Hi everyone! Due to insufficient entries in our "Guess the mode of transport" competition, management regret to annouce it has been cancelled. We should like to thank Margaret, Jon and Denis for their interest...and if anyone else does care...we flew! Two hours later, we arrived in Bariloche, where we based ourselves to explore the Argentine Lake District. We spent a week in the region, our first full day being Easter Sunday. Unable to find any processions to watch, and wanting to avoid the temptation of the many artisan chocolate shops (we're K&Z and we're chocoholics, it's been 10 weeks since our last chocolate bar!), we decided to go hiking. We discovered a pleasant 20km lake side walk that ended at the beautiful Llao Llao hotel. According to the Lonely Planet, it served exquisite afternoon teas - a fine reward for the day's exertions...or it would have been. Confidently we strolled straight past the security guard at the grounds' entrance and up to the front door, only to be stopped and turned away by hotel management. We can only assume that they had been prewarned of the imminent arrival of two dishevelled backpackers by their spies at the gate! Disheartened by our apparent loss of ability to look at home in posh hotels, we got on the bus and went back to our hostel! Later we were relieved to find out it was our orientation, not our appearance, that was at fault, as the tea rooms were located in a separate building. Entrance to the hotel was for guests only - how they knew we weren't residents at Argentina's most exclusive hotel is beyond us! The following day, we took the cable car to the revolving restaurant at the top of Cerro Otto, where we spent several hours going round and round...and round...and round, looking out at fantastic views over Bariloche and the surrounding lakes and mountains. During this time we composed our Los Glaciares postcard - if some of its content seemed bizarre perhaps dizziness was to blame, or maybe it was the distraction of our surreal napkin conversation! Out of the blue, a napkin appeared against the window with a quirky comment on it. Unable to resist the urge to respond, we left one of our own and thus struck up a conversation with its Kiwi originators. Lunch and postcard finished, and many napkins later, we got up to leave. Like a role-reversed Prince Charming looking to find his Cinderella, we scoured the restaurant, but seeing only Ugly Sisters, we made a swift exit!!! The next day's activity took us to Villa La Angostura on the opposite side of the lake. We followed another of the Lonely Planet's recommended trails, this one taking us to a protected area of rare cinnamon-coloured arrayanes trees - very pleasant. Once again we were lucky with our choice of hostel - the Tango Inn had small (ie. few beds) ensuite dorms, great communal areas and a generally good vibe. We cooked on several occasions (eg. an amazing sausage casserole from a creative use of leftovers) and camped out watching videos with our fellow hostel-mates. "Wimbledon" and "Runaway Jury" got the thumbs up, but we chose not to stay for "Resident Evil 2"! We took the scenic route out of Bariloche and onto San Martin de los Andes via the "7 Lakes Drive". Richard, our Aussie friend (ex-Ushuaia/El Chalten) joined us on the trip. The motion of the bus sent us to sleep at various intervals. Fortunately, one of us was always awake to nudge the others and utter "lake!" each time we approached one, prompting the question, "What number's that then?" By the end of the journey, all of us were nicely rested and all lakes were accounted for! From San Martin, the three of us went on a hike to a viewpoint overlooking Lago Lacar, a hike that included several unplanned diversions...OK...we got lost!!! We were however kept entertained by Richard regaling us with stories of his beloved girlfriend back home and how they met whilst travelling...there's hope for us yet! We made another good choice of hostel, this one having the added bonus of an adorable attention-craving kitten. We were only too happy to oblige, at one point smuggling it into our room while we were packing. We just managed to resist the temptation to pack the kitten too! We finally found an acceptable route out of Argentina and across the Andes to Chile. This involved getting up before the crack of dawn to catch the 6am bus to Pucon. We were very pleased to have had the foresight to make sandwiches for the journey...until we were told on the bus no food could be taken into Chile and would be confiscated by customs officials. Having eaten breakfast at 5am, we then set to on our lunch at 7.30, convinced the customs officers were just after a free lunch! The conversation repeated inbetween mouthfuls went as follows, "They're not 'avin' it" "It's ours!" "We bought it!" "They can buy their own lunch!" We got through it all...they never did get any of it...well is WAS ours...we bought it...they should have bought their own lunch!!! More exciting adventures followed on the other side of the Andes...more on these in our next postcard, which will follow shortly...honest! Hope all is well with you! love, Zena & Kirstie