We are now enjoying the last of our days on a limited budget trekking through the mountains and enjoying the beautiful lifestyle of summer in Bariloche. Every turn of the head reveals a horizon of snow-capped mountain ranges, tranquil lakes and all-round impressive landscapes. In 6 months of travel, we have not doubled back on ourselves however Bariloche was worth a second look!

We traversed Patagonia as far as El Calafate but time and money constraints meant we were forced to save Ushaia...and Antarctica for another adventure. We hired a car with 3 other travellers from our hostel in El Calafate and drove ourselves to teh magnificent Perito Moreno Glacier- a world renowned natuaral wonder where massive chunks of ice break of the glacier and crash into the lake below...this has to be seen and heard to be fully appreciated ...we sat for 3 hours and listened to the thunderous cracking of the glacier and watching huge sections of ice break off before our eyes.

Mention must be given to the quirky tales of travelling 30 + hours by bus into the countries South-the bus drivers are a sadisitc bunch however, intent on providing you with the direct contrary to which you rquest- " air con down" translates to a 30 hr freezer and " more air please " gives you a sauna experience yet to be rivalled. Their absolute favourite though is taunting the foreigners amongst the bus passengers by starting a movie in English, then changing it to Spanish with no subtitles and claiming that the remote only just ran out of batteries....Im convinced they compare stories over a few beers with each other bragging how many times the turistas whined about something or other...other gems have involved a 15 hour jouney with a locked bus toilet and the driver´s assurance that he´ll stop in 5 more minutes...aka- 3 hrs later when every passenger has developed a chronic bladder disorder..

I must also mention our strange experience in bariloche at an unamed hostel which had been recommended by fellow travellers...the scenic view was amazing, the cleanliness impeccable..yet something was eerily strange about the staff at this particular hostel...before we would press the doorbell the door would be opened for us as if someone was sitting by thedoor listening for footsteps...there were scheduled eating times, partying times, television viewing times and almost everything was encouraged in large groups facilitated by the head staff of the hostel...or as we affectionately referred to him as ..."the cult leader". Each person had a set role in this commune and things ran smoothly provided no guests strayed from the accepted norms setby the leader...ie: original thought and independent action of any kind were frowned upon but one of the hostel members would calmly remedy this by gently taking your hand, looking at you with a  trancelike glare and indicating "come, join us my special child"..or something to that effect..weird stuff... harmless but weird nonetheless. A particularly odd encounter was one evening a few backpackers were gathered in the lounge over a few beers quietly exchanging travel stories...the staff were at it again in the other room and had all gathered around "the leader" as he sat on teh dining table strumming a guitar and humming soft melodies provoking the group into another trance...someone in our area laughed loudly over a story being told and the lovely, gentle cult members shot us a look saying " you will appreciate this soothing message of love we are spreading or we will beat you to death with this here shoe"...again, wierd.. but entertaining :)

Bariloche is just packed with amazing landscapes and is ideal for anything from trekking daytrips to camping in the mountains for longer periods. We have been confined to day trips due to lack of appropriate camping gear but have still conquered several challenging 8-9 hr treks...Our favourite so far has been the long walk up to Cerro Frey, a refugio deep in the mountains based at the foot of a sparkling freshwater lake , surrounded by high rise mountains on every angle...this is just one of many like it! Bariloche is a mid-sized mountain town well catered for the tourist but not in an overdone manner and jampacked with gourmet chocolate shops and other beautiful food at reasonable prices. we ve met a range of other travellers and many friendly Argentinians throughout our stay here ....and I will truly miss the traditional " Asado" or BBQ with lots and lots of succulent meat! 

Another trip highlight from El Chalten wasour icetrekking tour on Glacier torres, where we donned the crampons and iceaxes and spent 2 hours walking on pillars of ice dropping into deep ravines. We even had the opportunity to ice climb a 15 ft wall of ice as weather conditions were idealon the day. El Chalten was another amazing place for tekking , where one truly felt the expansive power of the natural environment. The town is simply one dirt road with a line of hostels and small, funky cafes set among the everpresent towering mountains. I had another special moment with the local specialty stew - the food is just so good ...

to be contd...