The bus trip here was very long, even longer after spending the day at the beach in Vina del Mar and getting a little sunburn. Nothing like jumping on a 19 hour bus trip without showering off the sand and sunscreen for 24 hours, needless to say we were very eager for showers once we arrived in Bariloche. For the first time we landed a bus with a full cama service which means our seats converted to an almost flat surface for sleeping with pillows and blankets aplenty. I would have slept great if it weren´t for some strange beeping every 3 minutes. Thank god for earplugs. Once we crossed the border it became very apparent we were in a different area of the Andes. Everywhere I looked there appeared to be lush green valleys and alpine lakes. This place is absolutely beautiful, might need to come back here to stay for a bit after the holidays.
We showered up and went out for dinner, hit the grocery store to get some goodies for fixing our own breakfast and lunch the next day and hit the sack. Day 2 in Bariloche was a hike up onto a couple of lookouts by the lake.
After getting a view of our next adventure, a bike ride around the lakes we headed down the road to find a bike rental. We started off going the opposite way of most others and I have to say it was one of the most beautiful rides I´ve ever taken. Some challenging hills on a crappy mountain bike but the view was worth all the effort and shifting problems. We rode for about 5 hours by the time we finished the loop and headed back to town for dinner. It was a wonderful and exhausting day.
The following morning, at this point I can´t remember what day of the week it is so I´m just gonna give up... we went to the lake to do some kayaking. Morgan got some good photos on his camera so I´ll have to get them to post. We were only on the lake for a couple of hours and it was rather windy so we stayed close to the coast line but it was great. I highly recommend the kayak company in Bariloche called Cuadrante Sur, Chris and Pablo were our guides and they only allow small groups. It was Morgan and I in a double kayak and another couple also in a double. The guides paddled with us and chatted the whole time, a stark contrast to other guides we´ve had who didn´t make any effort to get to know their customers. These guys are great!
Today is our last day in Bariloche, tomorrow we are headed a few hours south to a small town called El Bolson to stay for x-mas. If it´s anything like Bariloche I think I´ll be in heaven. This is a place I could live.
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