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Published: November 9th 2008
A room with a View!
The view I got from my room.I struggled with sleep on my first night here and have done so since the beginning of my trip. I reckon, on this occasion, it must have been the wind from the lake. So when I opened my curtains on the first morning in my room, I was greeted with a wonderful lake view with an amazing moutain backdrop! Naturally, I took tons of photos and came to a conclusion that I would never get a better view like this elsewhere especially paying 20 GBP per night for the room. Even the sunset in the evenings is worth noticing too.
Lakes and Moutains Bariloche is blessed with lakes and mountains. However, I felt I was spoilt when doing the cruce de Lagos as I saw most of the local lakes when making our way to Bariloche from Puerto Frias. However, one morning, I joined a Spanish speaking Circuito Chico tour touring Bariloche´s environs. I was able to grasp bits of what the guide/driver was saying so it means my Spanish is improving! We saw the highlights such as the Llao Llao hotel and Puerto Pañuelo (again) where I saw and disembarked respectively from
Rainbow!
This is what I saw on my first morning! the lakes crossing; Capilla San Eduardo; Colonia Suiza and at the beginning of the tour, we rode up Cerro Campanario for a ride up to the top. The views were stunning although cold, rainy and windy. What did not help matters was that I forgot my hat and gloves. The weather was temperamental at times even if the sun shone.
Another morning I went up Cerro Otto. I was picked up downtown and dropped off at the cable car station. We rode to the top and we were rewarded with stunning views. I preferred those views than from the other Cerro. Plus, the weather was more positive although very windy and, yes, I remembered to bring my hats and gloves, and they came in very handy! I was lucky to go up because a couple of my friends wanted to go up following my recommendations but, unfortunately, they could not go up because the cable car station was closed thanks to the strong winds.
I did something else that was not lakes and mountains. On my last day in Barlioche, I went to the Patagonian Museum, which was interesting. It featured Francisco Moreno whose discoveries and influences made
Close up!
Used my telephoto lenses. what Patagonia is today. There is a glacier further South named after him. There were contributions on pre-history, ethnography and local history, which contributed to the development of Patagonia. It was very interesting despite the presentations being in Spanish but I was given an English guide/map to assist me.
Chocolate Bariloche is inudated with chocolate shops. Being a chocoholic, I was in heaven. I made my pilgrimage to the chocolate shops and their cafes. My favourite one is the Abuela Goya, a Patagonian chocolate shop/cafe chain, and had my daily hot chocolate there. This is a chocolate shop/cafe I highly recommend to anyone going to Bariloche. There are many others and I made sure I tried one or two places but I felt they were not on par with Abuela Goya. Maybe I am biaised but I am missing her like crazy!
Wind and Rain As I expected, we had typical mountain weather ranging from sunshine to rain and wind especially from the lakes and top of the Cerros. On minute, the sky would be clear with sunshine but the next minute, the sky would be cloudly with rain and wind. The last day of my
stay in Bariloche was the worst weather I had so far on my trip with constant winds and rain. The order of that day was either to chill out at the hostel and/or drink hot chocolate in the chocolate shops/cafes.
Friendships I met some cool and like minded travellers from the UK (Alison, Gareth, Judith (whom I met previously in Puerto Varas) and Giselle; Cuba (Henry); Camilla (Columbia); Italy, Spain, Holland, Australia and Canada. Alison, Gareth and I went out one evening to a local Irish bar, which was great. I met up with Judith for chocolate shopping and tasting in which we spent bulk of the time at Abuela Goya drinking hot chocolate and cognac. It just proves that solo and independent travelling is not lonely and isolated! A big thanks to everyone whom I met and making my travels in Barlioche and beyond enjoyable!! Happy travels!!
After having a few days of lakes, mountains and chocolate, I returned to Chile.
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Abby
non-member comment
Glad you are not alone
Hi Dawn, Just been catching up on your blog! I am so pleased to hear that you have made friends - especially as they have the same interests as you. Look forward to catching up face to face when you back to the UK! Lol, Abby XXXX