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Argentina is officially the coolest place on Earth....So far!!!!
Bariloche is the place to go if you want to do outdoors stuff, then eat cocolates and ice-cream..and buy things with Sheep and PAtagonia on it!!! But we decided to hike up to Refugio Otto Meiling, along with about 45 other Argentines, it funny here as its the Argentinian holiday period we are a rarety and there are more of them than us on all the outdoor astuff as apposed to PEru, Ecuador and Bolivia where it was all travellers. Anyway, Lizzie, Lyndsey and I hiked ascending 1000ft through the woods and then hitting the snow line you walk through very compacted snow up to the refugio...a tad dodge (refere to Lizzies pics!) it took about 5.5 hours 15kms of uphill we had a measly amount of food in preparation for a 6day hike...so needless to say heavy packs!!! The refugio was set under mount Tronador, I look like a spaz going up the side of the mountain in vest top and trousers rolled up in the snow....but it was really hot!!!! we set up camp and made tea of rice, veg stock cube and for me peanuts and raisins and lizzie cured sausage....this will feature frequently over the next two weeks!!! and had a cup of tea. when the sun went below the mountain about 7-8pm it got really cold and lizzie and i retreated to the tent, donned thermals and snuggled in our sleeping bags, I didnt bring my book...cardinal mistake and so Lizzie read to me here book about the first world war..quite interesting...then we froze our t*ts off all night and didnt sleep, untill the alarm went off at 6:30 and we couldnt bear moving and didnt get up until 7:30, breakfast was a hearty hotchocolate with oats in...the best!. The we raced down the hill again (3hours) to re-register at the ranger station for the next hike (4days) and no-one was there and so we waited for a few hours and then were told it was an uber boggy mess due to delayed snow melt and it wa too late in the day to do a full days hike to our chosen camp spot! SO we retreated back to BAriloche with a mind to Start our Seven LAkes tour the next day!!!
Siete LAgos/Seven lakes tour 159kms on bikes was AWESOME, we set off from BAriloche and ended in San Martin de los ANdes, we went with Lyndsey again, a cool NOrthern lady that now lives in LOndon! You simply ride up the tourist route, we rented bikes, panniers etc from a cool guy called Daniel from BIke Cordillera and then we set off, we started riding up a mountain bike trail, which was well bloody hard, since our back end was well heavy and everyone else was cycling down nd looking at us in disbelief at what we were doing, and the terrain we were riding on with our panniers...i tell you what though that make you go well fast down hill!!! We actually got chatted up covered in mud and sweat stood by our bikes, these Argentines stopped asked where we were from then said they loved Chicas Ingelatera....we just laughed, never in the UK!!!! Anyway, paved road started two hours later oin Villa de Angostura, and we were sailing along, we had 45kms to do that day.....when we hit the unpaved gravel devil road it started to rain, and ll we could think about was putting up our tent! we got to camp by lake (beautiful) and used Lyndseys tent as a kitchen tent to cook in ans store our wet clothes and all slept in our tent....i was in the middle well warm! WE ate rice, vegstock and peanuts and raisins for me and sausage for lizzie...a theme is developing here. The next morning we had breaky of hot chocolate and oats, we packed up and set off....we had 19kms of gravel road and no lake views...then a horrible 5km death hill untill paved road started again...and it was wonderful, we had wonderful weather all day and arrived at campsite no.2 early for our tea of ....you guessed it! the next day we woke to dull skies and imminent rain,.....and my god did it rain, and howl with wind oh hyeah and rain a lot more......we got soaked to the bone for 35km literally, we had a 13km down hill at the end which should have been amazing except it felt like tiny evil ices needles in your face and hands (no gloves)...we got to San MArtin and we were all shivering, we raced to the bus station and got changed in the loos, there was no cubilcal free so lizzie started undressing in the main bit....everything was wet, luckily we had spare clothes, i sprted a rather special thermal leggings and shorts look....then we went to a cafe still shivering and had coffees and lunch and started warming up....we were picked up 4hours later in BAriloche by Daniel who took us home to our hostel....it was great, we were tired and dirty and were welcomed when we rang the bel at the hostel with "welcome home ladies, come in, great to see you, did you have a good time, do you have wet things you want ot hang up?" So lovely, and just what i needed, a nie warm welcome in the best hostel ever!
We set off the next day for El Bolson
El Bolson!
We got back yesterday from our 5 day hike, it was great fun, and beautiful, it was mainly wooded trails, and then you woud peak out and be surrounded by white topped mountains. We were walking to some Refugios, the first one is Hielo Azul (Blue Ice) it sits underneath a glacier, it was a 15Km hike up hill through the woods, took us 5hours, and the camp site was beautiful, in the woods agai, Lizzie made her first fire. The second day we walked up to the glacier in the morning about 3hours round trip, and then we put our HEAVY backpacks and started a 6hour, 14Km hike, the terrain was up hill, then flat the rediculously steep down hill on the edge of a Cajon (canyon) in the baking heat!! It was a long day but so worth it when we got to the camp site Refugio El Retamal, so so beautiful, really isolated, rustic, and peaceful. All the refugios are made of wood, have wood burning stoves and compost toilets, and fire pits to make a fire in th evening, the Argntines cook their tea on the fire bringing just a pan and no gas! The third day we walked up through the valley 6hours, 18Km, near to the CHilian border in a really really isolated Refugio, the owners were wonderful we arrived to Los Laguitos in the rain and we were offered tea and sat by the fire and chatted. We walked through a forest of Alerza trees that are between 3-4000 years old, they were so huge, it was increduble. In the evening the rain got worse and he invited all the campers in to dy off by the fire, there was music, guitars, singing...ACE! Normally if you are camping you have to pay to use the refugio but here we got free tea or Mate, or simply hot water. THe 4th Day we walked back the way we came but a bit further 20kms, 6hours, to another refugio owned my Artilio called Cajon Azul (Blue Canyon). The last day we walked 12kms in 2hours and came back to El BOlson and I had some homemade beer from the Hostel. We did this independantly, with Maps from the National Park, we carried our food, camping gear, my book etc and it was so beautiful, we saw lizzards, Woodpeckers (black with a red head, and white under the wings) and so many different types of birds, we did 80kms (50miles) in total!
So now finally we are enjoying a rest day in a wonderful hostel, we spetnt the morning in HAmmocks, i was writing and drawing out maps in my journal and enjoying the quiet and the sun! The we came into town and had frech rasberries from the market...El BOlson is known for its fertile and organic land!
A long one, sorry guys, and very belated, hope you enjoy if you manage to get through it all:)
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