Bariloche, Argentina

Bari-lo....Bari-lo...Bari-loche.

July and August  is the height of ski season in Patagonia. A winter wonderland and a time for school break.  High school students arrive in Bariloche in droves and they have some unusual customs which have become tradition.  For example.  All the kids go to a costume shop and they all buy the same outfit, like a toga or spider man.  Around midnight they board buses and all the different schools gather at one of the three discos. The next day they return the costumes and buy one of another theme. Repeat daily for a week.

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  Cerro Campanario Volcon Tronnador-Glacier

Located at bus stop N17, 4K which is, north 17.4 kilometers from the central square in Bariloche. At Cerro Campanario a ski lift takes visitors to the top for a magnificent vista of Patagonia.  For the more fit and adventurous, a strenuous and sometimes very steep but short hike is an option.  A cafeteria is available for excellent and inexpensive lunches. 

Short but Steep Hike for Lunch

 

Magnificent Visa 

 

Lunch at Cerro Campanario

 

After the lunch and hike the rest of the day was dedicated to shopping. We usually got back to our rooms around six for a siesta to prepare for the night life.  Dinner in South America is late by our standards.  The early bird specials began around 9PM. 

Chile and Argentina both have lots of stray dogs.  They blend in well and don't bother anyone. They also all look very well fed and were especially so when Sue is around. She always carried treats or leftovers for her little peros.

Bariloche Central Square

 

Our third day in Bariloche we made arrangements to hike Volcon Tronnador.   We saw this on our ferry crossing from Chile and we were thrilled to be able to hike this landmark.  A two hour bus ride is required to get to this spectacular national park. There is and additional 30 pesos (US $8) fee to enter the park on top of the reasonable bus fee.  The ten plus mile bus ride inside the park was the type you always hear about from others.  You know, the crazy bus driver on the edge of the cliff stories.   Yup, we had him, and he gave us the ride of our lives.  The road is one way in from dawn till 5PM and one way out from 5PM till dusk.  (around 9PM). 

Checking our route to the glacier

The round trip shorter hike to the glacier takes approximately four hours. That allows enough time for a leisurely lunch before boarding the bus back to Bariloche.  There is only one bus departing, and if you miss it you are stuck there till five pm the following day.  Unless you are lucky enough to hitch a ride from the few others leaving. 

Hiking to the glacier at Mt Tronnador

Checking the map

 Left to the glacier.  Only one hour more

 

First view of the glacier

Almost there

 At the edge of the avalanche zone

 

 The return hike

 

Lunch with new friends.

 

Sue had a good day.

 

We end our trip in Buenos Aires

Part 1. Chile

Part 2 Patagonia.

Journey to Patagonia

PATAGONIA
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  The second leg of our trip began with a two hour flight from Vina del Mar to Puerto Montt, Chile. At the airport we taxied the 20 miles to our destination where we had rented an apartment for the night.

 Puerto Varas:

Puerto Varas is one of Chile's most charming villages, located on the shore of Lago Llanquihue. Like Pucón, it is an adventure travel hub, and it is also the gateway to the Parque Nacional Vicente Pérez Rosales. Unlike its neighbor Puerto Montt, 20 minutes away, it is a spruce little town, with wood-shingled homes, a rose-encircled plaza, a handsomely designed casino, and an excellent tourism infrastructure that provides all the necessary services for visitors without seeming touristy. It can get crowded during the summer months, but not as busy as Pucón; seemingly because of its distance from Santiago. The city was built by the sweat and tenacity of German immigrants, and later it became a port for goods being shipped from the Lago Llanquihue area to Puerto Montt (mostly timber). Today most of the area's middle- and upper-middle-class residents call Puerto Varas home and commute to Puerto Montt and other surrounding places for work.

Todd and I decided to walk around town to see what it was about. The German influence was very obvious and we had read that this town was one of the place in Chile where Anthony Bourdainhad reviewed a quaint little place called Donde el Gordito.

Fodor's Review:

You'll find great seafood here. Some of the fish is personally caught by the avid fisherman owner, El Gordito, who is usually on hand with his wife to wait tables and ring up checks. This little eatery, housed inside a downtown fishmarket, also has entertaining decor, some of it chosen by its owner and some of it given to him by the many tourists that luckily find their way to his food.

 Puerto Varas

The German Influence in Puerto Varas

We boarded an eight am bus for the first leg of our  journey to Argentina. This tour is a very popular and highly recommend excursion. We stopped briefly at Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales where we did a short hike to a white water rafting area.  I hesitate to use any adjectives because of what is to follow.

The second leg was a spectacular lake crossing with the Chilean Andes as a backdrop

Our last stop in Chile

 

Puerto Puella was our transfer out of Chile.  After we passed customs we boarded a bus for the ninety minute, eleven kilometer crossing into Argentina by bus.  A dirt road was build specifically for this tour company to make the border crossing.  In reality the border is at the top of the Andes and special arrangements were made with both companies to accomodate this unusual crossing.  The Chilean driver and guide on our bus would make the trip with us, and change places with the Argentine driver and guide bringing people from Argentina into Chile at the Argentine border post.

This dirt mountain road was only wide enough to accommodate one vehicle. Visibility was only a few dozen yards because of the winding road through the jungle.   The drivers were in constant contact by satellite radio and an opposing bus always knew where the other was. If one got to a pull out cut into the road, the drive would pull over to the side and wait for the other bus to pass.   While traveling I did notice four different bicycle tourers making the trip from Argentina to Chile.  Except for bicycles, no private vehicles were allowed on this road. Only the tour company cars and buses with radios.

The bus made a couple of stops for us to take photos. 

