A visit to the Moreno Glacier

For all of you who wandered what happened to the Canadian guy - We met him again in Commodore in the bus station on the way to Rio Gallegos. He took the same bus as we did and eventually ended up going with us and Amir, someone that studied with us in Ruppin to the Moreno glacier... Too bad i don't have pictures of the flip flops the Canadian guy was with although the temperature was 5 degrees Celsius. He has been going with them for 2 weeks now, no matter where and what the weather is like cause his feet are full of cuts from the bad shoes he whore on one of his treks. Fucking funny.


Yup yesterday we visited the Moreno Glacier which is the famous most active glacier in the world (moves and breaks apart). It is 60m high and about 30KM long. Really huge. I took loads of pictures while waiting like an idiot outside in the freezing weather to catch the moment that a big piece of the glacier will break apart just to catch it with the camera. Actually everybody did that but had no luck. Only small pieces broke. Maybe ill catch it the next time ill be in south America :-)


Tomorrow we will probably leave to El Chalten, another 2 hour bus ride from here. We hope the weather is going to be fine so we can do some treks and enjoy the time.

By the way:
Hilla thanks everyone for all the encouragements she got and says that is was very hard but worth it.

El Bolson

Today is Monday - Christmas and we will leave El Bolson after a 4 day stay. Although there was not too much to do in this small town other than a few day hikes to the surrounding mountains we enjoyed it a lot. On the first day when we got here from Bariloche, it rained the whole day so we couldn't do too much. The next couple of days were perfect. We went to the local weekend market and got something to eat. Then I went on a day hike with Guy (Israeli we met on the bus) and Hulio (a guy from Uruguay that came over to Argentina to look for a job). Hilla stayed at the hostel while we were hiking on the mountains. The views were great and we had loads of fun. Especially after we got off the track and wandered in to the forest looking for a hidden water fall. Huliu, was like a tour guide. He just loves the forests. He does a lot a hunting in the forests of Uruguay so he is an expert.



The next day we went on another day hike which was on the other side of the mountain range. This time Hilla wanted to come along. She proved that she was not like my luggage - going along to where i go and staying at the hostel. The trip was suppose to be easier than today but ended up being much harder. Although it was hard, the views were amazing. We got up to around... i cant remember how high it was and saw all those cool wooden carvings. Some locals do different wood carvings on the tree logs up in the mountains, really beautiful. After that we went up some 300 meters and got to the Refugio (A small house in the mountains). We ate pizza - one of the best we ate in South America, probably because we were fucking tired and hungry.



Today we are taking a bus further south to Rio Gallegos. The bus leaves at 21:00 so we still have some time to spend here. No worries, we are enjoying every minute.

Back in Bariloche

Today we got back from our 7 day car trip. It was an amazing trip. We stayed in different Cabanas (Zimmer) in San Martin, Pucon and Villa la Agustura. We ate in the many fancy places and even rented a DVD and watched it in our Cabanas.

Roi and I wanted to climb the Villarika Volcano in Pucon but it was raining everyday while we were there. We had such bad luck with the weather so we decided to go to the hot springs which are in the area of Pucon as well. It was Really cool. We went there at 21:00 until 00:00. It was freezing outside. The temperature was something like 7 degrees Celsius and the small pools outside were really hot (40 degrees). Hilla couldn't believe her eyes being half naked outside in the hot pools while it was freezing cold and raining.



Now we are in Bariloche again and will probably stay here for a while. After that we will be heading south to enjoy more of South America. Adios

The FINE border crossing to Chile

It was one hell of a day. At least it was not boring. Well it all started when we decided to leave San Martin yesterday in the morning and drive to Pucon - Chile with the car we rented. The guy at the car rental told us that crossing the border to Chile is suppose to take 5 minutes.




We left San Martin and were heading to the Chilean border. After a long ride driving on a normal road, we got into a forest. The ride in the forest was even longer. None of us had anything to eat other than breakfast. We were all really hungry waiting to get to some place we can eat. At last we got the boarder on the Argentinean side. We now had to get our passports checked so we could cross the boarder. Although it is summer, it was 7 degrees outside. We were fucking freezing. We had to wait in line to get our passports checked. Then someone told us to move the car to the side cause it was blocking the way. I asked Hilla for the key and all she said is "I don't have it. You have it."

