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Published: February 15th 2011
Lago Nahuel Huapi
From the Hostel´s Terrace, Bariloche, ArgentinaBariloche is an ideal place to recover and to relax after the very long journey up the Ruta 40. I did not get up to too much as I wanted to take it nice and easy during my stay.
I stayed in a lovely Hostel, Hostel Inn Bariloche. It is a new hostel that opened last November and it is good value for money because it included dinner as well as breakfast which helps the budget immensely! At first, I was not sure but this was down to tiredness and disorientated on my arrival. The hostel, however, grew on me and I actually extended my stay. Initially, I was going to spend a couple of days in El Bolsen but decided to stay on in Bariloche instead. So glad I did because the hostel has a terrace where you get amazing views of Lake Nahuel Huapi. It was lovely having breakfast out on the terrace and watching the sunset across the lake on an evening. Worth the walk up the hill and all those steps!!!
I found the tourist tours to various parts of Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi rather expensive and the extortionate national park entry fees the tourists
Views from Punta Princess Peak
Cerro Catedral, Near Bariloche, Argentina have to pay is usually not included! Instead, I did some trips out by local bus to local beauty spots and so glad I chose to go it that way.
On my first full day in Bariloche, I made onward travel arrangements including booking my ticket to Buenos Aires in a week´s time and explored some of the town´s sight I missed last time such as the Catedral Nuestra Señora de Nahuel Huapi. I also revisted my favourite chocolate shop and cafe, Abuela Goya. I just love their hot chocolate and chocolate!! I also tried the lovely Boysenberry icecream at Jauja, an icecream chain in Patagonia.
Cerro Catedral The following day, I did a trip out to Cerro Catedral on the local bus. Cerro Catedral is a big ski resort during the winter but in the summer you are able to take a long cable car ride from Villa Catedral to the top. It is not cheap, 75 ARP (February 2011) but it is worth the charge as it is a long ride up where you have to change cable cars three times, I think, and took me around half an hour to reach the top and
Breakfast by the Lake!
Hostel Inn, Bariloche, Argentina this includes the ride down. At the top, at Punta Princess Village, where the cable car terminates, there are great views of of Isla Huemel, Lago Nahuel Huapi and downtown Bariloche. It was nice to take in the view with an expensive coffee at the summit cafe. You can trek further for another three to four hours to the
actual summit, Punta Princess, one of the peaks on Cerro Catedral, but I decided not to attempt this because I was on my own and there were the fitness issues because of the altitude. It was a very hot day even if the slight wind at the top made it bearable.
Lago Gutierrez On my final day of my first leg of my Bariloche stay, I decided at the last minute to visit Lago Gutierrez. At the bus stop, I met Matt, Melanie and their family who I met the day before and also at the bus stop for Cerro Catedral! What a coincidence! They were going to Lago Gutierrez as well and also to visit Cascada de Los Puencias. They are from Quebec so I had the opportunity to practice my French. It seems that I have more
Lago Nahuel Huapi
From the Hostel´s Terrace, Bariloche, Argetina opportunity to practice more my French than my Spanish on this trip! I decided to walk with them to the falls and they were more than happy to have me tag along. We walked a few kms to the park entrance and another km or so to the falls themselves. When we arrived, it was very busy but gradually everyone left and we had the falls to ourselves and it was nice to take time out to relax. Again, it was another hot day so it was nice sitting in the shade. Eventually, we began walking back to the bus stop and then an Argentine family stopped in their car and asked if we wanted a lift back to the bus stop. So we went in their car for the ride. The family is from Buenos Aires and they were spending their holidays in Bariloche. We then decided to sit on the lake beach for a bit. I bought a drink and some delicious empananas from a lakeside cafe and we had fun people watching and Matt was playing with his daughter, Ariane, in the lake. Eventually, we got the bus back to Bariloche and said our goodbyes. As I
Lago Guitterez
Parque Nacional Huapi, Argentina was walking back to the hostel, the weather turned in with sudden clouds, rain and wind- such a constrast to the glorious day we had earlier in the day. In all it was a wonderful day and thoroughly enjoyed the company of one family and I will always remember this.
Again, I felt very sad in Bariloche concerning the St Bernards dogs, please see
Sadness in Bariloche about this!
This more or less sums up my first leg of my Bariloche stay but will be returning for a few more days before making my way back to Buenos Aires, Now, I´m travelling south to search for some Welsh culture!
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Vicki
non-member comment
Beautiful
Thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures!