Bariloche, Argentina (E)

The weather turned quite bad with a snow storm building up but the bus brought us safely over the border on top of Tromen pass. We were lucky as the pass had to be temporarily closed the next day due to bad weather conditions. Unfortunately the sun kept hiding behind thick rain clouds for two more days and I wasn’t able to cycle through the picturesque seven lake region as originally planned. There was no point in staying in the expensive tourist town of San Martin de los Andes without anything to do other than tasting delicious chocolate in some of the many chocolate shops. I decided to continue further south to the city of Bariloche which is known for even more chocolate shops, beautiful blue lakes and impressive mountain scenery.

View from the hostel balcony

Several people recommended staying at Penthouse 1004 which was supposed to have the best views of any accommodation in Bariloche. I was travelling with two Australian guys I met in San Martin and the taxi driver dropped us right in front of the ugliest high-rise building in town, telling us to enter and take the elevator to the 10th floor. Confused about the total lack of signage we took the service elevator up and rang the doorbell of apartment 1004. We were greeted by one of the three lovely employees and shown around the hostel. We were impressed by the friendly staff, nice living areas, a big kitchen and the most amazing view over Lake Nahuel Huapi. The motivation to cook (or rather watch & learn) at the hostel was huge because Jakob, a Swiss guest of the hostel, is a trained chef and used to work in a Michelin star kitchen in Switzerland. He offered to cook for whoever wanted to help him and soon we were preparing meals for up to twelve people.

Fortunately the weather improved during my stay in Bariloche and I was able to enjoy two sunny days exploring the area. I spent one day hiking around the hills outside the city with great views of the snow capped mountains in the distance. With Marleen from Holland I went on a one-day Bicycle tour west of Bariloche called “Circuito Chico”, a 25 Kilometer circuit over gentle hills, along beautiful blue lakes and through thick forest. There were photo opportunities everywhere and we spent the whole day gazing at the landscape which sometimes reminded me a lot of the scenery back in Switzerland. Add to that all the chocolate shops and cheese fondue restaurants and one could almost forget being on a different continent. I also enjoyed one of the best coffees I had in South America when Marleen and I went to treat ourselves to a cup of Cappuccino at the Llao Llao Hotel, the most luxurious 5-star hotel in the country, beautifully set on a hill overlooking the lakes.

After all these gastronomical highlights (I didn’t try the fondue though, saving the anticipation for my return to Switzerland), I had to move on and headed back into Chile where two dates were waiting for me...

Llao Llao Hotel

Cappuccino at Llao Llao Hotel