Birds Flyin' High...: Bariloche (Warning: Spoilt Traveller Alert)

At this point I only had a week left in South America and the bus journey from El Calafate to Bariloche was 28 hours, so I decided to take a cheeky flight to buy myself some time.

Bariloche is at the heart of Argentina’s “Lake District”. It’s located on the shore of Lago Nuhuel Huapi, and surrounded by mountains, lakes and national parks.

I hate to admit this, but I think I’d been a bit spoilt by Iguazu, Ushuaia, Torres del Paine and Perito Moreno, to the extent that I felt a bit underwhelmed by the Lake District. Of course it was very pretty, but I felt like I’d seen a lot of equally beautiful lakes in the US, France, England... and of course Titicaca was a bit of a stunner! So while it was a nice place to spend a couple of days, Bariloche didn’t really “wow” me. It was also REALLY touristy and I couldn’t find any nice restaurants, which is always a black mark in my book!

I didn't mention this at the time, but whilst in Colombia, I met a German guy who had been travelling around the world for a year. He spent every day sitting in the hostel drinking beer, and wasn't interested in going out to see anything. He’d say things like “I don't need to go to that beach - I've already seen the best beaches in the world in Asia”. I remember thinking it was really sad and that if I ever got to that stage I’d just go home! So I really hope I haven’t become that person... I'm not ready to leave just yet!

I spent some of my time in Bariloche just relaxing, reading and catching up with the blog, but I did take one day trip, to San Martín de Los Andes - a small town 4 hours away by bus. To get there you take the “Siete Lagos” route (the 7 Lakes Road - does exactly what it says on the tin). There were some really nice views and the town of San Martín was a pleasant place to have lunch and a wander for a couple of hours.