Sean and I have decided that we have found our new home... Patagonia has proven to be one of the prettiest places that both of us have seen and we have had the pleasure of taking in the fresh mountain air, crystal clear lakes, snowcapped mountains and lush hills peppered with bright colored spring flowers for 10 days now.
Our transition from Mendoza to Bariloche was easy and friendly and in a moments time after getting off the bus we found ourselves at a really cool hostel that over looks lake Nahuel Huapi (the largest of the 7 lakes of Patagonia) and a large looming snowcapped mountain.
Being low on cash we were a little nervous that we wouldn´t be able to do much without a tour guide but contrary to thought we realized that we could do a whole lot more than we imagined on our own. The day after our big hike up Catedral we took it easy hanging around the town gathering maps and information about the nearby local mountains and sights and gluttonously consuming ridiculous amounts of chocolate - something Bariloche is known for.
The following day we woke up early, something we are not used to these days :-) and heading out with a few new friends to Cerro Campanario (a small hike to a look out) by local bus. It was a short 30 minute, vertical, butt kicking hike to a magnificently crowded view point (or you could cheat and take the chair lift up, which everyone and their mom did). It was beautiful but we desperately struggled to get a picture without a stranger in it.
After that Sean and I left our new friends to walk 500 meters up the road to a bike rental place where we rented bikes and headed out on a 26km (16m) ride. The bike ride has probably been our highlight here despite the fact it was a killer for the calves and buns! But it was so, so beautiful to ride past bushes and bushes of bright spring flowers (that we learned only bloom for 2 months out of the year), pine trees and the famous Arrayanes trees (beautiful big trees with striped cinnamon colored trunks famous for growing in the forests of Patagonia). For most of the day we pedaled up hill inclines to arrive at look out points, waterfalls and the most breath taking sights... To be honest I can´t really describe and do justice to the beauty of this place and part of me feels like I am a broken record running out of adjectives that would properly describe the exquistness of Patagonia. Even the pictures that we have taken really don´t capture the charm of the south and because of that I feel like we have to take it in that much more and try to remember the mountains that literally are stacked upon one another and go on for what looks like eternity.
Sean and I have been taking total advantage of every mountain we have access to and trail or no trail we try to scale up it for the view. Because Bariloche is really known as a ski/snowboarding town the mountains trails are maintained but empty and open to the public. So everyday we have been taking the local buses to all the routes offered and embarking on a new adventure, and it has been pure bliss!!! The other day we found a trail marked Cerro Tacul and took it up until it placed us on top of the mountain. It was our first totally unobstructed view... Not one human hand had touched, developed or chopped anything in our sight in a 360 degree view point. So we sat down and had lunch and stayed there for a couple hours until the sun had taken its toll on our skin.
Yesterday we decided to get out of the town and drive around the 7 lakes. We had met a couple of friends a couple days earlier that wanted to go so the 4 of us rented a little red car and headed out down dirt rode that took us for miles into the forest of pine trees, rushing lakes and quiet lakes then desert lands with giant unusal rock formations and then flat lands with clouds streaked with pink. It was like driving through 4 states in a matter of hours and it was so cool.
Today we headed down to the shore of the lake where we laid in the shade for half the day reading a book and admiring the literal crystal clear waters of Lake Nahuel Huapi.
I hope all is well with everyone! Muchos besos desde Patagonia.
Ciao!
Lyndsay and Sean
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