Activity Summary
Tuesday 5th December - Day 427 (continued)
Bus to San Carlos de Bariloche
Argentina border crossing
Wednesday 6th December - Day 428
Pick up hire car
Picked up shoelaces, hiking nubbins and cash
Cerro Llao Llao summit and loop
Mirador Bahía López
Puente Arroyo La Angostura
Cerveza Patagonia - Cervecería Bariloche
Punto Panorámico - Circuito Chico
Dinner at Manush Centro
Thursday 7th December - Day 429
Drive the Ruta 40 / 7 Lagos to San Martin de Los Andes
Lake 1 - Lago Correntoso
Lake 2 - Lago Espejo
Lake 3 - Lago Escondido
Lake 4 - Lago Villarino
Lake 5 - Lago Falkner
Lake 6 - Lago Machónico
Lake 7 - Lago Lacar
San Martín de Los Andes
Coffee on the beach with Sam
Stay in Villa La Angostura
Dinner at Restaurante Villa La Angostura
Friday 8th December - Day 430
Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes
Mirador del Puerto
Mirador Bahía Brava
Saturday 9th December - Day 431
Nicola’s dentist
Villa Cerro Catedral
Refugio Frey hike
Lago Gutierrez
Arroyo Van Titter river
Laguna Toncek
Cerro Catedral Norte
Drop car off
Sunday 10th December - Day 432
Bus to El Chaltén
Summary
Bariloche
Absolutely love this place.
Absolutely helped by having 5 days of glorious weather, our own car and the flexibility to do our own thing was perfect.
We spent 5 days here and could have happily spent the week. The hikes were fun, the towns were lovely and were sad we didn’t stay in San Martin de Los Andes and make use of the lago swimming opportunities. So much to do meant we didn’t get as much downtime as Nicola needed.
The town is super nice, plenty of good food joints, cafes and great beer for £1.60 a pint.
Transport
Bariloche
Walk to Puerto Montt bus terminal
Bus from Puerto Montt to Bariloche (Via Bariloche, CLP35kpp)
Taxi to Bariloche Airbnb
Accommodation
Bariloche - Airbnb (228 Topa Topa)
Number of nights - 2
Price per night per person - £17
Positives:
Lovely hosts
Nice little perks with beer, coffee etc
Parking
Comfortable
Quiet area
Negatives:
Location was good, but a bit of a walk away
Needed a bigger bed
Dusty as hell place. Car covered being parked there overnight
Recommend?
Absolutely
Villa Angostura - Hostel La Angostura
Number of nights - 1
Price per night per person - £4
Positives:
Comfortable
Super cheap
Location
Breakfast provided
Negatives:
Down a very dusty road
Recommend?
Yes
Bariloche - Airbnb (440 San Martin)
Number of nights - 2
Price per night per person - £15
Positives:
Nice apartment
Had everything we needed
Negatives:
Bed too small
Broken window meant sound came in easier
Very loud area - needed ear plugs
Blinds didn’t block out the light - needed eye masks
Recommend?
Not a chance
Diary
Tuesday 5th December - Day 427 (continued)
The Argentina border crossing was as easy as it had been previously for Luke, a short queue once eventually off the bus and with our passports scanned and accomodation asked for we were back on the bus heading to Bariloche.
The journey took a lot longer than initially advertised (as always) arriving at 8pm. It turned out our Airbnb hosts were going to pick us up from the bus terminal but they never actually said this to Luke and so we ended up in a taxi before they could tell him they were there.
They were super nice people and gave us a very warm introduction to the little outhouse we were staying in and for once it felt like an airbnb we would expect in the UK. They had thought about and provided various small things like coffee, local beer and snacks which was a nice afterthought we appreciated.
Being quite late the emergency ramen dinner sorted us out before crashing to the (sometimes) soothing rewatching of Virgin River Nicola loves so much.
Wednesday 6th December - Day 428
To make our Bariloche trip nice and easy Luke sorted out another car. What he didn’t foresee was a problem with the pick up and drop off times that had somehow lost 5 hours from what he thought he had booked, probably from the use of a VPN to fix a better price. Either way he didn’t check until the night before and this was expected to cause a problem on drop off.
Fortunately Fit car rental messaged him the day before saying it would be ready at 3am and he was able to clarify this was absolutely not going to happen.
The most convenient bus left at 8.30am and probs to the 72, it has run only a little late every time Luke has got it. Which is impressive considering it runs every 1.5hrs.
