Biking in Bariloche

So, the bus trip was really comfy, but I have to share this. There was a hilarious handwritten sign on the door of the loo -

In case this is tricky to read, it says, 'Please batrooms only to pi, dont poop on it.' Hah-de-hah ha hah!

Anyway, we arrived in Bariloche in the evening, checked into our hostel, and went to an Irish pub for a disappointing meal and overpriced beer. But the rest of Bariloche was certainly not disappointing - like Pucon, it has a Swiss feel, and is surrounded by gorgeous mountains and lakes. The view from our dorm room was incredible. The town itself is full of Swiss-style wood and stone buildings, many of which are chocolaterias.

While we stayed there we did a great bike ride called the 'Circuito Chico', which is about 20km and very hilly indeed! We took our time over it, stopping at viewpoints and taking a detour on a walk through a forest for a picnic lunch by the 'Lago Escondido' [hidden lake], and it was a great day out. It was pretty tough - on steep hills I got off the bike and walked it up the slope! At the bike hire place we met three lovely people - Emma, Emily and Daniel - who we saw a lot on the ride. On the last stretch of the circuit, we all met up and stopped at a microbrewery to try some local beers. Yum!

Bikes and lakes -


Having a celebratory drink with Emma, Emily and Daniel at the end of the circuit -


That evening our hostel hosted an asado, which is an Argentinian BBQ on a huge grill, with loads of different meats and some yummy grilled veggies for me! Here is the enormous grill -

Just the ticket after a hard day's cycling.

The next day we climbed nearby Cerro Campanario. Lots of people take the ski lift up to the top, but we walked it! The view from the top is one of the best in the world [according to National Geographic] - you can see the whole 'Seven Lakes' district and mountains on the horizon. Absolutely breathtaking -


We met lots of nice people at our hostel, and on our last night we all went out on the town to see a band play at a club. I couldn't catch many of the lyrics, but they were pretty good! The next day we had a plenty of time to recover on our 20-hour bus journey to Buenos Aires. Yes, 20 hours. Actually, it was far comfier than a plane ride - big reclining seats, nice meals and films to watch. I even got a veggie meal! Which brings us to our current location - Buenos Aires. I love BA so far, and we've settled here for the next few weeks while we do some serious Spanish classes. More updates to come soon...