2011 April » Roaming Ryan

A Day Trip to El Bolsón

Argentina Comments Off

Apr 092011

We woke up way too early to catch an 8 o’clock bus to El Bolsón. The small hippy town is a couple hours south of Bariloche and is known for its thrice-weekly market. We had to take a taxi to the bus station because we couldn’t find a collectivo going the right direction. There were plenty going in the opposite direction, much to my annoyance.

We had seats right up front which allowed us to enjoy the 20 or so feet of visibility thanks to a thick morning fog. The driver seemed to have things well under control though and we arrived safely right on schedule at 10AM. The market was supposed to start at 10AM but since this is a hippy town and an Argentine town, the schedule was a bit more flexible.

Amy had a vegetarian (calabaza) milanesa sandwich from the vegetarian sandwich stand.

After a bit of coffee and tea (and wifi stealing) at a nearby bakery we ventured out to check out the offerings. In particular, Amy was on the hunt for vegetarian goodies. She was a bit disappointed to find only one stand selling vegetarian food. Nevertheless, she turned up a nice calabaza (butternut squash) milanesa sandwich on whole wheat bread. I went with the more typical and popular fair food: papas fritas and empanadas.

After walking the market a few times to admire the goods, we decided to hike up Cerro Amigo to enjoy the mirador. It was an easy 45 minute hike and we passed some very nice mountain homes properly outfitted with horses grazing nearby. The view from the top allowed us to see the entire city and the mountains across the valley.

El Bolsón, Argentina
		What to do with a dead tree? In a hippie town, you carve it into a awesome sculpture!	Weird hippy contraption/art	Scenes of Patagonia captured on sugar packets.	Very large milanesa sandwiches seemed to be the most popular food item at the market.
Amy had a vegetarian (calabaza) milanesa sandwich from the vegetarian sandwich stand.	We saw walnuts on trees all over town.		Wood bowl carving
It is fall in El Bolsón	Amy’s dream house along the walk to a mirador.
A jeep with Alberta plates! Turns out that the guy has a website: www.theroadchoseme.com

San Martín de los Andes

Argentina Comments Off

Apr 072011

San Martín de los Andes proved to be a smaller and quieter version of Bariloche. Like Bariloche, it is situated on the bank of a nice blue lake and is completely surrounded by pine-covered mountains. I guess it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that the surrounding forests and parks are the main attraction.

A photo of me taking a photo.

On our first morning we climbed the Mirador Bandurrias for a view of the town and the far eastern end of Lake Lácar. It is an easy 45 minute hike from the edge of town once you find the trailhead. There are a couple houses near the top and an old lady that charges you a couple of pesos to enter (private property?) but it is certainly worth it. The views were spectacular and the old ladies’ goats were also fun to watch. I gave one a crab apple that I found on the trail and he seemed very pleased with it.

Volcán Lanín – 3776m

Later that day we hopped in the car and drove north to Lago Huechulafquen to get a peek at the Lanín volcano. It was late in the day so we opted to not enter the park (around $12 per person) but were still able to see it from the windy shore of the lake.

On day 2 in San Martín we headed west on a dirt road that hugs the north shore of Lago Lácar. The road goes all the way to Chile but we only wanted to go as far as Yuco Park to check out the lake shore. We rolled into the park in our tiny Chevy Corsa and discovered a couple dozen other vehicles in the parking area: all of them were SUVs. At first I thought that perhaps I had misjudged the quality of the road on the way in (it was dry and mostly downhill).

Arrayanes trees

It wasn’t until a few minutes later, when we came across a group of 40 or so American/Canadian tourists, that I put two and two together. Their guides were packing up their fancy catered lunch and they were all piling back into their SUVs. The way I had it figured, they were each traveling two to a vehicle. That’s an environmentally conscious way to tour a national park. Either way, after the group left we had the place more or less to ourselves. It was gorgeous.

San Martín de los Andes
The town as viewed from the mirador. A short 45 minute walk from the center.	…and the view in the other direction down Lake Lácar.	A photo of me taking a photo.	San Martín has a nice selection of dogs. Here is a particularly furry model.	The central plaza (either Sarmiento or San Martín, I can’t remember which.)
They have strange pine trees in these parts.				Volcán Lanín – 3776m
La costa de Lago Huechulafquen	The next day back on Lago Lácar		Arrayanes trees	More arrayanes trees
				Our own private beach
	A hummingbird! Check out what happens when he turns his head…	Yep, it is red when viewed from the front. Same bird.	The view from our room at Siete Flores Hosteria. Got this place for $40/night thanks to a groupon deal in BsAs.	Killer breakfast with all sorts of locally made jams.