We were at the airport for around 9am, sorted everything needed at the check in desk and made them aware of the drop off time error. The guy was pretty stubborn about it not being possible but Luke fought his ground and they were able to sort it out via WhatsApp once they got rid of him.
A more spicy afterthought was that we totally didn’t have a CDW for the car during the Carretera Austral, thinking that booking.com would sort us out like it did in the US. We were greatly mistaken and on confirming we only had the most basic levels of insurance with Fit, Luke opted for the full whack for a measly £5 a day just to get it done and dusted quickly.
We were shown to our little Renault Sandero which compared to the size of the MG was so easy to drive. What it wasn’t however was brand spanking new. The damage review with the rental car guy was probably more thorough than he expected, Nicola running around filming the car while Luke made him markup absolutely everything he saw. The dude might as well have taken a pen and scribbled all across the entire picture of the car, having dents, scratches, chipped windscreen and wheels that had been scraped to high heaven. Ain’t no way we were getting done for anything, but having such a scuffed car does make any potential thing Luke did much less likely to be identified.
Apart from driving in Bariloches hell grid system where it’s absolutely free for all who goes (at least Chile had half decent signage), everywhere else he drove was super chill and pleasant.
Once back at the Airbnb we dropped the car and walked into town to pick Nicola up shoelaces, hiking nubbins and more cash.
Now we could start our day. Nicola was having problems with her knees and doing one of the many numbers or long walks Luke had found wasn’t on the cards. After recommendations our decision was to go to the Cerro Llao Llao area which was supposed to be really nice and worse comes to worse, Luke could dump Nicola in a bar or cafe with nice views over the lakes and mountains. Fortunately it didn’t come to that.
Joining us in our trip was our lovely friend Ciara who we had met 3 months before all the way in Ecuador. Instagram has its flaws but it did show that she was in Bariloche at the same time as us and we would be lucky enough to have her join us for the next two days as we drove around. She’s an absolute legend, a great laugh and just straight up lovely so she was such a welcome addition to our road trip. The strange rejection by a crusty NP person for her planned Refugio Frey hike turned to our benefit and we were able to pick her up as we drove to Llao Llao.
Llao Llao was about 40 minutes West of Bariloche and there was a convenient car park at the start of the loop / summit trail.
All clad in our walking gear we got going. The loop itself was not a particularly exciting walk but it was popular. We saw plenty of people all over the trail.
It started with a standard forest section that was fairly flat.
At the crossroads to Cerro Llao Llao Luke and Ciara left Nicola in order to preserve some weak ankles. The views going up the Cerro were pretty great, with great views overlooking one side Lago Nahuel Huapi.
This view didn’t change much throughout the shortish ascent but at the summit, with the clear blue sky it was pretty great.
Ciara got to experience first hand the wonders of a selfie stick for solo hiking. She pretended like she wasn’t judging.
To end the view we were treated to a soaring bird of prey which made for an excellent photo in front of the lake and mountains.
Going down would have been easier had Luke been in charge of directions but we ended up catching up with another couple who had no idea where they were going and in our blind following tried taking us down some unnecessarily steep parts. Eventually they pulled over and let us lead them down safely…
The team now reunited, we continued our saunter around the loop circuit. It was predominantly in trees with a couple of lower lake and beach viewpoints just off the path.
One of the points was an appropriate spot for lunch and for some reason had such a problem with morons it needed a sign saying not to leave toilet paper in the lake. Pretty grim.
The last jazzy part of the walk was the short Arrayanes forest loop, with one very strange looking tree surrounded by the standard spider legged orange ones.
Cerro Llao Llao summit and loop:
Distance = 11.8km
Elevation = 377m
Highest point = 1,019m
Moving time = 2hrs 41mins
Elapsed time = 3hrs 12mins
Back at the car we carried on the road trip, driving away from Bariloche and looping to Puerto López. It was some pretty chill driving and we stopped at a couple of viewpoints along the way:
Mirador Bahía López
Puente Arroyo La Angostura
On the recommendation of Sam we stopped by Cerveza Patagonia - Cerveceria Bariloche for a drink with some views. Luke was gagging for a beer but sensibly decided against it as it seemed Argentina (for the most part although Google didn’t make it easy to confirm) was a T-Total driving country. If this was a beer garden in the UK they’d have a waiting list running for years over the summer.
One last surprise stop was Punto Panorámico - Circuito Chico and probably gave the best views of the area for the day.
