Bariloche, aka the most wonderful place in the world.

Something struck me as odd upon entering Bariloche, Argentina. Was it the abundance of chocolate shops? No, but I did love that part. Was it the crystal clear lake that I was actually excited abut jumping into? Was it the fact that it was finally bathing suit weather? No. No. It was that there were traffic lights! Yes, traffic lights! Lindsey and I hadn't seen one in what felt like ages, but was actually 3 weeks or so. Can you imagine only being in such small towns that there wasn't even a need for traffic lights? It was sort of a strange realization.

Bariloche! One of the highlights of our trip! We went kayaking, we went hiking, we went to clubs where there were lots of people, we drank, we ate delicious argentine meals, it was fabulous. There was one day however, we had gone out fairly late the night before, and the following day, we decided we were in Bariloche, we had to continue our outdoorsy activities kick. So, in a slightly hungover state, Lindsey suggests we go on a bike ride. There is a beautiful 35 km circuit that we were told was a great half day activity. I am sort of not up for it, but I decide to go for it anyway. I mean, I am a triathlete! I do that distance in between a mile swim and a 10 km run. No sweat, right? Wrong. I was dying, it was painful, I actually got off and walked the bike up a hill. More than once. It was a sad sad day. Don't ask if there are pictures of me struggling, there aren't any.

Anyway, Bariloche was incredible, but sadly, it was time to cross the Argentina/Chile border one last time. We headed to Valdivia, Chile to go the the Kunstmann Cervezeria. Home to our favorite Chilean beer, the Kunstmann Torobayo. After eating a hamburger piled high with deliciousness, we tried every beer they made and even shared a "column" of beer with some Chileans we met, before quickly getting out of Valdivia (there isn't much to do there) and make our way to Pucon.

Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile! However, I had already done many of the adventure activities that they offered (rafting, hiking, canyoning, kayaking, etc...) throughout the last month, so I just focused on one thing, climbing Volcan Villarica. It was difficult, tiring,and at times a bit painful, but awesome. And once we got up there and saw smoke coming out, we got to slide down the volcano. Very cool stuff.

I made a quick stop in Talca to go to the wine country and then back to Santiago. Below is the link to the pictures from January:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2364757&id=907196&l=968e4

For those keeping track, I am clearly behind on updates, I returned from Patagonia nearly 3 weeks and have now been in Peru for a while. Will write more soon!

besos!
Lauren