Tom's Travels

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Took a bus with reoccurring brake failure for three days from Bariloche to El Chalten. The drive is supposed to be "the beautiful route 40" but just kind of looks like an uglier version of Bakersfield. The rest of the scenery in Patagonia is spectacularrrr!

Oh well, the trip is just about over. Many people you meet traveling talk about how they wish they could travel on their own for several years. More times than not, these people have only been on the road for a couple of months. Remember how enthusiastic I was when I first started the grand journey, when I flew into Cancun a year ago today? Well the truth is that a full year was probably a couple of months too long. You begin to lose appreciation for all of the amazing things you see on a day to day basis. I am quite glad to be going home as I miss my friends and family, and a place to go home to each night. Poor Tom... he lives such a difficult life, farting around all over the world. Well, I suppose after a week or so at home, I will miss the traveling life again.

I have about ten days left in Costa Rica and this grand journey is over. I promise the last update will be more upbeat, comprehensive, and reflective. Pardon me for now, but I have to go eat my last Argentine steak.

Tom

A view from the town of Bariloche

Lakeside church

Llao Llao hotel in Bariloche

The lawn at Llao Llao

My transport for the day

View from Llao Llao Lookout

Girl fishing

Deep blue lake

Monkey Puzzle Tree view of the lake

Moutainside cemetery

Bariloche ranch

One of many lookout points along the bike ride

All right

Swiss Inigo with a mariposa on his head

Spotted mountains

Glacier at Mt. Tronador

Refugio Otto Meiling

Rock climbing at "Thunder Mountain"

I think that mountain is in Chile

Mountain marigold

The sun is out about 18 hours a day here

Glacial contours

A view from the refugio

Glacial sunset

Long shadow

Endless mountain sunset

Glacial falls

So that is how they get all the beer and wine up the mountain

Glacial bottom view

I have not seen one of these since Asia

Ruta 40 is beautiful... if windswept wastelands are your thing

Another broken down bus...

Guanacos are a bit scary up close

The road to the Fitz Roy Range

El Chalten is one of the ugliest towns I have seen

See, I really was there

First view of Mt. Fitz Roy, you must be very lucky to see it without clouds

Postcard view of Fitz Roy

Path bridge

Up close to Fitz Roy

View from the lake

Lago Sucio, or "Dirty Lake"

Those are some kind of colors

Always strange clouds about out here

Lago Madre

The path continues

Sunrise from the highway

My favorite ice cream has to be "Tit"

Perito Moreno Glacier

Up close

That´s a big glacier

Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires

Moon in the mast

To view full size photos and captions click here:
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On New Years Day, no restaurants seem to be open except the good old ¨Chopp and Dog.¨ As a rule I tend to avoid restaurants with ¨dog¨ in the name as this is usually a tip off that they use Argentinian ketchup which is red-colored high fructose corn syrup. Luckily, the cook seemed to have gone to the ¨Jack in the Box School of Hangover Food¨ (I told the guy at the hostel that all-you-can-drink red wine was a bad idea for the New Years barbecue.) He made me a nice ¨lomito¨ steak sandwich, complete with ham, cheese, fried egg and ¨lluvia de papas¨ which translates as ¨rain of fries¨ (use your imagination.) Unfortunately, I am pretty sure the cook also went to the ¨Mexico School of Food that Makes You Run to the Bathroom.¨

You will likely notice that Erin has shown up in the photos again. This is not Photoshop trickery and she actually flew all the way from Hawaii to spend two weeks with me. We spent most of our time eating salami and cheese and hanging out with stray dogs. Sadly, she had to leave again and I am back to the dorm life.

I have been in Medoza far too long, eating too much food, drinking too many guarana-based energy drinks, and my diatribe about how wine tasting in Lodi is so much better than here is getting a bit tired. I got a bus ticket into Patagonia for tomorrow at 20:00. Hopefully they don´t pull another time change on me. The guy next to me in the internet cafe is looking at porn (in Argentina there always seems to be that guy.)

Tom

If the Beef was a dog walker...

Rose garden in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires sidewalk

First time on rollerblades since the old street hockey days

Erin´s first day in South America

Fancy grave

Weathered grave

Anyone see the ass in this park photo?

Look a little like Bangkok?

Evita´s Pink Palace

Congress Building

Obelisk monument on 9 de Julio street

Night time at the Presidential Palace

Downtown parade

See what´s wrong with this one?

Steak and red wine

Erin at the world´s ugliest beach

Monkey profile

Happy donkey

Not such an appetizing ad

Iguazu Falls is supposedly the biggest in the world

Palm trees and waterfalls

Waterfall closeup

The boat passengers get soaked

Erin and I at the falls

Looking at the Brazil side of the falls

Pan over a bit...

Damn, that´s a waterfall

Viewing platform

Erin getting wet

View of three countries: Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil

Drinking some beer

If you go to Buenos Aires, stay away from this tourist trap

Medoza greenscape

Road to the Andes

Erin modeling my new hat

On the road in San Martin park

Lake in the park

Celebrating Christmas by sneaking mimosas into the pool area

Winery cellar

Looks a bit like Lodi out here

Hostel in Cordon del Plata Mountains

Brisa hiked all the way to the top with us

Sporting my new rain poncho

Bubbling well

Cow chasing a dog

Great mountain view

Trying to copy the postcard shot from the Machu Picchu hike

Windy river

Your boots, ooh they´re nice

Not quite as big as Iguazu

Yellowish rocks

Cross view from the summit of Arenales

Check out the sweet jackets

Bicycle rope tow