Bariloche, Mendoza, Salta

South America
April 26th 2009

Published: April 27th 2009

After having a fairly relaxing time hanging out on beaches and cruising through big cities it was time to head into the wild, so to speak. We decided on the advice of a beer label to head to the town of Bariloche in Argentina's beautiful Lakes District. Doing this enabled us to say that we had also seen Patagonia but in reality we were barely dipping our toes in the famously rugged area.

We caught the overnight bus from Buenos Aires and we finally got one of the super luxurious buses that we had heard about. We had fully reclining seats in our own little partitioned off area, something akin to first class on an airplane, not that I'd know. I was even able to enjoy/neck my own bottle of red and awoke during the night to Hayley enjoying a glass of bubbly in a flute while she watched the late movie. The next time I woke up the landscape was totally different from the east coast of the continent. We were surrounded by mountains, big mountains. Especially by Australian standards where anyones gran can walk up our highest peaks. We travelled alongside a series of lakes and rivers, beautiful country, till we got to Bariloche which ended up being about an eighteen hour bus trip from BA.

The first thing that struck me about Bariloche was the cold, it was bloody freezing. The town itself on the shores of the lovely and huge Lagoa Nahuel Huapi was pretty in a ski resort kinda way. I think ski resort towns around the world are all generally the same. There were a lot of wooden buildings, chocolate shops, and restaurants offering fondue. Once again this was not what I expected of South America but it was a pleasant suprise all the same. Our hostel was brand new and had a great view of the lake from above the town. The main square was full of St Bernard dogs and their handlers offering photo ops for a price, that was strange.

The countryside and it's hiking oppurtunities are what attracted us to the region so thats what we set out to do on our first day there. We intended to climb a mountain called Lopez but decided to test ourselves on one called Otto first. This would be an easier climb as it consisted of getting in a cable car that would take you all the way up............. we are on holidays after all.

The view from the top was fantastic. The country is wild with pine fortests everywhere and although we were too early, there were a lot of areas where snow would soon fall. There was a revolving restaurant at the top that was about a zillion years old and the same building hosted a Michaelangelo museum, weird! Who would expect that at the top of a mountain on Argentina there is a life-size replica of the statue of David. We did manage to find a trail off the back of the mountain that led us through some beautiful forests to a lookout that showed the area behind Bariloche. This took about two hours and inspired us for our slightly more adventurous trek the next day.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't kind to us and that night there was a lot of rain and howling winds. We woke the next day with the wind so bad that the lake had developed a swell. Putting aside thoughts of going for a surf we decided to tackle Mt lopez anyway. We planned to climb three quarters of the mountain to a refugio which is the same as a mountaineers hut. Refugios in this area were a little better than just huts and we heard that some even brew their own beer as well as providing food and lodging. We only made it up about half way though as time got the better of us. We should have caught the earlier bus but it was one of those cold mornings where you don't want to get out of bed. Anyways, the climb was still rewarding, if quite difficult, and we came across a spectacular waterfall that we didn't know was there. We headed down the moutain by a different route and had a late lunch in a Swiss colonial village, obviously a long way from the Amazon and Machupicchu.

Although we didn´t have much time in Bariloche I would love to come back just because the hiking oppurtunities are so good. You can go off into the mountains by yourself for two or three days and the country is easily the most beautiful I have seen so far, even if it doesn't look like ones idea of South America. It is also the place where we had a steak that both of us agree is the best we've ever had. The restaurant is called Alberto's and is not to be missed.

After our short stay in Bariloche we headed north to Mendoza which is the heart of Argentina's wine country. Another overnight bus journey and we were there. The landscape behind the city was still mountainous but was totally different from back down south. Mendoza is actually a oasis in a desert so the moutains were bare and dry. But they were very colourful as well because you could see the different mineral levels so there were reds, yellows and greens among the browns. The city itself was beautiful. It had been re-built after an earthquake in the 1800's and was well laid out. The streets were very wide and lined with trees which give you shade from the sun wherever you go. To the north of the city is a lovely park which is as big as the city itself, it's all very pleasant.

Before we decided to check out the wineries we went on a tour to the high Andes. This consisted of a bloody long drive up into the mountains to see a natural bridge known as the Inca Bridge. And Aconcagua which is the continent's highest peak, and also the highest outside Asia. It was a good tour as the scenery was spectacular. The mountains were heaps bigger than in Bariloche but they weren't as pretty. It was a long day though and we were bushed by the time we got back.

The winery tour the next day was a lot of fun. We visited four bodegas and also one liquoer factory and an olive oil factory. We, well I got pretty plastered eapecially since at the liquoer factory I tried a shot of "proper" absinthe. It was possible to rent bikes and ride around the wineries but we thought it would be safer if we had a designated driver. It was a good day topped off with a wonderful lunch which again consisted mostly of meat. I have already mentioned how good Argentinian wine is so I don´t really have to go into details here but every wine we tried rated from good to excellent and the buildings that housed them were varied and interesting.

