Stef and Matt

It took about 30 minutes to leave Bariloche:

• 10 minutes to figure out that I couldn’t put the car in reverse
• 5 minutes to get them to explain to me how to do it
• 15 minutes to actually drive out of town.

(In case you don’t know, I’ve been driving manual transmission cars almost exclusively for 15 years).

Here’s a couple of things I didn’t know about cars in South America until we were driving in Bariloche:

1. There is a special release handle on the shifter for reverse. You pull this in, and the gate that keeps the tranny from going into reverse opens, allowing you to go backwards. Once you know how it works, it’s really easy, but until then, it’s really frustrating.
2. Passing is allowed almost everywhere, especially in cities. In fact, most of the lines that indicate lanes (primarily opposing lanes) are either absent or faded from view. The trick is to do it smoothly enough…
3. Speed recommendations only apply to commercial vehicles (which have a special sticker on the back indicatig their maximum permissible speed; usually 90 or 110 kilometers per hour). At least, that’s the way everybody drives. Several times, I was passed on the 20kph dirt road – when I was doing around 70 (yes, it was very safe – just ask Stef, as she was in the passenger seat, and even commented on how dangerous the slower drivers were).

The 7 lakes route is really beautiful. It’s about 130 miles long, with a 30-mile dirt road section (that is mostly limited to 20kph).

We arrived in San Martin de Los Andes, checked into our hotel, and went in search of lunch. After lunch, we strolled around town, and checked out the lake that borders it. We had a great dinner, saw a cool local Easter parade (it was Holy Friday, after all), and got up the next morning, drove back to Bariloche, and got on a bus to head to the wine capital of South America, Mendoza…

See a few of our photos from San Martin de Los Andes (click through to see the rest):

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