Bariloche and liquid hot magma

Hope everyone is doing well out there! We're missing the states a bit, but still having great experiences...so won't be home just yet....

So a major volcano down here in Chile has been erupting since last June...it's been a huge deal because it's completely impacted the tourist industry in some of Argentina's most beautiful cities. Bariloche is one of those cities, in the Lake District of Argentina nestled among volcanoes and sweet lakes. The ash was rumored to be crazy and really unpleasant, but the city was supposed to be cool so we wanted to check it out.

We arrived at the bus terminal with our fingers crossed that the ash wouldn't be so bad. We saw sooo much ash on the way into town we just weren't sure what would be waiting for us. Fortunately we had only one ashy day. It was similar to a bad smog day in LA where the sky is gray and you can feel the effects in your eyes and throat.

Here are a few pictures from our journey over the mountains from Chile, into Bariloche, and along the "Seven Lakes" route to San Martin de Los Andes - it is so incredibly beautiful here!

Of course, when we first arrived at the bus terminal, we saw an amazing Argentinian sight.
You´ll never guess what this machine does...it dispenses hot water to drink mate tea. An obsession here!

There is SO much volcanic ash here, just check out the side of the road on the way to Bariloche

Ash...looks like fresh powder in the mountains, it´s crazy

More ash. You can see it across the lake in this picture.

It´s everywhere!



We were rewarded with a beautiful sunset over the lake in Bariloche

Bariloche´s own Lombard Street. Notice tacky tourists are NOT lined up to drive down...

The main square of Bariloche. Awesome views when the ash cloud doesn´t roll into town!


Bariloche was a cool town, completely reminded us of Lake Tahoe. There is enough stuff there that you wouldn´t go crazy because it´s so small, but there´s enough wilderness around it that you can easily get out and do fun hikes, kayaking, etc. Plus, it has the absolute best steak we´ve eaten on this trip (see our other post!). We would recommend it, it´s just too bad that the ash is such a question mark...it can really ruin your day!

After Bariloche we took the scenic drive to San Martin de Los Andes, an Aspen-like town at the end of the Seven Lakes route. Of course, instead of staying at a fancy hotel we wanted to camp on the lake, which was really beautiful. Again, another lake that is really windy....but I don´t have my kitesurfing gear...


After checking out San Martin de Los Andes we headed out to Pucon, Chile. Pucon is supposed to be one of those adventure centers in the world...let´s see if it lives up to it´s hype!


This is a view of Parque National Lanin and the famous "Monkey Trees" on the way to Pucon. The trees are really unique and super cool.


Stay tuned for the next update. Take care!

Okay, the best steak evvvvveeerrrr!

We just had the most freaking amazing steak dinner. Seriously Argentina, are you kidding me?? This is my homey the chef. Bon appetite!

Staying in people´s houses...

Puerto Varas, Chile. Ever heard of it? Yep, we hadn´t either...but decided to spend almost a week here. The Chilean Lake District is just beautiful. Imagine Lake Tahoe framed by huge volcanoes around it. Pretty sweet. Finally the weather has started to feel like summer instead of crazy winds (yes, tons of options to kitesurf down here if I had my gear...) and up and down temps.

Before we got to Puerto Varas we had some awesome local experiences. Just imagine traveling along for about a week, staying in different people´s houses along the way. This is called an "hospedaje" here.

#1) The first one we stayed in was at the bottom the the Carretera Austral. It´s late at night, we´re looking for a place, and the first one we find is this messy house with a bedroom. Done. Little did we know that the 1 year old kid "Ben-ha-min" (Benjamin!) would be up until after midnight...only to later crawl in the room and eat my chapstick! Oh, I forgot, if we wanted to cook we could...only it was outside on a camping stove near the garage. Mind you it was 40 degrees here. ha, thanks, but no thanks.

#2) Hospedaje #2 had a great water view, was super clean, and looked great. Good kitchen, bed, clean bathroom, you know...a normal place! Nevermind the mother-owner who, whenever you wanted to cook you had to tell her exactly what you needed (Did you know that pot and pan in spanish is "olla". How do you tell them apart guys?) and she would get it out, light the stove, and basically hover over you until you were finished cooking. Doesn´t exactly make cooking enjoyable, huh....

#3) Crappy hospedaje in overnight bus town. I went to look for a place and happened upon a place run by a grandma and grandpa. I checked out the room and told her that my wife (weird still, yes!) would appreciate the mirror and clean bathroom. She immediately fell in love with us, congratulating us on our wedding all night long, again and again. Classic grandma!

Finally, we arrived in Puerto Varas...imagine staying at your friend´s house with 15 people from around the world, all staying in different rooms. This place is called Ruca hostel, and the owner, Leon, was awesome. Every place should be like this. He hosted dinners every night, hung out with everyone, people played Wii together, watched movies, etc. We made friends with this couple from Santiago and did a day trip around the lake with them. It was awesome. Funny thing is, they were actually full so we camped in the backyard the whole time. That´s the way to do it!!

