Entonces. (so in spanish) I left Mendoza around 900 on wed night and hopped on a two level bus on my way to Neoquen. These buses down here are no greyhound. They are luxury for a bus. We had a nice dinner and then I managed to instantly fall asleep. When I awoke we were already in Neoquen after a 12 hr journey. I got a cab at the bus station and took off to the airport in search of my rental car. Lined up a top of the line Ford Tatoo, which is probably the smallest car I have ever drove. Got some vague directions from the guy at the counter along with a map and hit the road to Alumine.
This ended up being about a 4 hr journey, but it went by really fast. The changing scenery in the are kept my attention for the whole trip. This country is vast and open. Its similar to a Montana landscape, just bigger. I traveled on pavement for half of the way and then took a rough gravel the rest. Every time we got into a rough part of the road I found my self praying that a tire wouldn't pop. (when I refer to we I am talking about me and tatoo..we have gotten close after my 1200 or so kilometers with her and shes more than a car to me now)
I got to Alumine around 100 and somehow found the cable tower in town where I was suppose to 
meet up with a guy amed Joey who is a fishing guide in the area from the us. Had lunch at the local diner as he told me about where to go and kind of how to fish the areas. From the start he told me I would be better off to hire a guide for part of the trip. At this point in time I was full of enthusiasm and thought there was no way I would need a guide to catch trout. Reed doesn't use a guide for fishing. Never.... 3 days later and Ill be the first to admit I was wrong. Very Very Wrong. I got my fishing license and a couple flies from a make shift fly shop in the hotel and headed to the Quillen River. I fished for a couple hours and hooked zippo. It looked like a great river but it was tough to access the right holes and spots to fish with all the willows along the bank. That along with I'm not as good of a fly fisherman as I thought equals no fish for my first day. (The picture, From Neoquen on my way to Alumine, I had to take a very rough gravel road for 2 hrs of the trip. This is part of it where it drops straight down into the valley. The drive was amazing. The vastness was amazing)
In typical Reed fashion I decided to move south to the next river called the Malleo. That would be the spot for me. I got to Junin De Los Andes around 900 and stopped at 5 hotels and hosterias looking for a room. Full, Full, Full and More Full. This sucked. All I wanted was a nice bed. Instead I found a nice spot to park along a busy road and a passenger seat of a Ford Tattoo. How nice. I woke up the next morning around 7 and headed to the river. It was really similar to the last one, but I managed to catch about 5 small trout in the morning. I have this image in my mind of what the rivers and fishing are suppose to be like down here and up to this point I have not been able to match them up yet, so what is the answer. Drive south.
I made it to St Martin De Los Andes around 2 and tried again for a couple hotels and full they were. 
Instead of screwing around longer I took off to go fishing on the famous Chimmuin River. After trudging though dense briar and willows to access the river I came upon a huge river. Not the best for wade fishing I can assure you. I did end up walking down stream for a mile of so to try and find a spot to fish, but it was just to big. I attempted to fish in a couple spots but coming close to being swept down the river ruined that Idea. Frustration really set in at this point as all of my dreams about fishing this country have been shattered. I sat on the bank for an hour trying to figure out how I will salvage this fishing experience. Do I get a guide. No too expensive, do I stop fishing and just site see, no cant give up that easy, or do I head south in search of the rivers of my dreams, Great idea.
I stayed over night in St Martin de los andes at the local campground in my car once again. That night after a refreshing shower I went out to eat and then headed for the local casino to try my hand at Black Jack. I had 2 hrs of good entertainment where I managed to lose 150 pesos (50 buck) Well worth my time. It was here that I met up with Pablo and his wife lo. At around 2 we headed to a Irish pub in town which was just rockin. Stayed until around 6 in the morning and had a blast. I slept in a bit the next morning and then took off for a drive to the Traful River.
This was a magnificent drive through the mountains, most of which was on gravel roads. I dint think the tattoo was very happy with me after this one. It was about a 3 hr journey up and down the forested mountain road with lakes and rivers mixed along the way. Oh yeah and tons of hitch hikers. I have never seen more hitch hikers in all my life. There mostly kids in there 20s on vacation just hiking around the andes mountains area. I bet Ive passed 1000s. If my car wasn't so full of stuff I probably would of picked up some of the groups of girls I have see. For Sure.
I got to the river Traful around 530 and had high expectations, with poor results. The river was a unique agua blue color and crystal clear. I knew it held fish, but access was difficult and tough to get in to wade. Though the river was only 20-40 feet wide I bet it was constantly over 6 ft deep. I got skunked once again and was ready to head even further south to the town of Bariloche.
Bariloche is the largest city in this area. Probably around 100K. Its the main tourist area in
Patagonia and for good reason. It has a stunning landscape of snow peaked mountains and a huge lake on the edge of town. I got in late again and drove around 10 miles down the strip looking for a hotel. I passed some of the most magnificent lodges and cabins I have ever seen, but didn't have those in my budget. I finally found a decent (at best) hotel for around 40 a night. I could of cared less how nice it was at this point as long as it has a bed and shower. It was 3 days since I slept in a bed. Showered up, had a magnificent tenderloin filet at a Irish pub and hit the sack.
I spent most of the night and this morning figuring out a game plan for the rest of my 20 days in this part in Argentina. I think I have came to a conclusion on some sort of plan. South of year is a lot more remote with some different type of fishing. I think I'm going to travel down there and give fishing a valiant effort for the next 10 days and explore the area with tattoo. After that I will come back to Bariloche return my rental car and head south on a bus to Calafate which is where one of the worlds last advancing glaciers is along with the park where they almost filmed lord of the rings. You can imagine the scenery in that place. after that I will take a bus down to Ushaia and get a guide to fish the Rio Grade River which holds the largest sea run browns in the world. Fr
om here I will fly back to BA and get my visa lined up for a trip to Brazil for carnival. Who knows this schedule will probably change a lot between now and then.
Today I think I'm going to try to find this place to Bungee jump off this high bridge and then head south to find my fishing paradise or not. Ill try my best and at worst see some amazing country
