Bariloche...Part Deux

The Israeli couple we met again! Karen and Roi
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We started our group classes in our 2nd week.  it was low season in the school, so there was only about 12 students but we got to know a really good group of people, from Holland, Oz and the US.  We studied from 9am-1pm every day.  In our class was Rob, myself and a Dutch guy called Vincenzo.  Our teacher Fatima was really good and the 4 of us together had a really good laugh.  The school organized activities in the afternoons but unfortunatley most of these were cancelled the week we were there, which was a shame, as i missed a salsa class!   Argentina is renowned for its steak.  They love their meat here.  Of course we had to sample some of this big, juicy steak so we went to a restaurant (twice), recommended to us by our Itialian and french friends from Puerto Varas.  The chef came over to take our food order (not a waitress) and plonked a huge piece of meat onto a bbq style grill.  We had been warned about the size of the portions so we shared one partion between us, which was a wise decision, as they were huge!  But how nice they were!  My knife glided through it and it virtually slipped down my throat!  I could see why Argentina has such a good reputation in the steak department!   We finished our classes on what was a long weekend in Argentina so we booked a few day trips with our friends from the spanish school.  On the Saturday 4 of us went to the town of El Bolson, 2 horus south of Bariloche.  El bolson is a hippy town and is famous for its market, which takes place 3 times a week.  We decided to do a day trip to Hippyville to sample its 70s lifestyle.  Upon arrival and after a quick cup of coffee and a few croissants to give us a boost of energy, we went on a walk, whcih ended up taking us 3 hours!  By the time we got back to town, the fair was in full swing.  The things on sale were very woodsy and hippy but unique nevertheless.  We scoffed some empanadas and sampled the best ice cream in Argentina (we were starving) and headed toward the bus station, for our ride back to Bariloche.  On the way we saw the most clapped out car sputtering along the road.  Half of the bonnet was missing so you could completely see the engine but it was generally a wreck.  Thats one thing we´ve noticed about Argentina.  There doesnt seem to be an MOT system here.  Think of the worst bangers ever and they´re driven on the roads here!  Some of them, like the 2CV we saw, are so funny.  The girl in the car was mortified as we were taking photos and she was trying to hide her face!   After a day of rest on the Sunday, 7 of us from the school hired a car for the Monday, to drive to Mount Tronodor to do a walk there.  We managed to get a people carrier, which was also a bit of a banger but it got us the 2 hours to the mountain, from where we were going to start our walk.  Again, it turned into a 41/2 hour trek up the mountain through gras, mud and snow, over fallen trees, under fallen trees and over rivers.  It was a lot of fun.  What met us at the half way point of our walk was a glacier perched on top of the mountainside.  As we were walking towards it, a huge chunk of ice fell from the glacier, making it sound like an avalanche was on its way.  It was cool.  We sat and watched it for half an hour but no more fell off.  Our walk back to the car was a little more downhill but by the time we headed home, we were all pretty tired!  Another mountian conquered!   The reaon we had to stay in Bariloche for a 3rd week was because Rob´s bankcard was being sent to the hostel so we had to wait for it.  As it happened it didnt arrive until the Thursday, so we ended up staying another week and left on the Saturday.   To pass some time that week, Rob, myself and our friend Brian rented some biked to cycle the ´circuito chico´ (small circuit) around part of the lake.  It was a 34km ride but there were no flat parts!  It was either uphill or downhill!  No-one had warned us how physically challenging it was but I certainly built a sweat up.  Next door to the bike shop was a little welsh tearoom, but i didnt visit it as i was waiting to visit the welsh colony on the east coast of Argentina, our next stop.

The wreck of a car in El Bolson
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A funny thing to happen to us was bumping in to an Israli couple, we did a trek with in Thailand, at the start of our trip.  The couple were just on a 2 week holiday. They have to take their holidays at the same time every year and we bumped into them on the main street in Bariloche!  They were on their holidays again!  A year later!  We hadnt kept in touch with them so we had no idea they were there.  It was very bizarre to be in the same county, never mind the same town a year to the day we were with them in Thailand!!!  It is definatley a small world!!!!

bumped into a couple from Thailand...

Hiking up Mount Tronodor
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The rest of our time in Bariloche was either spent in the pub, watching world cup qualifiers, eating chocolate (there´s loads of chocolate shops), drinking too much dirt cheap bottles of red wine and eating massive juicy steaks!  As soon as Rob´s bankcard arrived, we booked our bus to Puerto Madryn on the east coast and left on the Saturday.