Back in town we parted ways with a tired Ciara, who had spent the day with us hiking having arrived in Bariloche at 1am the same day. Solid effort.
Turns out Argentinians eat dinner super late, and the savage opening times of 8pm for a lot of the food suggestions we had was absolutely unacceptable to us (but of course mainly Nicola). The closest place to us that was open was a Argentinian brewery pub called Manush Centro and it was exactly what we wanted. Burgers, pie and other pub food was done pretty well all in a pub setting that could easily have passed for somewhere in the UK.
The icing on the cake for Luke were the £2 pints for a cracking session IPA. Our plan to meet up with Sam Maunder failed because we were shattered and he was going to be getting into town pretty late due to an indulgent spa session. If we had more time, this would have totally been on the Bariloche cards.
Thursday 7th December - Day 429
How do you like your eggs in the morning? Nicola likes them scrambled, slow cooked with a whole load of butter. A good way to start the day and again, the perks of a private Airbnb.
The day's plan was to drive Ruta 40 and visit the 7 Lagos on the way to San Martin de Los Andes. We were reunited with Ciara and then we hit the road.
As Luke writes this it seems that Nahuel Huapi, the big lake all around Bariloche, doesn’t count as one of the 7 lakes but we had a couple of viewpoints along the way giving almost an introduction to the tour.
Mirador Paso Coihue - Nahuel Huapi
Between Bariloche and Villa La Angostura there aren't a whole lot of places to stop and worse there are terrible food options here. Hindsight, stock up on the quality food offerings in Bariloche.
Lake 1 - Lago Correntoso - Punto panorámico / Río Correntoso
This was probably the point with the best views of the day, overlooking Lago Correntoso joining into Lago Nahuel Huapi.
The confluence was fast flowing, crystal clear with excellent surrounding views.
Mirador Inalco
Lake 2 - Lago Espejo - Mirador Lago Espejo
Mirador Lago Correntoso /1 - this turned into our lunch spot, introducing Ciara to our ‘back seat sandwich’ making skills. The ham and cheese croissants went down well.
Mirador Lago Correntoso /2
Lake 3 - Lago Escondido - Mirador Lago Escondido
Lake 4 - Lago Villarino - Mirador Del Lago Villarino
Lake 5 - Lago Falkner - Mirador Lago Falkner
Mirador Cascada Vullignanco
Lake 6 - Lago Machónico - Mirador Lago Machónico
Mirador Pil Pil
Lake 7 - Lago Lacar - Mirador Lago Lacar
The final lake was on the edge of San Martin de Los Andes and looked hella inviting.
By about 4pm we had arrived at San Martin de Los Andes and met up with Sam for a coffee and chill on the lakefront, successfully able to get 30 minutes of cross over in.
We weren’t able to stay long as we needed to drive back to Villa La Angostura and stick Ciara on a sensibly timed bus to Bariloche. It all worked out pretty well, her getting the 7pm.
We checked into our hostel and went through the ordeal of trying to find a dinner joint that was open at our normal eating times. Google was less than helpful, the first place that was ‘open’ being fully closed so settled for Restaurante Villa La Angostura. Half decent pizza.
Friday 8th December - Day 430
Added to the list of travel health problems along the way was Nicola’s wisdom teeth. With the loss of the hard sought after tooth flosser a few months previous (it wasn’t a great model and died pretty quickly) Nicola tended to have problems digging out a little hamster hole she used to unintentionally store food. Surprisingly she hadn’t had any problems until now and after a few days of discomfort building she today woke up with a pretty bad toothache.
Our stay in Villa La Angostura was so we could get to the Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes. It cost ARS6,500 to walk the 22km out and back and to be honest, was not worth it. We made it 8km in before turning around.
The first stops along the route are free and offer the best views.
Mirador del Puerto
Mirador Bahía Brava
The forest itself was pretty but the walk was predominantly in tree cover with little to see anywhere.
The highlight was some pretty orchid type flowers.
The trail was quite busy, one point being very annoying as a squad of bikers came through but stretched out over a 20 minute period.
We drove back to Bariloche and checked into our new Airbnb, this time more central so that we could make it to the bus terminal easier. While this plan was effective, being right on San Martin street was terrible for sleeping as it was both loud and bright so that earplugs weren’t effective and required an eye mask. We would expect this from a hostel but not an Airbnb.
The parking was a bit of a bitch, having to drive a fair distance away from the apartment but it wasn’t savage.
