Bariloche

Moving on from Mendoza it was a short overnight trip to Bariloche (or to be more accurate San Carlos de Bariloche), 16 to 18 hrs if memory serves me correctly..... with some fabulous scenery on the way. This part of the country really reminds me of New Zealand - snow capped mountains, dazzling azul lakes and enough sporting options that you can shake a stick at.

The hostel of choice this time was a little place called Marcopoloinn on Salta, highly recommended if anyone is in a mind to go. Very sociable little place with a dangerous little bar! More about that later.....

Bariloche sits in the foothills of the Andes and is one of the most popular places to go skiing in Argentina - in fact due to a late winter I just missed the slopes, they only closed the week before I arrived. It is consistently likened to a swiss ski resort and whilst I haven´t been to one of those I can imagine the comparison to be accurate in that the hotels, restaurants, etc have that ski lodge feel to them and of course the snow capped mountains help as well! Bizarrely enough there are also a lot of St Bernards around....just in case you get lost in the mountains and need a little nip of brandy to keep you warm until the rescuers arrive (or possibly to enable the toursits to take ´cute´photographs and part with a few pesos for the privledge).

Here´s the official blurb: ¨Bariloche is located on the shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake, 770 metres above sea level. It is 1650 km from Buenos Aires and has a population of approximately 100,000 inhabitants, making it the biggest city in the province. Bariloche is one of the most important tourist resorts in Argentina with around 1,000,000 tourists visiting it every year, which has lead to the city being home to the most important tourist centre in Patagonia. The city also has the ‘Cerro Cathedral’, which is one of the most popular snow skiing resorts in South America¨.

That may give you an idea of the temperature - it was bloody cold! Not what I was expecting it has to be said, I even had to go and buy some gloves and even if I say so myself - a very stylish hat (think balaclava.....). It also sits at the top of the region of Patagonia which is world famous for its more southern delights. Anyway back to the weather - how windy! Some days it was a real struggle to walk down the street, really could have blown you of your feet if you´re not weighed down like me with a few layers of the old blubber (it took a lot of work to get into this very fine shape....). I think the funniest sight relating to this was seeing a girl have her glasses blown off and then running down the street after them trying to find them whilst being basically blind! I did step in to help once I had managed to stop laughing, she was ever so grateful.

So things to do....well there´s a 60km cycle track you can do around the lake which I attempted to do and then the good old wrecked body stepped in and stopped me yet again. Did something to my coccyx bone and had to turn back after 12km´s and spent the next 5 days in severe pain, particularly when attempting to stand up or sit down! Amusing eh? Well not really but since I had done the same in New Zealand I knew it wasn´t too serious and that it would pass soon enough and sure enough it did.

So what´s a girl to do when its difficult to stand up and sit down? Well walk a lot obviously! So that´s what I did - walked my little legs off and then rested them with a beer or 2 at the end of the day. Met some wicked people in Bariloche and had a great laugh with them - so much so that I´m still in contact with a few of them and have bumped into others as I continue my travels - always nice to see a familiar face and all that.

Now mother don´t get excited....it was also the place of my first romantic liasion in Argentina but as with the nature of travelling that´s long over as we headed off in different directions! Still a nice way to spend a week!

Now due to the old pain in the ass I didn´t get to do all I wanted here but the options are: climbing, white water rafting, mountain biking, trekking, trips and camping in the mountains, eating chocolate a plenty and boat trips out on the lake. There are 7 main lakes in the region and it is also the starting point for Ruta 40 - probably the most famous driving route in the country.

Well that was my Bariloche - next stop Puerto Madyrn.

Again I´ll mention some people so I don´t forget (age creeping up on me and all that): Kara, Carola, Becca, Ian, Joanna, Roc, Fabien & Juan.