Life is Good (Forget that Cruel World Stuff)

Feb. 15

We were off to San Martín de los Andes. Our bus left at 11:00 and it was a long, hot and frustrating experience. There seemed to be a heat-wave occurring and there is no a/c down here, including on the bus. So things were pretty sweltering. Pucón and San Martín aren't that far apart but you have to wind your way through mountainous gravel roads to travel from one to the other. And there's that immigration thing. It took two hours to cross the border - ouch! First we had to go through Chile immigration and then get back on the bus, drive 100 yards, and stand in line at Argentina immigration. It was a painful process - but we should have expected this after Iguazú Falls, right? At least they didn't throw us off the bus and make us wait for the next one!

About six hours after we left we arrived in quaint San Martín. Similar to Pucón, it is set on a lake and surrounded by mountains. All of the architecture is chalet style and very "mountain resort" looking. Matt and I can't seem to agree on this one, but I think it is much classier than Pucón. There are lots of boutiques, restaurants and, best of all, chocolate shops. There are some adventure activity companies but they are not nearly as abundant as they are in Pucón.

Our hostal was a cute place with a friendly staff, frigobar (fridge in room), free internet and book exchange. You really come to appreciate these things as you travel. I was on my last book and was excited to find a book in English to make a trade. The fridge in the room is key too...I was still dealing with stomach problems and needed something plain...hello, Tony the Tiger. I ate an entire box of Frosted Flakes over the next three days and my stomach was very happy about it. Not to mention a cold beverage can be a real treat when you have been drinking lukewarm water for most of the last week (remember our stifling room in Pucón?). I was happy to be in San Martín.

That evening we walked around the town and decided we would rent bikes the next day and take a ride around part of the lake. We went to "the best pizza place in town" and struck out. It was nasty...I have vowed not to eat any more pizza on this continent. Unless it's Pizza Hut or Papa John's. Remember how I was cursing them in Lima? Well, I take it all back. There is something beautiful about the "copy exact" philosophy of Corporate America. At least I can go out for a pizza and know that it will be decent. Granted, I wouldn't insult the Italians in this way but the Argentinians just make a bad pizza. After dinner San Martín restauranteurs redeemed themselves by way of Granny Goye's ice cream. Holy cow these people are good at making ice cream! Matt had some chocolate mousse ice cream that was incredible. I had sorbet and it was so delicious. Wow!

Feb. 16

After breakfast we were off to the bike shop to rent mountain bikes for the day. We got some vague instructions on where the best places to ride were and then headed to the grocery store to buy a picnic lunch. We decided to ride along the "Seven Lakes Road" to a beach a few miles away. The scenery was spectacular on the ride and there were rolling hills the entire way there (mostly up though so at least the way home would be easier!). We rode to the beach and hiked down. The beach was small and not very crowded - just how we like them. We worked on our tans (ok, so Matt worked on his freckles - fully sunscreened, of course) and went swimming in the frigid water. It's pretty amazing to sit on a beach in the sun looking at snow-capped mountains in the distance. It was a nice, lazy afternoon and we enjoyed hanging out, reading and eating our salami and cheese sandwiches.

That evening we hung out for a while at an Irish Pub on the main drag. We had an outdoor table so we could do some excellent people watching. We talked about the trip and what we are getting out of it, what we'll do differently on the three-month portion in April-June, and how we are feeling now that we are at the end of the first two months. We absolutely love Argentina and will definitely return - there is so much more to see. There is still more of Southern Chile we would like to visit as well. We've really enjoyed being in South America and feel like we have had a good mix of learning about the culture, fun activities, outdoor stuff, beach, hanging out, food, etc. It's amazing how quickly this can become "what you do." Dell? What's Dell? It seems like an eternity ago. (Ok, don't worry too much here...we do realize there's a life and responsibilities waiting for us back in Austin. The cool thing is, we can enjoy this AND still look forward to getting back to life in Austin...just maybe on somewhat different terms than before.)

For now we are travelers. After two months though the impact of new places is not as profound as it was back in the beginning of January. It's not that we appreciate things less, it's just that we have been absorbing so much over the last two months that we're "full to capicity," for lack of a better term. For example, if we had flown into San Martín directly from Austin I'm sure we would have been more in awe of its beauty than we were after arriving the other day. It's just that we have seen SO much incredible scenery already. We still love it here and think its beautiful, we just aren't affected in the same way anymore. The short breaks we have in March will be good.

We're really glad we did the tour in Peru. The tour made things so much more efficient and also we feel that we learned a lot about the culture because of it, particularly with the homestay on Lake Titicaca and the community run reseach centre in the Amazon. At the same time, we probably wouldn't have wanted to do more long tours. The pace really picks up with a tour and sometimes it's nicer to move at your own speed. And even though we really liked our tour group after two weeks I was ready to move on from a few of the people in the group. In April we'll be on a tour for a month in China and definitely think it will be helpful - it's a difficult country to navigate on your own. We're glad to be on our own for the rest of the time.

We still feel really lucky to be able to take this time off, to have the means to travel and to have found the cajónes to go for it. Honestly, for two Finance nerds it wasn't an easy decision to make. In hindsight it seems like it should have been but things just aren't that straightforward.

Feb. 17

Another gorgeous day in Argentina. We took advantage and went for a great four-hour hike on the other side of the lake. We walked through the native Mapuche Community and down to another little beach. The hike took us to some breathtaking views of the lake and mountains. We met an older English couple during the hike and were impressed with their energy. They had 3 days in San Martín and every day was jam packed with hikes and other activities. I'm impressed...that four-hour hike tuckered me out. Ok, it may have had to do with the fact that I was up until 1am watching American Idol. I couldn't sleep, I swear!

Our last evening in San Martín was spent taking a leisurely walk around town, stopping at a bar overlooking the lake, and having a romantic, candle-lit dinner (literally - the power went out several times during dinner). It was nice to be back in Argentina where things were cheaper than in Chile. We were really able to enjoy some of the local foods (not just Granny Goye's ice cream!). Matt had a great steak one night and we also loved the wild boar and deer. Of course we bought a few chocolates at one of the many shops in town (need to support the local economy). Matt has a thing for empanadas now too. Although it's not true of pizza, the Argentinians do have a way with food.

So long, Argentina, we'll be back!

Feb. 18

Up at 5am, out the door at 5:40 for our 6am bus. Miserable just like the first time, only it took seven hours instead of six. But alas, we had things to look forward to. Matt is rafting this afternoon on some class 4 and 5 rapids. When he gets back we are going to cook dinner at the hostal and then we will head to the hot springs for a few hours. I'm blogging, uploading pics and am going to start that new book I got at the hostal in San Martín. It's another beautiful sunny day. Ahhh, life is good.