Bariloche (Patagonia) 11/11/12 - 11/14/12

From El Calafate we hopped on a short 1.5 hour flight to get to Bariloche, the Lakes District of Patagonia.  We were starting to get a little spoiled with this comfortable and quick mode of transportation.

We spent our first night getting our bearings and figuring out what there was to do there.  We also made plans to meet up the next day with Pat, Trish, and Christin (friends from El Chalten) who were also in town.

Our first day we went out to Cerro Catedral to go on a hike.  After a fiasco and 2 hours of trying to find the right bus to take us there, we made it there only to learn that it wasn't much more than a ski mountain village.  A completely deserted one at that.  Regardless, our main goal for the day was to get outside and be active while enjoying the sunshine, so we made a hike out of the ski slopes.  We could faintly see a little bit of the lakes; however, due to the Puyehue volcano eruption last year in Chile, when the winds come from the right direction so does all the ash and it makes the visibility pretty low.  Oh well,  it was still nice to get some Vitamin D in our lives.

That night we met up with the Ozzies, and an American couple they met that day, and caught up with each other while enjoying some tasty beverages before they headed off the next day.

The last day we had some real deal lake time and got to kayak on one of the lakes in the area (there's 7 lakes within 200 km of town).  It was a short 2 hour adventure, but we loved every minute of being on the bright blue, crystal clear, cold, water.  Once again, this water was clean enough to put your hand in the water and drink it straight from your hand.  We went with a group of 15 or so people and kayaked for about an hour, got out and enjoyed some dulce de leche treats and tea, and then headed back.  We were forced to put our relationship, emphasis on communication skills, to the test as they only offered tandem (2 person) kayaks:  we passed!!  We had a great time.

One of the most popular things to do around Bariloche is rent a car and set out to discover the lakes on the Seven Lakes' Road.  It's roughly 200 km of some of the best lakes and forests in the region.  Sadly, we didn't have enough time in our plans to fit this in.....next time ;-).

We stayed at a place called Don Quijote Hospedaje, which wasn't anything special for us, but was close to town center and only $14 each for our own room.