Bariloche update

Things here are going great but there isn't really a lot to do. I am heading up to the big ski mountain today at Cerro Catedral, South AMericas biggest to check it out. However, the snow is pretty thin and its been windy so I don't think I am going to sink the 150 or so dollars it would cost to do a full day on the slopes. Yesterday along with my Irish friends, we rented a car and drove nearly 400Kms around the country side exploring and seeing the mountains. We drove all the way to a town called El Bolson which was supposed to be a cute little hippie town where everything was handmade vegetarian and nuclear free. The town ended up being a dump and didn't feel anything like a hippie town, so we grabbed a pizza and took off. We did manage to back the rental car into another pickup truck, both vehicles were backing up and neither driver saw the other...i'll have to update you on the damage from the rental car company..oh yeah a side view mirror got ripped of overnight too...the irish crew said they bought all the insurance so we shall see. Overall Bariloche is a big party town. Tons of young people, all hitting the clubs very late. We were out again last night till about 6am drinking lots of beers and watching all of the hot, young latin women shaking it up across the town. More later, for now, off to the mountain.\

Oh yeah, I bought my tick to Bs As, I depart the Loche noon on tuesday for arrival in Bs As noon on Wed.

Out, Pierce

Chocolate, Snow Bunnies and Cervezas

Well, I made it without incident to Bariloche. The bus rides were easy and uneventful. I spent my first afternoon in Bariloche walking around the town and finally settled on a bar called the Map Room where I pulled myself up to the bar with my Argentina travel book, ready to plan my trip. Next thing I know, I am engaged in conversation with two guys and a girl from Ireland. Their company had just been closed and they were traveling on their severance. We all bitched about the thin snow on the mountain and the fact that Bariloche is famous for their night clubs but due to the swine flu the Govt has closed them through the end of the month. We decided to hook up to rent a car on Saturday to drive the lake district and that the next day, today we wouldn't really plan anything. I love the Irish and at the same time I hate the Irish. At least I was hating them when I spent all day today sleeping off a hangover. We started at the map room enjoying some nice craft beers, porters, stouts with some irish whiskey sprinkled in there. Around 2 we decided to go grab '1' more beer at the only happening night spot that was open. That one beer turned into about 4 more. The bar was quite a happening place especially for youngsters, most of them looked amazingly young but all looked amazingly hot...it was nice. Anyway, we enjoyed the scene until about 6 in the morning when I stumbled home, ate a loaf of pound cake and passed out. The hostel staff woke me up at 11 as requested because I wanted to the tour de france on tv..yeah that wasn't happening...i slept till about 6pm..and finally was able to go grab some dinner and see the sun set on the lake. Tonight bowling in on tap with my Irish friends and tomorrow we do the car rental when I can really see this place. Bariloche is very nice...definitely a high class ski town. Lots of expensive shops, restaurants and beautiful people. Looks like I'll stay through Tuesday morning and catch my last bus to Bs As.

Thats it for now....keep on trucking

Pierce

Chau Chile

Well, this will be last post from Chile. I am hopping on Tur Bus heading for Osorno tonight in the South of Chile, then I am hopping a bus to Bariloche up in the Argentine mountains. Things here have been wonderful. I stayed longer than I expected becuase the city, my living situation and everything was perfect. I am now loaded down with gifts etc so I am looking forward to getting to Beunos Aires where I now my travelling will be nearly complete. I spent my last night with some friends enoying some amazing Ceviche, Pisco Sours and Octopus...it was all very tasty. I now have about 22 hours of travel in front of me but thats nothing compared to the nearly 40 hours it took me to get here so I am sure it will be a breeze. I´ll get back on the blog once I get settled in Bariloche.

