South Trip

So if the trip from Calafate to Ushuaia seemed long, it was nothing compared to the journey from Ushuaia to Bariloche. After 38 long, continuous hours on the bus including a return trip on the ferry and through the treacherous Chilean roads, we arrived in Esquel. After a morning adventure and lunch, it was another 4 hours still until we finally arrived in Bariloche, the final destination of the South Trip!

Fourth Stop

Bariloche is widely known in Argentina for two things; amazing skiing (something I didn't get to experience) and copious amounts of clubs/partying (as a model rotary exchange student, of course I didn't experience this either ...). On the bottom of the map you can see the city of Esquel, nothing too remarkable. From there we visited the Parque Nacional los Alerces which included a small museum and a lovely lake. Look a bit further north and you arrive at San Carlos de Bariloche! Here we visited a night pub, went shopping and spent the day in Complex Tom Wesley!

Esquel

Esquel wasn't a main event. It was more of a pit stop we took after 38 excuriating hours on a bus. The hotel was decent, a bed had never felt more comfortable to me in my life . . .

The ferry we took in Chile to cross the Strait of Magallanes presented by the lovely Julia Ferris and stunning Bregje Vanden Biggelaar.

Rolling Travel claimed that we had to take the bus everywhere we went so we could appreciate the landscape of Argentina. Here is the landscape we passed on the way to the Parque Nacional lo Alerces.

We appreciated it.

Upon arriving at the Parque Nacional los Alcerces, we first visited the small museum. Here is the sign we happened to notice while entering. The sign claims that the danger index of a fire starting was extreme! (Allow me to note that it was drizzling at some points that day).

This is a rather strange tree that is typical in this region. It's kind of like a pine tree and a willow tree mixed together. I can't recall the name.

 

The beautiful lake that we went to after the museum. We spent quite a bit of time sitting by these shores, braving the brisk air. It wasn't as cold as Ushuaia, though. 

Of course we weren't just standing there. We were posing for pictures. We are always posing for pictures.

The place where we went for lunch in Esquel had a sort of classic rock and roll bands theme. I happened to notice this poster outside of the bathroom! Elvis in BUFFALO, NEW YORK. It made me feel appreciated. I live where Elvis was and the world knows it. Also, this reminded me of my Grandma! 

San Carlos de Bariloche

Bariloche is a very famous tourist city in Argentina. It's a prime spot for buying souvenirs and chocolate, to go skiing and, of course, go clubbing. 

The view from our hotel rooms. Well some hotel rooms. Some of us (me) were stuck with the lovely view of the white wall of an office building . . .

 

We arrived in the evening in Bariloche. After dinner, we went out to a pub that had specifically been reserved for only us exchange students. Needless to say, it was a blast.

The following day in Bariloche we were given the chance to wander around the city for the morning. It was the perfect place to buy souvenirs. I can guarantee that at least half of the exchange students bought chocolate here as gifts for their host families. 

One of the many chocolate stores we passed. The main stream ones (main example being a store named "The Tourist") were overpriced and not that much more special than the little side stores of chocolate. Argentine chocolate is the best in the world, but Bariloche chocolate is something worth mentioning.

Complex Tomy Wesley

This place was the best. I couldn't think of a better final destination on the south trip. It was raining the whole time, but that didn't stop us from horseback-riding and playing soccer outside. We also had hot chocolate, a great asado dinner and played traditional Argentine games with a group of Argentines that happened to have been there with us!

The famous Llao-Llao hotel on the Lago Nahuel Huapi. It was too foggy from the rain to see the snowy peaks in the background.

Cheesing it in front of Lago Nahuel Huapi.

 

Horseback riding! You can't see it in the picture, but it was drizzling quite steadily. I think my hands froze to the reins. But it was so much fun! I went twice, first on Moo Moo (left) and then on Caramel (right). At the end we even got up to a trot. I had no idea what to do when the horses went fast. It was awesome.

 

After horseback riding we warmed up in a small lodge with hot chocolate, a fried-dough sort of snack and a cozy fire!

Then came the games! The games included musical chairs, some game where we had to jump over a string every time a dude said "Gato" or "Perro" and some thing where we were attached to long slabs of wood and had to walk simultaneously. The exchange students admittedly didn't do as great as I wish we had. After the games ended, we danced, obviously. We're in Argentina.

Speaking of not doing great, after games and dancing, we all headed out to the soccer field! It was still raining and by the time we finished I was almost soaked to the bone, but it was too much fun. It was exchange students versus the Argentines and we lost horribly. 

After a lovely asado dinner, we climbed back aboard the bus and headed back to the hotel. We spent some time chatting about the trip and even gave a short presentation of all of our countries' national anthems to not only the other exchange students, but a small crowd of Argentines that gathered in the lobby as well. 

EL FIN

We woke up bright and early the next day and climbed aboard the bus for one last haul. I spent most of this trip being uncomfortable as I had gotten sick the day before and it had only gotten worse. A little over twenty four hours later, we arrived at the Cordoba bus terminal.

After two amazing, memorable weeks together, these incredible, cultured people are my family.

Unfortunately, after all our travels, the three of us exchange students from Chilecito had to spend the day in the city before taking a seven hour night bus home. We walked around, looked at shops, crashed at a future outbound's home for a quick nap and took advantage of the movie theater since there isn't one in Chilecito!

Getting to know the South of Argentina was an incredible experience and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to do it! You can learn a lot about the world in two short weeks.