12 to 18 February 2016

I have been back from my travels for two years and I still have ‘finishing the blog’ on my to do list! The time has come now that I immobilised myself for a few weeks by breaking my foot.

I wrote the next three entries during my trip, but never got around to uploading them with my pictures. I will leave them unedited.

From Mar de Plata I had various options, the main questions were if and how much time I wanted to spend in Chile. A few people had told me that Chile wasn’t necessary after Argentina as the culture was similar and what I really wanted to spend time on was Bolivia and Peru. I am writing this in Santiago de Chile and beg to differ. Maybe the culture is similar but what I have seen so far, Santiago and Valparaiso, is well worth seeing. It does leave me with little time for Bolivia and Peru. Even with so much time on hand, it is not enough!

So I decided to head south even though the general direction should be north now because there is a new fixed date and place: 11 March, Lima, where I am meeting my beloved sister Lena to complete my family visit.

But I did not want to leave out the Lake District and I also wanted visit Neuquen on the way to see Anahi, another Argentian lawyer, that I had met on the boat tour in Ushuaia.

After another long bus journey through endless Argentinian Pampa, I arrived in Neuquen at lunch time. There were hills and two broad rivers, a welcome change in scenery. I walked to the Rio Negro and regretted not having my swimwear with me. It was hot and the locals were enjoying a dip in the water.

In the evening, I met Anahi, who took me to a concert of an Uruguayan singer in the university. It was packed and I truly enjoyed her great voice and songs accompanied by a guitar. Unfortunately, my Spanish was not quite good enough to understand all the lyrics and the jokes she made. The rest of the audience was in tears of laughter.

During the concert, Anahi met a few friends with who we continued to have craft beer and pizza. Finally, at 1am, Anahi took me to a Milonga, a place where people dance Tango. She is an outstanding tango dancer, who has travelled with groups to perform in various countries. I also danced a little bit and liked it even better than my lesson in Buenos Aires, mainly because the guys who asked me to dance knew how to dance and could lead me perfectly. I didn’t have to think about which steps to perform, but just had to feel the music and follow the lead. Thanks Anahi, time was short, but wonderful!

Arriving in Bariloche, I spent one evening alone at the no 2 trip advisor restaurant, Alto el Fuego, where the entraña (skirt steak) was good, but not as excellent as I had hoped. The next morning, I inevitably met people in the hostel. First, I cycled the cirquito chico around the peninsula Llao Llao together with Svenja from Heidelberg. The guy from the bike rental said it would take at least three hours to cycle the 27km course. Deine Mudda! I can run 27km in less than three hours! I therefore set out to break the record and cycled like like a mad woman. 1:40hrs. Very poor still. If I had had my mistress (miss you), I would have been able to do it in half that time! Great views though over the lakes and mountains. It does look a bit like the Alps. Beautiful.

Back in the hostel, I met Isy from Hamburg. She is a business studies student and had just spent an exchange semester in Viña del Mar in Chile. We had happy hour draft beers whilst waiting for our table at Alto el Fuego. In the best mood, we sat down there to eat the finest cut, Lomo. I wanted to share a steak, but Isy wanted to have a whole one to herself. Only minutes later she confessed to be a ‘Half Vegetarian’, I broke down in laughter. This time it really was one of the best steaks I ever had and Argentina finally lived up to its reputation. The Malbec wine was also excellent. Ah life is good with good food and drink! We left the restaurant after three hours and went to have a last drink in a nearby pub. Alas (this is for Lorna!), it wasn’t the last one for me. I was in such good spirits that I continued with a local to dance till the early morning hours.

In a surprising outbreak of energy, I paid the Llao Llao peninsula another visit the following day. This time I raced around it walking. At the end of the 20km, I got so bored that ran the way back to the bus station. Again, stunning views from the top of the Llao Llao peak. I had a mediocre Valentines dinner at a Mexican place, but nice company with a girl from London.

On Monday, 15th February, Isy and I embarked on a wonderful three day hike into the mountains of Bariloche. On day one, we hiked the 12km up to the Refugio Frey. It was a lovely hot day. Once we reached the Refugio, we relaxed at the Laguna for the rest of the afternoon. Whilst everyone else cooked their meals, Isy and I did clamping deluxe and ordered a three course meal from the Refugio. We had a lively chat with Moritz and Paula, also from Hamburg, and Christian from Dortmund. The sky full of stars was amazing that night and I wish I had had a sleeping mattress to just camp outside and look at them forever. The bunk bed room was also good though and it felt like a proper hut in the Alps.

We woke up to another beautiful day in the mountains. Only Christian obeyed my ‘Poolzwang’, a dip in the icecold Laguna, at 7:30am. Refreshed, he went on to climb the rock in front of the Refugio, and I continued with (the not refreshed ehm ehm) Moritz, Paula and Isy to the Refugio de San Martin. It was a tough hike with lots of descend and lots of ascent. Again, breathtaking views all around. Alpine landscape. Great company. My favourite was a steep descent, where you could just slide down the gravel. I was glad to have my newly purchased walking poles with me. They definitely did not look new after that day’s hike!

The Refugio San Martin celebrated its 64th birthday that day, meaning we could join into a delicious BBQ, complimentary wine, Tiramisu and cake. The specialty were vegetables that had been cooked on a grill under a heap of earth (see pictures). Unfortunately, I couldn’t help myself wondering whether the Refugio had been founded in 1952 by Nazis who had fled Germany after the war and who had been welcomed by Argentina with open arms. A real Refugio. A lot of them settled in Bariloche. They must have loved that it looked like the most beautiful Bavarian landscape. I got a feeling for it when I read ‘Wakolda’, a novel by Lucía Puenzo, which is about Mengele’s days in Bariloche. A chilling and captivating read.

The last day of the hike was downhill through pretty forest along a crystal clear stream. I would have loved to camp beside it, jump into its pools and chill on its sand banks. At the end we got a lift from a local to get us to Colonia Suiza, a very touristy place with Swiss cottages, hot chocolates etc. We didn’t spend any time there, but headed back to Bariloche to shower, wash clothes and most importantly, have another steak at Alto el Fuego. Heaven again, well deserved after three days of hiking!

An admin day with Isy in the hostel followed, downloading pictures, publishing a blog, correspondence after three days offline, buying bus tickets, booking hostels, replacing the travel towel for a freaking £40 after I had left mine at the Refugio Frey, washing clothes etc. The highlight was dinner with Moritz and Paula in the pizzeria they had discovered before the trip. Pasta great, pizza awful.

Isy- ich hatte eine super Zeit mit Dir! Ich bin froh, dass wir uns im Hostel kennengelernt haben und die Wanderung zusammen gemacht haben. So viele schöne Erinnerungen! Ich wünsche Dir alles Gute für die kommende Zeit. Ich weiß, dass Du sehr erfolgreich bist und bleibst! Bis bald hoffentlich.

Paula und Moritz – auch vielen Dank an Euch! Es war so lustig und ich habe Eure Gesellschaft sehr genossen. Ihr seid ein sehr angenehmes und tolles Paar. Wir sehen uns in Hamburg!

Ciao Argentina, what a great place and wonderful people. Luckily, I now have a family connections to this beautiful country! Love you Lena and Juan Pablo.

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