Do it for the story
- Haylie Butler
- Jul 27, 2015
- 3 min read
Bariloche, Argentina in 2 days & 18 hours. Let’s go.
With the end of our one month culture course and at least another week before the start of semester classes at USAL, I saw an opportunity to travel, explore, and venture beyond the city of Buenos Aires. One of the things I love most about studying abroad here in Argentina is the endless amount of places to visit within the country–I can experience a wide range of seasonal and cultural environments without ever leaving the place I’ve chosen to call home for 5 months.
And the adventure begins…
July 17th at 8PM (right after our final exams), Dan, Rob, and I made our way to the Retiro Bus Station where we boarded an El Valle “luxury” bus that would take us the 822.7 miles to San Carlos de Bariloche. While two 24 hour bus rides would significantly shorten our stay and naturally lead to much complaining/discomfort, we decided that the price was right…and “hey, it will sure make a good story.”
And guess what? That statement could not have been more accurate. After sitting, sleeping, and playing 20 questions on the not-so-luxury bus for 25 hours, we disembarked in Bariloche at 9PM. Of course, it was blizzarding, pitch black, and no one was dressed properly for the snow. We hopped onto a public bus that would have taken us to our hotel…but naturally, we misjudged our stop and ended up having to walk 1 km with our bags in the freezing rain. By 11 PM we had reached our hotel…we were soaking wet, but our spirits were not broken. The story had just begun.
All jokes aside, we had the greatest time! We made the most of every hour, every minute. In less than three days we managed to ski, take a guided horseback ride through the snow, ice-skate, sample Bariloche’s renowned chocolate ramas, explore the city, take in the views, watch the sunset, and watch the sunrise (watch a time-lapse of the sunrise here). While we didn’t leave much time for “relaxing,” we would not have had it any other way. By the time we climbed/laboriously crawled back onto the bus to make the 20+ hour drive home, the three of us had accomplished and enjoyed everything we set out to do. The story was complete.
And while the pictures do not do it justice, here’s a visual of Bariloche…and us appreciating all it had to offer:
What a place, what a story!
If you ever find yourself in Argentina, I would definitely recommend visiting San Carlos de Bariloche. Whether it is summer or winter, there is so much to do and so much to see. And after this little excursion, I would dare to say it is on my Top 5 list of most beautiful places I’ve been in the world.
And now the real fun begins…school! Talk to you soon.
Besos,
Haylie
This trip I learned…
to bring DVDs on 25 hour long bus rides in case the advertised Wifi does not actually exist.
to not underestimate winter in Argentina. While invierno in Buenos Aires is much like a warm spring day in the Northeast, temperatures in Bariloche are comparable to snowy Worcester. And that’s saying something…
that in Bariloche it is perfectly normal for stray dogs to accompany you on long walks, follow you on horseback rides, and wait with you at the bus stop. While they may look frightening, they mean no harm.
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