Birthday by the Lake.

Dec. 14-15  Osorno to San Carlos de Bariloche

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Osorno lies in the middle of the dairy and cheese production area of Chile, the highway is flanked on both sides by hay fields and cattle. The properties are upscale compared to other farming areas we have seen, and we contribute this partially to the prosperity of the dairy industry and partially to the German influence in the region. Whatever the reason it makes for a pleasant ride which leads us from farmland to lush green mountains. 

  

Beyond that we cross the border out of Chile and into no-mans land, some 20-30 kms later we reach the Argentine border station.  This is one of the largest neutral areas we have come across and it must be due to the volcanic wasteland that makes up most of it. It was a bit spooky to transition from lush green to leafless dead trees. There was also reported to be about 50km of gravel road but we made it all the way to Bariloche on pavement, I guess the info was outdated.

The closer we get to Bariloche the more frequent the police checkpoints are, we go through 5 of them within about as many miles. It did not really make sense what they were checking but we were glad that they never stopped us, instead just waved us on.

Being Sunday the town is rather quiet and shortly after checking into our hotel those dark clouds that were threatening rain opened up with incredible rolls of thunder and even some lightening. We were both very glad to be in the hotel instead of on the road.

Once the rain stopped we took a walking tour of Bariloche, it has all the trapping of a modern tourist destination, plus it is the Chocolate center for the region and claims to have some of the best chocolate makers. It is still a bit cool in the mornings as the wind comes off the lake and works like mother natures air conditioner. Of course when out of the wind it is pleasantly warm and we stroll around the streets looking at all the shops. 

One of the touristy things to do in town is get a picture taken with one of the St. Bernards, complete with Brandy barrels. We just took our own picture of the puppy instead. He also won Dog of the Day. 

For my birthday we enjoy a nice meal at one of the highly rated steak houses and a little bit of chocolate for dessert. Brenda waited patiently all day for this, that may have been why it tasted so good. We are here for two days so there is no rush to do everything in one afternoon.

Wow, we slept in until 7:30. That is a record for us this trip. We are in no rush as we are just planning on hanging around the city and maybe taking a short ride to the end of the lake where there is some beautiful views of the lake and surrounding mountains. As things go we ended up walking ourselves into an afternoon nap followed by another great meal. It was also time to change more money, this is easily done as there are guys on the street soliciting business. They just ask everyone who walks by if they need money changed or “Cambio? Cambio!” This time we get 12.45:1, still better than the official exchange rate of 8.5.