Border Crossing into Argentina

on a dirt mountain dirt road in the jungle

on a bus.   Nice.

In Puerto Frio we passed customs and boarded another boat for a twenty five minute crossing to Puerto Blest. The total crossing from Puerto Varas Chile to Bariloche Argentina was four buses, four ferries and a three kilometer hike.

Boarding a ferry at Puerto Frio Argentina

Another Spectacular View

Speechless Awe

 

 

The Ferry for the Crossing to Bariloche Argentina

Thirteen hours after leaving our apartment in Puerto Veras we arrive in Bariloche.  A final bus ride will deliver us to our hotel and accommodations for the next four nights.  Bariloche will be our base camp for our hiking excursions into the Andes including a long moderate climb to Monte Tronador Glacier.

That will be the next installment.  For now I'm off to our room in the quaint Hotel Tyrol

Click here for Part 3 Bariloche

Part 1 Chile

Part 4 Buenos Aires

Chile

Sue and I took a local bus to Boston to begin our trip. We spent the day wandering around the city before catching an evening flight to Miami. After that three hour flight we had time to relax a bit before boarding for a nine hour trip to Chile

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Flying into Santiago was quite a sight. During final approach the mountains came into view and it looked like we could reach out and touch them. The boys met us at the airport and took us to lunch at a very eclectic Vina Intomita winery

Vina Intomita

Vina Intomita

We are staying at Cap Ducal which is a ship replica and a very cool hotel. We got the top floor and that is considered the penthouse. It. seems kind of pretentious but it´s cheaper than getting two rooms.

Cap Ducal Hotel in Vina del Mar

Day 2. Valparaiso

The San Francisco of South America. If you like hills this is the place for you. And bicycles. Chile is full of them but every one ride on the sidewalk.

The city does not make a good first impression. It takes some getting used to for sure. We took one of the many trams to the top of the city where there are two very distinct districts. German and English. As usually there is lots of walking on our trips and after doing that for a couple of hours we lunched at a recommended place in the English section. We could hear a concert going on and we moseyed on down to the sound of music and ended up in a very hippie-ish festival. At first Valparaiso was big, busy and different and it took a couple of hours to relax and really start to appreciate and enjoy the city.

Lunch

Housing in English section of Valpariso

The festival

Colorful boats in Valpariso

Day Three

This day we traveled down  the Chilean coast to Concon. We spent most of the day in the yuppie town of Cachagua. It looks a lot like a Spanish Newport R.I. Lots of rich high school kids were beginning their summer vacations a meeting on this surfing beach.

On the drive back to Vina del Mar we spotted a commotion on the ocean. Seals were herding fish toward the shore and tens of thousands of birds got a fest. The most interesting were the huge pelicans making their dives. As soon as they surfaced they were overwhelmed by small birds picking at the fish in their beak. They had to do some fancy foot work to be able to swallow their catch.

Day four is New Year eve and we don´t dare move our car out of fear that we will never find another parking spot. It a three fer today. New Years eve, the blue moon and the bicentennial of Chile. Our rental was is good hands in the lot with Ricardo. Evey time we drove up he would greet us, direct us to parking and offer to wash the car.  Being a rental, we had no reason to wash it, but I did tip him daily to keep an eye on it.

Since it is impossible to get any kind of reservations anywhere, and at the asking prices it´s a good thing, we decided to go it on our own. We trekked into town and bought an electric grill. Keith met a friend who bussed in from Argentina and they shopped for food. The hotel sent up plates and silverware and we will set up a barbecue on the deck outside our room.

When we booked this room in June the hotel was very hesitant to sell it to us. We had no idea how big a celebration this would be. New Year, full moon and the bicentennial of the country. The kids will be leaving for Valparaiso soon after dinner and ma and pa will hang out near the hotel. We have to leave early to catch a noontime plane to Puerto Montt on New Years day.

Sun set´s around 9:30 pm this time of year and you can bet the party will be in full swing long before then.

New Year Eve Vina del Mar, Chile
We hosted a party at our suit that was an international success. Ecuador, US, Chile Canada and Holland were represented. The surprise guests were two young traveling Dutch women. Both were twenty five and had spent the last few months hiking many of the South American countries. It's amazing and refreshing how someone so young can travel alone in often times third world areas and try to avoid the tourists areas, preferring the beauty of nature in the remote sections of places like Peru, Ecuador and Uruguay. There was also a young Californian gal who is working as a river guide in Chile. All three were invited by #1 son Keith who has spent the last few weeks traveling in Central and South America before meeting up with us.

The fireworks display was fourteen barges space out in the harbor and spanning three cities. The synchronized display drew locals by the tens of thousand to the waterfront and the aftermath made the area look like a bomb had gone off when we departed on New Year's morning.

There was plenty of food and drink to go around and our rooftop deck was the ideal place to watch the activities. Overlooking our humble barracks was the President of Chile in her summer retreat.
When we left for our next destination we gave the grill to Ricardo. He was thrilled.

Fireworks on the Harbor

The New Years Eve Crew

Puerto Varas
The next stop was Puerto Varas, Chile for a one night layover before traversing by land and lake to Argentina. The highlight of this town was dinner at Donde Gordito a quaint little place that was featured on the tv show "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain.

Ferry's and Buses

The journey to Argentina was a spectacular combination of bus, ferry and hike, from Puerto Varas, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina. The photos will tell the story in part 2.  Journey to Patagonia

 Part 3 Bariloche


Part 4 Buenos Aires

South America

The family spent the last couple of weeks traveling in South America. Lots of articles to write and photos to edit. This blog is third on the list and the stuff is comming. Here a a few trailer photos.