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Published: February 23rd 2008
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A 6m wide tree
Photos don't do the size of this tree justice. It was amongst the forest we saw on our boat trip. This could be a long entry, since we spent 7 nights in Barriloche, which is longer than most of our stays.... After our fabulous time in El Bolson, we were ready for some more Lakes District fun in Bariloche, even though my cold was showing no signs of abating. We arrived at the hostel we had booked and were told that they had double-booked our room.... but they would pay for our taxi to another hostel that was brand-new.
We arrived at the other hostel very impressed - it was brand-new and had excellent facilities and a really great kitchen. Unfortunately it was all to downhill from there - the rooms were cold, very noisy and our particular room was right next to the front door which was busy all night and had a bright halogen light which shone straight onto my pillow! And the Israelis at our hostel were the most unpleasant part of our experience.. Like any big group travelling they monopolised the facilities, didn't clean their dishes and were noisy at all hours, yelling out to their friends on the other floor at top volume at about 2am! They were on the hostel's free internet most of
I know boats
Pete knows boats..... the day and night, and when I finally got a go, they had the nerve to hurry me up! After a couple of nights we'd had enough and by chance ran into our mate Paul from the dubious Futaleufú border crossing. He recommended his hostel, the much more pleasant La Bolsa, where we promptly moved.
After three or four days in Barriloche I was feeling better but still had a nasty cough. We decided that it was time to see some of the much-hyped attractions around Bariloche so we booked a ticket on a lake tour, thinking that a more low-energy activity might be best after such dreadful and still-lingering colds. We ended up having a good time but were the youngest on the boat by about 30 years!
As an aside, one of the more memorable images I have from Argentina was watching a group of six French travellers discuss their lunch while on the boat trip on the lake. The food in Argentina is mostly unhealthy and unimaginative (unless you're lucky), and the lunch at the cafeteria on the island was no exception. They popped the cork on their cheap bottle of red (how very french..),
Grease, anyone?
This pic sums up the menu at 90% of Argentinian restaurants. And the food doesn't always look this good either. then seconds later I saw one of them holding up a piece of manufactured ham in the drizzly, weak sunlight, then they all shook their heads in disbelief and disapproval!
Not to be disheartened by our so-so first experience of Barriloche's famous natural attractions, the next day we planned to catch the local bus to walk through about 5km of Barriloche's famous forest and lake shores. But some misleading bus maps and timetables (and maybe some assumptions in Spanish we shouldn't have made) meant that we never got close and ended up in the much-hyped Colonia Suiza, that of the fabled chocolate shops and lovely swiss-style chalets. The restaurants and the town turned out to be overpriced and totally devoid of patrons, let alone tourists (save for a few tight Isrelis who had brought their own lunch anyway). To make things even more disappointing, the bus only passes through Colonia Suiza every four and a half hours, so we were in for a long wait to get out again..... luckily we found a little shop selling boutique beers, so we sampled every one of their beers while waiting for the bus.
After a few dreadful experiences, including the
A cute waterfall
Seen from the boat 'misplacement' of Pete's phone, it was time to cut our losses and keep heading northwards in pursuit of more pleasureable experiences. We booked our bus ticket and decided to have a few wines to celebrate leaving Barriloche. I went to bed after finishing my share, but Pete decided to stick around and party on with some of our new friends at the hostel. Which wasn't a good idea because the next morning he couldn't go anywhere because of his vomiting! I have never seen anyone bring up bile like that before... so I think he must have had food poisoning to go with his alcohol poisoning. So we had to stay ANOTHER night after re-scheduling our bus ticket. I was definitely glad to get out of that place. To top off an already disappointing experience, our bus trip north to San Martín along the very picturesque Seven Lakes route was foggy and rainy, so we missed the chance to see the views on our way out as well. Lots of people come to Bariloche and have a fantastic time, but we weren't amongst them. Maybe we should head back there again sometime in the future in better health and with the knowledge of hindsight?
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