Not another bus.... let´s try a Train!

Day 108 – February 14

I walked down to the dive shop in the morning to pick up the dvds of our dives. Before paying I asked to quickly see what it looked like on the computer, she popped it in and it was BLANK!! She wasn’t sure why, and the guy who made it was out on the dive boat. So I just said – we DO want to buy it – we will be at our hostel until 12 and then we are leaving town. She said that shouldn’t be a problem, that he would bring it by. Back at the hostel though, 12 came and there was no sign up him. I called and he said he was very sorry but his dvd burner seems to be broken!! Also the computer was at home, not at the office! He said he would try to email it to us free of charge, since this was his mistake. So I got his email and gave him mine. All of my emails so far have bounced back though, and there is no sign of anything from him, I think we will most likely never see it – shame. Good thing we had SOME videos and photos from our own camera though.

So, we caught an afternoon bus to San Antonio Oeste. It took three hours and got us there around 5pm. We walked through the deserted tiny town to the train station (ummm WOW just a platform at the end of town with just a dusty dirt roads leading to it)! The office wasn’t open yet, plus our train wasn’t due in until 10pm, so we found the one restaurant in the town that was open (la Americana), and we got settled in. We had snacks, drinks, then dinner and managed to stretch it out until 9ish. We were just about to go back up to the train station when some guys at a nearby table said they had just been, and they had heard the train was now not due until 1am!! Murray and Steve popped up to check what was going on, while I watched the bags, and yes – they said it was delayed, and had not even left the start point of Viedma yet! So, we ordered some tea, some dessert, and hung out for a few more hours at the restaurant. At 12ish we went back up to the train station – where we were told it was now delayed until 3am!! We started to think it would NEVER come! There was a TON of people waiting (including lots of children and quite a few pregnant women)– and only a few benches – so people were lying all over the platform and inside the office. After sitting out on a platform bench for a few hours, it started to get cold and very uncomfortable, so we moved inside and found a place to plop our bags down. It was getting late as well, and we were tired, so we got all the bags close, using the ones with our valuables as pillows, and then tried to rest a bit on the hard concrete floor. The train finally came at – 5am!!! Only SEVEN hours late!

We were SO happy to see it, and quickly made our way down to the sleeping car (camarotes). The train has three classes – tourist class, which is just terrible old leather bench seats facing each other – looked awful and uncomfortable. Then there is Pullman class – which is just a reclining seat like you would have on a bus trip. We decided to go all ‘fancy’ and got a sleeper cabin (camarote) which was only slightly more expensive than taking the overnight bus (but with a full flat BED)! We had been looking forward to this train for ages, as it is one of the few that still runs in Patagonia, and with 14+ night buses under our belt we were ready for something different!

And we were thrilled when our steward Lucas showed us how the bunk beds popped out!

It wasn’t long before we each crawled into our bunks and fell into an exhausted sleep!

DAY 109 – February 15

We had a good night’s sleep, the train wasn’t going very fast, and the rocking was from side to side – so I felt safe and secure in my top bunk (secure that I wouldn’t fly off).
In the morning we made our way down to the dining car and had some toast and tea with Steve

We just spent the rest of the day ….. relaxing. Had a nice lunch on the train (lots of great veggies for the first course) and just enjoyed the view

A typical VERY small town stop

The train only goes through a few times a week – so these school kids were pretty excited – they all ran outside to wave to us

It was a LONG day though. Originally we were due to arrive at noon, but we actually got in to Bariloche at 11pm. However it was GREAT to have a bed to relax in when you got tired of the uncomfortable dining chairs. We laid in our bunk and watched Smallville on the laptop with the scenery passing by our feet outside the window – pretty cool. All in all it was a good experience – we were the only gringos on the train – and we were pretty proud of ourselves for finally making that journey happen. It was an adventure for sure! I can´t believe we forgot to take a photo of the outside of the train though - opps! But it was SO late when we got on, and SO late when we got off, we were just to tired to think about photos, and we didn´t dare get off at any of the stops - just imagine if it left without us!!

