Backpacking South America

We shipped out to Pampa Linda, right outside of town from Bariloche, for a few days. We decided to hike Paso de las Nubes, which is at best a two day hike, starting in Pampa Linda, which is supposed to be the easier direction to cross. We found a really cute Hosteria (Hosteria Pampa Linda), like a Bed & Breakfast, with a long, rich history that we just couldn’t pass up.

It’s this cute little Inn that can accommodate about 36 people. It’s now run by the granddaughter of the original owner. They are at the base of the massive Mount Tronador, which is located in the southern part of the Andes Mountains between Chile and Argentina. It’s popular with mountaineers, but it’s serious work to get to the top and is only open to the most experienced climbers. The final ascent, we were told, is only done in Spring, when there is ice on the last face. In Summer, the rock is so fragile that it crumbles when you try to climb it. The mountain is about 3400 meters, which is over 10,000 feet. Sorry, but you couldn’t pay me enough money to walk across a glacier. But, boy is it beautiful from where we were stood.

The first day we walked the road to the glacier and a waterfall, reaching the base of Mount Tronador, which means Thunder. It’s an extinct volcano, but it has large, active glaciers. And I can attest to the fact that it received the correct name. It was pretty amazing to watch the ice fall from the glacier and cascade down the rock face into the lake at the bottom.

It was a beautiful day and it was a nice hike, about 10 miles. We were tired by the end of the day, especially since we had to battle the biting horseflies which were so annoying here! But, when we returned to the Inn, dinner was ready and waiting.

Since we decided to take a vacation from our vacation and we had a nice warm up hike the day before, we thought we’d take this second day to just rest and relax. We were in an area without any internet, so no room for distractions. We were looking forward to a day to sleep in! But, there’s no rest for the weary. There’s always work to be done.

Hosteria Pampa Linda is a rather self-sustaining operation. They have their own garden, cows and horses, and they make their own cheese. Cheese? Did somebody say cheese? Well, we were intrigued. We wanted to learn how they made their own cheese.

So, we got up early about 7AM and headed to the barn to milk some cows and see how they separated the milk from the cream, and eventually, make cheese and taste some good ‘ole fresh cows’ milk. (Grandpa, it was nothing like your set up.)

(Un)Surprisingly, I was pretty much a natural at milking cows, but it is hard work. It didn’t take long for my hands to cramp up. Jared on the other hand, well, it was obvious where he came from…he had “city boy” written all over him.

We had a wonderful time in Pampa Linda and there are so many trails to choose from.  In addition to the hosteria, there is a nice refugio next door and a couple campsites along the river. It’s truly a beautiful, quiet and peaceful area in the shadow of Mount Tronador, which reminds us of just how small we really are. Amazing!

We finally arrived in Bariloche, and it’s as beautiful as every Argentine said. Until now, we were always asked, “have you been to Bariloche?” Now we can finally reply, “Yes, we have.” It seems that Bariloche is every Argentines favorite place in Argentina.

We had a feeling we’d like it here and we do. The only downfall is that right now at this time of the year, it’s extremely busy, but that is still an understatement. As travelers, we generally don’t plan too far in advance, because our schedule seems to change day-to-day. Up until this point, it hasn’t proven to be difficult when finding a place to stay. Well, Bariloche and all spots further south in Patagonia are very popular places, especially during January and February, and I kid you not, every place is booked! We arrived with one-day booked, and struggled to find accommodations for another 3.

Bariloche

Situated on a massive lake and surrounded by towering, snow-capped mountains, it’s no surprise that Bariloche is the destination of choice of Argentine’s seeking to escape the summer heat of the north. Originally settled by German immigrants, the architecture and layout of the city has a very European look, but it is definitely with the Argentine flair.

On our second day, it was time to get out and enjoy nature. So we decided to hike a mountain and visit a Refugio. It was a beautiful day and we were really looking forward to it. After a long wait, the bus finally arrived and eventually dropped us off about 26 kilometers outside of town.

We read this hike had beautiful views, and we weren’t let down. What we didn’t know was that the trail wasn’t just steep – it was poorly marked in many places; it was obvious at several places that people tried to make their own “short-cut.” In other places, the trail just went straight up the mountain through “sand.” The dirt was super dry and crumbly with no switchbacks, making a bit more challenging than necessary. It didn’t help that our 99% DEET bug spray didn’t seem to keep the horseflies away.

Finally, we reached the top at Refugio Lopez and the view was just beautiful! We overlooked Bariloche and Pennisula LLao LLao. It was just gorgeous! But, what goes up, must come down…and remember those really steep parts? Well, our knees were killing by the time we finished and all we wanted was to get back to our hostel and find something good to eat! Unfortunately, we had to wait 2 hours for the next bus since the first one was full and wouldn’t stop for us.

We finally made it home and celebrated a good hike with the best pizza we’ve found in Argentina (Marsalis) and a bottle of wine. Nothing like a hard days work.

So close!!! It was the first race we were betting on.  We had watched the process and felt like we understood the race program well enough to at least put down a wager.  Based on our limited experience at the tracks in Boston, we knew we wanted an Exacta Box with 3 horses.

We picked our horses, but got a bit confused at the window and felt the pressure of the line behind us.  It turns out, we were betting a straight Trifecta.  Oh well, maybe we’ll get lucky.

