Llao-Llao

From Our Window

Bariloche is Argentina’s Lake Tahoe. Lot’s of lakes. Mountains high enough for skiing and lots of snow each year. The steep pitched roofs on most of the buildings tells you all you need to know about the peak snowfall.

Fly from BA to Bariloche

Agrentina has a lot going for it, but apparently good roads connecting BA with the interior is not on the list. Landing in Bariloche with 300 or so other sholder-season travelers tells a lot. The landscape around the airport is borderline desolate. Rocky, with not much growing on it. There are no farms or roving cattle in sight. (That’s all in the Pampas, north of BA).

If there is a road headed east to the coast, it is a rugged one. A 1000 mile hour drive we were told. But there are plenty of flights, especially in the winter ski season.

BA felt Spanish and Italian. A Mediterranean lifestyle. Bariloche is German, Austrian, Swiss. Very Alpine. The outdoor living, the lakes and hiking trails must have made central European immigrants feel at home in the big wave of European immigration around WWI. And there are more than enough places with serious custom made chocolate to demonstrate Swiss roots.

Hotel Llao-Llao

We stayed at the famous Hotel Llao-Llao, a great lodge in what I would call the Adirondack style. It was a little more than a half hour from the town, overlooking one of the lakes. It must have been popular with President Eisenhower, who was photographed golfing there sometime in the 1960’s. At this point it is a family friendly place, fairly self contained with serious hiking trails, golf and, in season, fly fishing. 

The hotel is a comfortable place to hang out, with a nice lounge, Argentinian wine, a pleasant happy hour every afternoon and a friendly staff. Everyone enjoyed their stay here, but it felt like going back in time about 40 years. Some of that was charming and some was a signal that an update was overdue.

Hotel Llao Llao

Carry Ons Only

We had a washer and dryer in the house, so our plan was to pack light. Bathing suits, tee shirts and sandals for the day time. And no need for jackets in even the best restaurants. We settled on one shared laptop – the house had a good  wifi connection - and the kid’s ever present DS’s for in flight sanity.  It helps that the temperature was, as predicted, between 75 and 83 for the entire week – and no rain. We were all set.

St Martin Airport

A four hour flight, don’t stop at the luggage carousel because its all carry on, and by mid afternoon we were meeting the St Martin rental rep for a 15 minute drive to the house. Everybody is friendly, speaks American English and takes dollars (or Euros or ?).

House and Cars Are  Ready

Part of the rental agency service is an initial supply of the essentials in the refrigerator – beer, soda, coffee, chips and bread. We pre-ordered just enough to take us through one breakfast. The other big time saver was the rental car. We had two Toyotas waiting for us at the house when we got there. (Two was a lot more practival than one car big enough for six and gave us the flexability to split up during the week).

The Grandkids Approved

We had a good idea what to expect from our on-line research, but the grandkids were in wide eyed explorer mode. It was an instant hit, starting with the pool.

Chitzen Itza the Day Before the Equinox

Three generations of Hoeys headed for the Riviera Maya about 50 miles south of Cancun. It was spring break for George and Anna and the end of winter for the rest of us. There were more than enough 8 and 10 year olds in the pools and on the beach at our hotel to keep the kids amused and intrigued for all of their waking hours.
Being good parents/grandparents we needed to make this a special experience for all. We had been to the Mayan site at Tulum on earlier trips and read about, but had never seen the bigger one at Chichen Itza. First step, we called the AMEX Vacations office and lined up a good van and driver. We connected with a college educated guide who made a big difference in our understanding of what we were seeing.
 

The Drive across Yucatan

Once we got away from the beach we saw that this part of the Yucatan is pretty nasty. It was hot. The land is primarily limestone and there are no rivers and streams that run above ground. So we saw very few farms, not much vegetation bigger than bushes and not many people for an hour or so. Then it was another hour on the main road. There has been a lot of road building here recently and most of the roads are decent.
The drive is absolutely worth it. The site is huge and well maintained by the Mexican Government. Dominating the center of Chichén is the Temple of Kukulkan. This is a spectacular step pyramid, one of the biggest man-made structures in the world when it was built by the Mayans somewhere around 800 AD.

 
Spring Equinox and the Serpent

The design is connected to the Mayan calendar. Each of the four faces has 91 steps to the top platform. Counting the top platform as an additional step gives a total of 365 steps.
This calendar connection matters at spring break time. We were there just two days before the spring equinox. This is show time at the pyramid – and the day that draws some big crowds. On the spring and fall equinox the angle of the afternoon sun creates shadows that appear to slither down the steps on the side of the pyramid, ending at the big stone serpent’s head at the base of the stairs.

It is almost as memorable a day or two before and after the equinox and not crowded. Two days ahead of the crowd, it’s a great place to take pictures.

 
A Long Half Day Stop

While this is spectacular, there is a whole city here, reclaimed from the jungle. Temples, the Great Ball Court, lots of stuff.  The Cenote Sagaro, at 200 feet across, is one of the largest of the sinkholes that occur in this limestone country. We spent a half day here, were worn out at the end, and could have done more. The grandkids enjoyed it and so did the rest of the family.