Marc expressing disapproval of the Llao Llao hotel
Tuesday, January 20, 2010
We pulled into the Bariloche bus station 28 hours after leaving El Calafate. Surprisingly, the bus ride wasn’t too bad. By the time we arrived it was almost 8pm but we still managed to figure out the bus system and took the number 20 to an area near our hostel. In addition to my new strategy of sitting on a street corner and letting the hostel owners come to us (successfully implemented in Punta Arenas, Chile), I also have adopted a method of cross referencing hostels in the Footprint Argentina guidebook with the Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring guidebook to exclude any LP entries (when possible). It appears that most backpackers are using the Lonely Planet guidebook thus hostels listed in it tend to be full, complacent, or packed with the rowdy party crowd. Right now it is high season in Argentina and we have been warned to make reservations ahead. Our selected hostel was listed as having scones for breakfast rather than the usual pan, which is how we ended up at Hostel Pudu. The place was a bit dingy but the friendly ex-pat staff and craft beer on tap in the dining room made up for it.
Bariloche is a touristy summer/winter resort area in the Lakes District. We debated for some time about visiting the city because we knew we probably wouldn’t like it, but we really wanted to go on a four day trek in nearby Nahuel Huapi National Park (known as the “Nahuel Huapi Traverse”) and Bariloche was the closest and most convenient starting point. El Bolson was another contender but it was three hours away. The description of El Bolson in Footprint made us curious – hippie vibe and craft beer – but we just couldn’t make it work. We needed a place to stash our bags while camping and weren’t interested in an extra six hours of transit. In retrospect, we probably could have bussed from El Bolsen to Bariloche, stored our bags at the bus station, done the trek, and continued on without entering the city itself.
Wednesday, January 21, 2010
Our first day in Bariloche was relaxing: my feet and knees were still sore from our previous El Chalten hiking extravaganza and since we were about to venture out again the next day I didn’t mind the leisurely pace. After breakfast we went to the Club Andino Bariloche (CAB) office to gather information about the hike. Once again we were disappointed to learn that one of the passes was closed due to snow unless one had crampons, ice axe, and mountaineering experience. I doubt our 10-minute lesson using an ice axe and crampons in Villarrica would land us in this category so we set about making an alternative plan. Marc immediately became grumpy upon hearing the news. Since our last two treks were cut short for similar reasons he was looking forward to these four days of hiking and camping. Fortunately, we could still put together a 3-day / 2-night trek from the Villa Catedral ski area to Refugio Frey to Refugio San Martin. After the bad news, we headed out to Rapa Nui – a chocolatier – where hot cocoa made with real chocolate managed to lift Marc’s spirits. We spent some time reading and writing postcards before making our way to the grocery store to shop for lunch and camping supplies.
After lunch at the hostel we took a 20 minute bus ride and hiked up to a viewpoint. The mirador is mentioned by National Geographic as one of the top ten scenic views in the world
View from mirador
(although we weren´t able to confirm this rumor mentioned in our hostel´s info book). Regardless, the panorama is incredible. We opted for the relatively short hike instead of the chairlift and were greeted with views of crystal blue lakes surrounded by Andean snow-capped peaks. Once we could tear ourselves away we took another bus to the famous Llao Llao hotel designed by an Argentine architect. We erroneously hopped off the bus too early despite a warning by the bus driver (which apparently we didn’t understand) and had to walk up the hill to the hotel. Once there the security guard near the parking lot questioned us and said we could look around. The guard at the hotel’s entrance was a different story: he said we only could look in from the front door. Based on our treatment we promptly left. Apparently we didn’t blend in with their clientele dressed in backpacker attire. After seeing a tour bus drive up in front of the hotel I could understand the staff’s concern about keeping non-paying guests out but we were just two people.
It was almost 7pm by now and we decided it was time to return to the hostel and make dinner. While waiting for the bus we ran into an Italian couple from our hostel in Ushuaia and had a nice conversation with them on the way back to town.