Fabrice had already left Bariloche to meet Rose in Santiago and we went to the bus station to see when we could leave Bariloche and decide what our next destination would be. We had thought seriously about buying bikes, and for a while I was really sure it was going to happen, but Adam and I decided that the inconvenience, the price, and the fact that we know nothing about bikes outweighed the coolness factor. Now here we were, at the bus station, with no idea about our next destination. Of course I brought up the bike idea again, always trying to keep our options and coolness factors open. We sat there for a couple hours and I was blabbing about well…nothing. We finally decided to go to Valdivia, Chile. This was a decision we had pretty much made an hour and a half ago until I proceeded to complicate things by mentioning, once again, the bikes and the coolness. It was Monday and we found out we could not leave to Valdivia until Wednesday. Oh darn…2 more days in Bariloche…what to do?
We rented bikes. There was this very scenic 60 km bike circuit nearby called Circuito Chico. What a great opportunity to see what we are missing and doubt our decision once again! The only day we could do it was Tuesday. What a nice, beautiful, cold, rainy, windy, day that was! We started our bike ride and immediately my chain came off. Not a bad start. We had a nice little headwind as well. Even biking down hill this wind would stop us in our tracks and going up hill…well..pain, lots of pain. We were halfway through the circuit and we were completely drenched. My feet were completely submerged in water that had got in my shoes. I was ahead of Adam and I saw a small ranger station. Of course I went in to get warm. Adam passed by the ranger station without seeing me. I met a couple of firefighters there that were going to Bariloche right then. The manly instinct in me wanted to refuse the ride…30 more km in this weather is nothing…bring it on! After attempting to converse in Spanish for a while, Adam had already covered some distance and was probably pedaling as fast as he could trying to catch up to me. I told them to at least drive me to where Adam was. When we caught him, it was pretty obvious to us, although I hate to admit it, that we should accept the ride back into town. So these guys drove us back to Bariloche which means we missed the 30 km where the wind would actually be at our backs…dang it! Although it may not sound like it, I actually thought this bike ride was a lot of fun. There is something satisfying about pedaling up a big long hill, into a strong headwind, in the rain, with every part of your body telling you to stop pedaling and walk, then telling your body with each painful pedal “screw you, I´m getting up this hill on this stupid bike,” and then doing it. Maybe I am just sick.
Anyways, on Wednesday we left for Valdivia. We had one seat in the front of this big double decker bus. The view from the front is amazing as there is the big window with an unobstructed view. Adam rode there the first half of the bus ride and I rode there the second half. We did the customs thing which is becoming old hat. We got into Valdivia in the dark and this persistent women finally got us to say yes to stay at her house. Valdivia is a college town on the shore of this giant river near the Pacific. There is a fish market on the river shore where sea lions come to sun themselves and if they´re lucky, receive handouts. We took a 6 hour cruise yesterday to a couple of 17th century military forts on these two islands. We were also fed 2 first class meals and the whole thing only costed about $16 each…not bad. The forts were amazing…both forts were right on the water and walls were still kind of intact despite the decay of time and the 9.5 earthquake that hit this area 40 years ago. These forts reminded me of Scottish castles the way they were set. Although I have never been to Scottland, that is how I imagine they would look like. Anyway, today we are taking a bus to Pucon which is supposed to be beautiful. It is set right along side a lake and a volcano. I hope everybody is doing dandy! Love ya´ll!
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