SubscribeYesterday, we set about on what we thought was going to be a hike, but in typical Dave and Zephie style, we got off at the wrong bus stop and ended up going on a nice walk round a lake. While it wasn’t what we had planned, it was really beautiful and we had a lovely day!
We saw some of the most incredible trees that day in an Arryan Forest! Check out this gnarly beast...
Later, we went into Bariloche itself and settled on the shore of the lake, where it was really windy, but so amazing! The town is essentially a ski resort so it feels a bit wierd because there is no snow around! It is pretty much just full of hotels, over-priced shops and American tourists, so we were glad to be staying out of town!
The weather here has been quite cold and rainy, but we are loving it. With a log fire and a cabin, it feels so nice to be inside while the heavens are opening outside and it is amazing waiting for the peaks to emerge from the clouds. The scenery has taken on an incredible ethereal atmosphere and there is something so invigorating about walking in the rain!
All this was brought home today, when we hiked to the top of a mini mountain, from which you get an incredible view of the surrounding area. After a lazy-ish day of sitting in the comfort of the hostel, it was a shock to the old hamstrings to be climbing really steep, muddy ascents! It wasn’t exactly the biggest of mountains – it may technically have been a large wooded hill ... – so we made it up to the top in an hour or so of panting and sweating, both of us thinking “I’m not sure hiking is really for me....”. But then, we reached the top and OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were both gobsmacked by the sheer magnificence of the view. We had a 360 degrees view of the surroundings and it was truly awe-inspiring. We both felt to exhilirated and with endorphins pumping round our bodies everything became amazing! We had a coffee at the top and it has never tasted so good!
I was a bit worried about the descent because it was so steep and I was sure that with the rain and the mud I would not make it to the bottom without breaking at least one limb. However, by what we thought was a stroke of luck, we found another, less intense path that led down. We felt very clever indeed to have outsmarted the steep path, until it began getting suspiciously smaller and smaller, dramatically stopping half way down the hill and we were faced with a fence. Oh.
Well, there was no turning back at this point so we hopped over the fence and followed another path (at this point I was having flashbacks to Iguazu when we nearly got locked in the park at night – this time, we were alone in a forest, clearly on the wrong path and, oh yes, it was around half 7 at night, so we were expecting it to get dark soon).
After hopping over another fence, we discovered we had been trespassing. Oops! we said, with a cheeky grin, never mind. Ah, yeah but then came the THREE MASSIVE DOGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of which was luckily tied to a chain, the other two came charging down the lane barking at us wildly. I am not sure if it was because we knew what to do in this situation or because we were struck dumb with fear, but we calmly stood there and spoke nicely to them and they soon backed off. Thankfully a guy appeared at the end of the road who held back the beast at the end of the chain, which clearly sensed fear and was after blood and we dodged the other two hounds as they gave us a good telling off for being on their land.
Phew, that was a lucky escape! We laughed about it coming down the road. What we hadn’t realised is that the barking dogs had set off a kind of canine alarm system so all the dogs protecting the private properties on the way down the road joined in the fun. Soon we encountered a huge St Bernard who also decided to point out very agressively that we shall not pass. He was too lazy to actually do anything about it though so we managed to get by unscathed.
Arriving back safely at the hostel, we have settled down to a nice dinner, courtesy of Dave, and are getting ready to pack our bags again and head to El Bolson, where it is less touristy but just as lovely!
We really wanted to head as far south as Calafate and Torres del Paine, but after looking into the logistics we realised that we can’t justify spending all the money on getting there for only a short amount of time (and it would mean several other 20-plus hour journeys), because we have to be in Santiago, Chile by the end of the month to start our internship at the Santiago Times!
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