Don't beleive the Janitor- Bariloche

These are for steep hills only

Matt left us this morning, and he shall forever be a black spot on poor Alli's trip. To much macho Americanism can get old quick. Allie got a hot tip from a senile old woman she met about a cable car up a mountain and a leisurely walk back down it. So far all the old duck's sugestions seem to have been completely backwards, but today it turned out that the cable car was there, and we floated pleasantly up to the mountaintop to see some spectacular views over the lake and surrounding areas. The stroll back down was where the fun began. They only put cable cars on very steep hills, so I'm not sure why we believed the random janitor who said we could take an easy shortcut back down. Steep? Steep?

Inland ice cold Whitsundays

No, no, very easy he said... Very easy turned out to be a 4.5 km run(the incline was so severe it was impossible to walk) through a narrow, rocky, tree infested 'path'. Such was the strain on Angie's toes from smashing into the front of her shoes, she was forced to walk backwards for the rest of the day. A quick stop in at the chocolate and ice cream shop followed. These are two things the Argentinians seem to take extremely seriously. The store was at least twice the size of any of the supermarkets in town, and the crowds were thick, full of anxious faces with eyes locked onto the cool cabinets like they were filled with some sort of magic. Turns out they were full of magic, and only $20 a kilo!

After battling that scene, a frantic cab ride followed. All three of us trying to explain to the cab driver that we needed to stop at the hostel, snatch up our bags and then get to the bus terminal to catch the coach to El Bolson, leaving in around 15 minutes. Too close, but we made it. It seems the trick is to bribe the taxi driver with a lolly and they don't cars how fast you force them to go. Two hours on a bus through the dark Argentinean countryside, and we landed in a small country town, found the hostel, washed out the dust from the dirty descent of the mountain and crashed into bed.