Nahuel Huapi National Park

One of the most popular outings from Bariloche is a trip on the Circuito Chico, a scenic 65 km loop of winding lakeshore road that opens into incredible lake and mountain vistas. We got a bus most of the way but walked the last 16km, it was stunning.

Glitzy Llao Llao resort, if only we had money!

One of many pretty lakes

Mountain view

The pictures dont do the lakes justice!

Little cabin in the woods, these sorts of wooden buildings are everywhere in the Lake District

Angostura and Bariloche

On the way to Bariloche we stopped off in Angostura just long enough for us to take the below photo.

Straight away we liked Bariloche more than San Martin and were glad we`d left early to get there. We did our usual hunt for accommodation and settled on a place owned by an elderly couple (it was a bit like living with your grandparents), it took the guy about 5 minutes to open the door and when the woman came to show me round she still had her hair in curlers! Breakfast was a very slow affair cause she couldnt walk very fast but it was a gentle start to the day which was nice!

View of Angostura from the bus terminal


Bariloche main Square


Bariloche is full of these!


Lakes and views galore!

Not the best name for a children´s shop

San Martin and Park Lanin

We left the farm and got the bus to San Martin, which involved crossing the boarder back into Argentina. We were looking forward to going back into Argy but San Martin didnt hit the spot. It was like something out of Disney Word - rose lined streets, chocolate shops in every corner, pretty wooden houses - it was too manicured, too perfect and the people weren´t that welcoming (we managed to evoke the wrath of a hostel owner by asking if we could get the room cheaper without breakfast - he literally showed us the door! ) so we only spent one day and night there before heading off.

Before getting the bus we decided we`d have a short walk to the mirador up the mountain, however the signs werent very good so we ended up following a `path` that really wasnt a path as it was too narrow and pretty much vertical. We thought we might be going wrong when we were chased off some land by two dogs and a bull. We ended up over-shooting the mirador by about 1000m. The view was great but the rock climbing we had to do to get back on the path was a little scary. Three hours later we got back down, just in time for the bus! As we had checked out of our room we ended up washing and changing in the bus terminals loos, nice!

Crossing the border back into Argentina

Where the hell are we going?

It was worth it in the end

The local beach

And the Park

Kila Leufu

I think i fell a little bit in love with Pucon town. The weather was perfect -sunshine from 9am to 9pm, the long evenings and the smell of the glass took me back to English summers when I was little and everything was easy and simple. This is what traveling is all about, I had finally found somewhere where I really felt content. So it was no surprise I was a little reluctant to leave and then amazed to find somewhere even more idyllic - Kila Leufu - a little farm 30mins from Pucon town. http://www.kilaleufu.cl/

Kila Leufu (“house between three rivers”) is a Mapuche Family Farm located between the volcanoes Lanin and Villarrica. The setting is stunning and it`s hard not to relax as soon as you arrive relax in the tranquil and beautiful surroundings. We were also the only people staying there which made it even more relaxing. Irma welcomed us into her home and we went on a little walk of the farm to see all the animals. We got to see the calves milking in the evening, they were pretty agressive in getting their milk! We ate dinner on the balcony soaking in the view and then saw the most amazing sky of stars at night. It was blissfully perfect.

Having always wanted to milk a cow I saw this as the perfect opportunity so the next day at 8.30am we were woken by Irma... ´leche`! After it was made to look so easy, it was surprisingly hard to get milk from the cow. After all the hard work we sat down to a huge breakfast spread which Irma created for us - freshly baked bread with homemade butter and cheese, advocado, tomatoe, eggs and the best tasting tea and coffee we´d had in a long time. I could get used to farm life!


It was a real farm, there`s the tractor to prove it!

Tim enjoying the view and a glass of vino

Irman baking the bread for breakfast

Couldnt believe how hard it is to actually get milk out!

Strange bean like thing we had for lunch, dried version on the right on the table

Parque Nacional Huerquehue

An hour bus ride from Pucon is Parque Nacional Huerquehue. We arrived with two bus loads of other tourists and thought we would be surrounded by people the entire time, the place is so huge we never saw anyone else!

As we didnt climb the volcanoe we decided we would do the Valcone walk, so at least we would see some. It was a a 14km round trip up very steep tracks, we certainly got our weekly dose of exercise in, but the views were amazing.

We walked for hours and didnt see another soul

So peaceful and beautiful

Crazy trees

Amazing view from the ´hard´trail

`

Soaking our feet in this lake after 6 hours of walking was heaven!

Pucon, pretty as a postcard

We spent Saturday strolling through the pretty town and eating - lots of pasta and carbs - in preparation for the volcanoe climb we had booked oursleves on for Sunday. I was still wondering if i had done the right thing as the memories of Cotopaxi are still very vivid, and they arent my fondest memories. Also I didnt think my fitness was good enough to get me to the top so I was planning on making the climb an experiment in the power of positive thought.

Sunday morning the alarm went off at 6.30am, we scoffed bananas, museli and yogurt and put our gear on. We got to the tour company for 7am and everyone was standing outside, waiting. I didnt think we were that late. We were told it was windy on the volcanoe and they weren`t sure whether the climb was going to go ahead....there is a god!!! After another 15 minutes they told us it was bad conditions to go up but if anyone wanted to they would take us. I was already on my way back to the hostel but I think it was a harder decision for Tim.

All carbed up and nowhere to go we decided to go for a trek in the local national park.


The amazing view of the volcanoe from the town

The beach next to the lake

Pretty gardens by the lake

Another great view

Beautiful sunset over the lake

Chile and the driver from Valdivia

We left Mendoza for a long bus journey that was taking us to Santiago and and then on to Pucon in Chile. Half way through the journey we started talking to our very smiley driver (he was taking a break) in pigeon English and Spanish. We bonded over exhanging swear words in our own languages and Rodrigo invited us to his home town - Valdivia. We accepted, we were loving Chile already and we hadn´t even got there yet!

It was raining in Pucon when we arrived so we were told that climbing the volcanoe wouldnt be possible for a couple of days. Perfect opportunity to go and visit Rodrigo, so we hopped on a bus to Valdivia.

We called Rodrigo from the German brewery (they export the beer they make there to Germany!) we were doing some beer tasting and met him there. It was great to see him! He got a jarra of beer in and pretty much downed a glass calling it his ´agua´and saying he loved beer caused it made everyone happy and relaxed. We couldnt agree more! I think he remembered us as speaking more spanish than we did, but we all managed to converse with the help of the spanish dictionary i bought along.

Rodrigo sped us round in his car giving us a fantastic tour of the town that he was so proud of. We´d talked about fish and chips on the bus so he took us to Niebla for lunch to a typical fish resturant. I had a lovely white fish called Covina covered in seafood, plus a heap of chips. There was so much food it was crazy. Rodrigo insisted on paying for lunch as he said it was his ínvitation´to come to Valdivia. We couldnt believe his hospitality and wondered if all Chileans were like this.

After lunch we saw the sea lions on the river, visited Rodrigo`s uni which had beautiful grounds and went into the centre for a drink. We met up with Rodrigo`s cousin and baby called Adolf?!

We left Valdivia, very full and happy on the last bus with Rodrigo saying we were always welcome in his home. What a lovely man! We returned the invite but I think Rodrigo loves Chile too much to ever leave to come to London.


Amazing view at the Chile/Argentina boarder crossing
German Beer tasting at 11am!

Mr Rios infront of his very big university sign

Rodrigo and I in the lush grounds of his Uni

Lunch at a typical fish resturant, amazing food, wine, view and company