Bariloche, Argentina

Into the second new country in almost the same number of days by bus.  Luckily the rules for taking food over from Chile into Argentina aren't as strict as the other way so our very tasty avocado, tomato and cheese sandwiches stayed with us.  The avocados are amazing (if I haven't already mentioned this)! Funky rock formations and great views of Tronador (the volcano on the border) entertained us on the journey.  However, for the scenery coming into Bariloche itself I was asleep, occasionally waking up to see mountains in the distance as the road wound round the edge of a lake, but obviously this was not fantastic enough to keep my eyes open! I wish I had been awake!  Still armed with the bag of science, we 'hopped' on a bus to the centre of town.  Luckily the bus stop was only metres away from the hostel.  Stayed at Hostel 41 below.  After the cumpulsory faff and e-mail checking, we went to meet a couple Heather had neen in touch with.  Australians who had come to Bariloche for a little while and ended up staying for two years, interspersed with trips to El Chalten (more mountians including Fitzroy) and Bolivia.  We were invited to an asado, an Argentine barbeque which involves lots of steak and not much else, that evening and even better a lift out there.  There was also talk of going climbing on actuall rock outside the next day, which made Heather very happy!  After a trip to very expensive vegetable shop (so Heather had something to eat) and the supermarket for drinks we were on our way.  The ex-seven seater now had two seats at the front and half a bed in the back, perfect for a travelling couple but not for any more!  It was a squash, but seven fitted in.  I had a floor seat, which prevented me from seeing any scenery, however I was promised I would see it again tomorrow en route to climbing.  Asados do not normally get going for a while, it takes time to get the fire going just right and then the meat has to be prepared properly.  The fire was already going at 9 or so when we arrived, which is early, I was told.  Met the many cats that the neighbours had, including a very cute, ginger kitten, who was pracitcing pouncing on anything that moved or even stayed still, nothing was safe!  A rather large labrador was also trying to get some attention, apparently the kitten had rather stolen the spotlight! We all sat and chatted for a while, mostly in Spanish, which made me feel rather isolated but it was only polite as the family was Argentinian.  Food started to appear off the grill, very tasty steak, yum yum.  There was still meat appearing as we left at midnight, I was very full and was struggling to eat any more even though each piece was tastier than the last.