Well things didn't initially go to plan, the money exchange office being closed leaving me with a fist full of Chilean Pesos (they're polymer notes, like ours) which of course are useless here in Argentina.
I wasn't keen on the idea of dealing with one of the black market / street traders so I had to rob the hole in the wall which is a bit of a pain in the proverbial, cause as I might have mentioned previously, the ATM's here only allow you to withdrawal pitiful sums of money and then charge you a sizeable "fee" as a percentage of the transaction.
It's no wonder that the country is in the doldrums, they don't exactly make it easy for international tourists to spend their money!
At any rate, given that one of the major incentives for getting into Bariloche yesterday was to
reorganise my bags, air my tent (it was wet when it last got packed away) and to disassemble my bike and box it up given that I fly off to Buenos Aires on Tuesday week, I rode down to the bike rental / hostel from which Daniel operates.
Boy o boy, did I get a reminder (once again) of how strong the wind is here! Heck, I suspect if I lived in the area permanently I'd be a skier rather than a cyclist. It's just not fun, slogging your guts out in the wind! Give me the hills any day!
Now that the bike's packed, for the next couple of weeks at least, it may get an airing in Los Angles, time to be a true tourist now, starting with a bus trip to El Calafate tomorrow morning! It's only a 24 plus hour drive!
It's no wonder that the country is in the doldrums, they don't exactly make it easy for international tourists to spend their money!
At any rate, given that one of the major incentives for getting into Bariloche yesterday was to
reorganise my bags, air my tent (it was wet when it last got packed away) and to disassemble my bike and box it up given that I fly off to Buenos Aires on Tuesday week, I rode down to the bike rental / hostel from which Daniel operates.
Boy o boy, did I get a reminder (once again) of how strong the wind is here! Heck, I suspect if I lived in the area permanently I'd be a skier rather than a cyclist. It's just not fun, slogging your guts out in the wind! Give me the hills any day!
Now that the bike's packed, for the next couple of weeks at least, it may get an airing in Los Angles, time to be a true tourist now, starting with a bus trip to El Calafate tomorrow morning! It's only a 24 plus hour drive!
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