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Published: April 5th 2008
We arrived in Bariloche following a 32 Hour bus Journey from El Chalten. We had heard a lot of good things about bariloche and were really looking forward to spending a few days there. Bariloche is a picturesque town surrounded by lakes and mountains. It is considered the home of chocolate in Argentina so after a few days in the Fitz Roy Mountains in El Chalten we were looking forward to indulging. There are not only many shops here dedicated soley to chocolate but whole supermarkets! The problem is knowing what to eat as there is every type of chocolate imaginable. In the interest of consistency and fairness we decided that it would be prudent to sample chocolate from every shop in the town.. a tough job but someone had to do it..
We were staying in a really cool hostel called 41 Below and there was a great atmosphere here, where we met many people including plenty of other travellers from Irlanda. To really appreciate Bariloche though, you have to get out of town and up into the hills and mountains which surround the town and the surrounding lakes. We took a 25Km Mountain bike tour of this area.
The views over Lake Lopez and Lake Moreno Aesta were truly spectacular and we sat on the shore of one of the smaller lakes to have our lunch. It was a very hilly 25Km and its fair to say Maire enjoyed the down hill stretches more than the climbs.. We both had sore arses for the rest of the day after it anyway.
The following day I went on a Flyfishing trip to a river called "The Little Stream" about 50 miles from Bariloche. The river was full of fish. I caught some lovely brown trout, the biggest 4lbs and plenty of other decent ones. After the fishing the guide organised a lunch of wild boar, smoked trout, deer, salami and olives (a little bit different than the ham sandwiches and flask of tea which I normally bring fishing at home). On the way back to town I passed an Eagle on the side of the road with a rabbit under its claw which it was about to have for dinner. There were plenty of eagles, Condors and vultures to been seen in Patagonia. On our last day in Barlioche we climbed the Cerro Campanero mountain. We could have
taken the chair lift but decided to walk it to save a few Pesos... the lengths us backpackers must go. We had a very nice meal in Albertos Restaurant. The meats are cooked over a tradition grill and the food was really really nice.
On Tuesaday we arrived in Mendoza which is a fairly big city in Argentina and is most famous as the wine capital of Argentina. 70% of the wine produced in Argentina comes form Vineyards and winerys in and around mendoza. After taking or first day here to recover from the long bus journey, we went on an organised wine tour the following morning. On this tour we visited a traditional winery, a more modern commercial winery and a liquor producer. Needless to say wine-tasting was part of the tour and it was very enjoyable. It was very interesting to learn something about the science involved in producing wine. The most famous and best wine in Mendoza is Malbec. The wine here in mendoza is so inexpensive to buy. Following the tour of the wineries we were brough to another winery called Cava de Cano where we were served a traditional Mendoza meal. This meal consisted
of a very large "Appertiser Buffet" followed by several courses of traditional dishes. Lashings of wine were served with the meal so we needed a Siesta on return to the Hostel.
We were told that no visit to Mendoza was complete without a horse-riding trip in the mountains. We spend Friday Morning on Horseback in the Mendoza Hills under a glaring sun. It was really good fun and while our horses seemed more interested in eating grass that galloping maybe we were better off that way. Tomorrow we catch a bus to santiago, Chile. Argentina has been a great experience and we have loved it.
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Enda Scahill
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That's a fine lump of a fish. The trip sounds incredible, although I'm not sorry I missed that 32 hour bus journey! I don't even know about ham sandwiches and tea, all I usually manage fishing is a bottle of water and a Mars bar, i'd take the boar and smoked trout any day!