Blogs from Río Negro, Argentina, South America - page 18

Ah, Bariloche, my home away from home. I'd visited in February and March, summer and then in mid-May, fall and had hoped to spend winter there as snow covered its picturesque log and stone buildings, photogenically set on the 100-km long Lake Nahuel Huapi. However, this was not to be as in June, the Puyehue Volcano in Chile covered my beloved Bariloche with ashes and not snow. Having left books, summer clothes and friends there, I'm sure to return. Bariloche is in Argentina's Lake District and is surrounded by the Andes and lots of forested lakes. It's a world class ski resort, and its alpine architecture and culture reflect this with St. Bernards in the plaza, Swiss fondue and hotels named after European and American ski resorts. Outside of ski season, it's still an outdoor playground. ... read more

Hola chicos and chicas, It has been a fantastic start to Patagonia here in San Carlos de Bariloche. We arrived about an hour or so late from Iguazu after two buses, the third of which (from Buenos Aires to here) was the best so far, it even had a vegetarian option for Alex, surprising in this nation of carnivores, some of whom eat meat three times a day! We were greeted by Konrad (he doesn´t like being called Uncle!) at the bus station which is just out of the ciy centre and drove about 3 kilometres to his house, where I met Julie and Nils for the first time in about 14 years! After a lunch of empanadas (yum!) we had a tour of the house and garden which are both fantastic, but the best ... read more

Sun kissed greetings from Bariloche, After nearly a week of relaxing in the lake district, making camp fires, getting drunk and staying up til sunrise its almost time to move on. This place has been pretty cool, we found a secluded spot by the side of one of the lakes which we pretty much made home for the most part of our stay. Seeing as the location is so beautiful and almost pre-historic, a sort of de-volution took place within our bodies, meaning that we decided to build camp fires every day to charcoal our freshly slain cows and fish, constructed a totem pole to thank the spirits for our food and then fall asleep in the heat from the fire in the sky. When the sun dipped and we were forced to return to the ... read more

Tie-dye me up and dreadlock me down; it was down the rabbit hole I went to El Bolson, a thriving hippie town of artisans, musicians, organic food, recycling, and hand-made everything. Located at the junction of Patagonia and the Lake District, it is fabulously sited in a fertile valley nestled between two tall mountain ranges, offering hikes with waterfalls, forests, lakes and rivers. A hand-carved sign in the center of town wisely proclaims, "In El Bolson, life is valued more than gold." My kind of town. This New Age haven is centered around Pagan Plaza with its big artificial lake and a artisan fair where I whiled away two weeks in February dancing in drum circles, listening to musicians and story-tellers and savoring berries, hand-made chocolates and artisan beer from this center of hop-growing, artisan beer-brewing ... read more

I spent another three nights in Bariloche. I did not get up to too much and I reckon this was down to travel fatigue creeping in and I had another bout of diarrhoea. Usually, I like to go off and explore but I was not concerned about doing this at all. I simply wanted to hang out at the hostel and chill. I do not know how travellers who can travel for months and months non-stop and can able to pick up more energy to continue travelling? I would love to know. I think three weeks of travel suffices me nowadays. I did the usual errands in town and revisited my favourite chocolate shop and cafe, Abuela Goya, during my time there. I met up with Lily who was sharing my dorm. She is from the ... read more