When we arrived in Bariloche, we quickly hopped into a cab to our favorite of hostels – Perikos. The guy at the desk was happy to see us! He said he had called the lady we had been emailing about our package who also works there, asking when we were supposed to be arrive (since we were 11 hours late) she said yes we were expected at noon, but please hold our rooms since she was sure we were coming. Thank goodness she said that, otherwise he said he would have rented out the rooms to other people. Whew. So after a quick shower, we went out for a typically late Argentinean meal – getting to the restaurant by midnight to get our order in. The boys had been dreaming about the steaks at ‘El Boliche de Alberto’ ever since the last time we had had them in Bariloche. And the lomo lived up to their expectations (and mine) – it was fabulous!

Day 110 – 16 February

We slept in LATE today, and then went out for an American breakfast (as the restaurant called it) although it was really brunch for us. Yummy eggs, bacon (YAY our first in months & months) hashbrowns, orange juice and coffee – FABULOUS! That restaurant the Map Room really is just fab – love it. The place is decorated with maps that the owners picked up on their travels around the world - a cute little place.

Then, we just relaxed all day……

Had a nice walk around town

Murray even dipped his feet in the cold water of Lake Nahuel Huapi

In the evening we had another fabulous meal at our favorite Mexican place in Bariloche
Dias de Zapata (their nachos are awesome….!!!!!!!)

Then we popped down to the Central square to see the concert De Los (from the) Andes, A Los (To The) Beatles.

We had thought it would be Beatles songs performed with South American instruments
After a few songs though, we realized that there would be NO singing, only music!

But it was still good. They were great musicians, most of the arrangements were good and interesting, and overall we enjoyed it. They describe the concert as ‘An imaginary trip to the land of Beatles’ songs arranged in the styles of South American Fold Music and played on quena, charango and other native instruments.’ The pan pipes made for an interesting addition to Beatles songs as well! And when they DID sing, we could see why they usually do just instrumental.... the last song was fun though when everyone joined in singing ´Give love a chance....´

Day 111 – February 17

Today was another relax day – we spent pretty much all day in the hostel just using the wifi, reading, and taking it easy.

In the evening we finally popped back to the best chocolate store in town
Mamuschka (where I got this cute little tin)!

They have the absolute BEST chocolate – the tiramisu is truly amazing!

We held onto the chocolate though to be enjoyed AFTER another Bariloche favorite...

Fondue!

We went to a fondue restaurant called ‘La Marmite’ to enjoy what we had also heard was a Bariloche specialty. It was an odd fondue – consommé! We dipped our raw chicken and beef into what was really just a hot soup. It was great though, and the sauces were fab. Quite overpriced, but a fun experience.

Murray, Me, Steve & our fondue

Day 112 – February 18

We slept in late (again) today (hey we need to relax before this big busy GAP trip that is coming up) and then went for a bit of a shop around town. I got two cute (and much needed) tops, we got a few more pieces of chocolate, had some amazing ice cream as Jajau (tiramisu with actual CAKE in it) and most importantly – WE GOT OUR CAMERA!!! We hit the post office early – 9am, and crossed our fingers and our toes that customs (aduana) would let us have our package without charging us 50% of the value (like we had heard would be the case). It actually went SO smoothly. The guy just opened it up, had a look at the contents, confirmed that we were tourists (by looking at Murray’s passport) and that was that - didn´t charge us a thing! Hooray – finally! (thanks again LOADS Joni!!)

Murray spent the rest of the day using his new camera like crazy and lovingly petting it and purring to it …’you complete me’- ha ha! I am glad we got it finally with no problems (we were due to pick it up before doing Patagonia – but customs held it for so long that we had to pick it up on our way back).

For our last night in Bariloche the boys insisted that we go – AGAIN – to El Boliche de Alberto
So for one last time we had their awesome bread and yummy herby dip
Steve had one last morcilla (blood sausage)
And of course more – STEAK!

This time they ordered the other popular cut – bife de chorizo. It was good, but not as good as the lomo. But you just can’t go wrong with Alberto’s. The prices are really unbelievable for what you get –just 30 pesos (about $10 USD) for 2 gigantic quality steaks. And then the chips (fries) are piled up SO high that we could barely finish it between the three of us, and the salad is YUMM, and the house wine is cheap and quite good! Ahhhhh Alberto’s – we will miss you!