Apart from the two tours we just spent our time strolling around the lovely city. We visited the main plaza on a Sunday evening where half the town seemed to be out. There were markets, street performers and bands, and heaps of space to just laze about. It was really good and gave us a sense of community that I think is missing back home. These plazas, which are prominent all across the continent, play an important part in peoples lives whereas back home they seem more like a shortcut between city blocks or a place where teenagers can show off their cigarette smoking skills. Mendoza also had an great restaurant and bar strip which was probably about one and a half kilometres long. We found (ok, it was in lonely planet) a pasta place at which we ate two nights in a row. It was about eight aussie dollars for a meal and you matched your pasta with sauce from a choice of about twenty each. Everything was made on site and there is nothing like freshly made pasta.

Hayley and I had made a decision to travel up the western side of Argentina rather than go through Chile and after Bariloche and Mendoza I think we had made a good decision. We had seen pine covered mountains, beautiful lakes, the highest of mountains and feasted on some of the best wine and food in the world. Next stop was Salta, in the northwest of the country.

Our visit to Salta seemed like a smash and grab. Meals were provided by our hostel and on our two full days there we had twelve and fifteen hour tours that took us away from the town. We didn't really get to see much of the town itself which was a pity because it has some wonderful buildings and was probably more authentic than Bariloche or Mendoza. But Salta's main attractions aren't the city itself but what is to be found in the surrounding area.

Our first tour took us through the amazing Valle Calchaquies to the town of Cafayate and back. The valley had some of the most amazing colours and natural formations that I have seen. The best thing was that there was always some amazing sight to look at out the window of our mini-bus. We went to a place called the "Devil's Throat" which appears to be a popular name for natural sights in South America as there was one at Iguazu Falls and another one in Chile. It was a big groove in a mountain that had been carved by a waterfall a couple of zillion years ago and was most impressive. Just up the road was a similar sight called the ampitheatre which had wonderful accoustics for music. We were lucky enough to hear a folk band play and it did sound very, very good. Along the way all the lovely formations were given names if they remotely looked like something else. For example there was "the train", "the castle", "the window", "the priest walking up the hill", "the farmer making love to his goat". I made that last one up but in my opinion these things didn't need silly, touristy titles, they were both awesome and beautiful the way they were.

The town of Cafayate was also very pretty and had a few vineyards though not as many as Mendoza. It was only a couple of blocks big and seemed like a good place to stay and chill out for a couple of days. It was very geared towards tourism because of it's location, being at one end of the valley and Salta at the other, but it still had a lot of charm. We had lunch there (the mixed grill of course) and visited a couple of wineries which weren't as interesting as the ones in Mendoza. Then back on the bus for the long ride back to Salta. In all the tour took about twelve hours but we didn't mind as the next tour was going to take about fifteen.

The tour the next day took right up into the mountains though for the first time we weren´t actually in the Andes, they were further to the east. There is a railway that runs up into the mountains that is called the train to the clouds. It wasn´t running at the time but we followed it for a while. The initial part of the tour took about three kilometres straight up and it was interesting to see the landscape change so dramatically. From the normal landscape around Salta, to forests of cacti and on to high fields of nothing where only wild donkey´s and vicunas (wild relatives of the llama) grazed.

We stopped for lunch in a mining town and we both tried llama for the first time. We had it as a schnitzel and it was very nice. Then we travelled for two hours along a very bumpy road to a salt lake on the border of Chile. You might think a lake of salt would not be very nice to look at but it was stunning. The history was also very interesting as this lake so high up in the mountains used to be under the Pacific Ocean. Salt lakes are great for photo ops as well because it is hard to get a perspective. We had a grand time using our imaginations trying to create some funny photos. We started with some lame ones of us trying to burst out of the top of our water bottle. But after some help from our experienced guide we soon had some great ones culminating in us driving my shoe like a speedboat.

We then went back down to Salta via a different route which was an fantastic drive. We saw some amazing formations which were actually whole mountains in themselves. When we got back to our hostel we had a barbeque which was accompanied by some great live folk music. We then decided to hit the town at about two am even though our bus left at seven that morning. That was a mistake as we had about an hours sleep and we were heading to a new country that day. We won´t make that mistake again.

So that was Argentina done then. An absolutely fantastic country with amazing contrasts and a surprising development. Every place we visited was different and everything had a touch of class and perfection that we had not imagined when we started this trip. Next stop Chile and the desert town of San Pedro de Atacama.

Bariloche, Mendoza, Salta

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