Hikes & beers in Bariloche

From misty mountains to clear blue skies, it seems like the weather here is as unpredictable as it was in London. Still, we were not complaining when we woke up to sunny skies and t-shirt weather :)

So we donned our hiking boots and hopped on the local bus to the nearby Nahuel Huapi National Park and headed to one of their publicised walks by the lake. The scenary around here is very beautiful, with clear blue lakes, snow capped mountains and forests full of clean fresh air.

We finished the 3k hike quickly and found the tourist information centre at the end. Unfortunately, as will many things Argentinian, it was siesta time so the centre was closed however we bumped into an older British couple who told us about another walk which started not too far from the start of the walk we had just completed, which gave stunning views of the lakes in the park. Feeling energised from the sandwiches we had brought for lunch, we headed back to find this eutopia. 6.5k later we climed on to the big rock at the top of the mountain (hill... who's counting) and looked out at a most magnificent view (see left).

This is why we came to the "Lake District".

We headed back to our log cabin hostel to meet up with the lovely (Canadian/American) couple who were also staying there. We had planned to check out one of the local Cerveceras (beer breweries) with them for our final night in Bariloche. After dinner of home-made pizza, we headed out. The brewery was called Blest and the guys went for the taster and the girls each ordered one of their yummy deserts. We can heartily recommend both.

Tomorrow holds a bus ride to San Martin de los Andes for us and Buenos Aires for our new friends. We were sad to leave, but looking forward to the smaller, less touristy paradise by the lake.

Bariloche

Next stop - Bariloche, which has gotten raving reviews for its scenery and chocolate. It seems a place that can not be missed.

We got off our 16 hour 2 bus trip from Mendoza a bit tired, a long trip during which we were treated to two (thats right not one but two!) games of bingo where we managed to win absolutely none of the bottles of wine offered as prizes. We did make a decent dent in the wine offered with dinner though, and the champagne. Did we mention that we like the Argentinian buses despite their poor selection of movies??

The first day we spent finding our hostel, getting settled, doing the shopping and trying to get a few glimpses of the Olympics. After a long bus ride we figured we needed to charge the batteries in order to get ready for some hiking among the many lakes and peaks around here. The hostel we're staying at is about 15 km outside of the town, which means we have a lot of the trails just around the corner.

For our first hiking day, we decided to tackle the little knoll of Cerra Campanario. There is a skilift that could have taken us to the top but we decided to hike up. And the view at the top was spectacular, even though it was raining and there were loads of low clouds around. At the top there was also a coffee shop with massively overpriced coffee, but in the cold rain it was very welcome and appreciated.




After an extended break at the peak, we ventured down and hopped on a bus that would take us to a paleontological museum, well, we waited for 40 minutes for it to show up first. Thats arguably Bariloches 3rd claim to fame, there are a lot of well preserved dinosaur bones found in the region and some of them are huge. I'm sure paleontologists will claim its bariloches first claim to fame, but after visiting the site, we were not so sure. We got to what we were told was a museum but it turns out it was a theme park - but not just any themepark. This was "the most important themepark in South America". It consisted of a 250-300 meter long trail with scale models of dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs. And when they ran out of dinoraurs they filled the rest with gnomes and witches on broomsticks. No matter if you call it a museum or "The most important themepark in South America", the verdict is still disappointing. So on the 3rd claim to fame, this jury is still out.

Our second day in Bariloche we decided to not challange the rain and went into town instead, where we visited some of the many chocolate stores. And there are many. There are all kinds of varieties, combinations and constructions available. A lot of these shops also double in selling local fruit and beer from micto breweries. At the end of the day when we got back we had gotten some dark chocolate (really good) a lot of pralines (excellent ) and two bottles of beer. The chili beer will have to wait a little while but the chocolate beer has been consumed (a little on the sweet side bit that was kind of expected).

There will be a few days more of hiking to come, and the weather is supposed to take a turn for the better. We're looking forward to getting some nice photos to share...

To the hills...

The last few days in the jungle were as good as the first, a lot of more of the same (birds and monkeys galore) though the highlights were definately the times we spent in small canoes. Silently gliding through the forests looking for animals and trying not to scare them away. Or, in Vaniah's case, focusing on not falling in the water. So we left thinking it definately exceeded our expectations, and looking forward to the next opportunity we could get to wash our mosquito-repellent soaked clothing.

Cuzco
Next stop, Cuzco, altitude 3500 m and boy did we feel that. We noticed immediately that we were getting a bit winded a little earlier, but since I´ve been skiing on almost these altitudes before I was fairtly sure it would pass easily. That didnt quite happen, and we might just have had a little e-coli dose in something we ate along the way too. So we only managed to take a few short walks around the city, which is a beautiful little place by the way. Lots of old stone buildings, cathedrals, winding narrow cobbled streets and brightly clad locals leading the odd llamas that give it an ancient feel about it. In the next few days, when we go back, we´re hoping to catch all the great ruins outside of it as well.

Machu Picchu
One of the main reasons for visiting Peru, and to go on the this trip in the first place, was Machu Picchu, the mystical ancient ruins on the top of the mountains. Due to our issues with the altitude and food, and the constant raining that starts at 13.00 each day and keeps going until late in the night we opted out of doing any 4 day hikes, and instead caught the train. We got up at the crack of an hour before dawn and went to the bus stop. Then we went to the back of the queue, about 100 - 200 meters further up. This was at 5 am. But a little after 5.30 we got on a bus and went up the mountain, another long queue (they must like them here too) to get in.

It would have been great if we could have had a better day for it it was raining heavily and being soaked and cold is not the best way of seing and appreciating it. A word of warning first though, when you go to Machu Picchu you are a part of a captive audience and you will feel ripped off. You can only get to Machu Picchu village (formerly Aguas Calientes) by train or walking, so the train fare is extortionate. And in the horror that is the village, the food, water, snacks are grossly overpriced and the restaurants and hostels lack service. This is a great shame since the ruins themselves are amazing and it only serves to deter people from coming. Top-tip: when you go, go on a hike that does not involve a night in the village and head straight out after coming down the mountain.

Once finally in it was quite astonishing though, despite the low clouds and the pouring rain (top tip for anyone visiting, avoid rain-season, especially if you are trekking). It would be interesting to know what this place actually was, its almost never mentioned in preserved texts. But this makes it quite fun as well, you can easily play a game up there. Trying to get as many alternate explanations as possible by evesdropping on different guides (knowing multiple languages will definately be an asset). They are all happily going along telling their version as if it was a proven fact that the building currently in was the temple of winds. Or that the last building was where the emperor took his baths. We heard a few, most interestingly when two English speaking guides gave different descriptions, no more than 10 meters apart!

At one point, at a rock in a stone quarry, we overheard a different guide say to his troupe of 30-odd followers:

"The Incas worked very hard from sunrise to sunset then went and drank beer!"

which was too bad because the Incas had very advanced (for the time and place) stone cutting techniques which the guide didn't bother to mention, instead with a kurt "take picture", he herded his group onwards.

So tonight we'll be happy to leave this village and head to Ollantaytambo, from where we'll tomorrow hopefully visit Richard Webbs (an Univerity friend of Vaniahs) company.