Cruising over to Chile

I second what Todd said about Buenos Aires. Wonderful city with tons of French influence, who knew. Just think, pastries, wine, steak with fries, wine, cafes, and beautiful buildings. We had a great time exploring with Dale and Jeanne. And now I know that I like polo, a lot. May need to brush up on the actual rules, never good to find out a game is over solely by the amount of people storming the field, but still great times.

After our great hike in Llau Llau park, and the comical experience over tea, we were off to a fusion restaurant, Naan. A quick shower and we were in the taxi. This restaurant is in a residential area in the first floor of a family's house.

We weren't sure what to expect, so when everything, especially the wine turned out to be fantastic, we were all beyond pleased. Let me just mention that we started with warm camambert, served on homemade rustic bread with grilled endives, mixed green salad, and a wild nut spread. Yep, heaven. I love Argentina!

An early morning pick up and we were off on our 7 lakes tour, a combination of bus and boat across the Argentina and Chile border. Which in reality is a 4 lake tour crossing. We have yet to identify the other three mystery lakes. We arrived at the port, loaded on the catamaran and traveled across Lago Nahuel Huapi. The vistas were striking as we traveled down the fjord beneath snow covered mountains. The sun illuminated the walls just perfectly and managed to keep us a shade warmer.

An hour or so later we boarded a bus for a quick portage to Lago Frias, an emerald colored lake. Apparently all those minerals from the mountains do wonderful stuff when mixed with already mineral saturated water.

From here we could see the Chilean border, a mountain with one peak in Argentina, one to share, and one in Chile. Once we passed customs on the Chile side we could see the reverse side of this mountain. The snow and glaciers on this side were slightly more impressive then from Argentina, but both were equally striking.

We spent last night here in Peulla, Chile. The half way stop on the tour. A little spot with two hotels, the customs office, a lake, and some awesome vistas.

So, yesterday we all took a nap and spent the afternoon wandering the short path from our hotel to the dock and back again. Hard to look up and not be awe struck every time.

Today, off to Puerto Varas, the end of the tour. What can I say, I love Argentina so far, and the one night and half day in Chile have provided us with wonderful scenery. Life doesn't get any better then this.

Today, we set off across the last lake, Lago Todos Los Santos, for roughly 2 hrs, then bus to Puerto Varas for the night. A fun journey. Tomorrow we are trying to go fly fishing around Puerto Varas, if we can get everything arranged. Rio Petrohue, we're trying to get you, but it's a little difficult. We're keeping our fingers crossed.