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BarilocheNov 22, 2005
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Entering Patagonia
Patagonian lunch stop
Linguini @ Linguini's
| The Argentinean portion of Patagonia is 800,000Km2, of which Bariloche is the scenic northern-most city, located within the Lake District on the southern shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi, and perched upon a glacial moraine at the foot of Cerro Otto. A ski resort in winter, but now a pretty Alpine-looking, modern resort, renowned for it's chocolate industry, attracting walkers to the stunning Patagonian lakes and mountains. A very barren and treeless landscape, Patagonia was described by naturalist Charles Darwin as "wretched and useless", possibly because from here the climate turned and the wind was bitter and strong with much lower temperatures. Our hostel was 4Km out of town, along the Av. Bustillo, so we walked lots, and headed up to Llao-Llao at Km25.5 where we walked to KM17. The walk turned out to be a much less attractive along the road than expected so jumped on the bus to visit the chocolate shop. Here they demonstrated how it was made, then gave out freebies...we ate until we could eat no more!! Then indulged in a cheese and meat fondue! The drive to El Chalten took a full 3 days (condensed from 4 on the itinerary) with both free-camps (pulling off the road and setting up tents where there is nothing else!) the coldest so far and totally in the middle of nowhere just off Route 40. But colder was to come... |
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