We then found out that she had left the keys in the car and locked the doors. We were now standing there freezing outside in the middle of the forest and had no clue what to do. We couldn't break the window because it was raining outside. Suddenly some Magyver guy showed up from nowhere and said that he had the same problem a week ago and that he could try to help us. He found a string and tried to get it in through the door while Roi, the other Israeli guy we are renting the car with was bending the door open. After 20 minutes he managed to unlock the door without damageing the car. We thanked him so much. We were so lucky he was there. 20 minutes later we got our passports checked and were on our way to the Chilean boarder, another 1 km.

When we got there, we got out of the car and had to get our passports stamped and checked. We had to fill out a form saying that we were not taking any fruit or vegetables over the boarder. We didn't understand what they meant. We thought they meant not to take a large amount over the boarder. All we had was 2 tomatoes and 2 avocados. We signed the form. Then the guy from the boarder control said that he wants to check our car. After a quick check, he found our bag with 2 tomatoes and 2 avocados. "Not good" he said. He was very angry at us. We signed the form saying we had no food on the car and we did. We were held there for 2 hours. They filled millions of forms and at the end told us to pay 16,000 Chilean Pesos - 35USD. We paid them the money and got to the car. All we could think of was finding a restaurant and getting something to eat. By the way after that i asked him if i could get a picture with him so i can put it on my blog. Here it is:



We are in Pucon now. Now we have another problem. We came here so we could climb the Villarika volcano but it is raining and the trek is closed. I hope it will be fine in 2 days. If not we will probably leave and come back another time.

By the way, we are managing to talk to the locals with our little Spanish and some hand signs. Even better - Roi knows Spanish really well so we have no problems.

Bariloche and the car rent

Three days ago we went to the 17th KM viewpoint in Bariloche. Fucking amazing. The best view ever. Look at the picture.


Yesterday we rented a car for 1 week with Roi (A guy we met in Bariloche). The plan is to see the 7 lakes around the area and then at the end to get to Pucon and climb the Villarika volcano. The climb is suppose to be really cool and hard. You climb it up in the snow for a few hours and then instead of going it back down the normal way, you just slide it down until you get to the bottom. Hilla is not going to do it because it will probably be too hard for the yoshi. We will just have to hope that the weather will be fine otherwise there will be snow storms on top and it will be closed.



Now we are in San Martin, a breathtaking place just like in the photos of the alps. Lakes all over surrounded by mountains with a bit of snow on the peaks. We got here yesterday and stayed in a place that i found ok. We decided to look for another place because there are so many cool place to stay around this place and found one that is just amazing.

By the way, for all of you that wanted to know what happened to the Canadian guy - I DON'T KNOW and i do read the comments you leave on the site.

Hillas Birthday

Yesterday we arrived in Bariloche after a 20 hour bus ride. It was Hillas birthday so we decided to go to a nice restaurant and celebrate. We both ate good dinner and then went for a night walk around the city. The place here is amazing and you don´t have to look too much around to find a nice place. It lies on the shore of a lake and surrounded by mountains with snow on the peaks. This place is famous for its chocolates and it´s great ice creams. A beautiful place that only a picture can describe.

A day trip to Puento del Inca

Two days ago we met an Israeli couple in the hostel that told us that we should go see Puerto del Inca which is a bridge up somewhere in the Andes mountain range from the time of the Inca. They went there the day before at 6:00 in the morning and got back on the same day (The bus ride is 4 hours to the bridge and another 4 hours back). I told Hilla that we should do the same and go at 6:00 but she didn't want to because she wanted to keep on sleeping :-( Anyway, we took the bus at 10:30 and met 2 cool people in the bus station that decided to join us. One crazy Korean guy and another really funny Canadian guy that never knew where he left his things.



By the time we got to the bridge, it was 14:15. The bus back to Mendoza was going to leave at 16:30. That meant we had 2 hours and 15 minutes to see the bridge and trek to some lagoon we heard about. We all started the short day walk but Hilla couldn't keep on going so she turned back. I kept on going with the 2 other guys. The way so long and the time was short. The Korean guy and I didn't have enough time. We wanted to get to the 16:30 bus. We were in a real rush. The funny Canadian guy had all the time in the world. He told us that he wanted to sleep in some refugee camp up there in the mountains. Ok man go ahead we said.

