The four of us had a long bus journey to Bariloche, famed for its chocolate, so obviously we were eager to get there as quickly as possible. However, the scheduled trip of sixteen hours ended up being over nineteen. Luckily we were unconscious for a lot of it due to well deserved hangovers. We have discovered the key to a successful sleep on a bus journey! When we finally arrived after some breathtaking scenery, we jumped into a taxi to our hostel Tango Inn, a nice hostel with beautiful views over the lake.
Once we were settled in, we went in search of chocolate and bought a couple of bars for desert. It was tasty, but Cadbury's still has the edge, creamy goodness. We went for a walk down the town and found a place that did the most delicious and massive pizzas. We ordered two and were unable to finish either. Doggy bag please.
The next day we got one of the over packed local buses to Cerro Campanario, which is a very steep hill. I cannot overemphasise the steep part. There were ski lifts you could take up to the top and down again but it was quite expensive and we wanted to walk it anyway. So off we went on our hike, exercise was something we all needed. It was really hot that day and it was hard going. By the time we got to the top, we had sweated half our body weight. The first available leaning post or seat was immediately availed of. After several minutes of panting like a rhino in labour, we checked out the view, this being the purpose of the expedition. It was more than worth it. There were spectacular views of the lake from all angles. Needless to say, the walk down was easier.
To cool down we headed off to the lake for a dip. Niamh was over eager and fell on her backside on the gravel road on the way down, nearly resulting in tears and receiving a souvenir of another bruise. On reaching the edge of the lake we dipped our toes in and decided that was enough. It was freezing. Jerry, loving a good swim, dived in while we watched on, shivering at the mere thought of the icy water.
Later that night, after a well earned shower, Emmet, Jerry and Aisling headed out on the town with some drink vouchers we had received from the hostel. Niamh was wrecked and decided a bit of quiet time was needed, so she stayed in with her new obsession Pinterest. More free drinks for Emmet. We headed to a bar in the sister hostel of the one we were staying in. We got talking to a nice American girl and chilled out there for a bit before moving onto the next bar. She didn't come with us though, as she was with her eighty year old granny. Granny party!
The next bar was a lovely micro brewery. It was a little on the expensive side but we had some good beers at it. Afterwards, Aisling was tired, so we walked her home and me and Jerry went back out. We went to an Irish bar called Wilkenny's, sure you'd have to pop in for at least one. So we had two and then onto a cool little side street with loads of bars on it.
The next day we had a wander about the town and got acquainted with the towns other infamous symbol, really cute St. Bernards, as well as having chocolate flavoured coffees which were delicious.
We really liked Bariloche but had only booked two nights. We tried to book a third in our hostel but they were fully booked as it is peak season, so we were lucky to get rooms in the Swiss style hostel right next door. This meant we has an extra day to go Kayaking on lake Gutierrez.
Our guide Paulo was great. He had a soul patch, say no more. We paddled three kilometres down the lake, amongst beautiful Patagonian mountains. I say we, I mean I did, Niamh mostly sat and enjoyed the views. She did make a bit of effort from time to time. Don't think we'll be trying out for the Olympics any time soon.
We pulled into a small beach and had a bite to eat and tea, coffee and a traditional Argentinian drink called mate in a special cup. There was a tree that had fallen into the lake which you could walk out on and dive in, which is what Emmet and Jerry did. Unfortunately the girls wouldn't join us due to the fact the water was freezing and you have to be manly to attempt this. It's a man thing.
The next stop was Puerto Montt. Here we stayed in a nice little guest house called Casa Perla. It was like staying in your granny's house. The town itself is really run down, a fairly poor area but the people were very nice. We didn't go out that night, as the nearest local was a place called "Happy Night", which had a suggestive picture of a near naked lady outside. Happy night I'm sure. Not surprisingly the girls weren't too up for a few pints there, so we had a nice chilling night in before getting the boat the following day to start our four day, three nights cruise down the west coast of Chile deep into Patagonia territory. But this was not before Jerry had a sing along in the street with a Chilean ticket warden.
