Panic over...since last writing we´ve finally managed to drag ourselves away from Puerto Natales and continue our trip up through Argentina. Given the state of play in Chile, we didn´t manage to leave the country in the most conventional of ways, but it was definitely more exciting than catching the regular bus over the Frontera!
After a couple more days of waiting at the Red Cross base at the school continually being told that the buses were to be delayed further, Ash and I had just about given up all hope of ever leaving. After engaging in talks with our new friends, we had collectively decided that we would walk the 25k across into Argentina the next day. As you can imagine the prospect of embarking on this mammouth journey with all our belongings in tow wasn´t too inviting so Ash and I decided to console ourselves by indulging in a slap up meal at ´Afrigonia´, Puerto Natales´ Patagonian/ African fusion restaurant. As bizarre as the concept sounds, the resulting fare was exquisite and we enjoyed crab mousse, fillet steak with wild mushrooms and ostrich with rhubarb and cheese sauce (better than it sounds) before making our way back to the hostel.
Upon arriving back to the hostel that evening, we were greeted with the excited shrieks of our fellow backpackers urging us to pack up our belongings and be ready to leave in the next five minutes. Apparantly the government had been putting pressure on the protesters, demanding the barricade to be opened for a couple of hours to let some traffic through. Juan, the hostel owner, had kindly volunteered to risk dissaproval from the strikers and ferry us across the border. By this time is was approaching 11pm and we had to hurry through the blocquade and the border before it was too late..it was all very exciting, not least for the fact that we had finally managed to escape and embark on a new chapter of the journey. Once passing through the Chilean and Argentina border, we prepared ourselves for the 5k walk to the nearest town in Argentina, Rio Turbios, where we hoped we might be able to find a room for the night. Luckily, just before we were about to set off, I was bundled into a car with my backpack squashed against my face and told that we were getting a lift... thank God! The next 6 or so hours was perhaps the most uncomfortable travelling experience I had ever had, as we rushed onto yet another bus that a smart Argentinan had had the foresight to put on (no doubt profitting somewhat from the incident). To say the bus was cold would be an understatement and I shivered all the way to Calafate, until finally arriving at 5 in the morning, with no hostel to check into and no Argentinian pesos. The group that we were travelling with (Miguel, Joaquin, Tito and Sarah) and Ash and I managed to find a random hostel to sit in for a few hours, before scrapping enough money together to buy some croissants and hot chocolate. Fortunately, we were then able to find a hostel that let check in at lunchtime and we settled down to a well deserved sleep.
The next four or so days were spent in Calafate, a pretty Ski-resort type town, with an abundance of chocolate shops and a backdrop of beautiful snow-capped mountains. Most of the people in our log-cabin style hostel had also been in Puerto Natales so we had a great couple of evenings celebrating our successful cross over to Argentina with old friends that we had made in Chil (see pic below).
In Calafate, we also visited the famous Perito Moreno glacier, a piece of ice that is apparanty the size of Buenos Aires. This was also a very chilly experience and you could hardly raise your head to look on the ice for the strong cold winds blowing towards the boat.
We were having so much fun travelling with the 3 spanish musketeers and Sarah that we booked our 30 hour bus ride together to Bariloche to continue the fun. Bariloche is a city nestled in the Argentinian lake district and our hostel was perfectly situated with a panoramic vista of Lake Nahui Huapi, a beautiful body of crystal clear water set against yet another stunning mountainous backdrop (see above). We spent our time in the lakes visiting the picture perfect towns of El Bolson (where we visited a hippi market, watched live music, drank tasty fresh juices and ate the most amazing cherries my mouth has ever had the pleasure to entertain) and Villa Angostura. We also rented a car so we could drive round the 7 lakes surrounding the city and spent a day whitewater rafting, which was lots of fun.
Leaving Bariloche also meant saying goodbye to our new friends and heading off by ourselves once again towards Mendoza, the wine region of Argentina, which is where we are at the moment. Lots of antics to report on from the last couple of days but that'll have to wait for another day. One thing I will say now though is that if I ever see a bottle of vino tinto again it'll be a day too soon!
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