As we usually do when we find somewhere we like, we went straight back to Manush for dinner and beer. The mahussive chicken pot pie was just the right level of baby food consistency that Nicola’s tooth could stomach
Saturday 9th December - Day 431
Both of us barely slept from the noise, light coming in and a largely uncomfortable bed.
Nicola’s tooth got worse and made the decision to scrap her plans to join Luke hiking and go to the dentist instead, logic being there would be nothing in El Chalten.
At 9am she was the first person in, was done at 9.05am and cost the sum total of £3. An infection meant she was prescribed antibiotics.
Meanwhile, Luke’s desire to cook eggs pre-hike delayed him leaving and just as he was about to leave Nicola was able to rejoin the group activity.
A short delay to gather things and drive to a pharmacy to pick up the antibiotics meant we were on the road just after 10am. We were a little tense about timings as a result of Clara’s rejection a few days ago and we needed to be at the airport to drop the car off at 6pm. Turns out we couldn’t see any NP officers and the latter point required more of a shuffle for Nicola than she would have liked.
We were at Villa Cerro Catedral and hiking to Refugio Frey just after 10.30am.
The first 5km was fairly gradual, a bit dusty and barren without much excitement.
Higher in the walk became hillside valley walking with decent views over Bariloche in the distance and Lago Gutierrez.
Nicola snacks with a view.
The walk got infinitely more interesting as we hit the forest.
The Arroyo Van Titter river was picturesque.
An interesting Refugio, Petricek, existed in the forest that for some reason seemed to have religious sentiments.
At around 12.30pm we ended up parting ways in order to ensure Luke could summit ahead of needing to turn back to ensure the car was returned on time. Luke was adamant she was making good time.
With his new freedom Luke could hustle up at his pace, getting annoyed with all the people going slowly and having zero clue about what was going on around them and hold him up. It was a nice leg burner for the latter part.
Towards the summit the trees opened out and the last remnants of snow covered the trail up to the rocky Refugio.
The running river under the snow was a bit concerning as people walked over it but clearly the rangers deemed it safe enough. A little spicy.
At the summit Luke had about 20/30 minutes wandering around the Refugio.
Laguna Toncek was pretty cool, in part thawed but still carrying a pretty significant top sheet of ice and show.
Luke went up some of the way towards Cerro Catedral Norte which had cracking views over the lake and surrounding mountain amphitheatre.
The views from behind were less impressive.
The campsite was quite interesting. It was a nice day but still absolutely Baltic with a serious wind blowing. Tent pitch spots were placed behind rock walls that lined the mountainside and there were a few who had pitched or were just taking a nap.
The Refugio hut exterior did not provide much shelter from the wind and Luke was only there for about 10 minutes before finishing.
Nicola summited just as he was finishing, joined for 3 minutes and then turned tail in the interest of time and to not lose body heat. It was pretty funny.
While there were no pictures of her up top, there was one of her on her descent running away from Luke before he caught up.
As Luke predicted, she had plenty of time but it meant we could be a lot more chill on the way down and certainly appreciate the forest part.
The last 5km over the Lago Gutierrez was very dull, we were both tired and were happy to be done and at the car.
Distance = 21.6km
Elevation = 833m
Highest point = 1,774m
Moving time = 5hr 3mins
Elapsed time = 6hr 3mins
Being a true gent, Luke dropped Nicola off at the Airbnb so she can drop the kids off at the pool. When you gotta go you gotta go.
He was at the airport to drop the car off in plenty of time and without any problems (although the guy was determined to have a conversation with him in Spanish despite Luke saying he speaks barely any of the language) and get a taxi back to Airbnb.
Our evening was spent at Manush for round 3, having a panic about printed bus tickets that Nicola ended up sorting (would find out this isn’t a thing anymore), Luke grabbed a pizza for the next day and despite being shattered had to cook and get ready for a heavy 2 days of travel.
Sunday 10th December - Day 432
Different day, same sleep problems.
Nicola was not taking her antibiotics just yet to avoid the possible side effects of nausea and pooping her pants on a 27hr bus to El Chaltén. Sounded like a pretty good idea.
After checking out at 10am we went next door to a cafe for a bit to kill some time and get more food provisions. Luke’s run to fruteria continued the provisions stockpiling and then got a taxi to the bus terminal.
Getting on to the 12pm Marga Taqsa bus to El Chaltén clarified that we didn’t need printed tickets in the end but it was best to be safe than sorry.
So commenced the longest bus ride we have ever taken, or will ever take according to Nicola.
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