Bariloche

Jan 3
Sad to be leaving Pucon but happy to be heading back to Argentina, our early morning bus to Bariloche allowed us to see a little more of Chile than originally bargained for..the bus stopped for two hours in the small town of Osorno, which was interesting to see because it was thusfar the only non touristy Chilean town we had visited..a little grungy, and somewhat dirty, Chile´s gap between rich and poor was more evident here.  The streets surrounding the bus station were slightly greyer than san pedro´s red sandy streets, the plazas not as well kept or green as pucon´s and the fruit stalls on the streets not as fresh as Santiagos´! We located the shopping centre as we needed to refill on suncream (a very annoying additional but unsacrificable expense) and again, similar to the South side shopping centre in La Paz, this place was back to expensive shops, American style enormous pharmacies and expensive coffee houses.

As far as we could see an afternoon in Osorno was enough.  We boarded our next 6 hour bus to Bariloche, and I thanked God, as I do on every bus trip, for the invention for Sturgeron travel tablets.  The bus jouney into Bariloche was one of the most beautiful so far.  The beauty of Argentina´s Lake district is hard to describe, but the sun shimmering on huge lakes, the green coniferous mountains and the sandy lakeshore beaches certainly make the town memorable, aswell as the Swiss style houses making it appear somewhat more small and quaint than the bustling wealthy tourist town it is. Once we arrived in Bariloche we knew this would be a place we would have no problem staying a few days in.  We located our Marcopolo Hostel which was slightly frustrating in that it had so many steps to reach it but worth it for the view the balcony had over the lake when we reached the top!

Bariloche is a cholcolate and ice-cream filled middle size town, tne biggest in the lake district that is known as the Switzerland of Argentina, with many shops selling clocks, and saint bernard dogs wandering around the mountain and lake landscape.  We splashed out more than once on chocolate and cocunut ice-cream for me and Mascarpone for Ciara.

The hostel we stayed in was again one of the better ones..mainly becuase it offered free dinners every night.  The first day was fried potatoes and chorizo and the second something that resembled shephards pie, only alot more mushy..needless to say me and Ciara were in our element , though we didnt fail to notice the horrified looks and untouched plates of the other tourists.  Having spent two nights in Bariloche we had sussed out the scene re camping and trekking in the Naheul Huapi National Park. The only thing I would say here is that the parks are definately more do-able if one is driving ,as the buses only go to limited places..Me and Ciara were hitting ourselves that one of us had not got off our ass earliar to learn how to drive so that we could rent a car.  Certainly a car is definately the way to do Chile´s South Torres Del Paine, which we will remember the next time we come back for a visit.  Not to worry though, we were ready for Day three in the district to finally explore the mountains and camp out by Frey lake.. however the cheapness of the red wine in Marcopolo bar and some really good music led to a night that ended a little too late to consider going treking two hours later..one more day in Bariloche to chill out by the lake eating ice-cream and buying some braid accessories.

Day four we set off for Frey, a beautiful walk along the lake and then deep into the winding forests.  The trail was fantastic, including many hop skip and a jump on stones across little rivers, and walks along tree trunks and around nice ups and downs that kept the walk interesting the whole way along.  The sun was hot however and for that reason we struggled slightly with the last half hour of the 4 hour trek, particularly because it was mostly upwards. It was worth it however becuase the view at the top and the small lake was most beautiful, reflecting the sky and trees around it, which made for some nice photos.  After setting up the tent, we tucked into our egg-fried rice, which has become the new staple of our trip (apart from empanadas) and some beer that I was delighted to be drinking as much to take some of the weight out of the bags.  A long evening and not much to do, Ciara leant the in´s and out´s of the card game 110, so for the next family gatherings visit she will be able to play with parters, a very worthwhile endeavor!

The night was cold, but not as cold as the Inca trail, Ciara slept soundly (the scouting and camping experience in her) while the hard ground and I were certainly not friends in the morning! On the bright side I was able to get up for sunrise at the lake which was unbeatable. The trek back down was much easiar, and made even better when Ciara spotted a group of Scouts in front of us and stopped them to converse (quite successfully) in Spanish that she too was a Scout and that her troup had the same wolf emblem as the group, taking some funny photos with the thirty or so scouts and the big flag centre stage.

Two more nights of Marcopolo dinners and some more fun with the unbelieable Marcolpolo staff, particularly, Lilly and Fernando.  The ´moving bar´next door was visited once again, with as many two for one´ stolen vouchers that we could stuff in our pockets.  We have met lots of Argentinians on holiday as January is holiday season, which is a nice thing but also puches the price of the hostels up to 15 euro!  Turns out some of the Argentinian men on two week holidays with their mates can be just as in your face as big groups of Irish lads holidays, though much more forward!  So on Sat we left our dear Marcopolo friends, and not so dear roommates, and headed off to El Bonson, a hippy town just 3 hours away..