Sun Water Rock Wind Dirt

Long dusty minibus ride yesterday from Bariloche up through the 7 lakes to San Martin de los Andes, looking down into crystal clear streams no doubt full of huge trout and then up as we rounded a bend in the road to looming mountains with summer snow overhead and blue lakes and forests everywhere. I thought about how just this one dusty 1.5 lane road provides access to the entire region here and, remembering my time in the Sierras and Rockies, with their thousands of miles of criss-crossing roads, I thought about how much a road changes a landscape, both in real ways and in one's impressions of it. Knowing there are no roads up in all these wild valleys makes this place seem untamed, still unconquered by humans - even though Villa la Angostura, Bariloche, and San Martin are clearly the playgrounds of the wealthy, kind of like the Vail and Telluride and Crested Butte of Argentina I guess.

Arriving in San Martin, I was struck by how obviously it is dominated by wealthy Argentines and Chileans, full of nice modern buildings, well-watered lawns, rosebushes in bloom everywhere, but still a bit rough around the edges and surrounded by a whole lot of mountains and lakes and not much else. There are the obligatory souvenir shops along the main strip of shops, and pricey restaurants, and a big shiny supermarket full of merchandise trucked in every few days and overpriced, as well as a wide selection of national and some international newspapers, which is always a sure sign that you're in a vacation community. If you see the lake and then look at a map of what's around here, you can tell why people come.

Last night I sat on the beach 2 blocks from the town center and watched the sun go down over the mountain on the other side of the lake as shadows crept across the sand towards me over the course of about an hour and the wind picked up and the water looked silver and dark blue. As soon as the light was gone, though, the temperature fell and the sand got cold and the wind died down a bit and I just sat and took it all in.

I'm heading out of town to climb a nearby mountain later today, but first need to secure my bus ticket to Chile tomorrow to visit Pucón, Villarrica, and Chiloé. Gotta run.