South America Day 24 - Bariloche

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Today we return to El Calafate for our flight to Bariloche. It’s 125 miles to the airport but Hertz insist the car is returned with a full tank which adds a further 20 miles to our drive. The distance between things is difficult for a Brit to get used to. It’s also 130 miles between toilets. But that’s another story…

We set off at 7.15 am. It’s a remote road with nothing except lake one side and pampas on the other. In the first hour we pass 4 cars, 3 guanacos, 2 rhea and a grey fox.

We have worked out a way to halve our excess baggage fines. This involves checking a piece of hand luggage and using a bag-for-life for carry on items - the height of sartorial elegance. Sadly, I’ve had to ditch my not insubstantial collection of hotel toiletries. We had to turn 2 x 20 kg into 3 x 15 and have ended up with 17, 14 and 8. She thinks about it for some considerable time but finally concedes there is no more money to be made here today.

Bariloche, 700 miles to the north, is in the Argentinian Lake District on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi. We finally reach our hotel on the outskirts of town at 4 pm. It’s a beautiful resort style hotel overlooking the sapphire blue lake and the Andes.

Everything about Villa Huinid is nice but the three best things are; (1) the view, (2) the chips which come tossed in paprika with paprika and black garlic mayo and (3) the bath. I haven’t had a bath in 24 days so a bath is a source of great excitement. And this is no ordinary bath, it’s a jacuzzi bath. After possibly the world’s longest bath, I emerge having learned an important lesson; one small bottle of conditioner can create an enormous amount of bubbles!

We round off the day with a wander round pretty little Bariloche with its alpine style buildings and plethora of chocolate shops.

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