Hola From San Matin

Well, I made it to San Martin after a 24 hour bus ride. The buses weren´t nearly as nice as the ones that we took last weekend. And, we were seated just in front of a crying baby. So, I was a little disapointed at first. But, about an hour or two into the trip, something hit the window directly across the aisle from my seat and broke a large hole in it and caused the rest of the very large window to spider web dangerously. Glass went everywhere, including all over me. Luckily no one was hurt. But, they had to stop the bus and we had to wait for another one to come pick us up. It took a couple of hours. We all stayed in good spirits. And, were really happy when they brought a nicer bus. It still wasn´t as nice as the one from the weekend before, but it was alot better. As soon as they put on the movie, I passed out and slept on and off from around 9 until around 2. At two, they woke us up and shuffled us into a restaurant where they served us a very quick meal of milanesa (Argentina´s version of chicken fried steak) and salad. Then, I went back to sleep on and off until 10 in the morning. I did wake up in time to see us pass some sort of border patrol into the patagonia (the area the south is called). It was still dark, but I could see that we´d left the towns and come into an area of open fields and hills. It was really neat to see. Someone came aboard and checked things out with a flashlight. Then we were back on our way and I was asleep again. After ten, I got up for good and read and watched the beautiful scenery pass by. The land looks arid. It is covered by patchy, dry looking grass. There are brown hills and snow apped mountains (the Andes) and loads of lakes and streams. It was a geogous drive. We finally arrived in San Martin around 4 p.m. We asked at the bus station and were directed to a hostel about three blocks away from the station. It´s a nice little hostel and we got a private room with two bunk beds and a private bathroom for $22 pesos ($7 U.S.) each. Then we went out and explored the town. It looks exactly as a little town at the foot of the Andes should. The mountains and lakes form the backdrop for the quaint chalet arcitecture of the little town. It´s a little chilly here. We walked in the town and tried to set up some tours. Unfortunatly, all the tour agencies were closed. So, we had lunch, and ice cream, and walked along the lake. Now, we´re exploring town again. It seems pretty dead here. The on season has just passed and it truly is a sleepy little town. We may go have dinner and drinks at a restaurant or we may just pick up some wine and food and put something together at the hostel. I think the general plan for tomorrow is to rent some bikes and take a serious ride around the seven lakes - which is the big draw of this particular place. Then I think that we´re going to try to head to Bariloche and do some combination of hiking, horseback riding, and rafting. We have a bus out of Bariloche for Bs As on Saturday afternoon. That´s about all for now. I´ll try to update again when I get to Bariloche.