During my first trip to Argentina, one of the towns people raved about that I didn’t go to was Bariloche. It’s actually a small city that sits next to a lake and is surrounded by mountains. A very easy comparison in look and feel is Lake Tahoe. Since I missed it last time I wanted to make sure I got there this time. And as a bonus, as happens with backpacking, I was able to reconnect with friends I met previously along the way.
I had two options to get from Buenos Aires to Bariloche, take a bus for 25 hours for $110 or fly for 2 hours for $70. While traveling I really like (and prefer) to take the bus. Put your earphones in, turn on the music, and get tranced into watching the scenery go by. Yeah…not this time, I flew.
Right before going to Bariloche I heard from Albane (my friend from Brazil) that she was heading north from Patagonia so our timing worked out pretty well to meet up again around there. Initially we were gonna meet in Bariloche but as I sat in a coffee shop my first morning in the city, contemplating what I would do the next few days, she asked if I wanted to meet in El Boson, a town 2 hours south.
Well, if anyone remembers how I began drinking the infamous calimocho (clap, clap, clap) it began in Pamplona. One night I was talking to a French girl and she asked if I wanted to try her drink, I asked her what it was and she said red wine and coca-cola. Immediately I said no, that was disgusting but then after a moment of contemplation, realizing I am traveling, I am in Spain, I’m running with the bulls, and a French girl is asking me to try her drink. The only correct answer is Yes. Of course I will.
So, in the coffee shop I was looking at hikes I might do, this and that and started to respond to Albane with a likely yes but needed to blah, blah, blah. In the middle of typing the response I remembered the golden rule of travel. When a French girl asks you to do something, the correct answer is yes. So, I was going to meet Albane and her friends in El Boson in a couple days. In the meantime, I explored Bariloche, ate more steak (including the best one yet in Argentina), and did a hike.
El Boson is a small mountain town so it was a nice break from the city feel of both Buenos Aires and Bariloche. I met Albane and her friends (now my friends), Javi from Spain, Bastien from France, and Anneka and Joost from the Netherlands. The six of us got a room to ourselves at the hostel where we stayed three nights. After I checked in I saw Oliver, a guy I hiked with in Jardin Colombia, who is now working at that hostel. Unfortunately we had a lot of rain during our stay but we did get a hike in one day, a 13 mile hike to El Cajon del Azul. I also enjoyed being the only non-spanish speaking player during a board game, I think I learned more in those 2 hours than my whole week of classes in BA.
From El Boson we all bused up together to Bariloche where we got an Airbnb with two more French people Albane met along the way, Ange and Mael. I actually met Ange and Mael in the hostel in Paraty in Brazil when Albane met them, however that was when I had dengue so my conversation with them was very brief. Their first comment to me this time was nice to see you upright.
My friend Jack from Colombia was also in Bariloche at the time so the first night I headed into the city for dinner and drinks with him. During my cab ride back to the house, I bonded with the taxi driver over our love of skiing and living in ski towns, all in our broken Spanish and English. I made it back to the Airbnb in time for the dance party and noise complaint from the neighbor.
The next day we rented two cars and Jack joined the Airbnb gang on a drive to the seven lakes. Seven lakes with beautiful water and mountain scenery to go along with it. We didn’t see it. Unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy all day so after two hours of driving and standing in the rain with no views at three lakes, we stopped for coffee and headed home. Not to be denied, with the weather slightly better the next day we headed out again. This time we went to the town of San Martin, where lake number seven is and progressed back from there. San Martin is a small mountain town on a lake that is very near a ski area. Sound familiar? I felt right at home, it reminded me of the town I live in, Frisco. The weather was not great but certainly better than the day before so as we headed back we were able to see the lakes and most of the mountain scenery.
People started dispersing to go their separate ways but Bastien, Albane, Ange, Mael, and I made our way up to Mendoza, Argentina’s wine country. Mendoza was one of my favorite places on my last trip so I wanted to visit it again. It’s a city with tree lined streets, parks and squares all around, sits a short drive from the Andes foothills (similar to Denver), and home to the best Malbec in the world (and pretty good Syrah).
While in Bariloche I was able to stream CU’s first round March Madness game. As I was watching, Ange joined me and wanted to get a better understanding of the tournament since he was a Pro basketball fan. He had heard about March Madness but as CU fought and won with a shot at the buzzer, he mentioned how stressed he was watching (being a newly minted CU fan). He understands March Madness now.
To get to Mendoza we had to take an 18 hour bus ride. The bus ride wasn’t bad but it left 30 minutes before CU’s second round game which meant Ange and I couldn’t watch it. It was actually fun because as the bus went in and out of service I was following the gamecast but better yet, texting and getting ongoing updates from friends at home (thanks Chris, Mike, Mitch and Frank).
We spent our first day in Mendoza on bikes riding to different wineries for wine tastings. Another day after Bastien moved on, Albane, Mael, Ange and I rented a car, hiked in the Andes foothills and then again, visited a few wineries (with a designated driver). Reminding you that all four people I was wine tasting with were French. Oh, wow, they take this stuff seriously. Myself, I had a lot of fun talking about adding Coke to make calimochos (easy way to upset a French person-although it was a French girl that initially got me to try it).
Finally it was time to move on from Mendoza and say some goodbyes, Ange and Mael headed west to Santiago, Albane and I both went to Salta where we spent a lot of time wandering around the town, hiking up to the city viewpoint, and eating empanadas. Our last night in Salta, six of us, including Anneke, went to what might be the cheesiest of places. It was a dinner show with singing and dancing and because it was the eve of Malvinas Day (yes Falkland Islands is still a big thing in Argentina) a lot of Argentinian anthems. There was a lot of audience participation as we all ended up dancing on stage. When they asked if anyone spoke English our table all yelled out “Si”. We were the only ones.
It was also finally time to say goodbye to triple A. Albane, Annake, and Argentina. Albane and Annake, who came into town the day before, were heading off with a couple others to tour northern Argentina and for me, it was finally time to get to Bolivia. I loved Argentina my first trip several years ago and nothing has changed. I mentioned in previous posts that I love Colombia. Still true but I LOVE Argentina.
Final count
80+ Empanadas
6 Steak Sandwiches
3 Mixed grills (Parillas)
1 Tomahawk Steak
13 Steaks (Bife de Ojo or Bife de Chorizo)
Fins Up!!