Bariloche

The beauty of Patagonia's landscape is stunning - however, the surrounding factors (prices, food quality, accommodations) did not quite align for us, so we decided to shorten our travels in this area and made a significant leap on the map to Bariloche in Northern Patagonia, which is about 1400 km away. The bus was astronomically expensive (the price was double what internet research suggested, and that was already a lot), but still much cheaper and easier than hopping back to the nearest airport to fly. Not necessarily faster, as it turned out. After a short drive, the bus suddenly turned south - apparently there was a landslide on a small section of the route. Unfortunately, this information was only communicated upon inquiry, as we have often experienced here. This led to a detour of 600 km, where we traveled at almost walking pace for long stretches due to the poor condition of the roads. We had no idea that sitting for so long could be so uncomfortable! But the scenery was very beautiful, and we mostly enjoyed the ride.
So here we were in Bariloche, the Switzerland of Argentina. It’s a Disneyland-like atmosphere meets expensive chocolate and fondue, which already show lesser quality compared to the originals, combined with nesting dolls?! This, along with imitated Swiss or Tyrolean alpine architecture and a very German past (Nazis also felt quite at home here and celebrated Hitler's birthday well beyond World War II, and there are wild conspiracy theories suggesting that he may have settled here) gives a sour taste while one consumes raw untreated white cabbage (“Swiss specialty”??!!) with a pot of mayonnaise. All in all, everything here is highly commercialized, and it's shocking how people can be persuaded to part with their money. However, the landscape, by Lago Nahuel Huapi, truly resembles Switzerland and is quite enchanting. In honor of Freddy’s father, we ascended Cerro Otto. Upon reaching the top, however, they wanted to charge 25 euros per person to go a few meters with a short funicular ride to reach the viewing platform. Such a racket up there! We ignored that and walked to the neighboring peak - fantastic view and much quieter! Additionally, we set off for a hike in the Laolao Nature Park - here we wandered through enchanted bamboo forests, and the view was equally beautiful. This was to be the last place in Argentina before heading back to Chile. It was beautiful and strange; onward we go!