Argentina's chocolate capital

Trip Start Apr 05, 2008
1
88
102
Trip End Mar 20, 2009

Flag of Argentina  ,
Friday, November 21, 2008

Siete Lagos, the 7 lakes route, from San Martin to Villa Angostura was a spectacular drive even if we did find ourselves on the grey rinse tour and could have passed as being one of the oldies grandkids ;-)  Still it was not the company we were after, it was the scenery and the photos, although there was one old duck who was hilarious and loved giving the tour guide a hard time, I think she was flirting with him a bit.  The first half of the trip was by far the best.  Lake Lacar was so still it acted as a brilliant mirror to reflect the surrounding snow tipped mountains in.  Followed by the waterfall 'Cascada Vulignanca', I think it's hard to tire of waterfalls.  We left the tour in Villa Angostura and carried on by local bus to Bariloche, again with incredible scenery, it just keeps getting more picturesque the further south we go.  We booked into Hostel 41 Below as it had great reviews and was owned by a kiwi guy, we figured these were winning formulas.  GT was wearing his AB shirt and soon an Englishman, Matt, was asking us if we were going to watch the game.  GT had forgotten the ABs were playing Munster in Limerick so was very keen to head to an Irish bar to watch the match.  Lea, an Irish lassie from Limerick, lead the way and almost had us running, so keen was she to see the game.  I've not seen passion or dedication quite like it (well except for Linda Giles), as the first pub had problems with their satellite connection so we soon found ourselves on a whistle-stop tour of Bariloche as we ran round it like absolute loonies looking for a bar showing the game. Cascada Vulignanca
Cascada Vulignanca
  Around half time defeat was admitted and we headed back to the hostel to at least listen to Jed's Alternative rugby commentary live on the internet.  To everyone's delight GT managed to find a live web stream of the game so not only did this rugby mad threesome have Jed's entertaining coverage but they got to watch the second half.  A few beers later and a last minute winning try by the ABs and GT had more than a glow on.  Unfortunately the celebratory beers were bought to a quick finish by Paul, the kiwi owner, wanting to frog march us off to the apartment, we put his iceberg mannerisms down to the fact that he's a JAFFA through and through.  The apartment was great with views of the lake, a sun drenched balcony and more than one room so we could enjoy our own space.  It was probably a mistake going for a walk around the city after GT had had more than a few beers, especially as Bariloche is considered Argentina's chocolate capital.  He was determined to buy every sort of chocolate available and from every store.  It's important to understand there are chocolate shops every few meters so it could have been an expensive outing especially as somehow GT was managing to speak good enough Spanish to order exactly what he wanted (well almost, at one point he asked for 100 of the Mamushka splits, when I questioned this he then asked how to say '10').  We spent the next couple of days enjoying exploring Bariloche, enjoying the sunshine and planning how to get further south to the infamous Torres del Paine.  As seems to be our luck with Telefericos the one in Bariloche was closed for maintenance so in order to get some panoramic shots we had to find an alternative.  Cerro Campanero, about 18km out of Bariloche was the next plan and it didn't disappoint.  Not only was the bus ride there spectacular with stunning homes lining the lake but the views from the top were worth the trip.  With a car you could really explore this area, with islands throughout the lake surrounded by the Andes it's such a picturesque area.  In winter it would be amazing.  We spent a sun filled afternoon at a lakeside restaurant soaking in the views and local vino, sometimes life is tough ;-)  Leaving Bariloche our timing couldn't have been better as the weather decided to turn nasty with strong cold winds coming from the snow capped mountains and rain, we gladly got on the overnight bus to Puerto Madryn.  That and strangely enough we were completely chocolated out!
Slideshow Print this entry