I actually looked forward to getting on the bus to Bariloche even though I knew it was going to be for 20 hours. The hustle and bustle of BA was getting to me and I just wanted to get into my little haven of a fully reclining seat, kick back and watch the world outside fade away. Just in time too as it started to pour outside. The journey was not as comfortable as the one from iguazu but I welcomed the change in landscape and driving through the Lake District was beautiful. I also welcomed the drop in temperature to give me a break from the heat for a while.

Bariloche and surrounds is all about the outdoors but the Lake District feels more like Europe than South America and the mountains provide some excellent skiing opportunities apparently in winter. What makes it even more European are the log buildings and chalets made in a Swiss/German style. Its weird being in a cerveceria called 'Berlina' selling specialty German style beers in Patagonia.

On one of the days here I decided to make the hike up to Cerro Otto which was recommended as a 'nice' but challenging 1.5 hour hike. If I had known how hard it was going to be I would not have done it. This trail was insane! Basically a 70-80% incline all the way up to the top of the mountain which was about 2km on a trail that was not well marked, mainly dusty soil and with jagged rocks at times. I constantly questioned my incentive to do this and not just take the cable car up but going down was now worse than going the rest of the way and I was determined to get up there. This seemed like the hardest hike I had done so far on this trip at times crawling to get up the rocks. Eventually I got up there and almost collapsed but the views were spectacular (remember though I could have got this view with a cable car). I was keen to get the cable car down at first but then stupidly decided to walk down the main road which although a lot easier than the way up, I later found out was a 10km walk and was quite dangerous due to some robberies that have happened in the past. I got down without any trouble though and instead of waiting for the bus to take me back to town, walked all the way down (adrenaline can do silly things to you sometimes). Needless to say I was shattered by the end of it and inhaled some food when back in the town centre.

Since I was this far south and had some time to kill, I decided to try and go down to El Calafate and visit the glaciers before returning to BA. Trying to do this proved to be problematic as long distance buses were not running due to some strikes and no one knew when they would end. At my hostel, people left in the morning and came back again a few hours later on a daily basis as they could not get on a bus. I could see myself getting 'stuck in Bariloche' as well. After some research over the next day however, I worked out I could fly down to El Calafate and then back to BA in time for meeting my friend on the following Saturday with not much difference in price to doing it by bus. So this delay actually worked in my favour in the end, as i could now avoid an almost 30 hour bus journey.

I now had some days to relax in Bariloche and another outing took me on a 10km walk around part of the Circuito Chico, a popular circuit that loops the nearby peninsula crossing a few lakes. I got off the bus a little sooner than needed but was now in the middle of nowhere with just the forests, mountains and a long lonely road to keep me company. A little anxiousness was soon overcome by enjoyment as I ploughed down the road taking in a few twists and turns before being rewarded 30 minutes later arriving at Bahia Lopez. A meeting of two lakes, the setting was something special and I stopped to take it all in. About half an hour later I found Lago Escondido ('secret lake'). The name was very appropriate as you find it off the beaten track but offers a feeling of solitude making you feel you had the whole world to yourself.

Three days has turned into a week but with the weather, bus strikes and eventually opting for flying, it's not a bad place to kill some time and just enjoy the outdoors. Next stop, off to carve some ice down south!