Week 9 - Bariloche and Mendoza

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The long road north.

The original plan was to head north and then into Chile, but the earthquake made us think otherwise. Instead we left El Calafate in Argentina and spent two days in a bus heading to the town of San Carlos de Bariloche. The buses passed over the Patagonian Steppe up the legendary Route 40 - the road travelled by Che Guevara in his youth. The landscape was essentially the same for 48 hours until we reached the outskirts of Bariloche and entered the Argentinian Lake District.

We spent two days in the Bariloche. On the first day we took a bus to part of the Lake District and hired bikes. We spent the rest of the day cycling around the countryside, stopping occasionally for photos, coffees, and food. On the second day we hired a car and drove part of the Seven Lakes Route. The scenary was beautiful, however most of the route was on dirt roads and at times I really doubted whether we would get the car back in one piece!

Next stop was Mendoza - wine capital of Argentina. After half a day spent looking around the city, we awoke the next day and took a wine tour of the surrounding area. The tour included visiting three vineyards and an olive oil farm. We were picked up and taken for lunch and wine tastings at a vineyard called La Garda. After quite a bit of wine, followed by more wine at lunch, Tracy and I were pretty drunk, by the time the driver came to take us to the next place. More vineyards and tastings (drinking) followed - if it hadn't been for the olive oil farm stop Tracy and I could have had difficulty getting in and out of the bus. One more vineyard and a little restraint and we managed to shuffle back to our hostel in one piece.

And that was the end of Argentina. Next up Chile!

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Comments

[Yonica]

WOW
Tracy what an amazing trip you guys have been having, I enjoy reading your updates!!