|
|
|
|||||||||||||
 www.maxpages.com/hawaii1 It was just before Christmas and I thought I might make a quick visit to South America and particularly to San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina. I initially flew from Miami to Montevideo, Uruguay to celebrate the first days of the southern summer. Montevideo is a large but relatively quiet city on the Rio de la Plata and a good place to start a tour of southern South America, an area which is largely dominated by European-derived inhabitants. I checked out the prices (US$1=26 pesos) and events and decided to concentrate on a bit of foot exploration. I flew from Montevideo to Buenos Aires, a full twenty minutes in the air, and arrived in a dramatic thunderstorm with lightning everywhere. No matter, the taxi ride to the city was short and the local prices, what with the recent revaluation of the peso (US$1=3.4 pesos or almost four times what is was worth last year), was attraction enough. Buenos Aires has gone from being the most expensive city in South America to one of the least expensive for the current visitor. After revisiting some old haunts in the city, I flew from the Buenos Aires domestic riverside Jorge Newberry Airport some two hours and 850 miles to the southwest to Bariloche located almost on the Chilean border. San Carlos de Bariloche is one of the most prominent winter ski centers in South America and in the summertime is the regional capital for resort activities with its splendid lakes and peaks (photos) (maps). The Bariloche area has been credited with providing the locational inspiration for Walt Disney's production of the movie Bambi. I ascended the well-known Cerro Catedral ski slopes via cable car and enjoyed the views. I also explored the shore lines of the celebrated Nahuel Huapi lake for which the national park is named. Bariloche's overland connection to Chile is primarily by two methods. The first is via a series of lakes and roads westward over the Andes (for example; bus 16 miles (0.5 hrs) Bariloche to Puerto Panuelo on lake Nahuel Huapi; lake boat 15 miles (1 hr) to Puerto Blest; bus 2 miles (0.3 hrs) to Puerto Alegre; boat 4 miles (0.3 hrs) to Puerto Frias; bus 17 miles (2 hrs) over 3,200ft-high Perez Rosales Pass to Peulla; boat 20 miles (1.6 hrs) to Petrohue and bus 48 miles (2 hrs) to Puerto Montt). The cost is an exhorbitant US$130 apparently because it is a monopoly while the pass to the north is only US$10 and goes from Bariloche to Osorno or Puerto Montt. I took the northern route through Cardenal Samore Pass (Puyehue) after following the long Lago Nahuel Huapi almost to the border. Border formalities did not take long and I am happy to relate that a visa fee of $100 was not requested of Americans entering overland. The Chilean government claims that the fee is in direct retaliation for the excessive visa fees that the US charges Chilean citizens to visit the US. Apparently, the fee is only collected at the Santiago International Airport as I don't recall paying to enter the country by ship at Valparaiso last January. From Osorno, I travelled by bus to Santiago and flew out after a bit more exploration of the capital city. Prices for holders of American money (US$1=680 pesos) were holding well and the urge to buy such bargains as local wine was irresistable. As usual, Santiago had excellent weather and the new airport was a snap to transit out of the country. Overall, the short trip was excellent and I accomplished all that I had intended. Click Here for other travel articles by the author. |
 WaikikiNet@webtv.net |
|
. |