Due to our 90 day tourist card being up, we had to leave Chile briefly. We decided to go across the boarder to Argentina. This was to be a 6 hour trip over the Andes in a 40 passenger tour style bus. The bus left at 10 am and we were served the onboard snack of cookie covered in a chocolate flavored substance and almost undrinkably sweet coffee. It was a pleasant drive through National Parque Villarrica. I was amazed by the gravel road we were traveling. This would never happened in the states. No one would ride a bus on this road. We were subjected to some horrible 80's spanish music, but the scenery made up for it.
We found the Auracaria forest we had sought previously. These are amazing trees, which take 500 yrs to mature. Some of the ones we saw were 1200 years old. They are protected, which would explain why there was one right in the middle of the road. The boarder crossing was smooth. I only had to walk into the Argentinan boarder office to immeadiately notice a difference. The building was warm. This may seem minor to those who have no frame of reference, but when you have spent 3 month in winter in an area where the highs are between 40-55 and they feel no need to heat the interior of ANY buildings, this is incredible. I was also surprised by how simple the entrance into Argentina was. There was almost no paperwork, not even a customs form. There was a noticable difference in the landscape on the east side of the Andes, less tall vegetation. I think this is due to a reduced rain fall. One of the first things we noticed was how pretty the buildings were. Keep in mind, any statement is based on one town in Argentina only. They seem much more concerned with the aesthetics of things, not just functionallity which has been my experience in Chile. We arrived in San Martin, as I stepped off the bus i was immeadiately faced with the extremely pushy man trying to rent us a room in his house nearby. What makes this man think that getting in my face between me and my children as I am literally stepping of a bus in a new country might possibly cause me to want to do business with him, i will never understand. It did however cause me to feel the need to take him out at the knees so I could reach my children again. After recovering from the stress of refraining from flogging the idiot who got between me and my kids, we acquired a map and chose a direction in which we knew there were some hostels. We investigated a few and returned to the cheapest one, Secuoya Hostel. Nacho, the guy who works there was very helpful and nice. He recommended places and marked them all on a map for us. We set out and did lots of window shopping, got supper, stopped by the grocery store and returned to our hostel. Theodore spent the night hacking his head off, as the cold he was coming down with when we left Chile took up full residency. I feel so bad for the couple who were attempting to sleep in the room next door. We arose in the morning, and were greeted by a very nice woman who served the breakfast (toast and coffee) . Off for another day of shopping, equiped for the expected wet weather, we were happy to find Theodore in good spirits despite his unpleasant night. As the rain started to come down heavily and we were hungy we duct into Munich (a parrilla resturant). We all enjoyed some very good meat and being warm and dry. Since it was still raining and the shops do not open back up till 4 pm. We then slipped around the corner to a coffee shop called Havanna. The kids enjoyed the largest hot chocolate I have ever seen. Ken and I enjoyed a cafe latte negro ( coffee, cream, and small chunks of real chocolate. YUM~!!!! We hung out and enjoyed watching the effects of Virginia's sugar and chocolate induced euforia. This manifested itself as uncontrollable laughing. It was very cute and a bit concerning. We then did some more looking around. Went back to the hostel and spend a while talking with the owner and another guest. I really enjoyed hearing thier stories and sharing ours. We then went to buy the bus tickets for in the morning and go by the store to get food for supper. Back at the hostel, showers, supper, and packing. San Martin had good chocolate and excellent pastries. We medicated Theodore and got some sleep. Alarm went off at 4:30 am. We headed for the bus in the rain and dark. I was surprised at the amount of street lights. It was not far up the road before we encountered snow. We spent 40 minutes in Junin, i assume waiting on other passengers or the weather. I kept expecting someone to get on the bus and tell us we would have too take a diffent route due to the snow. After all, the Tromen pass is at 1207 meters and a gravel road which would certainly be covered with snow. This did not happen. We begin down the road at a slow cautious speed. As the sun came up God's beauty unfolded before my eyes. Seeing this untouched wilderness blanketed in a foot or more of snow was glorious. Had it not been for the occassional brief lose of traction the bus experienced and my overwhelming plotting on the best course of action to take in the event of an accident, i may have become completely entranced by the splender. I was truely amazed that we were actually driving this slippery route. We made it to the Argentinan border. I got some great pictures of the beauty around us. The snow here was more than a foot deep and still falling hard. Then onto the Chilean crossing. This took 3 times as long as getting into Argentina. The difference in the buracracy of these two countries is interesting. On down the gravel snow covered road. The winding past the lake (which you could not see due to the heavy snow falling) was a bit tense for me. I have a new respect for our driver. We arrived safely in Villarrica were my awesome brother was waiting to pick us up. Based on San Martin, I really like Argentina. Warm buildings make it move to the top of my SA countries of choice list.
After thought: Those of you who know of my great fear of bridges would be amazed by the wooden bridges I have crossed in these buses. Also, wood is slippery when wet and covered in snow.
No comments:
Post a Comment