Brrrr...It´s Chile
No wait, it´s Argentina. Wait, where am I? No, really, we are in Bariloche, Argentina right now. We were travelling up Chile, going north, with no intention of going back in to Argentina for at least three more weeks, but we ended up flying from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt instead of taking the bus, which would have taken us about 30 hours (the flight was about 2) and then missing out on a couple of National Parks that we wanted to hit up, so the bottom line is...we have extra time! So we flagged down a bus (literally flagged down and didn't have a seat and had to negotiate a price with the driver) and headed back into Argentina.Before this, we have been hanging out in the Lake District of Chile, which has been great. It reminds me of Tahoe a little bit; it is beautiful, but not too hot, only about 70 degrees (sorry, North-easterners!! ONLY 70?!) It has been nice to do some hiking, hanging out at the lake, eating empanadas and seafood and just enjoying the Chilenos and their way of life, which is NOT bad at all! We went to a beach on the Pacific (Maicopue) that was ¨off the gringo grid¨. Nobody spoke English, we mingled with the locals on the beach and ate lots of cheap fried food and swam in the freezing cold Pacific... It was great!!
Next up is... a few more days here in Bariloche (nice to relax and not have to worry about where we are going next) and then its back to Chile for a festival in Valdivia and then onto the Lago Villarica, where there is a nice beach and a massive volcano...activity and relaxation all in one... Then we will contiue our quest north towards Santiago.