San Martin de los Andes, Neuqen, Patagonia, Argentina (from Elicia)

We have been on the road for two weeks now.  And a hell of a two weeks it’s been.  After a few days in Buenos Aires sorting out our Bolivian visas (the Bolivian consulate moved addresses, which then took an entire day to find) and a long bike ride through the city on lovely bike paths, we boarded a bus for Neuquen, the capital of the province. 
   For some reason, we really wanted to ride to the Andes, not just wake up one morning and be there.  It turned out to be a good, if interesting, choice.

From Neuquen, we biked west.  Through the desert.  In the summer.  Our second day, we had to quit early because the thermometer read 106 degrees f.  And since it was a windswept desert, there was no shelter other than the tent, which we were forced to set up and crawl into.  I have never been happier to see the temperature drop to a mere 100.  But we figured it out.

The next day, we continued through the desert, but we started at sunrise and figured out how to carry even more water. 

In Cultral-Co, a town named in the indigenous tongue for fire and water (lots of oil there) we met a boy scout troup leader, who took us home and gave us fuel and invited us to stay.

At a roadside fruitstand, a young man asked where we were going.  When we told him, he suggested that we go this other way, it was much prettier. 

Well…he was right.  After the Most Grueling Day Elicia has Ever Had On A Bike (up a 6500 meter pass through wind strong enough to throw me backwards on the bike, barely able to stay upright), we camped next to a crystalline stream in the Andean foothills.  It was glorious. 

We ended up in the tiny resort (but not what you might be thinking as resort) of Villa Pehuenia, where there are ancient forests of monkey puzzle trees and crystal clear lakes that go on and  on.  We spent some time in that area (Lagos Alumine and Moquehue), then began the journey south to Junin de Los Andes, and finally on to San Martin.

Andy has jumped in a river or a lake almost every day, usually two or three times.

 This is fun.

 Pictures when we actually figure that part out.