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On Thursday, I spent the better part of the day trying to get my visa situated. I was planning to leave for Argentina in the evening and I needed to register my visa before leaving the country or else I wouldn´t have been able to return. I first went to the municipal building in Valparaíso thinking that was where I needed to go. After waiting in line for 45 minutes, they told me that because I was going to live in Viña del Mar that I would have to register my visa in Viña del Mar. I was in a bit of a hurry because the offices involved in visas are only open until 1pm everyday and I really needed to get it that day. I made the trek back to Viña del Mar to search for the International Police Building in Viña del Mar which took a bit of searching. I waited in line for a bit and then the International Police took all my information. I waited some more and then after that I had to go to the -Civil Registry Building in Viña del Mar to put in a request for an identification card. After a 20 minute walk and asking a number of people, I found the building. I then had to wait 40 minutes in line to finally put in my request to get an identification card and receive the slip of paper that I needed to leave the country. I set off from the bus station in the evening leaving at 6:30 pm for the 14 hour trip to Osorno, Chile in the south. I then got on another bus at 10am headed for Bariloche, Argentina which was a 6 hour trip. The drive through the lakes region was absolutely beautiful with tons of lakes with the Andes mountains backdrop. On the bus I met a friendly
Chilean man going to visit his daughter in Bariloche and two Argentine teenagers heading back home after visiting relatives. The Argentine guys shared some of their music which was pretty techno. I had some trouble at the border because as I was leaving Chile, the immigration officer for some reason did not stamp my passport. When I arrived at the Argentine immigration building, about 3 miles away from the Chilean immigration, the Argentine immigration officer spent a lot of time debating about my situation and talking to his superiors before finally letting me through on the basis that I was probably telling the truth. After arriving at Bariloche around 4pm, I hopped on another 2 hour bus to the south to El Bolson to meet up with my friend from UNC, Harrison. On the way out of Bariloche, we came across a large forestfire, burning forest on the outside of town. The police and firetrucks had already arrived and a number of onlookers were nearby. After asking people in Bariloche a couple days later about it and them not having heard anything about the fire, I assume that the fire did not cause detrimental damage. We crossed a lot of barren land and nothingness until we came to the small town of El Bolsón (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Bols%C3%B3n,_R%C3%ADo_Negro). I was looking for Harrison´s friend´s home for they lived in El Bolsón. I took a taxi through a valley with mountains on all sides, and hiked a mile into the forest to find their house. As I was hiking down into the valley, I came across many tired backpackers making their way back to the road. I came to the house only just as dusk was setting. The houses was set in valley with wonderful views all around. It was located among the refugios which are the last stop for backpackers before heading out on the trail. The family was from California, but the husband and wife had moved to Argentina 20 years ago and raised their children there. I found the son´s English accent interesting because he had learned English from both of his parents, but having not lived in a English speaking country, his accent was a little different. They were in the process of building a lodge for guests and they had a hottub with an old fashioned heater fed with fire and logs. Some friends from around town had come over for the evening before they were going to head into town for the nightlife.
