We caught the 0900 bus (which left just before 0930!) for our first trip for 5 days in Argentina, heading for San Martin de los Andes where we'd decided to spend the night to break up the journey to Bariloche. The bus initially went through Pucon, collecting more passengers before winding its way up the 800m of road past lovely countryside to the Chile/Argentina border. The crossing out of Chile was easy and emerging from the border control office we saw an impressive motorhome, owned by a Dutch couple who were on their world tour. The side of the bus showed where in Europe, North, South and Central America they had been so far plus their website www.jphannieontour.com. We checked it out later and were in awe of their adventures. They have been travelling for 5 years and have been to some amazing place, all self supported in their van. And we thought we were adventurous! Their van is up for sale for 130k Euros but Simon couldn't convince Diane to sell the house and buy it, maybe another time! Our entry into Argentina was equally as straight forward and after a couple more hours we arrived mid afternoon in San Martin. This place is the gateway to Argentina's Lake District and whilst quite touristy, is very pretty and pleasant. It nestles beside Lago Lavar and similar to the Chilean side is very Germanic with lots of places which would not be out of place in the Swiss or Austrian Alps. In fact apart from the different currencies and the Argentinian side been more arid than the lush Chilean one, there was little difference. However as the Argentinian peso has gone from $7.5 to $13 to our £1 in the last year we are hoping it will be much better value. We had a walk around the town, having coffees and apple strudel on route before ending up on the shores of the lake. Whilst this was always intended to be a stopping off point as we head to Bariloche for a few days, we were impressed with the town and also our hotel, the Chatalet, which guess what, was in the style of a Swiss chalet. We headed out to a nearby restaurant in the evening and had a very enjoyable dinner (the Patogionian lamb chops especially so and one Simon's Dad would have really enjoyed!), washed down with a glass of Malbec, our first taste of Argentinian wine for quite a while.
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| Stopping for refreshments on route to Saint Martin |
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| Maybe for our next trip....? |
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| Leaving Chile |
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| Entering Argentina |
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| Saint Martin main street |
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| General Saint Martin - assume the town was named in honour of him |
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| Local wildlife |
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| The lovely lake shore |
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| Enjoying a glass of Argentinian Malbec |
Sell the house and buy the motorhome!
ReplyDeletePleased you decided not to buy the motor home to travel for 5 years. 1 year is enough for Dad and I and everyone else, to be without you both ..............
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