BARILOCHE (ARGENTINA)

Following my 2 weeks of spanish lessons in Mendoza, I decided to head south as quickly as possible to sample the world famous Argentinian Lakes district and Patagonia region. This part of the country was amazing to say the very least, with almost every mirrador providing absolutely spectacular scenery, most commonly lakes nestled amongst vast forests and right alongside the snow capped andes mountains. Once again, I managed to time my visit to perfection as the weather was amazing, although there were a few clouds in the sky on one of the days I was there (poor me !) During my first two days in Bariloche I took a number of small day trips to various points of interest around the town and also spent time hiking around the Jao-Jao peninsula and Cathedral ski resort, the largest in the southern hemisphere. Particularly impressive for me was the hotel and accompanying golf course at the Jao-Jao peninsula, somwehere I would definately like to play a few rounds at some stage in the future.

Photos 1-4: Stunning lake and forest scenery viewed from just outside Bariloche.
Photo 5: Golf course and impressive hotel at the Jao-Jao peninsula.













I found Bariloche to be a very attractive town. However probably more impressive were the spectacular sunsets which I encountered there, with the colours and patterns made by the clouds seeming to be more impressive day after day. During my time in the Bariloche region I also completed a 2 day hike up to the base of 4 glaciers nestled on the Argentine-Chilean border. The hike up was pretty tough and involved about as much sweat as living in Mount Isa however the impressive views of the glaciers and colourful forest in the middle of autumn more than made up for it. At the bottom of one of the glaicers I stayed in a small, but comfortable refuge shelter, however despite my adorning thermals, a fleece jumper and all my other clothing items, it was still bloody cold up there that night and I was glad that I had a good sleeping bag.

Sunrise early the next morning was really something else and given that I didn't have to return to the bottom of the trail until late that afternoon I spent much of the morning walking almost to the top of the glacier, from which I got some great views of the Andes to the Chilean Lakes district around Volcan Osorno. Unfortunately, my descent to the meeting point for the return bus to Bariloche took me longer than anticipated (mostly because I decided to take a detour to a waterfall formed by melting ice on the glacier and also because I managed to take a number of wrong turns on the return leg.) As such, I almost missed my bus and had to leg it at a fairly rigorous pace for about an hour to make it there just in time...

Photos 6&7: Views of Bariloche town from my 11th floor hostel.
Photos 8&9: Spectacular sunsets over one of the many lakes around Bariloche.
Photo 10: Refuge at the foot of the glacier.
Photos 11&12: View of the glacier and colourful forest scenery whilst hiking up.
Photos 13&14: Sunrise over the andes range from the foot of the glacier.
Photo 15: One of the larger peaks viewed during my walk to the glacier summit.