Journal Entry #15

Bariloche, a gem in the rough. We arrived here several days ago, for some peace, relaxation, and of course, some snow action. Our reservations were for a hotel/resort about 24 kilometers outside of Bariloche in the next village Tunquelèn. The name of the hotel, "Bariloche, means the place of rest in the native Mapuche tongue. Sitting on some 20 acres of land, this Hotel has spectacular views of the "Nahuel Huapi lake, one of the largest and deepest in the world, with snow-capped peaks jutting up on all sides. This is a great hotel, winning my mom’s seal of approval. The staff is great, with activity coordinators (baqueanos) giving advice on what to do in the area, including some free nature hikes. The first night we dined in house at the hotel’s fabulous restaurant, where the vegetables come from the garden on the premises, the bread is handmade everyday, and the trout is caught locally. That night I learned that bottles of Argentine wine, sporting the initials D.O.C. have been certified as quality bottles, so that is my Argentine wine tip of the day! The several bottles of D.O.C. have all been excellent (not that the others have not) and are very recommendable.

The next day, I went snow-boarding at Cerro Catedral, the largest ski resort in South America. Apparently, I had just missed the best snow of the season, which a few of the locals informed me comes early in the season, in June. So not everything was open, about which the resort’s own website lied, but I still had a great time. A day’s rental of snow-board equipment cost me 70 pesos, and a 3 day pass about 240 pesos, and this was the high price season. I can imagine that this resort would be amazing on a day of fresh powder, with the majority of the runs being in these wide open bowls, from which you have spectacular views of the lake and the surrounding mountains. The funny thing about this resort, though, is that they have rope tows at the top, which you would never find in the states. Also, most of the green runs are on narrow switchbacks that are not very fun, often going uphill. This maybe different during June when the slopes are supposedly full of snow. While we were there, the base was completely green, and you even had to take the lift back down at the end of the day. Overall, this is a great place for the advanced skier that can take full advantage of the more challenging terrain.

We did that for a couple of days, and then spent the last two relaxing. Mariano, one of the Vacaneros, took us on a nature walk through the national park on Sunday afternoon. He talked to us about the local wildlife, such as the caña cohihue (a type of bamboo), coihue (a native tree that is very large with wide spreading roots), arrayan ( cinnamon colored wood) quintral (a parasite that grows off of other trees, producing a beautiful flower), llao llao (a bland tasting, ball shaped fungus growing in the trees, which the indigenous used to eat), barba del diablo (a green stringy moss growing off of the trees, which can be used to measure the air quality), and the pehuen (also called araucaria, a type of tree typical of northern Patagonia with needles growing covering even the trunk, that grows in a cup shape upwards and produces a nut that can be used in breads or eaten alone). We also learned that Patagonia, the southern region of Argentina and Chile, has some of the most ancient species of trees in the world, and other unique ecosystems and rainforest that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Yesterday, we caught the 20 bus into Bariloche for some hot chocolate, which it is famous for and rightly so, some shopping, and some more spectacular views of the lake. We had the hot chocolate at Chuela Joy on Quaglia 221, bought some sweat pants at TMT, an argentine clothing company on Moreno 55, and lunch at Friends, which I would not recommend. They have horrible soup, and I felt a little dodgy in the stomach area afterwards. Bariloche is a very quaint little town of 120,000, so I guess it is more of a city. The Argentine people are very proud of this place, and almost everyone I have met here has recommended it, and I see why. The architecture is just as one might expect, with cozy little log cabins lining the road from Llao Llao, and the construction medium of choice, the local wood, which is now protected and on an endangered species list. Despite its large size, this city still has a cozy feel to it, and truly does have some of the best chocolate in the world. We bought some chocolate as a gift for my new host family from a chocolate factory called La Turista, which has several locations in town. The one to which we went was enormous, and sells much more than just chocolate, such as local micro brews of beer, jelly, meat, just to name a few.

We came back to the hotel and I sat in the sauna for a while, cleansing the toxins out of my body. I finished off the therapy with Sylvia, who gave me quite possibly the best massage in the world. My neck and back pains have gone down immensely, and I practically no longer have any pain in my right shoulder, which has been giving me immense pains lately.

I finished off the night by having some of the local beers in the bar downstairs. A company named Blest makes very tasty cervezas in a variety of flavors. I had a blonde, a dark, and a raspberry, all delicious.

It has been a very enjoyable week here, and as I sit here waiting for the airport transport, staring out the window, across the lake at the snow-capped peak, I am comforted by the fact that I know I will be back, next time in the summer to do the abundance of outdoor sports, such as camping and trekking. Hasta Luego....