The horses set off and we couldn’t believe it when we saw our three horses pulling away on the approach to the finish.  They crossed the line in a group – could we possibly have just gotten our Trifecta! We waited in suspense to see the final finishing order.

As they posted the results, we looked at each other in disbelief. We had the 2nd and 3rd place horses’ order reversed.  Had we boxed them in, that one bet could have paid for a meal!  We turned around dejected, but hopeful that we could actually make money in the evening… but it wasn’t in the cards.

Despite learning the lingo, and making our bets correctly, we just didn’t have the knowledge.  As the races went on, we came close on several occasions, but just couldn’t pull a win.  In our handful of trips to the tracks, it was the first time we had ever been shutout.  Fortunately, we kept the stakes low and lost less than the cost of two movie tickets in Buenos Aires…

That’s what we heard at the Boca Jrs game – perhaps the most famous futbol club in Argentina and the former team of Argentine’s most loved and second most hated personality (behind Kristina Kirschner) in Argentina – Diego Maradona*.

We were fortunate enough to make it to a Boca Jrs home game recently to experience the energy and passion firsthand.  We went with a group instead of finding our own way into the game, dealing with scalpers and navigating the slightly dangerous streets of La Boca.  So, we piled into the bus and made our way towards the stadium.  There must have been more than 60 other people (we just kept picking up more and more people…the seats were full and there was no more room in the aisles with all the people standing.

Prior to the game, we made a stop at a bar in La Boca where they fed us as much pizza and beer as they could, probably to encourage us to sing louder and have a good time.  They desperately tried to get us to sing the team songs, but that is a bit tricky when there are 12 songs/chants.  After consuming more beer than pizza, everybody was corralled back onto the bus and shuttled a few blocks to the game.

The security at the games was pretty tight, once you got in. First, we had to pass through the police checkpoints to reach the stadium, then through 3 ticket scanners before reaching our seats in the upper deck.

The idea of the tour company was to keep us away from the rabid fans, which can be pretty dangerous (so we’re told), but the result is that we were isolated from the real passionate fans and seated in a relaxed section.  We still had a decent view, even though we were near the top of the upper deck.

We were the fortunate ones to sit at the top of the banner with the team emblem that they roll out over the fans in the upper deck, which meant that we had to run the banner out and make sure the fans didn’t pull it too far over…we’re not talking a little banner, it was about as wide as the field and we had to keep rolling it out – it was quite a team effort.  It was something like this.

The game itself was great to watch and was very close.  Unfortunately, it was extremely cold and being in the upper levels, we were assaulted by winds.  We were bundled in our fleeces and rain jackets to ward of the wind and cold.

In the end though, Boca Jrs just couldn’t pull it out and Independiente (the other team) scored a goal in the 85^th minute and ended winning 2 – 1.

*Diego Maradona singlehandedly (literally, he scored a goal using his hand, and the goal is known as the ‘Hand of God’ goal) beat England in the World Cup final.  He later scored one of the more impressive goals ever by going end-to-end and scoring.  He became a legend in that game.  However, since that time he has been a deplorable role model (drugs, crime, affairs, etc.).    But, every time he is given another chance by his fans and ultimately, Argentina.

Maradona is now the coach of the national team and has been under great scrutiny due to the teams mediocre performance despite having some of the best players in the world.  Any other coach would have been fired or burned at the stake if they churned out his results, however, due to Maradona’s god-like status, he somehow survives.

One of the amazing things we’ve encountered throughout our journey is the hospitality of Argentines. Whether it’s a free ride, tips and advice, dinners or even free nights in an apartment, we’ve been spoiled by the generosity of this country.

One such example was our recent stopover in Rosario. While in Mendoza, we met Alejandro and Andrea. After talking to them for a while, they offered us a room in their apartment if we ever passed through Rosario. A few weeks later, they dropped us an email reaffirming their offer. They weren’t just being nice, they actually were nice.

So, on our way back to Buenos Aires, we made a stop in Rosario, which wasn’t in our original itinerary, but how could we refuse?

Rosario is the second largest city in Argentina, but is overshadowed by Buenos Aires, a quick 4 hour bus ride away. However, the peace of the city cannot be overstated. With wide walkways through town and along the river, lots of green space and an impressive plaza – Rosario was the calm before the storm that is Buenos Aires.

Our friends Alejandro and Andrea were very gracious and opened their apartment to us, giving us our own room. Our first night, we got to really test our Spanish. It had been some time since we really got to practice our Spanish beyond reserving a room or ordering dinner.

The next day was full of wandering through the city led by our fearless guide, Alejandro. We visited the nearby park, Parque Independencia, which border’s on the Newell’s Old Boys Club Atletico – home of the town’s premier futbol team. We wandered down Boulevard Orono to the river and walked a while along the river.

Sunday morning, we explored the plaza, which was quite impressive. We took the elevator to the top of the Monumento Nacional a la Bandera and had a bird’s eye view of the whole city. After a walk back along the river, we stopped for a drink and to rest our feet before the final walk home.

As our guidebook said, the people of Rosario are hospitable and ready to make you feel at home. Thanks to our friends Alejandro and Andrea – we can affirm that statement. Hopefully we can pass on the hospitality to someone else some day.