Bariloche

Bariloche is south west of mar de plata about 23 hours and one Will Smith film. Suprisingly the long bus rides aren´t that bad. The give you food, soda, booze if you splurge for the first class ¨full cama¨. We arive at the station and a greated by a over animated guy who talks us into staying at his hostile, HostitInn. This is the view from our room. {insert picture in near future when im on a computer that doesn´t suck} Bariloche is a ski town in the heart of the lake district and even though its spring here is supprisingly cold. Luck for us the guy hooked us up with an amazing hostile. $10 a night, the three of us are in a four bed room with a private bath, free internet, with breakfast and dinner provided. Also they will basicly book anything you want to do for you, so we sign up to go white water rafting early the next morning. We then go to the hostile 3 doors down for our dinner, its owned by the same peeps. We wonder up to the bar and the bartender directs us to the kitchen to get our dinner. We´re met at the door by the same guy who meet us at the bus station 11 hours ago, he´s cooking and serving for about 40 people who are there at the same time as us. We end up staying at this hostile for the night drinking wine because they´re showing David Bowies greatest work at the bar.


We get picked up early the next morning in a van with 7 other packpackers from around town and drive and hour and a half to the camp next to the river. We go in for breckfast and out back of the cabin are two men butchering a full hanging cow, about 10 feet from where were eating. Then we all get dressed in half wetsuits, wind breaker tops and helmets. After a short brifing we take to the boats and down the river. The first few rapids are pretty tame and it seams things are going well. An Irish guy and myself are possitioned in the front with three others behind on each side. Basically the only direction is paddle the way he yells and me and the Irish buy stay in pace and the people behind keep with our pace. All in all very simple. Apperently when the guid yells to paddle backwards chaos breaks loose, im still in pace with the Irish guy but continuesly hit paddles with the guy behind me and i can tell from the lafter behind him that things are going as badly for Amber in Janet. Janet who had asked the girl at recpection the night before if ¨anyone has ever kicked the bucket¨ while rafting. So we finaly get to some more serious rapids and the guids say that we´re gonna have to paddle really hard not to run into the rock wall on the left side, and always yells ¨no fear¨as we approach things. So things are going fine untill we have to paddle backwards, so not only do we smash right into the rock wall, we bounce off and some how we hit the wall on the other side. After that the river was kinda tame. Janet and I jumped in toward the end even though it had been almost unbearably cold. After that it was back to the cabin to eat the they had butchered this morning and drink wine. They probly did serve about a cow a day between two groups of rafters. We were so full we slept most of the ride back.
After warming up and dinner we met up with three aussys we had met rafting and one of there mates. It had started pouring rain and didnt let up all night. After the first 4 rounds of whiskey on the rocks, or wickys, they started telling jokes. The Best of which was this:
Q: How do ya get a dog to stop humping ya leg?
A: Pick it up and suck its dick!
Three bars later Janet and I are at a club dancing and crushing vodka speeds with some guys from NC. I end up stumbling home soaking wet just before day break. The next day it was pouring rain and we did next to nothing, This has started a bad cycle, after a big night we do nothing, so the day after we make up by doing tons of stuff.
Day three:
We´re of at 8 to go horseback riding despite the fact that its snowing. The cook/recruiter was working the front desk. Apperently he doesnt sleep. Janet and I had to run down town before we left to buy gloves which might have been the best decision of my life. The ride was actually pretty awesome. It was three of us and a guide and four dogs troting by lakes and through a path in the woods. Then about and hour and a half in our jeans were soaked, it was windy as hell and we were riding through river beds and marshes. We get back in the afternoon cold and sad cause it is still snowing. We get fondo for lunch, instant happyness. Then we´re off to explore the cave of wonders! All week i had sugested going on a caves exploration hike thing and Janet and Amber shot me down. I finally broke them down and we went spulunking. AND IT WAS AWESOME. We hiked up a mountina side and checked out 4 or 5 caves onthe way up still in the snow. The last one we crawled into was massive and an under ground spring had formed a lake in the back. By the time we got out of the cave it was sunny out and we hiked to the top of the mountain where you had a 360 view of snow covered mountains and caves.
After we get out hostile dinner from our jack of all trades, at this point we´re convince he´s a coke head or has a twin, we head out for the night. We had booked a tango for the evening but since the pass to Chile was closed for snow the dancers couldn´t come. But there was wine. Another late night or dancing leades to a shitty day, so why not spend it on the bus. We get to the station and buy tix for the next bus which is 15 minutes later. Amber had decided to catch a bus back to Buenos Aires so Janet and I rush to get the bus to Mendoza with and English girl we had met in line, Emma.