It's not winter, but it's fucking cold.

This last week has had some fairly good days weather-wise. The strong patagonian sun dominated the skies of Bariloche, although today was very different. It was forecast to rain, i thought it would have been a few isolated showers - how rain has come since i came here almost three weeks ago - but they really meant rain, precipitation, and lots of it. I opened my eyes at about 10am to the sound of strong gusts of wind trying to blow the house over, a violent sound, synchronized with the everlasting sound of rain hitting the roof. I closed my eyes and wrote the day off.

I eventually got out of bed by about three in the afternoon, lounged around for abit until the rain- which had not stopped since i first heard it in the morning -eventually stopped at about six thirty. It was very cold outside; the coldest i've felt for a long time, not that i'm complaining, it's better than sweating your bollocks off in Iguazu and as proven by my very late lay-in's these days i sleep better in it too.

I managed to get another digital camera, nothing amazing but it takes photos at some 10m pixels which is good enough to capture the sights of the area. I took a few shots of the lake this evening to test it out and i was more than happy with the results.

Hopefully in a few days i will have a response from the ministry of education and start the complicated process of translating my english education into something that is understood here. If this is done by January 14th (the day i have my driving test), i will be on the road hitch-hiking south shortly after, i don't think i'm gonna go all the way south to Tierra Del Fuego and such just yet, but i'm gonna head for a group of mountains in the area of Mallin Ahogado, near El Bolson. I plan to spend a few days around there climbing those mountains, staying at the different mountain refuges and taking a few photos to share with the world. I will then hitch back up north to Bariloche for mid-February at latest. That's the plan if things work out between now and mid-January.

Hope you all have a good Christmas and i will post a few more photos before the new year!

Thanks for reading,

Santiago.

En las piedras

So i arrived in Bariloche some 10 days ago, since then i´ve spent some time in remote areas of the mountains, diving from rocks into glaciar rivers, rafting, climbing, and a whole lot more. There is too much to do here, the options are just endless. 10 or more asados later i´ve met some really cool people, reunited with cousins and family members i haven´t seen or spoken to in over 10 years, and of course reminded myslef how beautiful this place is.

When i lived in England things were okay because i have some good friends there -always keeps the spirit up- but seeing this place again makes me never want to leave. I decided i´m gonna use my ability to speak English to my advantage and study tourism, become a tourist guide and eventually a mountain guide.

Living a simple life here ,for me at least, would be far better than anything i could achieve in England, simply because i love the place so much and i have so many different places to go in my free time. Trying to sort out the tourism course which starts in April, once this is done i might hitch south to Ushuaia in February or March and get to know the southern part of the country. I´m finally learning to drive here too which is a lot cheaper than the 900GBP you have to pay in England. I should be visiting England in the summer, so that´s June or July, just for a few weeks but will be good to see everyone again!

Santiago.

be right back

Hey all,

Arrived in Bariloche all good, Aconcagua was an excellent day out. Will write about it when i get more time. Heading down to El Bolson about 120km south with my uncle so i might not update this for a week or so but i promise i'll do so when i get back!

Santiago.