Argentina - The Lake District

We left El Calafate on yet another bus 12 hours with a night stop over in Puerto Mereno and another 12 hour bus early the next day to Bariloche in the Lake District, nestled along the Andes in the west of Argentina.

The bus journey was interesting, there were no luxuries on the coach so we had regular food & bathroom stops. These are the typical toilet facilities we encountered - not as bad as they look (no where near as bad as the Inca Trail). Most of the journey was along dirt roads, so no more than 40 miles an hour most of the way!

The restaurant entrance.

Bariloche! The view from the main square, an amazing town on the edge of a huge lake.

The main square.............

............ very alpine.

The lake with mountainous backdrop.

Bariloche is famous for the lakes & mountains but also for the chocolate shops.

As we walked down the main street..............

............. for only 1 block!.................

............... we spotted tonnes of these supermarket like chocolate shops ................

................ for a chocolate lover/addict ...............

....................... it was a mixture of heaven ...........................

................ and hell ............................

.................... as I am attempting to get fit again for New Zealand.

They tasted amazing! Dulche de Leche chocolates - WOW!

Argentina has hammered our budget. We were not expecting it to be so expensive (relative to the rest of South America), especially the buses. So we had to downsize on our rooms. Here is our Bariloche hostel room, christened the 'Potting Shed' as that was exactly what is was: tiny, complete with ivy growing in from outside! (What you see is the room in its full form - I took the photo from outside the door).

The lakes are best viewed from the seat of a bike, so we headed off to the bike hire shop.

My word were the views incredible as we set off round the peninsula.

Wild Broom and Lupins grew everywhere and (lucky us) we were there to see them in their full glory.

The lake was amazing, like a painting.

Like really amazing.

We were having an incredible time until Kenny unsuccessfully executed a moving dismount, tumbling down a roadside back spraining his ankle on the way! Here he is being advised to elevate whilst I rode off to find a phone to call for rescue.
(Rather dissapointed that, among all of these fabulous views, I crashed by a rubbish bin with a view of inpenetrable woodland. Typical! - Kenny)

Back on the bus and further north we arrived in San Martin De Los Andes.

Again a wonderful alpine looking town on the edge of a great lake.

In the winter a ski town. In the summer a relaxing town.

Due to the ankle injury we opted for a boat ride up the lake to a small bay.

With yet another wonderful view.

Kenny managed a short hike with the aid of a walking pole, where a local dog who adopted us for the walk...

...to a crystal clear waterfall.

The Lake District was a beautiful place to visit and, like Southern Patagonia, we could have stayed longer and would love to return. Now our flight out of South America looms, our penultimate bus journey to Mendoza and its vineyards beckon.