Torres Del Paines, Route 40, Bariloche

Hello,

In the last week I have spent a lot of time in the bus getting from Patagonia to (moderately) warmer places! I can't believe I got sunburnt in Ushuaia and also left my shoes in the hostel there (and yes, I did check my feet).

My last Patagonian adventure was in Puerto Natales, Chile and the Torres Del Paine national park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_del_Paine_National_Park). I met a German and Dutch girl and went camping for 3 days. It was pretty awesome despite the really cold weather and camping in tents whilst it was snowing outside. The glaciers and glacial lakes were spectacular. The colour of the lakes was impressive with their vibrant aqua glow. The girls were OK (it sounds like a dream come true eh) but after three days of camping they really did my head in! They were just particularly particular about the particularities and I'm a bit more laid back plus they were insistent that girls were better than boys at everything whilst I don't really give a shit! However, there were some funny conversations such as stick insects and what their lives entail. Put simply, they spent their whole life pretending to be a stick and occasionally eat leaves. And if you turn the 'Marlboro' logo upside down you get 'horrible jew', trust the German to point that out.



Next was 'route 40' from El Calafate to Bariloche. Dubbed South Americas' 'route 66', I expected it to be quite a cool journey. Unfortunately it was a bit of a let down. The bus driver provided highlights, well 'lights' including chasing an armadillo down, grabbing it by the tale to show all us tourists and cutting off a foxtail which was in my terminology "roadkill". The place we stopped at overnight, Perito Moreno was in the middle of nowhere and the bartender (perhaps 50yo and circa 4 teeth) proposed a threesome between myself, him and an English girl I met on the bus.


Then, here I am in Bariloche where I was robbed this morning. Yes robbery number 1. Though not how I expected it! The English girl and I went to a 2 bed room in a hotel because it was late and the hostel was booked out. We went to sleep at about 2am and woke up at 9am. When we were leaving, the English girl couldn't find her wallet and I realised all my cash was gone. We didn't lock the door to the hotel room, someone must've come in while we were sleeping and pinched said items. Which is a little scary I suppose. We went down and told the reception desk and another guy had the same issue. The reception girl then went back up to the floor with the English girl and instantly found her wallet minus cash stuffed underneath a common area couch. Pretty dodge. Fortunately my card was in my wallet and not taken and my camera which was lying next to my wallet remained untouched which baffles considering it was worth more than the 300 pesos (80AUD) nicked. My insurance won't recover it coz its a $100 excess so it would cost me $20 to claim it! Anyway today I went kayaking, lovely, definately better than staring at a computer all day! Bariloche is really nice and I was just starting to really like Argentina...


At this stage I don't where I will be spending Chrissy or NYE; it's fodder for consumption. And I do miss a couple of things. Most notably singing in my car. Ciao

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