Northern Patagonia I

The first thing I do (in Villa Angostura) is visit the Tourist Office and ask about purchasing mandatory bike insurance in Argentina. "Oh, you can´t do that" they say... But in the Yellow Pages for the town are 3 "Seguro" offices. I visit the first one and they say "No Problem",   doh !  So I buy 4 months for US $78, pretty good I thought. Incredibly all motorbikes pay the same whether a "Triumph Rocket III" or a tiny Chinese 150cc, nuts !!  Annoyingly, this insurance is also valid for Peru / Bolivia & Chile, if only I could have bought it in the first place....(my expensive Peruvian policy, still valid time wise, is not valid outside Peru borders).

The second thing that I notice is that Argentina (even compared with Chile) is VERY expensive, my 2007 LP guidebook is completely wrong. Friends and family have all told me over the past 10 years how fantastically cheap it is, huge steak and wine restaurant meals for a few dollars.  Well it WAS, they have had skyrocket inflation of about 20% a year since the cheap years (2001 - 2006). A cursorary price inspection shows it to be roughly the same as the UK (some things more, some less) ! I am disappointed with this as I was hoping to improve my living standards down here, I will have to continue living like a skanky backpacker for a while yet....

Next day I ride along the scenic 90km lakeside road to Bariloche (pic left). Here (for the first time of my entire trip) I stay with a couple who are contacts of my father´s, Diana and Roberto. They make me extremely welcome in their lovely wooden house, it has a superb view of the surrounding lakes and mountains. It is indescribably pleasant to stay in a real house for a few days, after 11 months of hotels / hostels / hospedajes etc...and they produce a superb cheese fondue for supper. Next day I get the oil changed on the bike and use Roberto`s tools to tighten the chain, the "lube center" gives me a huge dollop of grease (for free) to lube it with. In the afternoon I ride around the "Chicuito Circuit" a scenic tourist circuit with a Panoramic view, at one point, that is close to perfect (pic below).

People in this part of the world can still just buy a plot of land and build a house on it, all around Bariloche this is happening, really cute timber houses going up everywhere. This really should be possible in the UK as well, there is plenty of land, it`s a normal aspiration (or it ought to be). Bariloche is not as touristy as I thought it would be, it´s a real town "under the covers" and so useful for the few things that I need. They have the padded trousers that I wanted (at an industrial clotheing shop) but not at a price I want to pay....

On the last day I join Roberto and Diana for a kite flying afternoon that they have organised. Diana was an English teacher (her English is perfect) but now teaches kite making to teachers (so they can make kites in the classroom). This part of town is quite poor, the houses are little more than shacks, this is surprising as Bariloche seems to be wealthy (it is a ski town after all and mostly looks like it, very snazzy in parts). The kite flying is to promote children`s rights, the kids are really enthusiastic but there is not too much wind to start with.

On the road to El Bolsen - watch out for GORT !!