First Leg: Bariloche (Argentina)

After our initial difficulties, we were very relieved to finally be in Bariloche ("barry-LOW-chey"). I had heard from multiple friends that this spot was one of the most beautiful places they had ever experienced, so I guess my expectations were pretty high. If you know me well you know that I'm a big fan of keeping expectations low (all the better for a pleasant surprise, right?), but I couldn't help but be excited! Luckily, as it turns out, the thing about places like Bariloche is that no amount of verbal praise or photography attempts will ever do it justice anyway, so even with high expectations it will blow your mind. And that was exactly what happened to me.

Bariloche (officially "San Carlos de Bariloche") is nestled in the midst of lakes and peaks in the Andes. The city itself is spread along a beautiful lakeshore, and it is a litte pocket of European Alpine culture. Southern Argentina (and Chile, as we will see later) has many litte pockets like this, from immigrants who came over to escape either the threat or the consequences of WWII. One of the many immigrant contributions to the local culture was chocolate-making, and now there are chocolate shops, big and small, on every corner in Bariloche. It's obviously very popular with the tourists (such as myself). Actually much of Bariloche was geared towards tourists, with lots of expensive hotels, restaurants, and spas. That aspect of it was not as appealing to me, but the natural landscapes easily made up for it. On the first day, we explored the city, got ourselves organized, and gathered our energy for outdoorsy activities the following day.

my first daytime view of things, from the big window in my hostel bedroom

a father-son graffiti mural team! they were very adorable and very
accommodating of me wanting to take their picture

we came across of troupe of yarn-bombers in action! nice old ladies haha

my favorite graffiti mural from this trip

some event in the plaza, there were political groups but also folklore bands?

The next day we had a lot in store. We hopped on a local bus to head west. Once outside of the city we were on a very scenic path along the lake, lined with adorable (and probably expensive) bed & breakfasts. This was the area with all the hiking trails, scenic lookout points, and various adventure tourism locales (for biking, kayaking, boating, etc.) We got off first to climb up to the top of a very tall hill called Cerro Campanario, from the top of which you could get a breathtaking 360 view of the surrounding lakes and peaks. I just want to point out that there was a lift available to take us to the top of the hill (a ski lift, essentially), but we did not take it! Steph and I wanted to save our money and dignity, so we set out (up) on foot. It proved to be much more steep than we were anticipating, but we made it up without any falls! Boy was it worth it. 

the lift that we did not--I repeat, did NOT--take

1049 meters = 3440 feet

scroll all the way over here please

photo skills capturing photo skills

me and Steph, proud climbers!

It was one of those situations where I kept turning around, awestruck, trying to take a photo that would do it justice, but of course I couldn't. I think I took the same photo 10 or 12 times (I have spared you the majority of them). Obviously, it was a spectacular view. I don't even really know what else to say about it, because even in the moment we were just bumbling around unable to say anything other than "Oh my god. Oh my god it's so beautiful." You get the idea. 

We relaxed up there a bit, taking in the sun and eating some sandwiches we had packed. Then it was adventure #2! We made our way back down and walked a short way further down the road, to a bike rental shop. The road makes a 27k loop through the hills and valleys between the lakes, lagunas, creeks, and bays, and biking is the perfect way to see everything! There were several rental companies, but we found a good one and set off, a little nervous due to the various warnings about how sore our muscles would be, but excited for the beautiful day and the beautiful views. In retrospect, trying to bike this hilly loop in the heat of the day, after already climing that hill earlier, was not a wise move on our part. But, we appreciated the setting enough to make it through. It was just too gorgeous! 

every once and a while we glimpsed the snowcaps peeking through the trees

look at those colors

the Hotel Llao Llao, a famous (and expensive) Argentinian hotel known for
its amazing Sound-of-Music-esque location (and for its name, pronounced "yow yow")

an enclosed laguna with surprisingly warm water

sweet helmet

these yellow blooms lined the entire loop!

a bay with unreal deep turquoise water, where we rested a bit

same bay, from ground level

see? we were here for a while

On our way back, we took an alternate route in order to pass through a little tiny town on their artisan market day. It is actually called The Swiss Colony (in Spanish, obviously), but we got a very hippie comune feel from the place. Still not sure if it was a good, happy crunchy thing, or a bad, creepy cult thing. But it was interesting. Only 120 people live there! We got some food at the market but didn't have time for much else, because we had to get the bikes back by a certain time and we had been slowing down significantly (realllly feelin' the pain towards the end there). 

We managed to get the bikes back, and caught the bus back into town to treat ourselves to some gourmet chocolate. Damn tasty, let me tell you. We were having trouble getting around on foot after not too long, so we called it a night and prepared ourselves for our early bus ride the next morning. Due to my screw up with the bus on the way into Argentina a few days before, we'd not had as much time there as we hoped. Steph and I agreed that we felt there was more we wanted to see around Bariloche; we had felt very rushed to get in as much as possible in our limited time there. I think I agree with my earlier friends that it was one of the most beautiful spots I'd ever found myself in, but we were not so keen on the city itself. It was very commercialized, specifically catered to wealthy foreigners. Still, I was obviously extremely glad to have experienced it, and would love to go back someday and see even more of the surrounding area. Until then I will leave you with the first picture of the city that I had taken, when we arrived the first night to find their plaza decorated with a pretty metal Christmas tree. Happy belated holidays!