Baliroche

Hey, I'm now in Bariloche, the town of chocolate factories and chocolate supermarkets, it's hard to get your head around how much chocolate is here, and with the snow capped mountains around, it's got the scenery to match a ski town such as this. You can get everything that's chocolate, from 3 foot eggs to animals sculpured of chocolate and watch the chefs build the chocolate works of art, I'm almost waiting to run into Willy Wonka around here :-) Other stuff you can do is, take a char-lift to the top of mountain and look out at the scenery. Infact it is ironic that you get such views for 15 Argentinian pesos and a 5minute chairlift ride, that even rival those you get from a 3 hour trek through forests, rivers, rock faces and boulders with chilling winds like in Torres Del Paine. I never thought I'd say it, but sometimes the easy way out can yeild the better result :-) Bariloche is a town that is very nice with friendly people everywhere you go, who will go out of their way to say hello to total strangers. When it comes to stray dogs, they're in every place you go. I swear I see about 5 dogs on every street block that are pure strays which are are just curious to know if you've got food, and even wander in and out of shops, but the folks around here are very used to it. Only one has tried to attack me in Ushuaia outside my tent which was down by a stream, but raise your hand to it and most dogs run away with their tail between their legs, anyhow I'm glad I've had my rabies shots :-) Prior to this, we stopped into Perito Mereno for a night which was a little place that had about two telephone boxes, and a Telefonica, which is like an overseas call center, and only one phone in the town worked for us gringos. The kids around the town all travel around in gangs just like the dogs that all travel in packs, sometimes up to 15 at a time you'd see sniffing around people and cars, but all pretty harmless. As intimidating as it CAN seem, they always want to say hello and ask you where you from, so a common Spanish phrase I say is Yo soy Australiano, which is I'm from Australia, and theyr're eyes light up and want to know all about life elsewhere. One thing I've learnt is first impressions have been very false with the locals and people I've travelled with and met, as the clueless clown (hate to sound arrogant) I met in a hotel lobby in Rio De Janeiro, is a completely different person to who I was having a steak dinner (best in my life - no joke) in El Calafate, a month or so later. Little life lesson there for the books. Anyhow, I've attached a few pics from back in Brazil and other places like Torres Del Paine that (i think) I haven't sent before. I've found some useful tools online, so thanks Rob and Renee, it's been a great help. Brendan, I'm lovin the pics of your new XR6 mate, all they drive here is go carts, VW's and Peugeot's, so the folks around here would be in constant awe of a rich pimp like yourself, so give it a burn for me. Take it easy. Adios amigos! Adam