Brrr... Bariloche

Greetings from the most touristed city in the lake district!!  This feels like the BIG city after traveling through small towns up and down the eastern border of Argentina.  It's out of tourist season here (the big crowds come for hiking and relaxing in December and January and for skiing in July and August), but the place still feels full and polished.

Bariloche is a city of 100,000 people set right up against Lago Nahuel Huapi and right on the edge of Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi.  The area was originally inhabited by the Mapuche people and it is from their language that the name Nahuel Huapi originates.  The area is known for hiking, skiing, and chocolate!! (Some of the earliest "white" settlers were Swiss.)

We arrived yesterday after a 120 km drive from El Bolson.  The wind was up and there were huge waves on the lake.  We wandered around the city, feeling like country bumpkins (i.e. Annie wears capri pants and purple wool knee socks with her sandals), and planning out our time here.  We visited the natural history museum which (finally!) described the history of the indigenous folks from this region.  We also visited a teeny, tiny dinosaur museum which cost AR$4 (USD$1) and was worth every penny-- have you ever seen fossilized dinosaur poop? 

There isn't any camping near the city center, and since we were hoping to escape some of the wind coming off the lake, we drove about 30 km into the national park into Colonia Suiza which is the old Swiss settlement.  The first camping area we found was run by a man who was literally no less than 100 years old.  The campground was empty and there was a rabid-ish dog chained in the corner.... this did not inspire confidence.  Then, the old guy, Alberto, told us that there wasn't any hot water for the showers but that we could shower at his house.  Red flag!  CG and I ran as fast as we could.  The next campground was a gem: Bariloche Ser.  Amazing.  It's a family camp with cabins, dorms, and camping.  There was a big communal cooking and eating space with heaters and a stereo.  With the outside temperatures dipping and my blood ever thinner, I was THRILLED to cook and eat inside.  I survived sleeping in the tent with two layers all around but my expanding afro made it difficult to keep my hat on and CG says I kept him awake all night adjusting it.  Needless to say, I am investigating indoor lodging for tonight....

I am CG-less today.  My left knee and right achilles are delicate, so I decided to take the day off from hiking.  He is climbing Cerro Lopez (Lopez Mountain) which is reportedly 7 km straight up and 7 km straight down but has some of the nicest views around.  I am slightly disappointed to miss out but also kind of pleased to be catching up on email and doing some errands.

We have 7 days left and so much of the country to see before heading back to Buenos Aires.  I'll keep you updated. 

So, until the next fast internet cafe....