Blogs from Río Negro, Argentina, South America - page 20

We arrived into Bariloche along with the rain. Instantly we were glad that we had made the decision to extend our stay in El Bolson, as this town was nowhere near as charming for us. Bariloche is a resort town set on the side of a lake, it is known for its famous Swiss architecture which can be found around the town square, but unfortunately not really throughout the extent of the main town. There were a few choice streets which were made up of pretty shop fronts and boutique cafes and bars, but as you walked a few streets back you found yourself surrounded by run down buildings. Our bus drove through the centre of town to get to the terminal. We had to then get off the bus and buy another bus ticket back ... read more

Hallo Allemaal! Het is weer even geleden dat ik hier wat neergeschreven heb en ik heb weer een hoop te vertellen :). Vanmorgen vroeg (13/1 eigelijk voor de goede orde) ben ik in de bus gestapt voor een 2 daagse gravel tour door Patagonie over de route 40 (de route 66 van Argentinië). Na een half uur rijden begon de zandweg. Het landschap op dat moment was vrij droog met bruine heuvels in de achtergrond en wat plukjes vergeelt gras. Afgezien van 10 houten huizen en een benzinestation bleef dat de hele dag door. Om een uur of 9 's avonds kwamen we aan in Petito Moreno. Daar verbleef de gehele bus in het plaatselijke hotel. We hadden daar net genoeg tijd om te dineren en daarna vroeg naar bed want de bus vertrok zo rond ... read more

The lake district of Chile and Argentina is a rich tapestry of valleys, desert like high passes, swamplands, peat bogs and miles of forest filled with the distinctive Araucania tree. An overnight in San Martin entertained by people watching and performers in the town square, lead to an early start at 5.30am the next day, to make the 6am bus to Chile and a crossing of the Andes for the first time. Failed taxi reservation meant a speedy exit from hosteria – rule #1, expect the unexpected, to be worse elsewhere I’m told. The bus picked up many stragglers from the don’t-bother-going town of Junin de los Andes, and it went from 4 aboard without a clue as to time frames to standing room only. 2 hours later we made Mamuil Malal pass, entering the Lanin ... read more

Unsere Reise nach Patagonien schien ungünstig zu starten: Das Gepäck von Moni kam nicht bis Puerto Montt wie wir. Nach einigen Telefonaten am nächsten Tag, beschlossen wir, unsere Busreise nach Argentinien, San Carlos de Bariloche, zu verschieben. Sky Airlines zahlte uns neue Bustickets, sowie eine Nacht inklusive Abendessen in einem 4-Sterne Hotel. In Bariloche übernahmen wir schliesslich unseren GOL(F), unseren kleinen Offroader für die nächsten drei Wochen. Im lokalen „Walmart“ kauften wir eine selbst zusammengestellte Campingausrüstung für rund 250 CHF. Einiges mussten wir bald nachrüsten, da es wirklich zu billig war, aber grundsätzlich war diese Ausrüstung die Grundlage für eine nicht zu teure Patagonienrundreise. Nach einer Nacht in der Colonia Suiza begaben wir uns Richtung Süden. Die Routa Nacional 40.ist die wohl legendärste Nord-Süd-Verbindung in Argentinien. Dieser Ruta werd... read more

Our first stop into Argentina was Bariloche. We made it there for New Years Eve and spent it in the main plaza counting down the time with all the Argentinos. The next day we headed out to Colonia Suiza to camp for a couple days. We stayed at a beautiful campground next to one of the many lakes in the area. This was a nice place to camp because it was a little community outside of Bariloche that was filled with bars and little tiendas. The second day we rented bikes and headed out to the famous "circuito chico". This was a 35km bike ride up and down hills along four different lakes and many view spots. On our way back we stopped and did a little two hour hike up a mountain, which treated us ... read more

San Carlos de Bariloche would treat us to some of the most incredible views and fun adventures of our journey to this point (which is a hefty statement with all that we've done), but first we would have to deal with a few travel annoyances and nuances that we had hoped to leave behind in Puerto Montt. Up to this point, we hadn’t made prior lodging accommodations before arriving to any of our destinations. Whether it be by luck or by chance, we had always hopped off the bus and simply walked to the hostel that most appealed to us from Lonely Planet’s description. We were never turned away, nor did we get to a hostel and think the positive description in LP was misleading. So, this was the plan for Bariloche… The first hostel on ... read more