San Martin de los Andes

Or "San Martin" as it is generally called.

San Martin is a tourist mecca & gateway to skiing at Cerro Chapelco in the winter. It is a picturesque town which sits in a valley surrounded by the Andes mountains and Lanín National Park with the Lanín Volcano. This area in Patagonia is an outdoor enthusiast's paradise and hiking, rafting and climbing are available, not to mention some of the best snow skiing in the Southern Hemisphere.

The town was founded in 1898 and the architecture has a definite European feel and many of the buildings reflect the Swiss, French, Italian and German immigrants who settled the land. The streets are lined with shops offering clothing, arts and crafts & restaurants.

We had a sleep-in. And a long leisurely breakfast with the BEST scrambled eggs so far in South America (mind you, it's not been much of a contest as most have been crap) and FRESH orange juice; they make their own bread here too which you have no idea how good that is as the bread in South America is generally not very nice.

We had originally planned to stay only one night here but were convinced by Lilia our host to stay 2 nights in order to go to Lanín. However, this B&B out of town up in the hills is so gorgeous I think we will stay local today & have a relaxing day.

We have still about 10 days to go so I think a day off here will be a strategic move, especially as we are so lucky to be in such a nice place; and we have more nacional parque to see tomorrow on our return to Bariloche.

More larkspur -

We had a wander around San Martin town: chocolaterias, outdoor shops, shops selling the usual tourist stuff like t-shirts etc, bike shops (a difference we've noticed from elsewhere: it would seem MTB is popular here).

It was pretty quiet & we worked out why! They were mostly at lunch: an extended lunch by our standards. In fact, the place was as "dead as a doornail" with working hours 9:30 to 12:30 or thereabouts; and then not again until 14:30 to 20:00. Hmmm.

Returned gladly to our B&B and indulged in a spa & My Friend backed up with a swim in the heated pool. Am enjoying the view from the lounge:

We put in an enjoyable hour or more with an appointment at 6 p.m. at a salon called Colleción Georg: works of art, photography & pottery from the grandfather, father and the current generation of 3 sons & a daughter (out of nine children): a very talented family! One of the sons, Eliseo, took us through the building which itself is magnificent; he is a delightful young man: passionate about his photography & we talked to him about our walking in Torres del Paine - & the wind - so he dragged out his wonderful photographs that he has taken there. He is currently working on a new book on the theme of 'wind' which is centred very much in that area (surprise, surprise!) and which he expects will take 3 years to complete.

Dinner was the leftover wine from last night plus some supplies from the supermarket: ham (jamón crudo), blue vein cheese (queso azul), french bread stick, tomato - which our hosts at our B&B assisted with (they weren't producing a meal tonight) by setting us up in the dining room with serviettes, plates, knife & fork & wine glasses. Very nice. We enjoyed watching the remnants of the day subside into darkness through the picture windows.

POSTSCRIPT:

I had planned an early night but it is now midnight. We ended up having a long, long chat with our host Fernando & a Dutch couple about the state of things in Argentina: particularly how Argentina is polarizing into the very wealthy versus the very poor. Fernando was very disillusioned with the country: the economy & the Government in particular. We had a long-ranging, passionate discussion & it was terribly interesting to hear his thoughts & opinions.

We also touched on the 1976-82 dictatorship called the National Reorganisation Process when 30,000 (!) people "disappeared" & countless more were brutally tortured. This is the reason for groups such as Madres de Plaza de Mayo (Mothers of Plaza de Mayo) in Buenos Aires seeking retribution against the military officers involved in these crimes against humanity. Fernando remembers a 17-year old boy from school who one day just "disappeared"; he is still shocked by this.

But basically, everyone knows there is a problem with the current presidency & the corruption but opinions are divided as to whether or not she (the President) will be re-elected

Now, MUST get to sleep!