Bariloche
Leaving South Patagonia we travelled 1500 km north to Bariloche – a quick 24 hr coach journey! And yet, we’re still in Patagonia!
We had booked an Earth house outside of the city for our first 3 nights (and then ended up booking a 4th night as we weren’t yet ready to leave!) – this was a perfect resting point following the bus journey and hikes in Patagonia. It was built using traditional (adobe) building techniques; using only natural materials such as mud and sand. After our brief experience using these techniques during the workaway in central Chile, we could really appreciate the hard work that must have gone into the project and it was good to see the finished article and just how creative it allows you to be. Our time here involved cooking some delicious food and chilling in the garden with several beers and with the company of the owners’ 5 dogs.
We were now feeling refreshed and ready to explore Bariloche; known as the “Switzerland of Argentina” for its lakes, hills, chocolate and Swiss architecture. We spent a lot of time sitting by the lake and enjoying the beautiful sunsets with some maté (an Argentinian staple – an infusion of dry leaves of yerba mate in hot water which you drink with a metal straw). We did also manage a couple of hikes (not quite to the same standard as those in southern Patagonia) but a nice leisurely stroll around Nahuel Huapi National Park which brought us to some incredible viewpoints.
Puerto Varas
Afterwards, we took a bus across the border to Puerto Varas; a southern city in Chile’s Lake District. We were unlucky with the weather the weekend that we visited – we were supposed enjoy breathtaking views of the Osorno volcano across the lake (see Google photo below of what it should look like vs the reality of our view!!).* Although the weather wasn’t in our favour, we enjoyed a couple of days spent inside relaxing and catching up on Netflix. Our weekend was also salvaged by finding a delicious Thai restaurant – we had been craving spicy food for a while now on our travels (turns out Chile isn’t so keen on chillies!).
*We did, however, happen to finally see the view of the volcano from our next workaway on Chiloe island (120 km away)!
Josh & Lisa in South America 