South America - Argentina Bariloche, the Seven Lakes road

May it be conincidence, but may be not!

As I almost get to the moment to write about the Seven Lakes road, Jean put The Motorcycle Diaries in front of me and said, a good book to read. It is indeed a good book to read.

Surprisingly, without knowing it, I made the same route just like Ernesto CHE Guevara. The Seven Lakes road was undertaken in the book during the February of 1952.  If you keen to visit Argentina and Chile, you will come to know that "The Lake Region" in these two countries is one of the most scenic region in the countries.  The road, over Argentina side, simply pass by seven lakes and going through towns from San Martin de los Andes, Villa la Angostura to San Carlos de Bariloche. 

You may continue this journey further to Chile though a combination of cruises and rides with multiple lake crossing.  Along this journey, you will see the Isla Victoria, Bosque de Arrayanes,  Peulla waterfall and Osorno volcano from the east where you will reach either Puerto Montt or Puerto Varas.  From here, you actually can take a bus by land road back to San Martin or Bariloche through the towns of Frutillar, Osorno and the Puyehue National Park, making a full circuit of loop.

That is what exactly I done. I went to San Martin and hiked up the mountain, the small is just as described come into full view.

San Martin de los Andes, Argentina - Apr, 2010.

Going back to Bariloche, I passed by Angostura.

Villa la Angostura, Argentina - Apr, 2010.

And of course, I would not be missing the Seven Lakes on the Seven Lakes road.

7 Lakes View, Argentina - Apr 2010.

Hosteria 7 Lagos

7 Lakes View

South America - Argentina Bariloche, Switzerland another

I have never been to Switzerland, not qualified in saying which  or what is the same.  But for all the Brazilian and Argentinean who came here to enjoy the weather, which was a lot, they thought so.

San Carlos de Bariloche, or short name as Bariloche, got its name from Vuriloche meaning "people from behind the mountain".  This city has all the elements like Switzerland - the architectural development, the alpine, the ski resorts, the St.Bernard dogs and the chocolate.  Yes, even the chocolate! The Bariloche chocolate is especially famous for Argentinean who loves sweet.

For all that, there are two things I would like to remember Bariloche for - the meat and the lake!

Why the meat? It is because I never had so much meat in my life than at Bariloche. For every city that I travelled 3-4 days, I normally will ask the hostal to recommend a nice restaurant to have at least one nice meal for the city.  And in Bariloche, I went to Familia Weiss, a restaurant famous for its vension and trout.  The setting was warming.

Table setting in Familia Weiss, Bariloche
Argentina, Apr 2010.

I was quite ignorant still, at that time, of the size of serving for a meal of meat.  I ordered a lamb steak and it turned out, in my opinion, to be able to serve a whole family.

Lamb steak in Familia Weiss, Bariloche
Argentina, Apr 2010.

There were at least 8oz of meat here.  And there and then, I finally understood what meant by my Argentinean friend that they eat a lot of meat.  The food there was delicious.  The salad I ordered is called Summer Holiday, even though it was almost winter already when I visited.

Salad Summer Holiday in Familia Weiss, Bariloche
Argentina, Apr 2010.

It was the best salad ever I have had.  Avocado, strawberry, mandarine oranges and vine tomatoes made up a Summer Holiday.
Another reason why I have to talk about Familia Weiss, is the service.  While I had very good food in Buenos Aires and Ushuaia, the service there had not made me felt the warm welcoming feeling. While in Familia Weiss, they treated me as every other customer who came to Bariloche for a nice holiday.  They drew people back to Bariloche.

Bariloche is on the southern shore of Nahuel Huapi Lake surrounded by Nahuel Huapi National Park.  The region it is within is called the Lake District for both Argentina and Chile.  The famous "Seven Lakes Route" will take you from Bariloche to San Martin on a beautiful journey. While another lake crossing journey from Bariloche to Puerto Varas in Chile will take you on a 7 cruises plus multiple bus transfers journey, allows you to see the amazing Osorno Volcano on the way.

South America - Argentina Nahuel Huapi, Journey to the Black Glacier

I spent a week from trekking Glaciar Perito Moreno to Los Torres del Paine, finishing 1st leg of the journey in 3 weeks.  Subsequently, it was all road trips, 5 hours evening bus from Torres del Paine to El Calafate. A tiring night with a next day flight and another ride, then I arrived Bariloche which is called 'Switzerland of Argentina'.

Exhausted with fatigue, I was pretty unlucky the 1st night to have a dorm-mate who snored ever loudest and it was a hostal that seemed to forget to turn on the heater.  It was freezing cold and I hardly slept.  Without proper rest, I was up early at 4am while the trip to the Nahuel Huapi National Park starting at 7am.

Nahuel Huapi National Park is no strange subject to any Argentinean.  The oldest national park in the country, with the national hero Francisco Moreno donated 75 square kilometres (29 sq mi) of land in the area to the federal government in 1903, Nahuel Huapi is nearly 2 Million Acres in size and surrounds Nahuel Huapi Lake.  In the famous Mapuche language, Nahuel Huapi means 'Jaguar Island'.

My guide is a German descendent.  It seems the population around the lake region in both Argentina and Chile are mainly German descendent. Off we went to pick up a full van of Brazilian (Brazilian loves to visit Bariloche till Argentinean deem Bariloche as Braziloche), and another British navy, Sarah.  As we entered the national park, I noticed that the wall of some of the mountain had marks left by glacier movement.

Nahuel Huapi National Park - Argetntina, Apr 2010.

It shows the ice age of the earth. As our van passed one part of the forest, I saw a hollow pathway through the wood.  It seemed like a tunnel which swept by some heavy objects through the forest.

Nahuel Huapi National Park - Argetntina, Apr 2010.

I asked the guide why the national park just swept and made path like that, and the guide said "It was not us, it was the ice!"  Apparently, this happened almost every spring.  After winter, the water in the mountain built up the ice.  When the ice started to melt in spring, it started to move, then down the hill, sweeping everything along with it!  The guide told me as he comes to the park almost every other day, it happened once the ice was moving down hill and passed right in front of his van, making a sound that he will never forget.  Judging from the photo, the force was tremendous!

We arrived the vista point at the Nahuel Huapi Lake, where we saw the snow capped Cerro Tronador from a distant.

Cerro Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park
Argetntina, Apr 2010.

The national park is in the Patagonia Andean Zone, the Altoandino which above 1600 meters will be perpetually covered by snow. The Valvidian RainForest here (and in Chile) is one of the rare and unique rainforest existed to the area.

As we furthered into the national park, we came to a vista point to view the Piuque Huapi, Piuque means 'Heart' in Mapuche. The Heart (shaped) Island was the cover of the national park brochure.  But, the vista point is not high enough that I was not able to capture the island in a heart shaped. However, I would have to say it is beautiful! 

Piuque Huapi, Nahuel Huapi National Park
Argetntina, Apr 2010.

The morning passed by without the sun, the grey cloud moved in and the sky started to have cold drizzle. I was quite down due to lack of sleep.  As I blared out that may be my luck had run out with good weather, the guide turned, smiled and said to me "No, you are in luck today!" I was thinking "Ya, right!" Then, he continued "We can only see the Black Glacier clearly after the rain, without the sun reflection!"