Bariloche - January 18th

Today we travel 800km north to Bariloche.  This is a long journey, but unlike the previous journey of 620km, this one is a day trip, and it must be on better roads because it is only scheduled to take 14 hours, where as our last trip took the same time (barring breakdowns).  The bus we are joining actually comes from El Calafate the previous day and it does a complicated route up Route National 40, that means it leaves guests staying overnight in our hotel, but picks up other guests elsewhere, before returning to our hotel in the morning.  So at least we don’t have to walk all the way down the main (only) street back to the bus station.  When we get on the bus there are a few seats taken by sleeping passengers, so we sit down and we are off.

It is only after a couple of hours when we stop in the first small town after Perito Moreno that I realise that I’m the third Dub in a row, as the sleeping passengers have woken up and taken off their blankets to reveal two Dublin GAA jerseys. And probably more unusual than that, another of the passengers is wearing a St Sylvester’s GAA jersey (to the non-Irish – or even non-Malahide - readers of this blog this is the jersey of the football club in Malahide, meaning there is a fellow passenger from my home village). Unfortunately the hop-on hop-off nature of the bus means the other Irish are off before I have a chance to talk to them.

And that was really the only excitement of the day.  Our 14 hour journey actually only took 12 hours which was a bonus.  The rest of the journey saw a gradual change from the barren landscape of Patagonia, to the alpine landscape of the Argentine Lake District. 

As we go close to Bariloche we did notice that the views became a bit blurred.  A volcano in Chile had started spewing out ash again, and while it wasn’t a problem for tourists (unless they were flying in) it does ruin the views slightly.  And it is a pity as our hostel turns out to be a nice lake front hostel with what could be stunning views.  Tonight on arrival is the weekly beach party, so we just join in by having one beer before retiring exhausted.