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Paul and his “maternal” side…..?

Wednesday, June 27th, 2007



Volunteering

Originally uploaded by kathsmee.

Thought I would blog a few pictures. This is Paul with the kids we volunteered with in Bariloche, see he´s quite a softie really.

After reading him a story the little boy on Paul´s lap had the cheek to ask him for two pesos for a job well done!

The kids were hard work and hugely unimpressed by our Spanish, but they were great fun.

Posted in Argentina, Bariloche, Travel | 1 Comment »

A long and dusty road…..

Friday, June 1st, 2007

Aaaaghhhhhhh, seven and a half hours in an internet cafe and my fingers are about to fall off….. so Tucky has written this last account… good luck.

And so after the Spanish was finished we collected our fine hire car, a dazzler of the Renault species, sub category Clio and set sail the next day for my birthday round of golf at the stunning Country club down the road. Massively underdressed for such an event I began in earnest driving fully six yards, most of which were left back towards the club house, fortunately at this early point the crowd were still sparce and no one other than Kathi, the faithful, but unwilling to carry the bag, caddy saw the shot. The ball was replaced on the tee and this time I stroked it (for stroked read hooked) gloriously into the distance and down the middle of the fairway (for fairway read trees) anyway as there may be non golfers reading this I won’t bore you with the details of the next 80 shots (for 80 read 90!)

Needless to say though the course and indeed the weather were immaculate! And the round was most enjoyable.

Once the golf was completed we continued on our way around the “Circuito Chico” stopping every so often to admire stunning views across the lakes and the mountains. Once the circuit was complete and a top notch supermarket lunch was eaten we began the drive to El Bolson……. A small hippy village abut 200km down the road. The drive down there was as spectacular as the morning and even Kathi managed to stay awake in transport for most of the journey. (This may have been partly due to fear as we rounded many an icy mountain curve with sheer drops down the side…)

Anyway we arrived safely and soon set out to find a fine local establishment to eat in, well actually we went in search of some local brew! As we were told it is very good, I can shnow conshcur to shish feory and she beersh were very very good!! Did I mention I Looooooooveeee you! We also met up with a Frenchman and an Israeli girl the former of the two I had offended soon after the Liverpool game but fortunately he wasn’t holding it against me and they would be hitching in the back of the Clio in a couple of days. But not before we went to the Legendary El Bolson Market, which were in short a bunch of hippies selling tat! Yes family, you can guess where all your birthday presents have comes from! Ha ha ha!! Actually it was prety good and there was lots of stuff both me and Kathi wanted to buy, unfortunately as I had to explain to Kathi there just isn’t room in our rucksacks for the complete hand sculpted table and chairs set.

After that we went for a short drive further south of El Bolson. Now let it be said I have nothing against women drivers, I think the way they handle the shopping trollies around Tescos and the push chairs around the park very well. But a car!? No no no. But so it was I took my life into my own hands and passed Kathi the keys to our Clio Rally Car and I have no idea why Kathi’s mum developed claw hands when she taught her to drive, but so it was as I clutched the bottom of the seat we bounded up and down some pretty harsh terrain off the main road and found a beautiful lake (they don’t call it the Lake District for nothing you know!) Actually I have to say I was very impressed with Kathi’s driving and even handed her the keys the following day as we collected the Frenchman and the Israeli (I’m sure there’s a joke about that) and drove back towards Bariloche stopping at Mount Tronador (from a distacne as the road was shut) and some rather impressive and powerful waterfalls whose name I can’t remeber now! Enjoying some more beautiful scenery and some exciting Off Road Rally Driving (I had the keys on the way back!!)

With just four days of our Clio left we again left Bariloche and this time headed north on the Seven Lakes Circuit, so called because of the enormous beach that goes along the road – just joking! It’s because of the lakes actually!!! Anyway after stopping for an hour and far too long in a posh and exclusive town of Angosturra we ventured further north towards a small village slightly off the circuit. Soon out of the town the road stopped. Pretty much literally. And we found ourselves sliding and skidding through mud, rocks, ice. My obvious skills as a rally driver took over and we arrived at our destination safely! Where we stayed for a night in a quaint little cabana with all of the gas rings turned on for most of the night for heat!!

Bright and early the next morning, is 11 still bright and early back home!? We set off again continuing along the circuit toward San Martin De Los Andes. And were delightfully surprised when we found it. After the usual tourist office stop to find out local accomodation we were stopped by the neighbours of one of the places offering us one of their “aparthotels” for the same price as the skanky one we were heading toward! A bargian if ever there was one and Kathi’s eyes lit up as she viewed the bath (it even had jets!) in the bathroom! Sold!! We’ll take it! And it is most definitely the best value accomodation ever. The only problem was leaving………… when the owner and his brother insisted on talking to us for almost an hour and a half about everything from Argentine politics to the largest natural water reserve in the world (I thought that was the Pacific, but apparently it’s in Argentina!) Anyway these guys were lovely. They even popped in to do Kathi’s washing up when we went out for a day trip to Volcano Lanin, which according to the brochure was lovely. I’ll never know of course because Jack Frost and his snow flakes had other ideas and we could see the damn thing!! We did however do some more rally car driving in snow and stopped at the black (from the ash) beach – just like Tenerife but without the used condoms or broken glass. As the water was icing over in places I left my speedoes in the car and did’t go for a swim this time.

Anyway after finally leaving our aparthotel we drove back down the other side of the circuit to Bariloche. The drive through the valley on the other side was equally as spectacular and with Kathi driving I was able to enjoy the views more freely! And the drive was uneventful…….. (Well that three legged dog might tell you otherwise and the hooting lorry driver might have a couple of complaints but those are stories that will get edited if I type them!)

And so we return to the same Hostel in Bariloche (the woman thinks we are crazy, keep coming and going!) Managed to return the hire car without them noticing the chip in the windscreen, result!! That was GBP250 I thought we were going to lose! I obviously wanted to point that out to them but Kathi had been taught well by her mother and we decided that keeping stum was the best policy when it comes to hire cars!

Anyhow, we have stocked up on books and prepare for two days on buses as we disappear up to the far north of Argentina, namely Salta before crossing the border to Bolivia……..

Posted in Argentina, Bariloche, Markets, Travel | 1 Comment »

Bariloche and Birthdays

Friday, June 1st, 2007
The next morning we were on an early bus back to Puerto Montt and on to Bariloche to start our next phase of Spanish courses. Bariloche is in Argentina, at the foot of the Andes in an area known as ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Argentina, Bariloche, Learning Spanish, Travel | 1 Comment »