Hanna and Byron Enter Patagonia (April 12, 2009 and onward)

In Salta, we decided that we were tired of traveling and purchased our next bus tickets to go directly to Bariloche. We promised some friends we would meet them there and had two or three days to spare. A bus from Salta to Bariloche is approximately 36 hours long and costs about $130US per person. They use the term “direct” loosely. The bus makes all it's usual stops along the way in every small town. The only thing that makes it direct is that it gets there eventually, as opposed to us having to change buses along the way. So we set out for what we hoped would be our longest bus trip ever...

Thirty-five hours later, after eating the same meal three times and our bones permanently stuck in a sedentary position, we started driving through the oasis of northern Patagonia. Bariloche is the “Aspen of South America.” We coined that phrase, but nothing could be more accurate. It's beautiful, overpriced, covered with stores selling outdoor equipment and fancy chocolates, and it revolves completely around the tourism.

Luck was on our side when we discovered that the hostel recommended by the guidebook was completely full. I consider this lucky because we ended up staying in an old hotel, converted to a hostel for half the price with a huge shared kitchen and got our own bathroom to boot! Unfortunately, they didn't have Wifi which is another reason we are so behind on these blog entries. We literally sat on the curb outside of another hostel to steal their wifi for emergency email check-ins.

After a few relaxing days of cooking, shopping, and enjoying the clean fresh air we met up with our friends Sasha and Alex. Our first adventure together was dinner at an “tenedor libre” (all you can eat buffet). The food was excellent, mostly Asian cuisine, but not lacking in freshly grilled meats and five different types of flan for dessert. Another culinary excursion we took was Byron's first experience with fondue – delicious meat and the chocolate was amazing!!! Enough about the food...

Our first big Patagonia excursion was a trip to one of the national parks in the area to see the glacier Trenador. We drove for about 2.5 hours each way to go on a 20 minute hike to vantage point from which you can no longer see the glacier itself. Just one more confusing Argentine experience.

On the way back from the “hike,” Byron decided he needed to take a stranger's rowboat out for a ride in the river. It was parked ashore next to a nice bridge and a huge campground/restaurant. Clearly, I advised Byron against it, and even more clearly, he did it anyway. Needless to say... we were no-so-politely asked to get out of the boat and leave immediately. The conversation went something like this for those of you who know some elementary Spanish:

Señor Boatowner - El barco es tuyo?
B – No. Lo siento.
Señor Boatowner – Porque estas en el barco?
B – Lo siento.
Señor Boatowner – Sala el barco ahora mismo!
B – Lo siento!
Señor Boatowner – Quieres que yo tomaria su coche?!
B – No.

And we ran out of the boat!
(It was parked just the left of where I'm sitting)