Northern Patagonia - The Southern Tip of this Journey

Another 20 odd hour bus ride through largely desolate terrain took Dave, Mik and I into the lake district of northern Patagonia. The start of the end of the inhabited world. As I woke up from the night on the semi-cama the scenery began to change from arid scrub strewn desert into hills, forests and eventually lakes. The road winds beside deep blue passages of water with alpinesque forests climbing up from gentle banks. The hills then climb into snow topped mountains in the background and we enter Bariloche.

This is a clearly very German influenced tourist town, packed in winter with skiers and in summer with outdoor lovers and teenagers trying to get as far away from their parents as possible. It was so packed that we could not find room in a hostel and instead found ourselves in an apartment high up half facing the lake. This worked out more than for the best as it gave us space to relax as we wished. An extra bonus was that we shared the flat with two lovely Israeli girls (Orit and Sarit) fresh out of the army.

To cut a long story short, all the lengthy treks through the mountains, horse rides and boat trips (we even booked one) were left by the wayside or simply missed because we were more than happy just chilling out in the simply stunning surroundings. The view from our window of the western half of the lake, forests and mountains made the early afternoons as the sun went down quite inspirational. We did find time for a couple of long nights out, meeting up with the Swedes from La Paz and a Dutchie from San Pedro within 5 seconds of walking into the first bar and then dancing a Saturday night away with a group of Israelis. They do not call the place Israeliloche/Barilisraeli for no reason.

Not much on this trip has beaten lying by the lake side reading my book, chilling out and sizzling before swimming in the FREEZING water. In fact there was only one thing in these three days that beat that experience - an evening feast at De Alberto´s. When I say this had fantastic steak it simply does not convey the magnificence of what was put before us. A good half kilo of perfectly cooked, tender, melt-in-your-mouth steak. Mix that with a special reserve red wine and some great company and to be honest I had to pinch myself. I am now a fully converted carnivore, no doubt about it, and I have to thank Sarit and Orit for booking what was damn close to the best meal of my life (or at least in South America one does not want to exaggerate but it was wonderful).

On our final full day we did manage to get into the hills for a great walk. The views were spectacular and it did make me feel a little bad that we did not make more of our days here, but to be honest I had a great time anyhow and it just gives me yet another excuse to return to this continent as fast as possible - I am smitten!! Half-comedy, nearly tragedy, Dave and I did get to see Mik following the 20 minute rule in full flow climbing a 100 metre high rock cliff naked as the day he was born. Amusing at the start but worrying, and soon seriously worrying, as he huddled halfway up sin anything shouting as I quote "the 20 minute rule sucks". Not so funny. One slip and you do not want to know the consequences. Gracias de Dios after a bit of re composure and 25 minutes freezing his bits off, Mik managed to find a way down. Not all challenges are worth attempting. Next time wear shoes.

A note on the 20 minute rule - the rule that you should not look more than 20 minutes ahead of you when making decisions. I have found this rule really quite liberating in certain situations where you can get stressed about the potential affect of an action in hours or days time, and indeed in can lead to hilarious consequences but it undoubtedly has its limits!!

There was time left for Mik and Dave to nearly miss there bus to a volcano in Chile and a bit more for me to have delicious helado at Jaujau and say farewell to our flat mates before an another 20 hour bus to BA. Probably the most talked about place on the travel trail in South America and I was to spend a week there - marvellous!!

Contemplations from BA

I am currently sitting in the Clan hostel in BA in a pit of contemplation the likes of which I have never delved in before. I do not know quite what has happened but a few weeks largely relaxing at the end of this trip have put my mind in a state in which I am happy to tackle issues one usually does not dare more than glimpse at. I am not quite sure where this is heading but it is putting my mind to more personally productive use then ever before. Pensive hours seem to be tackling two very different areas of thought that are intrinsically linked in one's search for contentment. On one hand the practicalities of day to day happiness/contentment. Only you can work out what things matter to you. When an issue should concern you and when you should just let it pass by. These issues are relatively straight forward when you get down to your base and work from there. I am though finding it requires more personal honesty then the world we live in usually requires. The second distinct area of thought concerns the BIG imponderables that I at least can only truly begin to fathom when my mind is clear. Travelling allows comparably easy visions and insights into the unknown. Some things you see are so strikingly beautiful that a truth, a clarity can emerge, if only for an instant and this occurs without effort. But what I increasingly see is that the same insight is possible whatever we are doing if we only make ourselves the time and breath to observe it. In fact observation may not be the best word, more an insight to vision. This may not make sense to anyone who reads this but for me as this wondrous trips winds to its inevitable end, such thoughts are changing me, going some way to completing me, and I think all for the better. I am no longer prepared to go through the short life I have ignoring the big topics and issues that constantly play around in the back of my mind. I am going to do my best to tackle them to my own satisfaction and you know what... I think I might just be getting there!!!!!!

