San Martin de los Andes &

San Carlos de Bariloche

2-5 April 2003.

The Sans was our first excursion into Argentina once the nice men at customs got bored of their forms, rubber stamps and 60s typewriters.

This is Sunrise over Lago (Lake) Lacar beside San Martin de los Andes. This was a Jason only event as Claire was bed stricken with travellers stomach (aka the green apple quickstep, crop dusting, driving the porcelain bus to name a few).

The excellent directions in the Lonely Planet led me to this rockface which I somehow managed to climb by myself in the dark @ 6am. If I would of seen how steep and high it was I probably would of gone back to bed. I didn't get to see this rockface in its entirety until I got lost on the way down and stumbled into a Mapuche Indian settlement looking dazed and confused.

Another bus ride at supersonic speed (80kph) took us to San Carlos de Bariloche the holiday home of rich Argentina.

The sunset over Lago Nahuel Huapi gives a pretty good idea of why people come here. The moon in the shot is gravy!

We stayed with our Argentinian mum & dad.

We weren't issued with an outside door key as they preferred us to wake them after a heavy session so they could let us in. Needless to say seeing Argentinas answer to Hilda Ogden in a nightie coming to the door at 3am to let us in was an a rather amusing sight

The view down the back of the Cerro Catedral ski field is another reason people come to Bariloche. This is a 45 degree scoria slope that once covered in snow would make a seriously scary chute followed by a pretty serious 4-5km walk out along the river back into town.

Today's totally idiotic South American sign is brought to you at the expense of skiers.

That traditional scourge of the mountain appears to be out of favour here so the message is clear either weld your skis together or just go and buy a board.

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