Water, water everywhere

From San Martin de Los Andes to Bariloche, we took the bus along the popular Seven Lakes Route through the Lake District of Argentina. It was indeed impressive.

In Bariloche we found a room after trying at half a dozen places. It turned out to be a great location and good value too. If we leaned out the window far enough, we could see to Lago Nahuel Huapi at the end of the street.

The next two days were beautiful. In fact the locals thought they were having a heat wave since they are used to have their radiators on during (even during their summer season) as they were when we arrived the first day.

We made a number of outings to have more lake views. The view from Cerro Campanario, touted as a one of top 10 views as ranked by National Geographic, turned out to be even more spectacular than I had expected, which hardly ever happens. The weather was so pleasant and the views so beautiful, I did not want the day to end. This has to be one of the most scenic areas of the world that we have ever been.

View from the Seven Lakes Route.


Our hosteria at right and the view down the street to the lake.


View of Lago Nahuel Huapi from Cerro Campanario - Bariloche, Argentina


Waterfall near Lago Gutierrez.

Intro to Argentina: from bad to worse

After much unfruitful research on a more scenic route to Argentina, we took the direct bus from Valdivia, Chile to San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina. The day started well enough. Volcano Lanin was there to greet us at the border. We thought that find good accommodation had not been so easy in Chile, but we had no idea what was in store for us in Argentina.

When we arrived in Los Andes bus terminal around 3PM, it was filled with travelers of all sorts. On our way to the tourist office, we walked by one guesthouse which turned out to be full . After standing in line for 10 minutes at the tourist office, we were told finding a room that night would be difficult, but were told about a $72US-room. We rushed over there in 8 minutes just to watch another couple take the last room. We checked a few more places on the way back to the tourist office, all full. This time we learned that the last $104US-room had just been taken, there might or might not be a $98US-room available, but there were definitely two $19US-beds in a hostel. Learning from our earlier lesson, we half ran to the hostel and secured our roof for the night.

Of all our travels, this is the very first time ever that we ended up in a dorm room. It had 3 bunk beds with en suite bathroom. But I was so shaken by the experience that I decided I would just pretend that I was in a sleeper train and sleep with my clothes on. We left our big bags in our room and went to secure our roof for the next night.

But first we needed some Argentine Pesos and luckily found an ATM that had money. Then, after much walking around and some kind help, we made a reservation at a hotel for a $66US room, only available for one night. Right after that we went back to the bus station to snatch up the last two tickets on the good side of the bus going to Bariloche in two days later. All the while it was overcast, cold, windy, and misting at times. We could not understand what all these people were doing in this place, especially ourselves!

To be fair, the town itself is very picturesque. Not that we are experts on resort towns, it is as lovely as they come. The next morning we moved to our new home at 10AM, showered and did laundry. It felt great! The sun was out. We hiked to a couple of miradores. It was evident why everyone was here, and we could not regret that we came too.

Volcan Lanin on the Argentina/Chile Border.

The San Martin waterfront; ready for action on Lago Lacar.


Lots of bicyclists in the Argentine Lake District. These cyclists were taking a break on the shores of Lago Lacar in San Martin.


View from Mirador Arrayanes to Lago Lacar. Wow!


View of Lago Lacar from Mirador Bandurrias.


And finally, a liter of Quilmes beer and with a pizza on the main drag in San Martin.

You get what you wish for

We left Talca in a hurry as we thought it was too hot to do anything. After an 8-hour bus ride we landed in Valdivia, cold and rainy. It rained everyday expect for one and on that one sunny day we made a day trip to the nearby port towns of Niebla, Corral, and Amargos. These towns are great for touring: several old forts, working fishing fleets (rowboats and sailboats), ferry rides, great views of the mouth of the Valdivia River and the Pacific Ocean, and a giant pile of wood chips.

I continue to be unimpressed with Chile so we decided to go over to the Argentine Lake District for a few days. Since this is a new plan, I will be spending more time trip planning than blogging. Part of the reason that I find Chile underwhelming is that it is not exotic. Especially this part of the country seems very similar to home. It is about the same latitude south. The vegetation, landscape, and culture seem familiar, unlike Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Fish Market - Valdivia, Chile.


Had a couple of tasty pints at Kunstmann Brewery, just outside Valdivia. That's the Unfiltered Lager on the left and the Torobayo Ale on the right. Although John usually prefers ales, the Unfiltered Lager was declared the winner on this day.


The harbor at Amargos, Chile with fishing fleet at center and giant wood chip pile at right.


Castillo de San Luís de Alba de Amargos - Amargos, Chile. Very cool.


View to the Pacific from the Amargos Fort.


The ferry arrives at the Corral dock.

Unintended Talca - Unexpected Talca

John likes to think of himself as a train fan. There are not many passenger trains left in South America. However, south from Santiago there is a three-hour train to Talca, so Talca became a stop we would not have bothered with otherwise. During research we learned that the real train attraction in Talca, the narrow gauge to Constitución on the coast, is no longer running due to the earthquake last year.

Yet when we arrived in Talca, we were surprised by the earthquake damage from 11 months ago: whole city blocks still closed for business, empty lots free or filled with rubble, visible damage inside and outside buildings. We came across hotels one after another that are now a pile of rubble, closed for business, in the process of fixing up rooms, in a state of managed disrepair. Yet all the newer buildings stood tall and strong. It makes one wonder about all the collapsed buildings in the Sichuan earthquake....

The other surprise in Talca was the hot weather. We had ambitions of going hiking in the mountains to the east. We quickly killed that idea once we realized that we probably could not carry enough water to stay alive. Bicycling among the vineyard in the blazing sun was also out of the question even though Talca is in the middle of vine country where the local Walmart(Hyper Lider) sells vine by the liter or gallon. To escape the hot weather, we pulled out of Talca only after one night.

The train we rode from Santiago to Talca just before departure in Central Station, Santiago.


School Clock Tower - Talca, Chile. Stopped at 3:34 AM.


The entire block around the Central Market building is closed due to earthquake damage. Many of the vendors appeared to have moved to a temporary location by the Bus Terminal.


This church shows damage where the steeple meets the roof.

Santiago, finally a piece of the puzzle

We are having a hard time figuring out Chile. The cost of goods and traveling is comparable to the US or higher, more like Europe (Chilean wine being one of the few exceptions), yet the level of development is barely discernible from Peru where the cost is half.

After a few days in Santiago, we are finally seeing signs of development that begin to justify the prices.

• Santiago has more miles of downtown pedestrian streets than anywhere we have been. People love them, overflowing the streets all day long.
  
• There are all kinds of pleasant neighborhoods in the city center, blending residential and commercial, the old and new. There are street cafes everywhere.
  
• The subway system is modern and clean. The stations not only have stores but also services outlets for train, bus, bank, etc. Except the system is not so tourist friendly. The per ride cost for us is more than the Washington DC subway.
• The Changing of the Guard is among the biggest of the dozens of such spectacles we have seen, while it may not be the most unique.
• We found the best vegetarian restaurant of the whole trip, where we he had all three lunches there though there are over a dozen ineffectual alternatives.
  
• Santiago is supposed to be one of the most dramatically situated capitals with the snow capped Andes to the east. We could hardly see anything through the brown haze of auto exhaust. Development.
  

As sophisticated as Santiago may appear, we still think the exchange rate with the U.S. dollar is wrong. Of course our opinions are biased here.

Pedestrian Mall.


Changing of the Guard.


Evergreen Vegetarian Restaurant.