At some point i decided to turn around and go back to the bus station. It was getting late and we didn't get to the lagoon. I turned around and the other guys kept on going until the Korean guy at some point also turned around. He left the other Canadian guy there to look for his refugee camp. It was a nice day trip but not worth the 8 hour bus ride.

Today we bought a bus ticket to Bariloche which is around 20 hours from here by bus. We are here in "Ruca-Potu" hostel in Mendoza. A really cool place. If you ever go to Mendoza - Argentina, you should stay here. We are leaving at 21:30 and can't wait to be there. Adios

Arrived in Mendoza

Yes here we are in Mendoza now. A very long but comfortable bus ride from Buenos Airess to Argentinas wine area - Mendoza.

We took a "cama" bus which is a bus with super comfortable seats that almost fold open to a bed. The seats which were like "American Comfort" couches for watching tv were lined up in a row of 3 (not the usual 4 which you can find on any normal bus) and that was because they were so wide and took up so much space - fucking cool. We sat took the bus at 20:00 and sat like kings. Suddenly the steward we had on the bus gave everyone a bingo card. Yes we played bingo but unfortunately we didn't win. Then we got dinner on the bus. The dinner was good with 100% super service and a movie after we finished eating. After a long night sleep we woke up with some quiet music and breakfast being served. Hilla felt like a queen and was very happy.


Now we are here in Mendoza. We found a nice and comfortable hostel which is not too far from the city center. We will check out the place and write some more.

For some reason i cant download my pictures from the camera on this computer. I will do it later and put them on the web. Adios

Landed in Buenos Aires

Well here we are after a very long flight in Buenos Aires. Nothing was as planned. It all started in Israel.

The day prior to our flight there was a strike and the whole airport was closed. No flights were landing and none were departing. This whole thing happened to affect us as well. We had a 2 and a half hour delay. Instead of departing at 5:00 in the morning we departed at 7:30. Ok that was half as bad. So we didn't sleep the whole night but at least it was not that bad. We had a good time in the duty free.

After a 4 and a half hour flight we landed in Madrid. We now had around 12 hours to visit the city until our next flight was suppose to take off. We took the subway to the city center and got there in around 50 minutes or so. It was cold but fun. We walked around the whole day until we finally decided to take the subway and head back to the airport.

It was around 19:00 Friday evening and we were at the airport now. Our next flight with Air Madrid was suppose to take off at 23:50 and take us straight to Buenos Aires. We had enough time at the airport to get something to eat, rest alot...

It was 23:00 and it was time to get on the plane and be on our way to Buenos Aires. Instead of doing that, we found ourselves in the airport with all the duty free shops closed with loads of non English speaking Spanish people. The flight was delayed. No one knew until when or why, not even the people working at the airport. Hilla and i kept asking but all they could tell us was 20 more minutes.

Anyway, after a 2 and a half our delay, we found ourselves heading to Fortaleza, Brazil. That was very weird. We were suppose to have a direct connection flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires. After a 7 hour flight with a crying baby 2 seats infront of us and very loud people sitting just behind us, we finally landed in Fortaleza. Now all we did was wait on the plane for further instructions. It was hot and the plane was crowded. Hilla which is not used to these situations was always complaining.

After 1 and a half hours of waiting on the plane, we were on our way to Buenos Aires. The flight to 6 and a half hours and we were finally in Buenos Aires... what a couple of days we had.

Now we are in St. Nicholas hostel which is nice. We walked around a little and came back to the hostel to get a good night sleep. After all we haven't had a good sleep for days or so.

1 more week to go

Hi everyone. Next week (1.12.2006) it will start. Our great trip (My girlfriend and I) to South America. We first have a flight from Tel-Aviv (Israel) to Madrid (Spain). Stay there for around 14 hours in which we will probably go to the city (hope the weather is going to be OK) and then after a day trip in the city, head back to the airport and get on our flight to Buenos Airees (Argentina). Our trip is going to be around 4 months long. We will be in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru (from where we will have our flight back home going through Madrid again) This whole trip has not been planned so changes can occur any time.

Both of us are so excited about the trip and can't wait for it. Although this is not my first long trip (I've been to Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, total amount of time - 7 months), the excitement is still in the air. This is Hilla's (my girlfriend) first long trip. She has only been on the usual vacations like Spain, Germany, England... for a week or so. The typical European countries. This is going to be a whole different experience. Backpacking through South America.

Anyways guys, i will post some new information in a few days probably before we start the trip.