070317 - "My lid is about to fly off!"

Bariloche, ARG - I am back! Back again for more. This time for some hiking. Jeff (my hiking buddy from TDP) is already in town and had been waiting for my arrival. Together we want to do a couple of hikes and the 7-Lakes-Route. As we don't want to loose any time we had out soon, but before I need to get The Princess.

Ever since hiking in TDP I had deep regrets for having lost my Thermarest in Panama, back in the old days. The sleeping pads you can rent here in Argentina are not really any good. Insolation = Zero. So when temperature drops you freeze. That's how it was in TDP. Since Jeff had a superb sleeping pad, down-filled, 7cm thick and also a sleeping bag with a comfort zone up to -20degrees he was always sweating like a pig at night. Solution? I gave him my bad insolation sleeping pad and in exchange I got to sleep on The Queen, as we started to call his pad. Neither in Ushuaia nor in Puerto Madryn I was able to find a Thermarest. My hopes relied on Bariloche as a trekking mekka, therefore hopefully providing proper gear. As it turns out, they have a lot of nice stuff placed in the shopping windows, but not really anything good and useful. After looking around town I managed to get hold of a NIKKO insolation pad. As good as a Thermarest, but cheaper. My Queen!

The next few days on the Nahuel Huapi Traverse were a blessing. Absolutely beautiful weather. Perfect reflection in lakes. Astounishing 360-views from the summits. Mind-blowing hike.

On the last day we decided to walk out to Colonia Suiza instead of going to Refugio Lopez. Why? We still needed to find people to go with us on the 7-Lakes-Route. Jeff and I are cheap. Neither one of us was willing to pay a lot in order to do this gorgeous trip.

It's about 12kms out to town. As we love to sleep in we kinda set off late and really have to hurry the last couple of kms. The bus is scheduled to leave at noon. We make it to town about 15mins late. At the bus stop we meet a dutch lady who's also waiting for the bus. Because of TISA (?! *smile*) my hopes are still up. And indeed, we see a bus coming down the street. It's going to Bariloche. It's just that we are standing on the wrong side! Why? The woman assured us that the bus come back. I find it kinda strange. Last time I was in Colonia Suiza the stop was a bit more down the way. And the bus definetly didn't turn around. And yes... The bus does not come back! We find out and are soooo angry!!!

Our options? Either wait for the next bus from Colonia Suiza to Bariloche - in 5hours! Or find a way out to the crossroad from where more frequent buses leave. But that's 5kms away. We hike our way out of the village and have about another 4kms walk ahead of us. No luck waving down cars. And then the strangest thing happens: The dutch woman passes us in a car. Apparently she got picked up by an old couple. I am about to explode! Oooohhhhh.......