Bariloche

Arrived in Bariloche very tired.
The city is beautiful, it sits on the lake, surrounded by snow covered mountains and has a lot of houses looking like chalets, and a bunch of chocolates and ice cream stores on every corner. They are so good !!! Much better than the world knows Swiss chocolate!!! It's a place where there are 4 seasons in 1 day. It could go from rain to sun to snow to sun from freezing to hot in a matter of minutes! Back in Mendoza it was really very hot, and after an overnight bus to the south, it suddenly became cold, so I'm back into my double sweaters, wool hat and scarf. It makes me think of how small the world is, how such a little inclination of the earth can cause such dramatic temperature changes!
Next day wanted to visit some cave, but the hostel people said it was not interesting, so I had a day to do nothing. After a trip to the chocolate store, I couldn't finish all of my chocolates because my tooth was hurting, so instead of going to the cave, I headed for a dentist with a hope that it will be a little tiny cavity. The dentist looked everywhere, and said that he can't find anything, and that my teeth are fine. We debated and debated, yes they're fine, no they're not, and so on and so on. He blew air into it, did some more sadistic stuff, and nothing. Finally I asked him to give me some chocolate :) He found one, and I could barely feel it, that was strange, but then I felt a little sensation at the back. He looked and said that there is no cavity, but some other thing, where the sweet goes inside under the tooth which causes pain. I asked how to fix it, he said that it can't be fixed, and he would actually recommend to remove the tooth .... WHHHHHAAAAATTTT?????? Here I am coming to the doctor thinking of a small cavity and ending up with a removal????
D - I suggest to remove it
Y - remove it, as in take it out?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!
D - you don't need this tooth, it doesn't serve any purpose
Y - aga, I get it, but can't it just be there
D - it's hard to clean, food can be stuck in between this tooth and the important tooth, and cause a cavity
Y - yes, it makes perfect sense, but no no no NO !!
D - come on!
at this point, I'm in a mild panicking state, can't imagine how it turned out to be that way. I think I have nightmares of the dentists since Russia. He tried to convince me for 10 minutes that it should be removed, while I asked every possible question on earth about it! Good thing dentists charge per visit, and not per time :)
Finally I agreed, and asked for a sedative. Mind you that a month ago I had lasik, and I was not even 10% as freaked out, as I was on that chair. I tried to close my ears, but I still heard cracking. Half a minute later, it was removed and I didn't feel a thing! All that was done without any assistant, the shshshshshshsh machine, no napkin on the chest. I got out of the chair all wet (from exhaustive sweating), toothless and happy :)) In the evening to compensate for it, I signed up for a 1.5 hour massage :)
Went for a trip to the thunder mountain and the black glacier. It was ok, but not worth the money. Well, I guess that I've been to enough snow covered mountains, and seen so much beauty that it just doesn't cut it for me anymore. When we got out to walk, the guide said to be back in the van at 5 to 4 and not to go where there are signs that the road is closed. I understood it as quarter to five, went one way, and then crossed to some road. There was nothing much to do, so I walked and sat beside a waterfall, waiting for the time to return. When I casually returned back, there were no people and only a guide waiting, that looked weird. Where is everybody? ... We're waiting for you for 20 minutes already. That was the first ooops. Then he said that I was not allowed to go where I went, there is a sign ... and the 2nd oooops !! I got on the road after the sign, so I missed it :S
The next 2 days it was raining and snowing, and all the beautiful view has disappeared. We all got stuck in the hostel, and there was no point going anywhere nearby because in all of Patagonia there was a bad weather. By the time the weather got cleared up, I met enough people in the hostel to rent a car, and make a much cheaper trip through the 7 lakes region. So an Israeli guy (Omar) my age, and 3 girls around 20 set off. It was so beautiful, I think the most beautiful ride I ever took, and it wasn't like in chunks, pretty here, and not pretty there, it was amazingly beautiful everywhere ! On the way back we went on a very poorly maintained road while Omar was driving. The girls at the back didn't let him live, every second they had a comment about how he drives. At one point the whole right side was with pot holes, while the left side of the road was ok, and there were no cars as far as you could see. The girls started yelling, "I'd prefer you not to drive at all, but since you do, stay on the right side of the road!" and on and on and on, they really ganged up on him! Poor guy!
Since the weather was bad, and I didn't want to sit at hostel and do nothing, I got in touch with some couch surfers. We went to a nice house party, where there was home cooking and singing. Everybody knows how to play some sort on instrument, and knows how to have fun, and nobody's shy, but really gives it all :) What I discovered later is that it's a group of friends, and they get together almost every day and do something. And while in Canada at 10 pm is usually some tv time followed by bed time, in here at 10 they still decide what will they be making for dinner (note that shopping has still not been done).
The next day was a full sports day. First I climbed on top of the hill from where there was a 360 degree view of the surrounding, and now I'm happy that it snowed because all the mountains where white, which made it look so beautiful! This was one of my favorite hikes. First of all, it was only half an hour, and second those kinds of views. Plus there were hawks, and they would fly around, and above, and kinda float in the air just 2 meters above us. If every hike was like that, I might even consider getting back in shape :)
Afterwards I rented a bike, and did a 4 hour circle tour. Of course I was walking my bike every time there was a hill, so I returned very tired, but it was so worth it, the whole trip was accompanied by wow, WOW, wow, WOW, wooooooowwwww !!!!
The next day we went up to a refuge in the mountain, but I didn't like it too much because the hike up was always up, and very steep, and we were walking way too fast, and the views were the same. Actually I liked the views better from the smaller hill because it was much more close and personal.
At the end, I ended up staying over a week in Bariloche because of bad weather, and I'm so glad it was bad, since it got me more time to appreciate the beauty of the city and the nature around it. Overall, I think it's my favorite city in South America so far (beauty wise).
Another night bus away, I ended up in some sort of desert ... lets see what it's all about ...
http://picasaweb.google.com/evadikushin501/Bariloche#