Mountains and Molehills

Leaving Buenos Aires was a pretty simple affair, I packed my bag, said goodbye to a few people and jumped on a bus. After a whole month I had almost forgotten the joy of moving on to somewhere totally unknown with nothing but a bag and an abundance of uncertainty and enthusiasm. I think that's the joy of travelling. The second I stepped onto the bus I had the very same feeling that I had encountered when leaving for Rosario.

The 20 hour bus journey, which sounds so normal when your travelling but doesn't really feel like a lot when actually doing it, was interesting. The situation with the farmers is still escalating and the farmers have taken to the major trade routes to protest. So every time we got to an intersection you would see droves of tractors, Argentinian flags and farmers only allowing passenger vehicles through. Consequently, on the side of the road there would also be dozens of stranded lorries and their respective drivers waiting for the strike to end.

The journey itself was brilliant, as far as 20 hour bus journeys go. My seat went all the way back to become a bed, there was hot food served long with wine and champagne, and I had been allocated the front seat on the top deck of the bus. The latter part I didn't fully appreciate until the next morning when upon opening the curtains to be presented with hills, mountains and lakes. At that very moment I was struck with the realisation that I was about to encounter a different side of Argentina. This feeling was to be undoubtably surpassed the next day.

After a sleepless night on the bus I arrived at the hostel with energy levels as low as the bags under my eyes. However, the hostel I was booked in was just off the shore of a beautiful, mountain encircled lake, and given the fact that it was too early to check in I grabbed my camera for some scenery shots. Thus far on my trip, with the amount of time I have had to spend in relatively unsafe cities, I have not really been too enthusiastic to go out papping, but in somewhere as aesthetic as this I have had my camera everywhere I have gone.

Later I return to the hostel to bump into a fellow camera enthusiast who took me down to the shore for some long exposures. Wes, an American dude, mentioned that he and a few others planned to go on a two day trek through the mountains and invited me along. That evening the group, which had increased to 7, sat down to plan the next day's trek, with a ridiculous amount of beer and a pack of cards. The result was no planning done whatsoever and a large number of very drunk people pulling a 4am drinking binge.

The next morning, in our hungover states we all tried our best to acquire a couple of rental cars and the provisions requires for a two day trek. However, after jumping in one car with two very banterous, but totally and utterly disorganised, Aussie guys we managed to lose the other four people and get totally lost in the car. We also had no sleeping bags and time was running out before the entrance to the black glaciers national park closed. So we just decided to wing the day and see what came out of it.

What came out of it was numerous perfectly clear lakes, fresh glacier fed rivers with plentiful fish, a sky blue lagoon surrounded by mountains and one black glacier that creaked and croaked as it slowly shaped the landscape around it. Oh and not to mention a day jam packed with limitless great banter and silliness (including just about crossing a rock strewn river without breaking our rental car). In all honesty I'm sitting here trying to produce the superlatives to accurately describe how breathtaking the scenery was around every corner crossed but to be honest even a cunning linguist like myself would struggle to do it justice. Fortunately my trusty Nikon D40x should do a better job when I upload the pictures from that day on to facebook. The only difficulty will be which of the 250 beautiful pictures to choose from (not through skill of camera but natural beauty). The highlight of the day had to be arriving at the black glacier to find that there was nobody else there. So, we regressed to being ten year olds by climbing up a big hill above the glacier in search of the biggest rock to roll down on to the ice. And a big rock we found. In fact it took all three of us to use all of our strength to get the sorry mother rolling. When we eventually managed to get it off the cliff it rolled the wrong way into the path of a wooden fence. We stood holding our breath as it picked up speed, before finally smashing the fence to pieces. After assessing the destruction and getting some pink vest shots we were back on the road in search for the steak that would change our lives. But first we had to find some accommodation. Alex threw the idea of getting an apartment for a couple of days and we were all over that idea like a fat kid on a chocolate cake mountain, and after making some enquiries at the local tourist office we had an apartment with a wonderful view over the bay for next to no money.

With an empty apartment just sitting around and a load of excellent party people waiting back at the dorm there was an air which could lead to only one thing... Houseparty!