Sunday, 30 May 2010

Day 86 - Buenos Aires

The delicious Teresita B&B breakfast!

Adrogue streets

Box from local bike shop
Packing the bike


'Tiny' the friendly dog


Humming bird feeder in the garden

Day 85- Buenos Aires

Sunday traffic in Buenos Aires





Is it?


Bike unfriendly bus

Waiting for bikes to arrive in bus station

Train to Adrogue (15 pence)

Cobbled streets of Adrogue

Beautiful houses in Adrogue




Day 84 - Bariloche to Buenos Aires

Leaving the hotel.

Left our friendly hotel and cycled down the the lake shore to watch an international open water swimming competition. The local police were there in force to welcome the competitors home with a blast of their car and quad bike sirens and a presentation of medals. Had our last Argentinean empanadas and cycled to the bus station where we unpacked our lightweight holdalls and packed our panniers inside. As the bus arrived we got to the front of the queue to make sure our bikes went on.  The bus driver dismissed the bikes immediately saying there was no room, even though everyone's bags had yet to be loaded. We tried to stand our ground having previously asked, when we booked the tickets, whether we needed to book the bikes or do anything special with them. The time came for the bus to leave and we were still arguing with driver who was not listening to us or his co driver and other officials in uniform that had arrived and seemed to siding with us. Eventually, another official turned up and assured us ,that if we got on the bus now, our bikes would follow 4 hours behind on the next bus. We relented, to the relief of the passengers whose frowning faces glowered down at us through the bus windows, and got on the bus. We watched our bikes being wheeled back to the terminal building and crossed our fingers. At least our seat was far from a toilet, didn't have a leaking air conditioning unit directly above our heads or cupboards opposite which exploded their contents over us. Always look on the bright side! The views along the road north west out of Bariloche on the Ruta 237 was beautiful, especially the spectacular Valle Encantado (Enchanted Valley) which immediately dispelled any bike worries. Why didn't we read about this place.....it was a stunning landscape of rocky towers, forest and lakes which would have been amazing to cycle through. It looked like a climbers paradise too. We settled back for the usual selection of action movies which freezed just before the end and smells and sounds of 'Mate' being brewed and surreptitiously slurped. We opened our last bag of facturas (sweet pastries) and savoured the delicious fillings for the last time- dulce de leche, custard, glazed apple....mmmm. Replenished and replete we tilted back our seats and watched a dusky landscape of flat pampas pass for the last time. We were looking forward to returning to Teresita in Adrogue where we spent our first 3 days in Argentina. http://www.try2cook.com/Meet-Teresita.html

Open water swim medals being presented in Bariloche

Bus Station before the bike unfriendly bus arived.

Monday, 8 March 2010

Day 83 - Bariloche

Lago Nahuel Huapi - Bariloche

A day of cleaning the bikes, packing bags and other general chores squeezed between coffee drinking and cake eating. Had our last meal in the restaurant that we first visited the afternoon we arrived on day 28 (El Nuevo gaucho) where the staff were really friendly, the atmosphere relaxed and the food tasty. We decided after a few local (Colonia Suiza) beers that we didn’t want to go home after all!



Local Llao Llao brews

Day 82 – Las Cartas to Bariloche – 40km


Set off into a morning of clearing mist and decided to go the long way round the peninsular, just to appreciate the mountains one last time. The road was busy and we had a few close shaves with bus drivers who insisted on cutting us up at every other bus stop and cars almost brushing past us on the narrower sections. We arrived at Bariloche and booked into a hotel where they insisted we take their top floor penthouse suite overlooking the lake at a discounted rate. We advised we had bikes and they proceeded to remove a bed from the room so we could fit them in……even though we tried to persuade them we just wanted an ordinary room. The holiday season appears to end abruptly at the beginning of March and hotels are desperate to fill rooms.....even 2 scruffy cyclists with dirty bikes! There was a lot of space for all our stuff though and we relented especially as there was a great view of the mountains over the rooftops of the town centre.


Llao Llao hotel

Penthouse Suite


Good food!

Friday, 5 March 2010

Day 81 – Local circuit ride – 31km


The weather had turned cooler over night and it was a novelty to see clouds after such a long time. We cycled around to the Llao Llao peninsular where we stopped at the grand hotel of the same name, hoping to be allowed past the guards to sample their coffee. The guards were extremely pleasant and welcoming despite our disheveled appearance and directed us to the entrance where we were welcomed even more enthusiastically by smartly uniformed staff with genuine smiles. We apprehensively entered, expecting a stuffy wood panelled foyer where rich Rolex wearing gentlemen peered over their glasses (whilst nursing a shot of scotch) contemplating an afternoon round of golf. Instead we walked into a wood panelled hall where people of all ages, nationalities and dress chatted happily with smiling staff. As we paused, taking it all in, a member of staff approached and guided us onto their stunning terrace which looked over the lake and suggested we sit wherever we liked. We sat right in the middle opposite stone steps leading to a green lawn where ashy headed geese grazed and hotel guest strolled admiring the herbaceous borders. It was totally quiet…..so we decided to have lunch as well! The view reminded us of our own Lake District……..we were starting to miss home again. After spinning out a coffee we explored the grounds and jealously admired the infinity pool and its view to Cerro Tronador before returning to the hotel lobby to appreciate some beautiful artwork they had just acquired and had started to hang. We continued our ride around the lake shore and stopped at a quiet beach where John enjoyed a cold swim, whittled a knife from a piece of wood (inspired by the local craftsmen) and I sat and took photos for a change....but I did go in up to my knees. 






Day 80 – Local cycle – 29km


Woke to clear skies again! It was almost getting to the stage where we hoped it would be raining so we didn’t feel guilty about lounging around and putting our feet up. The 6,000ft of ascending and descending the day before had meant we now needed to use the furniture to help us walk around whenever we got up……we suddenly felt old. Spent the day writing up the blog, shopping at the local supermarket 12km away and sitting on our deck watching cyclists from the local bike hire centre passing on bikes with saddles so low their knees were up around their chest. No wonder they had to get off and walk their bikes up the hill. It was very common to see a man pushing 2 bikes up the hill ahead of a woman looking miserable about 100m behind. The bikes were probably responsible for hundreds of relationship woes during the summer season as we witnessed expressions from frustration to despair and loathing.