song of the open roads: May 2011

let me count the ways...

1. the food is the best we've had in latin america, by far. these must be some happy cows because they sure do taste amazing. chocolate stores are wayyy too prominent in northern patagonia. and we're definitely going to miss the oh-so-delicious alfajores. and, we must mention the argentine love for ham and cheese sandwiches. not really a positive in the food category but definitely something we will never forget. note to argentina: you should really try eating smoked or honey hams, seriously soooo much better than bland, blanched ham (the same goes with the cheese too :)

2. beer and wine... almost a no contest. beers here actually taste like beers! our favorite so far was the barleywine from antares in bariloche. mmmm...hoppy. and wine, well there's where the contest is. still debating on whether argentina or chile has the upper hand (we're leaning towards chile)

3. northern patagonia is one of the most beautiful places we've seen (and we didn't even get to southern patagonia). and there are an abundance of free trails to hike around each of the towns we've been to - with actual signs and markings on those trails!

all in all, we've LOVED argentina. it was not a hard decision to stay longer than planned in northern patagonia. in a way, it almost feels like northern new england so we feel right at home :) a few more days down south then onto the big city of buenos aires to soak up some culture. strange that our time in south america is nearing its end.

ooh, and check out the new blog addition - "where are we now?" - which shows our current location (bottom of the page)

the beautiful 360 view of cerro campanario in bariloche. people here love to brag that national geographic at one time named it one of the top 10 views of the world. we wouldn't disagree...

another angle of campanario

pretty amazing. one of the best parts is that it's only a 30 minute climb to the top. or a $10 ride to the top on a cable car ... lazies!

joe in awe

and one more of campanario :)

next day onto the pretty llao llao park west of bariloche. with the argentine accent, it's actually pronounced something like chow chow (crazies!). this is the beautiful arrayan tree forest.

bamboo dominates this forest

hanging out near the beautiful lago perito moreno

mosqueta, or rose hips, are found allll over northern patagonia

some more beer tasting in bariloche. winner of today's tasting, yeska roja.
oooh interesting fact. so when you go to a brewery, all the beers are classified according to color. this has really bugged joe because most are classified as roja (red). but, really there aren't red ales. sometime's they are pale ales, or IPAs, or ambers. but they just call it a roja. same with dark beers too. they don't have a style name, just a color - negra, although it could be a porter, stout, brown, etc etc. argh!!

off to our new home for a bit - the hippie town of el bolson. amazing here. we were a little anxious when we first arrived in the pouring rain. however, day 2 cleared up a bit and then each day after just got better and better. this is the view of the ridge behind el bolson on day 2, after a lot of snow on the ridge (which ends up just being rain in the valley)

taking in one of the specialties of el bolson - the amazing waffles at the thrice-weekly market. this market reminded us of the saturday market in galway, ireland :) awesome artisans, delicious food, and good beers

and the beautiful days in el bolson have begun...

first hike - checking out the viewpoint of the 'rio azul'

the ridge behind the town. so beautiful after the snowfall. in a few days, there shall be little snow left...

lunch spot near 'cascada escondida' (hidden waterfall)

the area around el bolson is full of crumbling bridges. this was one we had to take to make it back to town. luckily we saw someone coming across the other side of the bridge as we were contemplating crossing it. sketchy yet safe...enough :)

asado (aka meat fest) #1! the family that owned our hostel was amazing. they put together an asado as often as guests wanted it. and instead of charging a standard price like other hostels do, we all just split the cost. we also got to go to the carniceria (butcher shop) with claudio and watch the carnicero (butcher) in action.

best chorizo EVER

one of our best hikes yet - up to the top of cerro piltriquitron (try saying that even one time fast). here's the view from the refugio, which, even with 700 more meters to the top, was still amazing. new fun fact! - refugios are awesome. they exist at many of the mountain tops or at halfway points as resting points for weary trekkers. you usually have the option of staying overnight or just grabbing a homemade beer, loaf of bread, or other fresh food. imagine living with this view every day

not only were the views spectacular but the foliage was incredible. makes us feel a little better about missing the fall in new england :)

ahhh, otoño

snow! can't imagine what it would have been like if we had hiked up soon after the mountain snowfall. this was after about 5 days of sunshine

that is a cooool cloud. dig it.

as we climbed higher the views got better and better. more motivation to keep on trudging through slippery pebbles and, sometimes, knee deep snow (which we were NOT prepared for)

so we thought this was the top, until we saw that fun-looking ridge to the right of us :)

even at this point you could see for miles

demonstrating the extreme wind at the 'almost-top'

here's the top! joe just about gave me a heart-attack standing on this ridge with nothing beneath him. but i guess it does make for a good photo :) it almost looked like a volcano crater from here - really it was just full of amazing, color-changing, trees

now THAT was an amazing 360 view, here's 180 of it

our ride down to the bottom. choice: walk downhill with tired knees for 12 kilometers or hitch a ride in this sweet van. no contest. thanks federico!

one of lauren's best birthday's yet - biking among the sweet autumn colors

destination: lago puelo. hola chilean mountains!

fresh raspberries? yes please!

ooooooooh, fresh raspberries :)

a good birthday is not complete without good chocolate. pictured here, one of the best alfajores we've had yet. mmmmmm

just a couple of lauren's birthday beers thanks to kate and wisegifter!

and birthday steak! seriously look at that. doesn't get much better :) thanks mom and dad and sarah and kurt!

dig those yellow leaves

valeria, one of the hostel owners baked lauren an amazing raspberry tart for her birthday!

and her adorable daughter, agustina, (who was quite the entertainer while we stayed at the hostel) sang lauren "cumpleaños feliz" (happy birthday)

the majority of cars in el bolson (and in argentina in general) are at least 15 years old. it's not uncommon to see a car from the early 80's still plugging along. not surprised to hear that salt is not used on the roads when they do get snow (usually not more than a few inches anyway)

on our hike to cajon del azul (blue canyon). no surprise that we would have to cross a sketchy bridge. this one being the most sketchy yet (notice the hanging planks?)

no explanation necessary

totalllly safe guys

cool pink mushies

refugio la playita on the way to the canyon. picked up some fresh bread and some good river photos

wowee wow. that is some blue water

dig it

not only was the trail complete with 2 swaying suspension bridges, there were also some ladders to climb! we felt pretty bad-ass after this trail :)

our english and irish hiking buddies!

stretching break! notice joe and martin (our english hiking buddy on the right) demonstrating that you don't fall over while stretching if you hold your ear. although, martin, it doesn't appear that you're actually stretching :)

beautiful views of the ridge. ciao el bolson!

next destination: villa la angostura, a pretty little lake town northwest of el bolson.

hanging out at lago nahuel huapi

dig it

these berry trees are also all over northern patagonia

now THAT's a steak sandwich

our awesome couchsurfing host, emi, at her place in villa la angostura, after we cooked her some spicy thai curry. note: argentine's (and chileans for that matter) have different taste buds as far as spiciness. what we think is a little spicy is burning their taste buds :)

with milo, emi's crazy little puppy :)

on the ruta de siete lagos (seven lakes route) heading to san martin de los andes. gorgeous ride

the colors just keep getting better

san martin de los andes! - our current destination before we head to buenos aires. here's the view on our hike up to a local mirador on a gorgeous day

joe is trying to tell this cat to get away from us. he would NOT leave us alone. we are accustomed to dogs constantly following us and begging for food. this is the first cat beggar we've come across. and he was a jerk!