On Thursday, I spent the better part of the day trying to get my visa situated. I was planning to leave for Argentina in the evening and I needed to register my visa before leaving the country or else I wouldn´t have been able to return. I first went to the municipal building in Valparaíso thinking that was where I needed to go. After waiting in line for 45 minutes, they told me that because I was going to live in Viña del Mar that I would have to register my visa in Viña del Mar. I was in a bit of a hurry because the offices involved in visas are only open until 1pm everyday and I really needed to get it that day. I made the trek back to Viña del Mar to search for the International Police Building in Viña del Mar which took a bit of searching. I waited in line for a bit and then the International Police took all my information. I waited some more and then after that I had to go to the -Civil Registry Building in Viña del Mar to put in a request for an identification card. After a 20 minute walk and asking a number of people, I found the building. I then had to wait 40 minutes in line to finally put in my request to get an identification card and receive the slip of paper that I needed to leave the country. I set off from the bus station in the evening leaving at 6:30 pm for the 14 hour trip to Osorno, Chile in the south. I then got on another bus at 10am headed for Bariloche, Argentina which was a 6 hour trip. The drive through the lakes region was absolutely beautiful with tons of lakes with the Andes mountains backdrop. On the bus I met a friendly
Chilean man going to visit his daughter in Bariloche and two Argentine teenagers heading back home after visiting relatives. The Argentine guys shared some of their music which was pretty techno. I had some trouble at the border because as I was leaving Chile, the immigration officer for some reason did not stamp my passport. When I arrived at the Argentine immigration building, about 3 miles away from the Chilean immigration, the Argentine immigration officer spent a lot of time debating about my situation and talking to his superiors before finally letting me through on the basis that I was probably telling the truth. After arriving at Bariloche around 4pm, I hopped on another 2 hour bus to the south to El Bolson to meet up with my friend from UNC, Harrison. On the way out of Bariloche, we came across a large forestfire, burning forest on the outside of town. The police and firetrucks had already arrived and a number of onlookers were nearby. After asking people in Bariloche a couple days later about it and them not having heard anything about the fire, I assume that the fire did not cause detrimental damage. We crossed a lot of barren land and nothingness until we came to the small town of El Bolsón (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Bols%C3%B3n,_R%C3%ADo_Negro). I was looking for Harrison´s friend´s home for they lived in El Bolsón. I took a taxi through a valley with mountains on all sides, and hiked a mile into the forest to find their house. As I was hiking down into the valley, I came across many tired backpackers making their way back to the road. I came to the house only just as dusk was setting. The houses was set in valley with wonderful views all around. It was located among the refugios which are the last stop for backpackers before heading out on the trail. The family was from California, but the husband and wife had moved to Argentina 20 years ago and raised their children there. I found the son´s English accent interesting because he had learned English from both of his parents, but having not lived in a English speaking country, his accent was a little different. They were in the process of building a lodge for guests and they had a hottub with an old fashioned heater fed with fire and logs. Some friends from around town had come over for the evening before they were going to head into town for the nightlife. Saturday morning, Harrison and I left the house to go back in town. We spent the afternoon in town strolling through the Saturday market. El Bolsón is basically a town of a lot of hippies. Their appearances reminded me a lot of the youth of 1960s America. I opened my wallet up at the bank only to discover that my debit card was nowhere to be found. Good thing I broug
ht traveler´s checks. In the afternoon, we both took a bus back to Bariloche to spend some time in the beautiful city. Its proximity to a large very blue lake makes it a picturesque setting. Bariloche has a tourism industry that has developed a lot but it still retains homey feel. Without seeing or hearing Spanish, you could easily mistake yourself for being in a Swiss Alps town due mainly to the architecture. I´m not sure why, but a number of the hotels and hospedajes were German themed or European themed. We walked around town trying to find a hostel to stay in without much luck. We probably went to about 10 hostels, all of which were already full for the night. We finally gave in and stayed at a hotel for $20/night/person compared to the $10 price for hostels. When we saw the room, I was surprised to find that the bathroom had a bidet in which I thought was only found in Europe. I would of thought that it was just that it was a European themed hotel, but a day later in the hostel, I found that their bathroom had a bidet in it as well. I don´t know.
ht traveler´s checks. In the afternoon, we both took a bus back to Bariloche to spend some time in the beautiful city. Its proximity to a large very blue lake makes it a picturesque setting. Bariloche has a tourism industry that has developed a lot but it still retains homey feel. Without seeing or hearing Spanish, you could easily mistake yourself for being in a Swiss Alps town due mainly to the architecture. I´m not sure why, but a number of the hotels and hospedajes were German themed or European themed. We walked around town trying to find a hostel to stay in without much luck. We probably went to about 10 hostels, all of which were already full for the night. We finally gave in and stayed at a hotel for $20/night/person compared to the $10 price for hostels. When we saw the room, I was surprised to find that the bathroom had a bidet in which I thought was only found in Europe. I would of thought that it was just that it was a European themed hotel, but a day later in the hostel, I found that their bathroom had a bidet in it as well. I don´t know. 
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