I’d delayed my trip to Bariolche by a couple of weeks and reshuffled my itinerary a bit as the weather had taken a bit of a dive. Unfortunately it had taken another dip by the time I arrived. Bariolche is Argentinas main ski resort, and the town definitely has that ski resort feel. Its known in the summer as the lake district, and the mountain and lakes in the area are very picturesque. Bariloche itself is on huge beautiful lake even if the town itself is nothing to write home about it. There’s a very definite German vibe to the place, and a huge number of Chocolate cafes. I indulged on my first afternoon there and real fresh raspberries covered in white and milk chocolate, just a bit naughty!

On my first full day there I went on a five hour trek in a national park to the foot of a glacier. It was a lovely trek, but due to the rain at times the path was more like a stream! I discovered that none of my gear is remotely waterproof, even my hellyhanson rainproof jacket! As we we neared the glacier we heard a massive clap of thunder, or that’s what I thought it was, it was actually a chunks of the glacier breaking off and crashing down. And as we left the glacier we heard more crashes, it would have been amazing to see it break and fall! I had dinner in a Mexican restaurant on my own, and ending up chatting with two Mexican tourists at another table. Very nice people, and went for a few drinks after and it was good to practice some Spanish again. Especially down in these resort tourist towns which attract huge numbers of tourists, I’m finding it harder to practice Spanish as everyone is European or from the states. And even the people that work in the hostels speak very good English, I am trying when I can to speak Spanish when possible!

My second day there I had some logistics and planning to sort, and also bought some warmer gear which I’ll need heading further south. My last full day I climbed Cerros Catedral with a few others I’d met on the bus from town. Most people take a chair lift, it’s only 1km high, and a quick fifteen minute scramble saw us to the top. The views were spectacular, but on a clear day would be even more so! Myself and German girl then managed to get lost on the way down, somehow we came away from the track and ended up pushing through bushes and trees and ended up at the bottom nearly a kilometre from where we should have been. No idea how we managed that! We then hired mountain bikes for a circuit named “circuito chico”. I don’t really know why it’s called that as its 25km of up and downs that in my book was quite tough going! It was good fun, and its good to be doing some exercise. The scenery of the lakes was lovely, and the sun even peaked out at one point, and it didn’t rain so we couldn’t grumble. And I promise I wore a helmet for most of it Mum and Dad. It felt good to stumble in to bed shattered that night.

It’s a bit of a pity that I couldn’t spend a few more days here, as there was so much hiking and places to see and the weather was due to warm up a few days after I left but I had a cheap flight south that only went once a week so I couldn’t stay longer!