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Published: March 5th 2007
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5 weeks in Argentina...we only originally planned to stay for 3 or 4 then head into Chile, but we loved it so much we decided to cut short the visit to Chile. Highlights in our tour of almost the entire country - the 8th largest in the world; and in my humble opinion one of the most diverse - included Mendoza, Iguazu Falls and the Glaciers.
We ended our journey in Bariloche in the Lake District, central Argentina. After 2 days of bus travel up Ruta 40 we arrived late evening in Mid-February (sorry dates are a blur...) and got a taxi to the hotel we had booked as we had no map and no address (my great planning!) only the name....it turned out that the hotel was just round the corner from where we had been dropped off. The taxi driver at least had the decency to look embarrassed when we arrived....
The hotel was nice, called Casita Suiza, and done up like a Swiz chalet, as most of the buildings were in that area. It was strangely like being in the Alps. We decided to stay for a few days and use Bariloche as a base. We
booked a few activities, and explored the town. Bariloche is situated on the edge of Lago Nahuel Huapi, a very large lake also surrounded by a Cordillera range in front of the Andes. A beautiful setting. The town itself was fairly touristy, but the best thing about it was the plethora of chocolate shops....wonderful!!!! (especially Mamoushka - the best). Needless to say we sampled one or two....yum, and wanted to bring some back for you all, but don't think they would have lasted another 3 months.....
We hired a car one day and drove around the lake towards a few more. It had snowed the night before - remember it is supposed to be summer here - and the snow capped peaks were a nice back-drop. We drove along ruta 40 (paved this time) for a short distance and eventually got to a mud road which really was the right way...thought we were going to get stuck in our hired Chevi...we even passed a landslide on the road after a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere. We drove towards a small village which was very picturesque. But it looked like it may rain, or snow again, so we
mini selection
Enough to make the mouth water. didn't stay too long - didn't fancy getting stuck out there lovely as it was. It was nice to have our own transport, even if it was only for a day...looking forward to NZ when we'll be free for nearly 5 weeks.
We spent a couple of days doing activities; one was a whole day of horseriding....which was good fun and out in the Steppe, south of Bariloche, which is Patagonian scenery, but more hilly, and a little greener. It was really beautiful when we were at the tops of the hills looking over the valleys, rivers, and snow topped mountains. There were 6 of us in our group, and the horses were all fairly calm, except when there was a possibility of trotting, or a gallop when they just wanted to go. It was fun, but fairly painful.....Pierre was especially feeling it - when he got off his horse there was a striking resemblance to the John Wayne walk. We had a morning of riding then a typical BBQ (Parrilla), and a rest...getting back on the horse was difficult and more painful than the morning.....Pierre has vowed never to sit on a horse again.....Think it has to be
done more frequently before the enjoyment factor kicks in!
The next day we went canopying in the morning - this was done up in the forest of ancient trees - very pretty. We were attached to couple of cables and were left to swing in the tree canopy...good fun after the first go, which was a little scary. In the afternoon we were driven to a smallish lake and went canoeing. They were 2 person kayaks - Mike and Louise would have enjoyed this - and we managed to navigate our way across the lake with me in the back in charge of the steering....bad move as we went all over the place!!! Stopped for coffee and alfajores (small Argentinian cakes/biscuits with jam or dulce de leche in the middle) and then paddled back (P and I swapped positions so he could steer...we went a little straighter). It was good fun, and with the sunshine on our backs really warm. Would be a nice place to go back to.
We took a (nother) bus from Bariloche out of the country - across the Andes to Chile. With the obligatory stops at border control, it only took 6
Another lake
Well this is the lake district... hours. By 9.30 pm we were in the port town of Puerto Montt and getting a lift to our next port of call....
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