Bariloche, Argentina

Bariloche is our favorite town in the lake district. Perfect location to kick up our feet after all the intensity of Patagonia. We fell in love with the stone and wood architecture, the picturesque town square overlooking lake Nahuel Huapi, and the delectable fondue restaurants.



Mamushka, Bariloche´s famous chocolatier, has absolutely the best chocolate we´ve ever tasted. We were in paradise experimenting with all the different flavors and filling out goody bags that were emptied at record speed. As if all that chocolate wasn´t enough, guess what we had for dinner? Mmm... chocolate fondue at La Marmite. So so yummy!!! Our best dinner yet and yes, that was our main course.



Other highlights were the afternoon naps on the grass at the town square. Remember the good old college days all you hard working people ;-) Did we say travelling was hard? Nagesh had his best parilla (barbecue) dinner and a bottle of the deadly combo Malbec/Merlot/Cab vino (did you know wine can give you a hangover?). All this for less than $20!



Any wonder we were so reluctant to leave this town. We rode through the seven lakes drive to spend a couple of days at a little ski resort called San Martin de Los Andes. This town is filled with flowering rose bushes of every color on every street. A serene, delightful place where our only spot of activity was a hike up the hill to a Mapuche Indian reserve.

The Lake District, Chile and Argentina

This Lake District is famous for its innumerable lakes, some adorned with volcanoes, some known for their popular resort towns, and others for their isolation. We had less than a week to pack it all in. So what did we do? Sign up for a cruce de lagos that takes us through four bus rides, three cruises, and two countries, of course!

Our journey from Puerto Montt, Chile arriving into Bariloche, Argentina began at 8:00 am on a Cruz del Sur luxury coach. We crossed the gorgeous lakeside resort of Puerto Varas, where we kicked ourselves for not staying a night or two. The streets in this town are lined with roses, hence the name. From here we drove along gorgeous lakes where we had to imagine the Osorno volcano that was playing truant behind the clouds. Our next stop was the beautiful Petrohue falls, noteworthy for its black volcanic rocks spewing forth thick foamy white waters.



Our first cruise was aboard a smart catamaran across lago Todos los Santos to the mystical Peulla. This is a private property maintained by the cruise company that owns the rights to this entire trip. They pay the government to ferry tourists across routes not open to the public.



After lunch in Peulla and a ride through serpentine forest roads, we cleared immigration in Puerto Frias, Argentina. A ferry ride from there brought us to Puerto Alegre, followed by a bus ride to Puerto Blest. Our last crossing was across the incredibly gorgeous lake Nahuel Huapi to Puerto Pañuelo.



The sun had set almost completely by this time and a light drizzle had set in. Most passengers were pretty tired after this merry-go-round of buses, catamarans, and lakes. Not us. There we were at the helm of the catamaran, hand-in-hand, breeze against our faces, soaking in the wildly magical scenery around us. The fog made the lake seem infinite, the surrounding hills were mere silhouttes of grey, and here we were gypsies sans destination...

Puerto Montt and Chiloe, Chile

Pablo Neruda calls Chile the country of longitudinal essences. The country is a thin sliver of land with the starkest topographical contrasts imaginable. The lunar landscapes of the Atacama desert in the north challenge the lush exuberance of Patagonia in the south. The wild waves of the Pacific ocean on the west bow to the imposing Andean cordilleras in the east.

The coastline south of Puerto Montt disintegrates into a 1000km dramatic chaos of fjords, glaciers, lakes, and forests. To make our way north, our choice was to either take the four day ferry ride from Puerto Natales weaving through this chaos or to take the dubious unpaved road known as the Carreterra Austral. We chose to simply fly over the mess into Puerto Montt, the gateway to the Lake District.

There´s really not much to write about this grimy town. It was a disappointment after Patagonia. The only amusing anecdote that comes to mind is from a restaurant when Kavita enquired about the types of pizzas they served. In response, the waitress produced actual frozen pizza boxes for us to read the ingredients. We decided not to order pizza.



The next day we took a trip to the fabled island of Chiloe, known for its wooden churches, lush forests, legends, and proud Spanish history. This is where the Spanish conquistadores, the last supporters of the Spanish crown, took refuge from the Mapuche Indians and the rebellious Chileans in the mainland. The island surrendered in 1826 but still holds on firmly to its culture. They have resisted the building of any connecting bridges from Puerto Montt. So we crossed the distance on a ferry along waters teeming with dolphins.

On the morning of our trip the agent tried to coax us to take a different, more expensive tour for the same price. We discovered why later when he tried to squish a million people into a sad little matador van. To make things worse, the driver insisted on playing the most annoying folk music from Chiloe throughout the day. Packed like sardines we went from one wooden church to another, stopped at a feria artesanal (local craft markets), and various miradores (panoramic view points). The story behind the wooden churches is that the island was too isolated to receive other building materials. Some churches use no nails only wooden pegs in their construction.



Our last stop was the famous Palafitos or the houses on stillts (seen in the photo) built as such to protect the edifices from water. Characteristic thick rains washed out the rest of our drive back home. Before we end, we insist that you stop by some time to see the ¨handicraft item¨ we bought from this island. Let´s just say it rises to the ocassion.

Day II & III: Torres Del Paine National Park

No the weather did not cooperate next morning. Those who had made loud promises the previous night were found lounging around in the dining hall next morning. No one had gone anywhere. The rain was invincible. It was time for us to move on. We had reservations at the next refugio which was a good six hour hike. No sight of the Torres for us this morning either.

The hike started out wet but thankfully downhill this time. There were no trail markings and we had to pretty much tread along the path most travelled. This worked fine until we hit the first of several streams or mini rivers that we had to cross with great caution. The trails seemed to disappear completely around these streams and we even went off track a couple of times. We were hiking in complete wilderness with no one in sight for a few hours. It was magical.

The rains had cleared quite a bit by now and the sun started to tease us. The vegetation was glowing green and the streams were gushing. We were soon rewarded with the view of lake Nordenskjold (we still haven´t figured out how to pronounce this, so don´t stress). The rest of our hike hemmed around the blue waters of this lake backed by tall peaks playing hide and seek behind the clouds.

Five hours and a picnic lunch later, we caught the first glimpse of the Cuernos (horns). The peaks were still shielded by the clouds but there was a promise in the air. The refugio Los Cuernos was situated at the foot of the cuernos and the banks of the lake Nordenskjold.

We spent the rest of the evening walking by the lake and waiting for the grand unveiling of the Cuernos. On a side note, taking our own food to the park was well worth the effort. Fellow travellers were complaining about the high prices and inadequate quantities of food rationed out to them.

We woke up at the crack of dawn next morning to catch the virgin rays of the sun on the Cuernos. Our hike was six hours long this morning and we had to make it to the ferry docks by afternoon. The hike started off along the rocky shores of the lake and meandered into the thick lenga forests. This was a mean hike for this early in the morning. As the day progressed we got spectacular views of the peaks and glaciers around us.

Six hours later just as you would think the panorama could not get better, we were astounded by the emerald green waters of Lake Pehoe. It seemed like a canvas - so unreal. We caught a ferry from the docks here across to the transfer point where the buses would pick us up.

The ferry ride was the icing on the cake. The peaks, waters, glaciers, all of nature in its glory against clear blue skies. This was the reason we were here. How could we say goodbye without a glimpse of the Torres? They peeked out to say hasta luego as we turned back to catch a last view of the park from the bus.

Picture: This is what makes it all worthwhile. The fantabulous Cuernos!!!