Villa la Angostura

We've been kicking around this mountain town of Villa la Angostura for a few days.  It's surrounded by mountains and an enormous glacial lake.  The main street is about three blocks long and there are B&Bs scattered along the lakeshore.  There are quite a few restaurants, although not everything is open because it's the off-season.  Also, there is a small ski area on the mountains above.

We did some horseback riding before leaving San Martin de los Andes.  This kid of 16 years took us out for a couple of hours on some elderly caballos.  Several dogs followed us up to a high point where we could look down upon the town.  It was cold and our guide (Martin) seemed like he'd rather be watching soccer on the couch.  But we checked that activity off the list.

Here in V.L.A., we've been doing some hiking in the surrounding forest during the day, and eating mucho carne in the evenings.  One day we drove out to a scenic little village in the middle of nowhere on the shore of a nearby fjord.  The road was rutted and muddy.  An older lady was walking along the road, quite a ways from anywhere, and flagged us down for a ride.  As she talked to us about all the features of the village, we came upon a teenage girl walking down the road.  The lady asked us to stop, and we picked up the girl as well.  So it was a full Taxi Estados Unidos the rest of the way to the village, which was sleepy and scenic.

Some random observations:

-  Dogs, dogs everywhere!  There must be fifty stray dogs in this little town alone.  I think sometimes the restaurants give them scraps, and often you'll see that someone has put a pad out for them to sleep on.

-  A popular activity is smooching in public.  Kids (and adults) will be busy making out on park benches everywhere, at bus stops, on the beach, in any kind of weather.

-  People are sweet in every way, except when they are behind the wheel.  People roar past even in residential areas.  One guy taught us a new gesture.  We're not sure exactly what it meant but it probably wasn't "best wishes".

Off to eat some meat now.  Tomorrow we fly back to Mendoza, and then home the next day.

It's easy to make friends in Argentina

Myself, Veronica, and the ever-cheerful Martin

I'm hoping to buy a duty-free cow so I can have this dish at home

One of the many lagos

The big lago -- glad we brought raincoats

This happens sometimes

Couple of studs at the cascada

Chief of the volunteer fire department

We hiked this trail yesterday.  At the beginning of the trail there were some dogs playing.  They decided we looked like good companions and decided to join us on our hike for the next couple of hours.  They were having a lot of fun.