Around Argentina - Buenos Aires and the Best of Argentina - page 295

( 428-822) has two buses daily to El Bolsón .

El Bolsón is a laid back town, 3½ hours away
via a rough road, surrounded by fruit orchards.
KoKo is another bus company that has routes
throughout the Lake Region.

Crossing to Chile

The Chilean Lake Region , just over the
Andean range, is the mirror image of the
Argentine. Several bus companies make the
crossing to Osorno and Puerto Montt, the major
towns in the Chilean Lake Region. Contact Tas
Choapa at Moreno 138 ( 2944-426-663 or

Cruz del Sur at San Martín 453 ( 2944-424-

044). To make an adventure of the crossing you
can do it by boat/bus, which takes a lot longer
(two days) but is relaxing and scenically stun-
ning. The boat crosses Lake Nahuel Huapi and
then you overnight in Peulla, Chile. On the sec-
ond day you cross Lake Todos Los Santos and
board buses for the ride to Puerto Montt. Con-
tact Catedral Turismo at Mitre 399 ( 2944-

425-443 or fax [phone].

Winterin Bailoche

Cerro Tronador (“thunderer”), an extinct vol-
cano with a peak at 11,725 feet above sea level,
is snow-capped year-round. Although no longer
active, it still makes the “thunder” sound it was
named for. It's actually the thunderous noise of
ice sliding down the mountain from one of the
glaciers on its peak. Ski “nuts” do ski on
Tronador in August but it has no lifts. I leave