Pierce

T-Bars, Coffee and Hoes

The ski trip on Saturday was great. They have some pretty neat ski tours here. All we had to do was show up at a ski shop around 7 30 am. At the shop they set you up with all your equipment, pants, jackets gloves, goggles etc, put you in a shared ride to the mountain of your choice and then pick you up at the end of the day and bring you home. It was easy peazy. We skiied the resort called El Colorado which had the most snow in the area at nearly 200cm which is a lot for this time of year. The resort was different than any place I have ever skied in the US. First off, overall it was smaller. The ski terrain was fairly large but the lodge facilities etc were nothing compared to any of the resorts in the states or europe for that matter. The terrain was also amazingly different. It was completely above treeline so there were no trees..only rocks, snow, fences and equipment to move people. They had very few chairlifts..mostly all T-Bars where a bar comes around that you put behind your backside and it hauls you up the mountain while you stand on your skis...this mountain must have been so easy to construct...no tree clearing etc. Anyway, overall, the terrain was not that challenging or extreme, just different. We really lucked out with weather. When we arrived the wind was holwling and I really thought that we were going to be in for an epic day of surviival on the slopes but as soon as we purchased our tickets, the wind dissapeared...amazing. We never got much sun but it wasn´t bitter cold either, just in the lower 20´s or so. One strange experience I had was on the back side of the mountain. Remember, there are no trees. At this time we had a lot of what I call Flat Light...where the sky is about the same color as the snow and washes out all of the light so there are not really any shadows and most of your depth perception is shot. I´ve had this before but with scattered trees, rocks, dirt, etc you can do ok. No here, I would litteraly get freaked out because I felt like I couldn´t see the snow I was skiing, then I would go to stop and nearly fall over becuase I became so disoriented....everything was stark white..it was strange. I went back over to the front side of the mountain where the slopes had more direct light and the snow was better anyway. I will say that I was very suprised at how good Chileans ski. I expected to see beginners everywhere but it was quite the opposite..they were cutting up the snow like pro´s...although, I didn´t see too many of them venture into the loads of unexplored snow..they seemed to like the skied over terrain and avoided what was some crusty, sind packed but decent powder. The lodge food was also more expensive than anywhere I have been. I paid about $20 for a shitty piece of salmon, french fries, watered down soup and a water. I went with 4 other gringos I met in Santiago, three girls (german, russian and dutch) and a guy from Brasil who grew up in the states. They were all beginners. I may have some aspirations of being a ski instructor this winter so I spend the first run with them trying to teach them the basics...it took nearly an hour to complete the first run..a few of them got it pretty quick but two of them just couldn´t get the legs to work together with the skis. Anyway, that is the ski experience..now for some slight dirt on Santiago.

I had heard of an interesting type of cafe in Santiago that they call ´cofee with legs´. They can be identified as having regular cafe type signage but then with all blacked out windows. I had to check one of these out. So I found one that looked decent and walked in. I was greeted by two chilean ladies in high heels, skimpy skirts and boobs spilling out of their tops. They were suprised to see me come in and though I was lost. I had to ask just to make sure they were open becuase I was the only customer at this time. I asked if they had coffee and they seemed confused, then the manager came over and asked in spanish..whats going on here? I said I wanted coffee at which time she asked me if wanted to take my coffee upstairs with company or down stairs at the coffee counter. I quickly glanced upstairs at a huddle of more skantily clad women, very low light and a generaly shady feel. I chose to take my cofee downstairs where there was more light...so of course I could better apreciate the scenery. That is most of the excitement, I hung out, made just a little small talk with the waitress who looked better in the dark, paid for my cofee and hit the road. My other sahdy exprience was back during my walk in the rain which I blogged on early but I just remembered this spicy little slice the other day. When I left the bar around 2am in a pouring rain with no umbrella, i was hustling down the sidewalk when I spotted what I immediately identified as a prostitute. And to be honest if it hadn´t of been raining I probably would not have noticed her...but here are the circumstances.

1) Its pouring rain...no one is just standing around...everyone is trying to go some where out of the rain.
2) She is wearing high heels, has long hair (soaking wet of course), short skirt and a lot of makeup
3) There is one man standing with her but looking stiff and shady..both are soaking wet...(i admire their work ethic)
4) Her eyes flash dollar signs when she sees me
5) As I am huddled over briskly walking past, she comes in pursuit...I could hear the rythmic clatter of her high heels.

I couldn´t make out everything she was saying..she was switching between chilean and bad english...where you go? You want talk? I will say I turned around once just to give her another once over because she was exceptionally tall for a chilean and really was pretty good looking but neverteless I stayed my course and hustled on to bus stop further up the road.

Thats news for now. Today I am wrapping up things here..going to buy bus tickets, doing some more gift shopping (i don´t like typing souvenier) and of course doing some more spanish homework. The Tour de France is underway and I can´t get the coverage on TV down here...that sinks but at least I will be home to see the last stages..Until next time!

Pierce