On 8th February I got up rather reluctantly at 7 am, ate some leftover bread for breakfast, and then noticed that the day was beautiful – a cloudless sky with morning mist sitting on the still lake. I went out for a photo session. Adjacent to the beach, I found what appeared to be the boat that was to take us the 20 km to the far end of the lake. It was a tiny car ferry with room for one small lorry, or 2 light vehicles. The area was so photogenic I wandered a bit further than intended. However I was back and packed in plenty of time for the boat at 8:30 am. This is more than can be said for Juan, the judge – there was no sign of him as 8:30 approached…
Just as the boatmen were finishing loading a white pickup truck onto the boat, Juan showed up in a bit of a rush. Shortly after we were off, through stunningly peaceful green hills on either side of the lake. There is, as noted before, no road alongside the lake and consequently the area is completely unspoiled. We chugged slowly along for a little over 2 hours – I spent the trip watching the hills slip by and chatting to a Chilean girl from Puerto Montt. I finally accepted Juan’s invitation to try drinking “mate“. It was disgusting! Very bitter and incredibly strong. Juan said some people have sugar with it to make it less harsh – this seems like quite a smart idea, though I can’t figure out why mate needs to be so strong in the first place…
Eventually the little ferry reached the tiny “village” of Pirihueico at the head of the lake, where there was very little indeed. No more than 3 buildings were visible. There was supposedly a bit of time before the bus arrived, so I wandered around to take a picture or two.
The bus duly showed up, bringing travelers who were to go back with the ferry the other way. After a bit of a delay (nobody seemed to be in a hurry here…) we all got on the bus. About 10 km to the east we reached the border post, which was in an attractive pristine valley at a place called Huahum Pass. Almost as soon as I was in Argentina the vegetation started to look more arid as the bus descended to the next lake called Lago Lácar. The journey was partly along the shore of this lake which was wonderfully blue and sparkling.
An hour or so later the bus pulled in to the small terminal in the village of San Martín de los Andes. Though San Martín is attractive, with alpine wooden architecture, I found it expensive and unpleasantly hot. Apparently it’s a popular destination for Argentine tourists. Eventually I found a friendly hotel with a reasonably priced room.
Having most of the afternoon still free, I took advantage to wash clothes and mend a couple of items that needed attention. Finally I felt hungry and went out for pizza and wine, which were very good indeed. So now pizza can be added to ice cream and wine in my list of good things about Argentina!
In the morning (9th February) I got up early and went to the terminal to see what buses were heading south to San Carlos de Bariloche. My first problem was that I had to change some money and this seemed rather hard – the problem seemed to be the instability of the Austral and the fact that people didn’t know the current rate to the dollar.
The plan had been to try to follow what the guide book claims is the most scenic route – the Seven Lakes Route. But no buses seemed to go that way, so I got one that followed the easterly route, via a short stop in the village of Junín de los Andes. This was still a scenic trip, and parts of it reminded me of Scotland, albeit a rather arid version of Scotland. I took a few photos from the bus as it sped along the good quality roads.
I reached Bariloche around lunchtime and checked into the Hotel El Mirador. It is good value compared with most places, though the owner is a bit weird. Back in the centre of town I found a reasonable value “menu” for $3 (which I still consider expensive!).
My plan is to head back over to Chile tomorrow on the recommended route that combines several lake crossings through another remote region of the Andes. The helpful tourist information sent me to the travel agent that organises this one-day “triple lake crossing”. But when I got there I was told that the bus and boat combo runs every day except Sunday, and of course tomorrow is Sunday… This could mean being stuck in Bariloche for an unexpected extra day.
I asked if there was any other way to do the trip tomorrow, and they said it was “impossible”. But they did finally admit that on Sundays there is still transport across the first 2 lakes as far as the border, and that though this combo runs too late to complete the whole crossing, there are a few places on the Chilean side near the border where accommodation could be found. This actually sounds more interesting than doing the trip in one day.
One thing in the travel agency caught my attention, and I decided it deserved a photo. It was a wall map of Argentina, showing the various disputed territories (South Atlantic Islands, and Antarctic segment) as being just another part of Argentina. Despite being aware of the sovereignty dispute (thanks to the recent sad history of the conflict) seeing this map did suddenly make me realise what “claimed by Argentina” actually means, in practical terms of what the maps in this country indicate.
Having bought my bus and boat ticket as far as the border, I got some food from a supermarket (restaurant prices in Bariloche seem even higher than San Martín). Then, since it’s Saturday I figured I might go and see if there is any night life anywhere, so around 10 pm I headed out to the centre. But it looked completely dead – no sign of a “Saturday crowd”. Bars were either closed or empty, so I came back to the hotel. Evidently night life finishes quite early in Argentina – not quite what I’d expected. More sleep for me..!
Maté disgusting. Blasfemia.
😀 I eventually learnt to tolerate it with sugar!