We camped on Lago Todos Los Santos, overlooking this volcano trail!


Like the beard??


Saltas del Petrohue

The Superbowl

Who said it would be hard to watch the super bowl here?? We had a tv in our room, bought awesome junk food(doritos are almost as good here...not as cheesy), and enjoyed great Chilean wine (cheaper than beer!). But the weirdest part...there were no American commercials. Not one. Hope they sucked this year. Later, scott

Bathrooms....

Where to even begin.... the bathrooms in south america are disgusting (not as gross as asia though...). I wont even think of posting pictures because no one would ever come visit us.

On more than one occassion I have rolled up my pants because the floors are wet and nasty. ladies please.
I think only 2 times in the last month have I been in a bathroom that is even close to as clean as a public bathroom in the US.
I have now resorted to carrying toilet paper in my pocket ALWAYS.
And dont even get me started on hand soap... I actually get excited when I walk into a bathroom with soap. Its the little things in life... right?!?!
And I dont care that the sewage system here is not as good as the US, I will never think it is ok to put toilet paper in the trash can.

Sick honey badger!

Are you kidding me?!?!

I have decided that it is really important for us to convey to you how strange it is in some of the places we are traveling. We have had soooo many odd encounters that we will now be sharing with YOU! I will try to add pictures if I can, but some of these things just happen too fast so just try to picture it...

Last week we were having a nice cold draft beer at a restaurant/bar in Coyhaique Chile. It was just about happy hour time and they were starting to prepare for the dinner rush. All of a sudden we hear a huge bang/crash and look to the right.... Directly in front of the entry a dude who works at the restaurant started to chop wood INSIDE the restaurant... we are talking about full axe in the air! Are you serious?! Lesson learned--- asados are more important than safety of the guests.

love it!
Lisa

The infamous Ruta 40 and Carretera Austral

Our journey up North was no short of amazing!

We started from El Chalten and took a 12 hour bus ride north on the Ruta 40. This is a famous dirty road in Argentina. It is pretty much all dirt and tumble weeds and desert for miles and miles. Unfortunatley they are starting to pave the road so that it can be used year round. Currently you can really only travel on it during the summer time. During winter they do not do any maintenance so it is pretty typical for it to be covered in many feet of snow. I thought it was ok, but not too interesting...

In the middle of the highway....


Our bus....


We then crossed over into Chile at a town called Chile Chico to drive the rest of the way on the Carretera Austral. This is Chile´s version of the same road, however they are night and day different. The CA is also a dirt road, but instead of passing through miles of desert it winds up mountains and through rain forests. This is my kind of scenery. In some ways it reminded me of the rainforests in Costa Rica, but colder. Because of all the lakes on this section of Chile you end up taking a bus-ferry-bus kind of route. It is incredibly slow and the transportation doesnt run often (1 or 2 times a week), but we enjoyed just slowing down and enjoying each town we stopped at.... We stumbled across a beautiful lake town called Puyuhapi with Thermal Hot Springs right on the lake side... 3 hours later we were relaxed and ready to continue on our adventure.}

Maybe hitch-hiking will be faster than a bus?


A local gym.








Scott relaxing at the hot springs...


Food trucks are soooo trendy down here...! Notice the woodburning stove INSIDE



We spent time in many of the national parks... enjoyed waterfalls and the natural scenery. Needless to say we got a little wet.









We were also able to hike near Chaiten Volcano which erupted 4 years ago... Notice the huge pile of ash about 4 feet tall on the side of the road - basically this town has shut down because of the volcano, crazy.





And then took a ferry to mainland Chile to Castro which is on Chilo island. Castro was the first real city we have been in in a long time! We were slightly overwhelmed with all the activities available to us but enjoyed the life in the city. We went to a beer festival the first night which was hilarious, but the beer was horrible. I am not a picky beer drinker and this stuff was nasty...




These are some local houses known as "Palafittes". Nothing to worry about with sea level rise!


The next day we went to a local festival in a neighboring town (again bus to ferry to bus ...). It was all locals and us! In some ways it is like any other festival you have been to ... people eat, drink, sell crafts, listen to music and dance. We tried all the local dishes including the lamb ( of course) and had a great time. It was a nice change of pace to see so many people in one spot having so much fun. ;)











We took a bus from Chiloe to Puerto Varas which is in Chiles lake district. It is absolutley stunning here. We have yet to figure out the next few days but the plan is to camp by the lakes and then head to Bariloche... well keep you updated!!!

Today we´re in Puerto Varas, Chile...beautiful mountain town overlooking the volcano!