Bariloche and Ruta de los Siete Lagos (7 Lakes)

After an 18-hour trip on two buses we finally arrived in Bariloche, a very pretty lakeside town in the mountains.

We felt like we were in BC. It could have been a little ski resort town in the Kootenays, although the expensive shops and the new ski chalet style buildings made it feel a lot like Whistler as well.

And it was really cold. I thought I had enough layers on, but it felt like at least -5 degrees even though it appeared to only be 1 or maybe 0 degrees.

Our hostel was excellent here. It was called Penthouse 1004 and was on the tenth floor penthouse of the tallest building in the town. It had an incredible view of the lake and mountains around, a fabulous kitchen and a really friendly feel.

It’s funny when you first walk into a hostel. You look around hoping to see a friendly face among strangers, or in our case, anyone at all. We’ve been the only people in a few of the hostels in Argentina so far and it feels a bit weird and lonely.

Aside from the low cost, the reason we stay in hostels is to meet fellow travelers. So we were relieved to see two girls near our age in the common room when we arrived. But to our surprise, the hostel was bustling with activity that night. The kitchen was full of people cooking and chatting and there was lots of laughter and good times.

One traveler we met there, Joe from Orange County, got to Bariloche and decided that he would spend two years there. “Just ‘cause it’s a beautiful place”, he said.

He was working at the hostel temporarily and would spend most of his days writing at the table there. He had been laid off from Silicon Valley, so I guess he had some time on his hands.

Rocky and I spent one day just tooting around in the little town. I had heard that Bariloche was renowned for it’s chocolate so I was really looking forward to sampling. It was delicious, but they were really lacking in the dark cocoa varieties, which I’ve grown to love more.

We also spent the day urgently looking for another layer of clothing, mitts, hats and socks. It’s funny how 6 months ago we were planning a sun filled journey and now we find ourselves chasing winter.

And I have to mention that we ate one of the best meat sandwiches I will ever have. Essentially just chorizo sausage on a toasted baguette, Choripan, was served up to us for 1 dollar from a vendor in the park near our hostel.

Chorizo cooked to a perfect BBQ crisp with a spicy sauce drizzled over it on a fresh bun is really a flavor sensation! Yes, folks I will be trying that at home… once the overdose of white bread and too much red meat has worn off.

That’s right. As usually happens with prolonged travel, we are a little tired of the food. Even the steak.

Salads only ever consist of iceberg lettuce, foamy beefsteak tomato and white onions, all slathered with corn oil, vinegar and salt. It might be olive oil if you are lucky.

And the white bread!!!

I’m surprised there isn’t an epidemic of constipation in this country because all these people seem to eat is white bread, ham & cheese sandwiches, pizza, pasta and, of course, steak.

Almost every restaurant has the same menu. I kiss the ground when the salad menu extends beyond the above listed ingredients.

It’s funny that in the hospital in Thailand I was dreaming above pasta slathered in tomato sauce and cheese, and now I run screaming when I see the word “raviolis”. And I would pay $30 or more for a nice spicy red curry with veggies and rice. It’s all about the moderation.

Being Vancouverites, we are so lucky to have the multi-cultural array of foods that we do.

Ruta de los Siete Lagos


After spending a day in Bariloche, Rocky and I rented a car to drive the Seven Lakes route to a little town called San Martin de los Andes.

The road was gravel or dirt for the most part, and passed by at least seven of the lakes in the region. We had lots of fun driving in our 4x4 Ford Echo.

We spent the night in a really cold room in “grandma’s house” in San Martin. It was another cute little ski town like a much smaller, quainter version of Bariloche. Not too much going on there for us though, since the town was really quiet just before the start of the ski season.

The next day the route took us through an even more rugged dirt road where we didn’t see a single car, and passed a handful of estancias (farms) along the way.



I was most impressed by the rock formations and the rivers that we passed along the way. I think Rocky most enjoyed being able to drive a somewhat challenging road in a 4x4.

Click here to see all the photos.

Mendoza

I was really looking forward to Mendoza. We had heard so many good reviews about it. Unfortunately it would have been better earlier in the Fall, when the leaves were just turning and it was *warmer*.

As with every other country we've been this year, the weather was freaky. It was around zero degrees and we have snow our first full day in Mendoza.

Fortunately for us, there are hot springs outside the town a ways in a place called Cacheuta. Cacheuta was a somewhat depressing little town on a deserted railway line and when we arrived, it took us and some other tourists about half an hour to locate the thermal baths.

There was both public access, as well as a hotel that had a nice day package with bathing, a buffet lunch and a massage at the end... Which do you think Rocky and I were looking for?

Anyway, you would think a hotel would have a sign at the entrance of it, but no. It appeared they went to great lengths to make the hotel as difficult to find as possible. We ended up walking through someone's backyard and down some rickety stairs and into the servants quarters to access the hotel.

But we found it!

The baths were really hot and soothing. The setting was very pretty too. The lunch was delicious! And the massages were... okay, but what do you expect for twenty bucks. Ultimately, it was a great way to spend a snowy day in Mendoza!


Wine tasting
The next day was cold, but sunny, so at least we were able to do the wine tasting tour. It wasn't really an organized tour, just bike rentals along with a map of the winery locations.

We took a bus out to a suburb called Maipu where many of the vineyards are. At the bike rental shop we met up with some girls from our hostel, two Americans and one Swiss girl.

The going was very slow at the start as one of the Americans didn't know how to ride a bike?! She decided to just stay and drink at the first vineyard we hit.

We ended up just having time to visit two wineries: Tempo Sur and Familia di Tomasso. I wouldn't say I loved any wines that we tried... especially not the award winning ones seeing as I dislike the taste of Oak in wine.

But it was fun. The two wineries were totally different, one modern and snobby, the other totally old school, family run and very friendly.

I really feel like our day did not Mendoza any justice, so maybe we'll return in the early fall or spring one day.

For the full Mendoza photo album, click here.