The ferry trip was something we were really looking forward to and we were not disappointed. The ferry is called Navimag and we got a cabin between the four of us. We saw some of the most amazing scenery we have ever seen. We were so lucky with the weather and had clear blue skies for the five days. Apparently the ferry is pretty boring if the weather is bad. We saw a glacier, penguins, sea otters, seals and dolphins swimming along side the boat, jumping out of the water to give us a chance to take some photos of them. Posers. We have decided to tell this story in picture form, we may have gone over the top with the camera.
The first night on the boat, we had a karaoke night, so Jerry got up first like the champion that he is and blasted out a bit of John Fogarty. We continued on the singing session in the canteen after the bar closed with Jerry playing the guitar. We had an great night and we pretty much drank all our booze that we brought with us. School boy error, we should have brought a lot more drink. The next day was a lot less crazy. For example, there were no old Chilean men urinating in the hallway or people spraying one of the fire extinguishers. Yes, the first night was messy.
We made lots of boat friends, including an Irish couple, two American girls, a fella from Dublin and his travel friend, three sound Chilean guys with no English but plenty of musical talent ( I am still not really sure how we communicated, drink works in mysterious ways) and hot Tom from Scotland, who the lads seemed to have a bigger crush on than the girls.
During the day we mainly spent our time being hungover, looking at the scenery, taking photos, chatting to the other passengers, playing cards and being fed (our meals were included). They had various talks and films on during the day on the boat, Niamh learned how to tie some knots, including a hangman's knot. Don't mess with her!
The final night we decided to treat ourselves to a couple of bottles of wine. It was bingo night, which sounded a lot more fun than it ended up being. Marcello, one of the boat attendants was presenting it. The thing about Marcello is that he's a plank! He gave all the talks in his patronising self indulgent manner and went on several power trips. He got thick because people were having a good time and not listening to him so he decided to rectify the situation by sucking any element of fun out of it. This was confounded by the fact that we were on a major losing streak. Niamh won the Queen of the Losers competition. The prize was a fetching (sarcasm) Navimag fleece and the opportunity to dance in public to Gangham Style with the King of the Losers, a ten year old boy called Bastion. After a few more drinks in the bar we headed to the canteen for our regular late night guitar and sing along session. Jerry got the crowd going, a red headed American dude nearly sent everyone to bed, until people chanted Jerry's name and he rescued the night with a bit of wonder wall.
Once we were settled in, we went in search of chocolate and bought a couple of bars for desert. It was tasty, but Cadbury's still has the edge, creamy goodness. We went for a walk down the town and found a place that did the most delicious and massive pizzas. We ordered two and were unable to finish either. Doggy bag please.
The next day we got one of the over packed local buses to Cerro Campanario, which is a very steep hill. I cannot overemphasise the steep part. There were ski lifts you could take up to the top and down again but it was quite expensive and we wanted to walk it anyway. So off we went on our hike, exercise was something we all needed. It was really hot that day and it was hard going. By the time we got to the top, we had sweated half our body weight. The first available leaning post or seat was immediately availed of. After several minutes of panting like a rhino in labour, we checked out the view, this being the purpose of the expedition. It was more than worth it. There were spectacular views of the lake from all angles. Needless to say, the walk down was easier.
To cool down we headed off to the lake for a dip. Niamh was over eager and fell on her backside on the gravel road on the way down, nearly resulting in tears and receiving a souvenir of another bruise. On reaching the edge of the lake we dipped our toes in and decided that was enough. It was freezing. Jerry, loving a good swim, dived in while we watched on, shivering at the mere thought of the icy water.
Later that night, after a well earned shower, Emmet, Jerry and Aisling headed out on the town with some drink vouchers we had received from the hostel. Niamh was wrecked and decided a bit of quiet time was needed, so she stayed in with her new obsession Pinterest. More free drinks for Emmet. We headed to a bar in the sister hostel of the one we were staying in. We got talking to a nice American girl and chilled out there for a bit before moving onto the next bar. She didn't come with us though, as she was with her eighty year old granny. Granny party!
The next bar was a lovely micro brewery. It was a little on the expensive side but we had some good beers at it. Afterwards, Aisling was tired, so we walked her home and me and Jerry went back out. We went to an Irish bar called Wilkenny's, sure you'd have to pop in for at least one. So we had two and then onto a cool little side street with loads of bars on it.
