Sunday was another drive day including a border crossing, which meant an early start after the last border experience. The border itself was a relatively short drive and when arriving we were met with a queue of cars, although less than the last one. This border was smaller however and it still took us about 5 hours to cross, although they didn't check our bags which was a nice surprise. We ended up arriving in Bariloche at about 6 in the end so it was quite a long day.
The Argentinian resort town of Bariloche has a picture-perfect setting on the shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake, flanked by the peaks of the surrounding Andean mountains. The scenery here is truly stunning, so it's a magical place to explore and take in all the amazing views. In winter, the town is a popular centre for skiing and in summer the focus shifts to walking, mountain-biking, horse-riding and kayaking and canoeing on the lakes. The town itself is famous for its handmade chocolates, and there are some really spectacular
displays in the local chocolate shops. We were staying about 7.5km outside of town, so after checking in we went out to this local restaurant which had its own brewery and specialised in German food, and it was really good.
Come morning we an array of options of things to do, and I wanted to go hiking. No one else wanted to go though as due to the horrendous weather the previous day and the forecast being rain people wanted to relax at the hostel or go into town. This meant I had to catch a local bus to km 25 which was absolutely heaving. Going to km 25 allowed me to walk various trails to get views of the Lago Nahuel Huapi, and the Lago Moreno later in the day. The paths were predominantly flat woodland trails, and some of the views were just breathtaking. I did a good 6 hours walking in the end.
When returning to bus stop it was very crowded, although I got on a bus ok. It was getting the bus to stop which was the real difficulty as they didn't have buttons so you had to tell the driver to stop, which wasn't easy on a bus packed like sardines. I got off at km 7.5 without any problems though. When arriving back at the hostel I met everyone else and made them jealous they had missed out as it had been a sunny day. Dinner in the evening took us to a steak house where it was unfortunately a farewell meal to one of the original members of the group who started in Cartagena who has to fly home due to unforeseen circumstances. We had a few drinks in the evening to say bye.
Tuesday was another days hiking, although this time I decided to go into the mountains to walk to refugio frey, and I even had someone to hike with. Leaving relatively early we caught the bus to Lago Guitirrez where we walked up to the nearby town of Cerro Catedral. In the winter months this is a popular skiing resort, however in the summer months the lack of snow presents the opportunity for some stunning hikes. When arriving we caught the cable car up the mountain, and then had to get off where we got onto a chairlift which took us to around 2000m. The hike itself to refugio frey was listed as extreme but we just went for it.
The initial path was very loose ground and took us up to this viewpoint presenting stunning views in both directions. We then had to follow the mountains edge on a very challenging path with big boulders and just red dots on the rocks to follow. The views were just breathtaking though. We eventually reached an open area where we had to go into this valley, reaching a view of this lake and glimpses of snow. The descent to the lake was extreme though, literally going down what was effectively a cliff. A lot of upper body strength was needed. We then followed the lake before decending sharply again, this time on very loose terrain which made it difficult in terms of footing. We eventually got deep into the valley and made the refuge where we stopped for lunch.
After lunch we had to return the same way, getting a few pictures of the lakeside refuge before leaving. The valley was as equally stunning on the return, although the climb up to the next lake was a mission with loose terrain. When reaching the lake the next climb was even worse and was practically rock climbing in many places. I certainly had to use my arms a lot. We eventually made it back up and followed the mountains edge back to the chairlift. After heading down we reached the town where we caught the bus back to km 7.5. The evening was spent relaxing with an early start planned for the morning.
Bariloche was when we finally entered Patagonia, the name of the region in the far south of South America, formed of the southernmost stretch of the Andes and the surrounding plains and plateaus. The area is split down the middle by the Andes, with Chilean Patagonia on the west, and Argentinian Patagonia on the east. Renowned for its desolate landscapes, unrelenting winds and magnificent lake, mountain and glacial scenery, the name Patagonia comes from the word "Patagon", used by the explorer Magellan to describe the local people who he believed to be giants. Today historians believe that the Patagons were actually Teheulches, with an average height of about 1.8m as opposed to the average height of a Spaniard of 1.55m at the time!
With so much to we left early and left Gus for the next couple of weeks as we're visiting locations in a completely different order. To put it simple my itinerary is completely pointless. With a lot of ground to cover, we set off and returned to ruta 40 and managed to cover a lot of ground, stopping for lunch on the roadside where we had a pumpkin soup with french bread made by our guide. Whilst we were having lunch so many cars beeped at us to the point where we were guessing the order of beeps for the following three cars.
After lunch we continued south, stopping at Rio Mayo to camp. The campsite however was unsuitable as we couldn't fit under the gate! The town was also a military related area so it didn't seem that nice anyway. We therefore continued south to the next town of Perito Moreno where we found a brilliant place to camp including an inside area suitable for cooking. It was very windy however although we were warned about this! Dinner in the evening was a chicken and mushroom pasta with a salad which was amazing.
The following day we left a little later than planned as driving onto Perito Moreno meant we were further down the road than intended from the day before. Shortly after leaving however we were stopped by a massive amount of sheep blocking the road. Argentina does have a Welsh heritage as many Welsh farmers emigrated during the 19th century and the industrial revolution in the Welsh valleys. We eventually got past and the drive was stunning despite driving through a desolate landscape with some really strong winds. We saw lots of rhea and guanaco en route, stopping before lunch at Cueva de las Manos.
The UNESCO World Heritage site of Cueva de las Manos lies in an isolated and remote spot in the valley of Rio Pinturas. The cave takes its name from the hundreds of paintings of hands made by indigenous inhabitants some 13,000-9,000 years ago - possibly by the ancestors of the Tehuelche people. The images of hands are 'negative-painted, meaning that they put their hand on the rock face and sprayed the paint around the outline by blowing it through a bone pipe. As well as the hand impressions, there are also depictions of human beings, guanacos, rheas and other animals, as well as geometric shapes, zigzags, and representations of the sun, moon and hunting scenes. It was a very interesting place and after exploring the site we had lunch here too which was sandwiches.
After lunch we continued south although we had an extended period off road before rejoining to ruta 40. We ended up stopping driving at half 5 in the end after such a long drive the day before, camping in Gabernador Gregores. The campsite was quite small but perfectly adequate, with the town being very quiet. After going to the supermarket we relaxed before dinner, which was morrocan cous cous with vegetables which was probably one of my favourite group meals we've cooked so far. I then had an early night as it was unbearable sitting in the wind which was just unrelentless!
No comments:
Post a Comment