Birthday Dinner

Argentina Comments Off

Apr 052011

My main: Trout Navarra

Last week, Amy treated me to dinner at a little place we read about called El Mesón in San Martín de los Andes. The restaurant is in a small house that is just off the main street. We showed up at 9PM, about the time the dinner crowd starts in Argentina, and found the place completely empty. We were eagerly greeted by the owner and shown to a table.

The Lakes District in Argentina is known for its trout so I wanted to have that as my main course. For the starter, we picked out some sort of toasted bread covered in smoked eggplant, red peppers and anchovies. The owner surprised us by comping a plate of salmon and trout ceviche along with some homemade mint liquor at the end of the meal. I was one happy (and stuffed) camper on my birthday! There are more pictures below (those of you reading via email subscriptions will have to visit the web site).

An entrada complements of the owner! Trout and salmon ceviche and caprese salad skewers with toasted bread.

I am sorry that there haven’t been more regular posts over the past few days but we have been very busy touring Chiloé Island here in Chile. I hope to pick up the pace over the next few days!

Birthday Dinner at El Mesón
One of the best restaurants in town is actually in a small house on a side street.	The dining room was ready for guests but we were the only ones that night.	Birthday boy considers the options.	Amy shows her sparkles…	…and is always planning. How to take over San Martín here.	An entrada complements of the owner! Trout and salmon ceviche and caprese salad skewers with toasted bread.
Our actual entrada: a big piece of toast with smoked/marinated eggplant and red pepper topped with anchovies.	My main: Trout Navarra	The trout was sauteed with garlic and topped with crispy ham. On the side: veggies and a twice baked/fried potato.	Amy’s main: grilled veggies	A cafe to finish and afterwards some delicious homemade mint liquor on the house. Almost in a food coma by this point.

After a brief one-night stay in Bariloche to get our bearings we rented a newish base-model Chevy Corsa. When I say base-model, I mean it. No aire acondicionado, no power locks, no power windows and, best of all, no power steering. Good times! On the plus side, it did have a Sony radio that could receive AM, FM and shortwave. Renting cars in Argentina is pretty easy with a US drivers license though you do have to be cautious of the prices. They may be higher than advertised (~10%) if you aren’t paying cash.

Setting out from Bariloche we followed the famous Siete Lagos drive to San Martín de los Andes. The drive is less than 200km but it took us a good six hours. Part of this was due to the fact that you have to stop every 5-10 minutes to enjoy the views. Another reason was the condition of the dirt road which comprises about one third of the route. We had to be cautious with our vehicle’s generous 8 inches of ground clearance through areas where there was construction. The great thing is that there were very few other cars out that day. Based on the number of companies hocking tours of the route, I gather that the road is packed with tour buses in high-season.

Along the way we quickly lost track of the number of lakes we had seen or their names so I’m not even going to try to reconstruct that for you. I think the photos below will give you the general idea though.

In the next few days I will be posting more about our time in San Martín de los Andes including my special birthday dinner. We are back in Bariloche now but will be saying goodbye to Argentina tomorrow as we plan to take a morning bus across the Andes to Puerto Montt in Chile. After a hopefully brief connection we will be off to the town of Ancud on Isla Chiloé.

Siete Lagos Drive
Ruta 231 heading north out of Bariloche	Our base model Chevy. Stick shift with no power steering.


		A lizard!

One final post on Bahia Bustamante before the blog moves on to the mountains of Bariloche. We spent our last day at Bahia exploring the nearby peninsula in our tiny VW Gol. The terrain on the peninsula is quite varied: scrub land, sand dunes and tidal pools. There are also three landing strips, a solar-powered lighthouse and the ruins of many small buildings. The pictures below tell the story better than I can so I will just leave it at that!

It was sad to leave Bahía Bustamante but we had a bus to catch later that night from Comodoro Rivadavia. From a backpackers standpoint, Bahía Bustamante was definitely a splurge ($110/night plus rental car expenses) but we felt that it was certainly worth each and every centavo. We would highly recommend it to other travelers!