The route of the 7 lakes
It’s perhaps the most popular thing to do in the Bariloche area: the 7 lakes route. The Ruta 40 between San Martín de los Andes and Villa la Angostura is particularly scenic and has become a popular day trip, even from Bariloche. I’d hoped to find some other people interested…
Art another way
“Do you like art?” A woman in Villa la Angostura asks me when we talk about my trip to Buenos Aires. “You should visit the cemetery. It’s beautiful.” Not quite what I expected as an answer. But I was well situated to visit it. My hostel’s 7th floor reception area…
Overnight at refugio Frey
A girl in my hostel had warned me. She tried to go to Villa Catedral by bus, but the bus never showed up. She was at the wrong stop. Supposedly I was at the right stop, but time passed and I didn’t see a bus. 5 minutes. That’s possible. 10…
My most expensive hike yet
There are many accessible hiking trails around Bariloche, but some lie a bit deeper in the Nahuel Huapi national park. Several trails, including some to the mountain huts, start from Pampa Linda. A rough dirt road gets out there and the road closes during parts of the day. Yet I…
Mixed feelings
Leaving Chile felt strange. I was on a bus from Puerto Varas to Bariloche. It’s not even that far away, as the crow flies. Yet I had the feeling I was closing a chapter. I was ready for a change of scenery, but I almost felt like I was cheating…
El Limite, a new border experience
It seems like there isn’t one system for border crossings. Crossing the border for the 3rd time was very different from earlier crossings. I went from Futaleufú, about 10km from the border in Chile, to Esquel, about 64km further, in Argentina. It involved a short ride in the minibus, walking…
Holidays in Esquel
I had taken a side trip from the carretera austral to get to Futaleufú for rafting. The problem with this border region is that there are beautiful things on both the Chilean and Argentinian side. Planning a logical route seemed impossible to me, so I decided to take a holiday…
Los Alerces, but which one is it?
I’d come into Argentina to see the los Alerces national park. With the fires around El Bolsón, I’d decided to skip the Lago Puelo area and this was my chance of camping near the lakes and enjoying some nature. Of course there was now also a fire here, but it…
In between
Crossing the border from El Chaltèn to Villa o’Higgins I’m sitting on a big boulder. There was a sign that says “mirador Fitzroy”. I have already exited Argentina and this time even received a stamp, but although I’m on Chilean territory, the border authorities do not know I have arrived…
Trekking los Glaciares: laguna Torre
After a beautiful first day, I woke up to a much better day than expected. The sky wasn’t completely covered in thick grey clouds and my tent wasn’t wet. How unexpected. Some people head up the steep trail to laguna de los tres in the dark in order to catch…