Cruce del Lagos and Bariloche...back to Argentina

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Now we undertook the expensive alternative trip back to Argentina........the Cruce Del Lagos......(Crossing the lakes). Expensive but worth every peso. The views were amazing and to be travelling on mostly catamarans, with a bit of bus made a very welcome change to the previous 3 weeks of travel. The only slight put-off to the trip was we had been transported into an American retirees´ travel tour bus (they being the majority of people who can afford these luxuries), so we felt we´d lost a bit of our adventurous explorer status (but do not fear we more than made up for this with our next trip!).

Cruce de Lagos leaves Puerto Montt by bus pasing through the town of Puerto Varis.....where the majority of the people travelling got on. The bus then heads into a National Park, Petrohue where we walked to some cascades.....in reality it was a comfort stop for our travelling companions and an opportunity to blow some of their hard earned on perennial tourist favourites, alpaca jumpers! From there is was back on the bus to the port where we hoppped aboard our first vessel and spend 2 hours crossing Lago Todos los Santos to the tiny town or Puella. The views as you travel this section are amazing and the lake itself is a deep emerald colour. The lakes aren´t shallow either being some 200m deep in parts! We lunched in Puella where we had some time to kick around. The town has about 150 permanent residents and is basically cut off other than by unmade roads and the ferry traffic. It is also the point where you do your Chilean Emmigration.

After lunch we hopped back on the bus, got stamped out of Chile and drove over the Andes Mountain range to Puerto Frias, crossing into Argentina in the process. At this point it started raining! Not heavy though and we got on board another ferry to takes for an hour from Puerto Frias to Puerto Allegrae. This lake was different to the previous lake. Where Lago Todos los Santos has been a clear green colour, Lagos Frias was an eirie opaque green colour and despite the rain it was dead calm. The terrain surrounding the lake is all steep embankments and tall cliff and thick woodland.

At Puerto Allegrae it was a short bus trip to Puerto Blest where we boarded our final boat for the day. This last ferry leg is on Lagos Nahuel Huapi. This is the lake which Bariloche is on and though weary we thoroughly enjoyed the journey! Words struggle to describe the vistas but adjectives like emerald coloured lakes, dense green foliage, dramatic moutain scenery are generally usefull words which sum up the day. Where 8 hours on a highway would have seemed drab and dull, the time seemed to fly as we skipped from bus to ferry to bus to ferry to bus to ferry and finally to bus into Bariloche. There is something fantasic about being outside on a boat as opposed to being couped up in a bus and whilst pricey it was worth! it.

The trip brought us to arrive in the wonderful town of Barriloche......with lakes, chocolate, tango, woodfired BBQs and the boys´ favourite....the choripan! Its funny how different towns appeal to different people. I think I can safely say that all three of us loved Bariloche and the time we spent there. The town itself is perched on the edge of a lake in the heart of the Argentinia lake district. All around are moutains and mountain towns. The buildings in Bariloche are Savoie Valley style and it is the South American equivalent of Belgium as Bariloche chocolates are well renowned! Touristy, yes, but not in a terribly tacky way....and anyway when you are staying in hostels you are never far away from salt of the earth travellers.

Our time in Bariloche can be summarised best by Timir an Israeli guy who was in our dorm.....probably one of the most energetic guys we have met so far. The night we arrived he organied an asado (Argie BBQ) and we trooped down to the minimercado to buy some cuts of meat (2.5 kgs in all..well there were 6 of us!) and half a dozen Chorizos mmmm. The Asado is less about the food and more about the convesation and social aspect. The meat is not cut into steaks, but cooked almost as a roasting lump of meat. The result is it takes ages to cook allowing plenty of time to sip wine, beer and have long conversations. When the meat was cooked though, aftermuch anticipation it really was amazing and certainly something we´ll be trying once we return! Given that we all pt in the equivalent of about GBP 5 each for meat, beers and wine it kind of make up a little for the splurge to get to Bariloche!

When not hanging out with Timir we managed to find the Choripan man and queue 45 mins for a Chorizo hot dog (Choripan)...believe me it was worth it. We also managed to spend time in a cholcoate shop leaving with the remakably small half a kg of chocolate between us and even took the chairlift up to Cerro Campangno for more views of the lakes (just cant get enough of them) and mountains. Perhaps though the most enjoyable thing though was the free, tango lessons which we managed to find. At Anns insistence we went as a group for a walk along the lake. At Timirs insistence we peered into the community centre and partook in local tango lessons. The instructor was wonderful, managing to communicate instructions througha smattering of Spanish we could understand and actions.......now Ann and I are probably not going to be on Dancing with the Stars, but hey we know the basics and now just need to refine our turns and sense of rythm!

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