Bariloche is a refreshing change from Puerto Montt. In fact, as soon as we left the city on the bus through the Chilean and Argentinian Lake Districts it immediately felt like another (better) world! Bariloche has a gorgeous setting on the edge of Lago Nahuel Huapi with big mountains rising all around. Many of the buildings are designed in the style of Alpine chalets and built in wood which gives the place a real feeling of a ski resort (which it is in Winter!) The other thing that makes Bariloche a fabulous place to visit is the abundance of chocolate shops and possibly the best ice cream in the country.
On Monday I took a trip into the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. It wasn't quite as active as I would have liked it to have been after spending so much time sitting on buses, but the scenery was gorgeous and I did get to see the spectacular Ventisquero Negro (or black glacier) and Monte Tronador. Monte Tronador, "thunder" mountain, so called because the sound of the ice tumbling from the summit really sounds like rumbling thunder, is actually an extinct volcano. The reason that the ice is black is because on it's journey down the mountain the glacier mixes with the volcanic deposits. Not quite as pretty as the Perito Moreno, but quite impressive all the same. From the summit of the mountain there are numerous waterfalls (including the Devil's Throat waterfall) which are formed from the melting glacier on the summit. With the autumnal leaves it was all very beautiful.
Other than sampling the yummy chocolate, and making friends with a waiter who was a Harlequins rugby fan, I did a mini Circuito Chico and did some gentle walking around Cerro Campario where there are gorgeous views of the surrounding lakes.
Now I am just waiting for a bus to take me all the way out of Patagonia and up north to Mendoza - wine time!