South America Sea to summit: Back into Argentina , good times

while reading this

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I left Fulafiulu early and made it to the border before anyone else , they were just opening so i was stamped out of Chile in next to no time at all and was first at the Argentina border as it was only 400 metres down the road . Gee whizz i must look like criminal !!. Two bus loads pf people had gone through by the time they had finished with me . every single item of equipment i had was scanned , checked and x-rayed . finally after all that the pram was frisked and panted down as well . I did not mind as the guy could speak English and i was quite enjoying his tactic of casual conversation to see what he cold find out. ..." so south Africa is your home then , and you gong back to your wife when ? " etc etc .
I left the border in good spirits as they were just doing there job and came across two gauchos on horse back who had a good laugh at me and my pram before trotting off .

first people i met after crossing back in Argentina

I made it 46 km to Trevilin which i had been looking forward too and found a camping spot but it turn out to for exclusive use of the police department so i moved on , i bought new fuel for my cooker as i was running out . next day set off early for esquel which was only 22 km down the round so go into town nice and early and was able to do a big shop at the supermarket . after which i pushed on until i had passed the 42 km mark for the day . I a saw a farm with what looked like an empty cottage and decided it looked like a good spot for the night . I head up the drive but saw a big farm house in the trees and decided to ask permission rather than take a chance . I went up to the house and just as i was about to call out a giant German Shepard came charging round the corner in full attack mode , i nearly wet my self i got such a fright . luckily Hector the farmer appeared in the nick of time and called the dog off . after long discussion in hand sign language he was happy that i use the cottage .

Hector the farm owner where the empty cottage was and his savage beast

It was and awesome little place and i was able to dry all my clothes inside as well as make a crazy big fire in the fire place and cook up a storm

my cottage for the night

a good fire to add some cheer

Next day was Christmas eve and i anticipated camping in the middle of nowhere . I got going and just kept on going , after about 50 km a bus over took me and then pulled over , i had never had a bus stop before so was intrigued by this turn of events . A couple of people piled out and came to me only to look fairly disappointed when i explained i had zero Spanish ( yes , i now realise that i should have learned a bit , silly me ). Turns out it was a Argentine family on a " 80 months around the world tour " . the father could speak some English and i was invited in for coffee , i spent about an hour with them drinking coffee and swapping photo stories and pictures

the around the world in 80 months family bus

Eventually i pushed on an they departed about 13 km further up the road i had a choice . there were two farms , a tiny little one on the left and a big fancy one on the right further down the road , I chose the small one and went and asked if i could camp . The lady , Rosa , indicated i could setup where ever i wanted and then i should come a drink ´ Mate ´ with her . Mate is a traditional tea like drink that everybody in Argentina drinks ´ . i don't really like it so i took my own tea bag along . By that time her husband Martien and son Hose( visiting for the holidays) had shown up . we drank tea and Mate and ate plenty or Torta Fritas . I then settled into my tent , drank some wine for Xmas eve . Happy Xmas . darn bump in the ground did not help my quest to sleep .

Hose, Martien , Rosa and I , they let me camp on there small holding on Christmas eve

After leaving i headed for the next town which which was El Hoyo and it was pretty far about 55 km .
the scenery changed quite dramatically from Rosa,,s arid farm to a forest like area , very reminiscent of Knysna area and the road became very busy . As i got to El hoyo , i spotted neat little house that looked empty .. lol . i was not . so i camped further down the road .

Nearly forgot my Xmas eve photo , enjoyed my Racefood treat.

sunset and Racefood on Christmas eve

no luck for me its not empty

Next day i pushed on to El bolson which was only 30 km so it was a great short day .

When I was leaving Hector ( the man with the dog ,i had seen a sign the said " camping El Bolson 137 km " , this sign had repeated itself a few times at " camping 65 km , camping 34 km , camping 16 km and camping 2 km " . In El bolson there are hundreds of hostels and camping grounds but decided to honor the advertising sign that i had been following and fount the sign that said " Camping 0 km " . On enquiry it turned out they were more expensive than most of the others . I had taken Photos of the signs i had been following and called for the manager and explained how i had been following his sign and could easily move to the cheaper ground but had come here because of the effort he had made with his signs so i wanted a discount . . The photos i had taken worked like a charm and i was given a discount and sworn to silence .

I did all my laundry , ok , i used dish washing liquid but it seemed to work and everything had a nice lemon smell afterwards . I then got my new frying pan and fried up some snitchels( not even a clue how to spell it ) and burgers

my gourmet frying pan

perfecto !!

i then made the final push onto Bariloche ,it was 127 km and i can do this in 3 days easily and be there for new year . yeah sure ! When I got to 40 km i started having ideas of an extra rest day and figured if i could get 60 done today then i was in with a shot to get to Bariloche in two days . After 54 km i entered a massive uphill climb but had the company of a really slow cyclist for quite a while before he took of on a little down hill section . At the top of the pass ( 62 km for the day ) I stooped at the national parks guard hut and asked to camp . NO ! i explained that i was on foot and the guy softened his approach and let me camp .I
It got really cold in the night, really really cold , I should never have thrown away my blanket but it was taking to much space . When i exited the tent the next morning it was completely cover in a thick layer of ice ( frost ) . it was solid enough that when i undid the clips for the tent it remained stand for a while before collapsing when i gave it a poke .

The road to Bariloche was stunning

On the road before Bariloche

stunning run into the area around Bariloche

25 km before Bariloche i stopped at a petrol station and filled my water and bought some chips as i had not eaten . I was approached by a young couple , Malcolm and Sharmilla , who had a lot of questions and were very interested in what i was p too .
Sharmillas dad bought me a 2.5 litre coke and a 1 litre orange juice so i was stocked up on sugar, thanks guys

Malcolm , Sharmilla , omar and claudia

I arrived in Bariloche and went to the Columbia store as i had to meet a news paper guys there as well as sort out my Gloves and my socks and sleeping bag .They were great , the manager Annali was so helpful and here staff were very entertaining . i sorted out everything i needed .

Getting a new sleeping ag and sock and gloves at the Scandanavain Outdoor store

Later i went with David , Ivan , Sam and Ezekiel to the YWAM base where Rob from Ushuaia had organised that i cold stay . the fed me and fed me and fed me , it was wonderful , Patricia the leader was very helpful and we ended p with great big super

My hosts at YWAM in Bariloche

After Ywam , I head 20 km further down the lake to the petunia camp ground where i was greeted by Nahuel , Bruno , Pedro and Sofia . My friends in Buenos Aries , Martin and Caro had organised this for me . I was given a bed in the hostel , Its awesome and soft and comfy . I stayed up quite late and was invited for Pizza with Bruno , Sofia , nahuel and some other guests .

I learned all about Mate drinking etiquette . here are the rule i remember

Only one person pours the water,

The Mate cup and straw must always be returned to the pourer person , no one else .

You must finish the cup when it is handed to you

You must not say thank you as this means don't want any more

If you are the person who finishes the water then it means you will be the next to get married

If the straw gets blocked while you have it it means your partner is cheating on you .

there were more rules but that's all i remember cause i changed to Beer