since there are no roads. The boat's handy public address system told us that the boat takes the local kids to and from boarding school on Monday and Friday. Finding ourselves on that sailing might have been worse than a pile of Americans.
Anyway, after more boat and bus trips, we made it to Argentina. Highlights including Mount Tronador, which is covered in glaciers, and people feeding the gulls off the back of the boat.
I recall hearing a story that the Brits fighting in 1982 were surprised by the skill and lack of fear and common sense of the Argentinian pilots. These are the same talents one needs to cross the road here. You have to walk out and hope someone stops.
Since I've mentioned the war, Lonely planet's history of Argentina takes a certain amount of glee over the abilities of the army. It turns out that experience in seizing power, machine gunning thousands of dissidents, and burying them in ditches does not translate to being good at fighting someone else with guns. While I'm rambling - that bit of Fawlty Towers nails the British attitude to the other war. Props to John Cleese et al (Who wrote the script anyway?). It would have been so easy for them to take the mickey out of the Germans. Anyway.
Since we need dollars for a hotel in Buenos Aires and it is impossible to lay your hands on them in Argentina, we exchanged some Chilean pesos into dollars in Temuco. The first place quoted us about twice the normal rate. We just walked out. The second place was about what we expected. The need for dollars is because no one trusts the Argentinian Peso - or the Argentinian banks. We pay in cash for anything smaller than a flight. Chile, of course, is also mad. They have changed all the phone numbers, and no one can make a phone call. Other things we haven´t quite got used to is no plates for eating bread and a chaotic approach to queuing!
Yesterday we went white water rafting and it was so much fun. More on that another time.
Well, we are almost caught up on this thing, and its getting late, so thats about it. We have ticked over the half way point, and the end is in sight.Yeah, we are sad about this.
More photos: Camping in Conguilla National Park and Road to Bariloche.
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