Travels in Latin America - Part 2

As promised, here are the continuing details of my trips to Latin America. I should point out that I might have commented negatively on my time in Russia in 2005 and 2006, but I can assure you that apart from a few mishaps that happened along the way, I had an extremely fun and enjoyable time there. It's a fascinating country and you get extremes wherever you are. I can't really describe what I mean by that. Take my word for it, and go and pay Russia a visit. Russia is somewhere I would love to return to, sadly, it isn't so easy to just turn up and visit like it is in Latin America.

I returned to Latin America in 2006, and did a bit of a tour of Argentina. I really do like Argentina. The people are friendly, the weather is mostly nice and sunny, and the many pretty towns have a laid back and relaxed feel to them. The people are unhurried and the pace of life is slow. OK, Buenos Aires isn't like this, but then again I m not a big fan of Buenos Aires, well I am, but for different reasons. Highlights of this particular trip were the visits to Bariloche, San Martin de Los Andes, Salta and Rosario.

Lets start with Bariloche. This has to be one of the most beautiful places I have visited in Argentina. Bariloche is located in the Rio Negro province of Argentina, next to the Nahuel Huapi lake and in the foothills of the Andes. It's a tourist centre, but that shouldn't put you off visiting. I remember it being a bit of a walk from the bus station to the centre of the city, but it was worth it because it bears a striking resemblance to an alpine town, with lots of wood and grey stone used in the construction of buildings. 



I got checked into a hostel when I arrived (not the one in the pic), and as luck would have it, it was awful. I m one of those unfortunate people who seem to always choose the worst place possible to stay. If I had moved I would have ended up somewhere even worse, and so I decided to stay for my short visit. I think the main problem with the hostel wasn't just the lack of people, but also the lack of any sort of heating. I think there was construction going on as well, because there was a hole in the roof. Luckily, I did have the 8 bedroom dorm to myself, as there were no other visitors. 

Anyways, I ignored this fact, and set off to explore the place. I thought the best way to do this would be to hire a bike, and so that's exactly what I did. It was fairly cheap, and they provide a map and everything. I intended to tackle the 65km Circuito Chico (small circuit). It was a tough ride, but really, really worth it. First stop was the chairlift at Cerro Campanario. The views from the top are spectacular. I had a good look out over the lakes and Andes. The next stop was the Hotel Llao-Llao it's a posh old place that looks as if it has definitely been implanted straight from Switzerland. Not somewhere that I could afford to stay, but a place that I could most certainly dream about staying in.

On the way back, I had another stop and a wander up this small mountain path. It didn't lead anywhere in particular, and so headed down again. I think it was some sort of animal graveyard, and so I didn't want to hang about. Also, on the way back I had a lovely experience. Remember before, I said I had spent a lot of time in Russia, where, to be honest the people aren't overly friendly, well in Argentina people are. This chap sat by the side of the road called me over, and I remember thinking 'oh great, I m going to get mugged or something' but he wanted someone to chat with, and someone to share a glass of his wine and some empanadas. My Spanish isn't 100% fluent but I managed a bit of a conversation, and following on I continued on my way. I was 10000% tired when I got back to the centre, but the ride was worth it.

I spent another few days in Bariloche chilling out and just taking in the lovely clean air and chocolate box like surroundings. Following this I headed onto San martin de Los Andes, where my friend Juan lived. So, next is San Martin de Los Andes.

San Martin de Los Andes (SMA) is similar in a way to Bariloche, but a lot, lot smaller. It’s still a popular place to visit for skiing, kayaking, trekking and mountain biking. I checked into a nicer hostel this time, mainly because it was Juan who organised it. I wasn’t staying at his place, because he lived a small way outside the city and it would have been harder to travel around. Anyways, again, we decided to hire a couple of bikes and head out to explore the local area. Juan knew of this bike trail that ran up the side of a mountain so off we went to have a look. It was a lovely ride, and we got great views of the local lake. Unfortunately, my biking skills weren’t great today and I ended up falling off the bike hurting my foot, and damaging my knee a bit. I was OK to continue but it hurt. I needed a rest by the lake before I could go on. I stayed another day or so and then continued my travels. It was great to see Juan and I got the chance to meet some genuinely nice characters in the hostel. One chap called Martin was great. He was Chilean, and I couldn’t understand a word of his Spanish. His accent was a bit odd. Even so, we managed to go for a shop and cook a meal for some other people in the hostel. That sums up my time in SMA. Thank you to Juan for showing me around.

The third and final place that stands out is Rosario. This beautiful city is the third largest city in Argentina, and is situated about 300kms from Buenos Aires. It's a major railroad and shipping terminal and is at the heart of Argentina's industrial corridor. One of the most amazing things about Rosario is the 'National Flag Monument' it was built on June 20th 1957 and honours Manuel Belgrano, the creator of the Argentina flag. The monument is about 10,000 square metres and was created primarily from stone brought down from the Andes. I thought it was magnificent, and looked even better in the sunny weather.

I had best stop rambling on there, I have no idea if anyone even reads this, but I shall post more about my adventures in the future. I hope you enjoy the read.