Tuesday, January 29 – Bariloche

My plan for a restful day started out so well. So how did I end up putting in 25k steps?!? I spent the morning updating this journal and doing some trip planning. The latter is what put my low-key day in peril. I was originally going to book a trip that utilized multiple boats and buses to go from Bariloche to Puerto Varas in Chile on Sunday. It would take about 12 hours and the cost would be around $350. Supposed to be a beautiful journey. Well, after reading some not-so-great reviews (crowds, herding, weather issues), I decided instead to book a 7 1/2 hour bus ride. Now, this isn’t Greyhound were talkin’. South America is known for quality bus service (I’ll verify that for you on Sunday!). I reserved a seat in what’s called Executive Cama Class. It’s like business class on a plane, and includes leather seats with a reclining angle of 140° and a foot support. The cost? $21.59!

Interesting Cost Comparison: Bus to Puerto Varas is $22. My cable car ride on Monday was $18.

And to make my decision even easier regarding the boats/buses trip versus the bus-only is the fact that there is a one day excursion available that hits most of the prime spots covered in the trip to Puerto Varas. The excursion cost is $54. I’ll be doing that on Thursday.

How did all of this end up in me putting in so many steps? Well, my hotel is to the west side of the city centre, and I needed to go to the bus station to get my ticket for Sunday. The station is on the east side of the centre. I could have taken a taxi (right, too cheap!), or there is bus service. But that is kind of erratic, plus I needed a prepaid card in order to ride. And where do I get the card? The bus station. So, I decided to walk. It took around an hour. But I was making stops along the way to take pictures. Plus, it was another great weather day (low 70s, just rather windy), so it wasn’t really a bother.

After hitting the bus station I returned through the city centre, stopped at the tour operator’s office to book my Thursday excursion, and did some more roaming and picture taking there. I left the hotel around 1:30 and got back about 6:45.

Here are some pictures from my day’s journey…