The next day we had a wander about the town and got acquainted with the towns other infamous symbol, really cute St. Bernards, as well as having chocolate flavoured coffees which were delicious.
We really liked Bariloche but had only booked two nights. We tried to book a third in our hostel but they were fully booked as it is peak season, so we were lucky to get rooms in the Swiss style hostel right next door. This meant we has an extra day to go Kayaking on lake Gutierrez.
Our guide Paulo was great. He had a soul patch, say no more. We paddled three kilometres down the lake, amongst beautiful Patagonian mountains. I say we, I mean I did, Niamh mostly sat and enjoyed the views. She did make a bit of effort from time to time. Don't think we'll be trying out for the Olympics any time soon.
We pulled into a small beach and had a bite to eat and tea, coffee and a traditional Argentinian drink called mate in a special cup. There was a tree that had fallen into the lake which you could walk out on and dive in, which is what Emmet and Jerry did. Unfortunately the girls wouldn't join us due to the fact the water was freezing and you have to be manly to attempt this. It's a man thing.
The next stop was Puerto Montt. Here we stayed in a nice little guest house called Casa Perla. It was like staying in your granny's house. The town itself is really run down, a fairly poor area but the people were very nice. We didn't go out that night, as the nearest local was a place called "Happy Night", which had a suggestive picture of a near naked lady outside. Happy night I'm sure. Not surprisingly the girls weren't too up for a few pints there, so we had a nice chilling night in before getting the boat the following day to start our four day, three nights cruise down the west coast of Chile deep into Patagonia territory. But this was not before Jerry had a sing along in the street with a Chilean ticket warden.
The ferry trip was something we were really looking forward to and we were not disappointed. The ferry is called Navimag and we got a cabin between the four of us. We saw some of the most amazing scenery we have ever seen. We were so lucky with the weather and had clear blue skies for the five days. Apparently the ferry is pretty boring if the weather is bad. We saw a glacier, penguins, sea otters, seals and dolphins swimming along side the boat, jumping out of the water to give us a chance to take some photos of them. Posers. We have decided to tell this story in picture form, we may have gone over the top with the camera.
The first night on the boat, we had a karaoke night, so Jerry got up first like the champion that he is and blasted out a bit of John Fogarty. We continued on the singing session in the canteen after the bar closed with Jerry playing the guitar. We had an great night and we pretty much drank all our booze that we brought with us. School boy error, we should have brought a lot more drink. The next day was a lot less crazy. For example, there were no old Chilean men urinating in the hallway or people spraying one of the fire extinguishers. Yes, the first night was messy.
We made lots of boat friends, including an Irish couple, two American girls, a fella from Dublin and his travel friend, three sound Chilean guys with no English but plenty of musical talent ( I am still not really sure how we communicated, drink works in mysterious ways) and hot Tom from Scotland, who the lads seemed to have a bigger crush on than the girls.
During the day we mainly spent our time being hungover, looking at the scenery, taking photos, chatting to the other passengers, playing cards and being fed (our meals were included). They had various talks and films on during the day on the boat, Niamh learned how to tie some knots, including a hangman's knot. Don't mess with her!
The final night we decided to treat ourselves to a couple of bottles of wine. It was bingo night, which sounded a lot more fun than it ended up being. Marcello, one of the boat attendants was presenting it. The thing about Marcello is that he's a plank! He gave all the talks in his patronising self indulgent manner and went on several power trips. He got thick because people were having a good time and not listening to him so he decided to rectify the situation by sucking any element of fun out of it. This was confounded by the fact that we were on a major losing streak. Niamh won the Queen of the Losers competition. The prize was a fetching (sarcasm) Navimag fleece and the opportunity to dance in public to Gangham Style with the King of the Losers, a ten year old boy called Bastion. After a few more drinks in the bar we headed to the canteen for our regular late night guitar and sing along session. Jerry got the crowd going, a red headed American dude nearly sent everyone to bed, until people chanted Jerry's name and he rescued the night with a bit of wonder wall.
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| He's big, he's hairy, he's French. Legend! |
