Patagonia to Santiago

Here´s the start of our deluxe bus ride from Buenos Aires to Mendoza, Argentina.



After hanging out in Mendoza for a day, we make plans for winetasting the next.

The tour included a visit to an olive oil plant...boring! Well, brett would´ve been more interested if he had been able to understand the guide at all.

At the second winery, we were able to see the grapes that they harvested in march and sample the remaining off the vine.


The next day, we had our 12 hour tour. Here´s the picture of what Hotel Villavicencio looks like snowed upon and from far away. Was privately owned but now owned by Danon.

Here´s what it looked like when we got there on a drizzly, cold morning. Straight out of the Shining. It´s all boarded up and Danon bought it so that it wasn´t torn down. There´s a chapel on the premises too.

Where 7 Years in Tibet was filmed. Our crazy tourguide loved talking about Brad Pitt and him living in her country.

Old old bridge where O'Higgins led over some troops.

Nice shot of our western hemispere´s highest peak, Aconcagua (21,000 ft).

Border with Chile and Argentina at 12,600 ft. I had the altitude sickness.

There´s good ol Aconcagua behind brett.

The Inca Bridge: named so after the Incas came around here. The color on the rocks is from the abundance of sulfur. According to our crazy guide, people would come here and bathe in its springs for its healing power.

After a lovely 14 hour bus ride south, we arrived in Bariloche.

We reserved online, warily, and of course, they didn´t have the room we had reserved. Luckily, excellent customer service came through and got a 4 person dorm room for the two of us. Here´s the view:


Took an early tour and like the previous post stated, we froze on the bus.


After the germans chewed our guide out for a new bus, we went on a walk while we waited for it to arrive.

Lunch

After lunch, we went to see the Black Glaciar..black because it´s so dirty.




The next day, we took a local bus ride out to the Splurge! (fancy recommendation by Lonely Planet) hotel Llao Llao. Very picturesque setting but stupid, pretentious workers...and clientele. They were doing a little archery out back.


After leaving Bariloche, we crossed the border into Chile. Our destination was Entre Lagos but unfortunately, the man who sold us our tickets gave us the wrong destination. The bus dropped us off in what seemed like the middle of no where. There´s the bus turning the bend.


After an hour or so, we made it to our actual destination. Here´s our cabin and the lake it was on.



Thanks to the tiny heating unit, the cabin was absolutely freezing.

Took a local bus to Aguas Calientes in hopes for a little hiking and some hot springs. We got both but i was hoping for some rocks-type hot springs....not a very large hot tub thing. Still, nice and comfy.



Next stop: Pucón. Here´s the stoplight brett talked about.


While in Pucón, i became aware of how much my thumb hurt. I recalled having bit a hang nail off the side of my thumb a day or two ago and thought the pain would go away. Not the case. It swelled and turned a little green in the corner. Went to the hospital and got on some antibiotics.

Some irish dudes we met. They were much more likeable than the brits and some a-hole from canada we met. "I think they were Americans. They sounded ignorant." He wasn´t talking about us but that´s the first thing i heard him say while staying in the hospedaje.

$50 later (horribly expensive), we made reservations to be taken to some "real" thermal pools. These were the real deal...beautiful setting. There were 6 pools..each differing in temp., from hot to really hot and all very likeable. Again, situated right by the freezing river, so brett went in a few times. i, of course, did not.



Here are some pics from Santiago. Nothing too exciting.




This pic is for Saby. It was Pablo Neruda´s house.


And here´s my thumb again. Getting worse. I hope it gets better....