The Lakes District: Bariloche, Chile

April 25th - 26th 2008

A tranquil little resort town with a ski mountain and an amazing lake at its footstep, Bariloche is definitely somewhere to make a pit stop for the Patagonian traveler.

Hostel 1004 ($12 USD) had astounding 10-story views of the lake during both sunrise and sunset. After cheking in I met my new Mormon friends for some of the cities specialties: local wild Boar (with creamy mushroom sauce), Italian-influenced helado (ice-cream), and chocolates.

We brought 1 pound of assorted chocolate bon-bons ($10 USD) back to my hostel where a wine tasting social was about to take place. As non-drinkers, my friends (Benjamin and Jerry?) made their way home as I was motioned to join the festivities. Trying a plethora of Argentina entry level Malbecs (etc.) paled in comparison to the fantastic wines I had the previous day. The wine I shared (Reserve Superior Grenache blend) was the table favorite and I was happy to share.

The sunrise in the morning was fantastic! So bright that I think it makes my digital camera malfunction. With a few hours to kill before my 33 hour bus ride to El Calafate, I met Alejandro who deserves mention because he helped me get my computer back up and running (While sharing my music and pictures, my Quitenian friends gave my ipod, usb flash-drive and computer such bad viruses that fresh installs were necessary). I didn't lose my well backed up photos but did lose over 30 gigs of music and 10 gigs of movies (would have come in handy during the upcoming bus rides). My computer is alive again so expect more regular contributions to the blog during my down time.

Back to the bus I go to head deeper into Patagonia; this glacier better be worth it!