And of course some yummy chocolate’s for dessert!!! (how cute is the packaging as well?)

DAY 113 – February 19

We packed up our stuff, and then spent the morning –of course – taking advantage of the wifi (how great is FREE internet)!!

Me sitting at Perikos (with some random girl looking at the photo wall)

And then it was time for us to leave our favorite Patagonian hostel – Perikos

We got onto the bus to Osorno at 2pm, and arrived at 7.

Surprisingly we got food – although BLEH it was ham and cheese and those gross cookies again – we didn’t eat any of it

We had to cross the border to Chile during the journey, here is me waiting with our bags, as our big bag got scanned (thankfully they didn’t spot the hoof cup)!

They had just a FEW bags to scan from our bus….oh my gosh it took FOREVER!

But the ride was the lovely – once again

When we got to Osorno we found a little café to have a beer and a ‘complete hotdog’ – which actually was awesome, before getting on to our next bus to Santiago.

And WOW oh WOW was the bus great – we had paid to go one level up – to Cama (bed) class. We wanted Super Cama (a full FLAT bed with champagne as well) but they were all sold out. Cama was surprisingly awesome though. The seats were wide and comfortable, and they went really far back – whoo hooo! We had a pretty good night’s sleep, and a decent boxed breakfast when we woke up the next morning.

Day 114 – February 20

Then it was....

Back in Santiago – ready for our next GAP trip!


After checking in we had a LOVELY menu del dia (menu of the day) at a nearby restaurant which included this fabulous lasagna.


Then we spent the day walking around and we were surprised at how vibrant and busy the city was compared to the last time we had been in town (granted, that was on a Sunday)


Meat, meat, meat – lots of meat. After all that eating in Bariloche we are considering becoming vegetarians (but apparently we missed out by now trying Fernet – a drink that apparently helps you digest all the red meat – must try that at some point)!


Lots of guys concentrating on their chess in Plaza de Armas

A cool statue we came across in the plaza

We also finally sent off a few packages – to help lighten the load of our bag – and to make sure that a copy of all Murray’s photos is somewhere OTHER than in our bag.

Afterwards we indulged with donuts and sweet drinks at Dunkin’ Donuts - YUMM!

And Murray finally got his first tattoo!

That evening we met our new guide Ursula (from Peru), and our new group (2 from Scotland, 1 Canadian, 1 Danish, and 6 British – not including us). Everyone seems really nice, I think it will be a good group. We all went out for a nice pizza dinner to get to know each other a bit, then back to the hotel where Murray and I were LOVING having the top floor suite with windows on two whole walls looking out over the city – lovely! It´s just a shame we had NO hot water!!

Day 115 – February 21

Today Murray and I went to the mall. We were looking for a spare battery for our laptop – so we could watch more movies on night buses (the battery only lasts about 6-7 hours). We were instructed to go out to a mall in the suburbs, where they had a Sony store in order to find it.

So we went down to the subway and easily made our way there. We were surprised by these odd fans though- blowing cool air onto the commuters.

The trains run on actual wheels – which makes them SO quiet and smooth! It’s really quite a nice underground system – clean, wifi all over the place, TVs while you wait, etc.

When I spotted Starbucks at the mall I admit I ran….. (first starbucks I have seen in about 4 months now). My Chai latte wasn’t as good as they are in the US and the UK, but it was still lovely! Can you spot me in line?

We also did a bit of shopping; Murray thought this hair gel was hilarious

Of course the massive Sony shop in the mall did NOT have the battery we needed *sigh* oh well. We did manage to find a few more cute shirts for me though!

And while Murray was waiting for me to try stuff on he spotted this cute little dog with her paws dipped pink – how odd!

Then it was back on the tube, back to the hotel to meet up with the group for dinner around 7. Our last GAP guide Paul was also in town. So we had a nice chat catching up with him, a nice dinner out in the Bellavista area, and a few drinks afterwards at a Salsa club.

Now we are a bit further North in La Serena. Tomorrow we head further North in prep for our 3 day desert crossing into Bolivia - pray it doesn´t rain so much that we can´t go or have to change our route!!!