Bariloche, Argentina

ben and i arrived in Bariloche on thursday night. apparently this weekend in Bariloche there are a few things going on, which made finding a hostel a little difficult, but we got one. we ended up sharing a four bed dorm room with 2 british girls that we had met in El Calafate. only $13 per person for the night. the hostel (periko's) was actually quite nice and we ended up meeting several people who gave us some good ideas for things do to in the area. in
the past 3 days we have meet tons of travelers and been able to spend time with people from Toronto, Israel, Brazil, England, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Slovenia, Texas and Colorado. its been fantastic to get to know these people and here their stories. many of these are people who i know i will continue to stay in touch with and share our adventures of traveling.

friday we woke up to clear, sunny skies in Bariloche....which apparently was unexpected as the weather for the past week or so has been rainy and very cold. along with the 2 british girls, ben and i took a bus to Cerrro Camponario, a relatively small mountain about 30 minutes from Bariloche. Bariloche is the lake district of Argentinian...and its called that for good reason. Cerro Camponario is right on one of the lakes and has a chair lift that takes people to the top for unbelievable views of the area. while taking pictures and enjoying the view from Cerro Camponario we met a fellow traveler (Jackie from Toronto) who then joined our posse. we left Cerro Camponario and walked about 1km down the road to a bike rental place. there is a bike trek that is 35km and takes you around several lakes and offers several impressive viewpoints as well as mini-excursions to mountain peaks and bays. the 2 british girls had a bus to catch in the afternoon to return to buenos aires, so they went on ahead as ben, jackie (the Toronto traveler), and i set out to tackle Circuito Chico (the name of the 35km trek). along the way we stopped at several spots to enjoy view, walk around, and have lunch. the entire trek took us around 5 hours and was well worth the pain i am feeling know.

we returned to Bariloche friday night to find the start of a 3 day car rally that begins in Bariloche. i think every person in Bariloche showed up for the introduction of the racers, packing the streets to the max and requiring desperate onlookers to climb telephone poles and awnings to get views of the cars. it was quite a site. today we are hoping to rent a car and do some more exploring of the lakes and surrounding areas...maybe include a visit to a volcano and waterfall. so far the weather is holding, so we will try to get in our outdoor activities while we can here.