To give you a brief rundown of Bariloche…it’s
actually called San Carlos de Bariloche. and is famous for skiing but also
known for sight-seeing, water sports, trekking and climbing. It is situated in the foothills of the Andes,
surrounded by lakes (Nahuel Huapi, Gutiérrez Lake, Moreno Lake and Mascardi
Lake) and mountains (Tronador, Cerro Catedral, Cerro López)…..thank you for
Wikipedia!!!! Overall a lovely place
with that off season ski town feel about it.
It also is famous for its Chocolatiers…yum.
Myself and Curstan (who I met on the bus and in
the same hostel) went off to explore the area.
The first stop was Cerro Campanario 20km from the centre. There is a
chair lift that climbs to the top of the peaks and looks out over the whole
lake region. We had decided to not get the chair lift and walked…..in hindsight
should have got the lift…my legs were still numb from the volcano trek a few
days before. Apparently, the panorama is
one of the most fascinating views of the region and according to National
Geographic also one of the top views of the world. I don’t think I could argue with that…the
view was amazing.
After Cerro Campanario, we picked up a couple
mountain bikes and started the Circuito Chico, a loop of about a 20km round a peninsular in Lake
Nahuel Huapi. (Marie from Manchester also joined
us). The bike ride was really strenuous
with lots of hills, but the views were fantastic. We stopped a few times to take in the
breathtaking panorama, and occasionally going off the circuit to look at some
of the coves on the lake.
On the last big hill, directly ahead there was
an amazing view of the merging point of Lake Moreno and Lake Nahuel Huapi. The mountains
in the background made an amazing backdrop.
In the evening went out for dinner….Argentinean
Steak…it had to done. It was
beautiful….not a huge fan of steak, but I think I may have now been converted.