Dozing in Mendoza

Oh don´t you love those little headlines... no, oh well. Mik (Koala), Dave (Dangerous Dingo), Chris (Arnie to most) and myself rocked up and over the Andes and onto the verdant wine growing plains of Mendoza. I realise now that on arrival we were all a bit spent after being on the road almost constantly since La Paz. It was time to take it easy and that we did.

We spent a whole week lazing about the Hostel Andino - sleeping, catching rays by the pool, playing table tennis, sitting under the trees, or preparing for the long hot evenings with a few bottles of Heineken or red wine. Just what I needed!

Initially the environment did not settle well with me. The existence of a few pretty girls by a pool and a lot of testosterone pumped guys trying it on with them can cause an environment not too dissimilar to school. Now this may sound strange coming from me having spend my school days in a largely single sex environment, but the reality of little cleaks uncomfortable with new people is the same. In fact for the Claire´s, Erica´s, Mike´s and Rachel´s of the world who did the GDL with me, the feeling of the two sided room was remarkably similar.

As the days went by the place became more and more comfortable and less and less cleaky until by the end we had to force ourselves to leave. Such people as the Irish boys, Helen and Adam, and the clan of Matt, Joe et al. at the end made the stay very enjoyable indeed. I also think it takes time to wind down to the speed of such a relaxed environment and believe me, by the end I was severely chilled out even for me - quite a scary prospect. An opportunity, as I increasingly like to say, to let the mind breath and ponder the issues and imponderables life faces us with.

We did actually leave the hostel roughly once a day to do something and some of these things are worthy of note. Firstly River Surfing. For many the idea of going down white water rapids not on a raft but on a body-board may sound crazy and somewhat stupid - and it is. The fact that we did it having not slept the night before did not help either. The 15 minutes we were on the river (within an 8 hour excursion grrr) were exciting. The guide was useless, which meant we were individually hurtling down a river urged on by the melting snows of the season trying to guess where on earth to go. Quite a buzz. Suddenly you see a big rock straight ahead and you kick for all your worth to get the hell out of the way but the water is pushing you towards it..ahh.. etc..etc. In the end only Dave got a bit crashed up, but he is used to a good whitey after three seasons on the snow.

I understand that elsewhere this activity can be a lot more thrilling and I shall seek out such places.

Along with 20 odd other backpackers (disaster) we undertook a full day wine tour. This involved some pretty average explanation from a large winery, a charming one from a French couple setting up a small vineyard and a bit more about harder stuff. What the day was all about was the meal that followed. A wonderful platter of Argentinian food that beat us all. How ever much of the lovely stuff we ate more more was brought out. At least equally importantly the serving of wine was just as generous. Being British and all, I and others did our very best to test whether the "all you can drink" red wine tag was accurate - it was!! Better still the wine was more than reasonable and as you can imagine a very messy afternoon and night ensued.. say no more say no more.

Apart from this a few afternoons were spent wandering around the delightful streets of Mendoza. Despite being nowhere near the sea I thought it had a very Mediterranean feel. The atmosphere was relaxed, the sun hot and dry and the people smiley. Long grown trees shade the streets and numerous cafe´s serving cold beer, steak and good wine sprawl onto the pavements and beyond. Add to this delightful plazas and beautiful people and you have a place to return to.

A final happening more than worthy of mention is the departure of Arnie. On and off but mostly on, we have travelled with the big German since early December and it has been a pleasure. We have been white-water rafting, completed the Inca Trail, fished for Piranhas in the Pampas, climbed ridges in the Amazon Silva, partied in La Paz, Santiago, San Pedro and many other places and in all in all had a bloody great time. The four of us went out for a delightful meal accompanied by a few good bottles of Mendoza wine to celebrate his departure onwards to Mexico within the week.

Luckily the boy is moving to Notting Hill so I am certain I will see more of him on my return to Blighty if I ever get a free moment from the grindstone.

And that was Mendoza - onwards to Patagonia to be active, or so we planned!!

Thought for the day!

To be content - God Damn Content. What more can one say and what more can one want!