Bariloche - The Patagonia journey begins

After just about 2 hours of flight, we have overcome the 1540 km from Buenos Aires to San Carlos de Bariloche, it's amazing how quickly one can travel from one place to another by plane. And Lisa keeps wondering: How can a 60-ton machine actually fly?

We reach Bariloche in an apocalyptic atmosphere, we haven't seen so much rain, fog, and clouds in a long time! And all this at about 13 degrees, welcome to Patagonian spring! But the taxi driver immediately tells us that the next 4 days are supposed to be great weather - and he is right. Unfortunately, on this rainy evening, we have to leave the hostel again because we have hardly any cash left, and it is not as common in South America to pay with a credit card. So we head to the nearest supermarket with an ATM and take the opportunity to eat our first Argentine steak in a recommended grill restaurant :) The quality is terrific and the meat incredibly tender. And with this taste, it must have been happy grass-fed cows :)

As announced, the weather will be wonderful in the coming days. The temperature drops to as low as 3 degrees overnight and in the morning, but it heats up in the sun during the day. Perfect weather for hiking! And so on Day 1, we tackle Bariloche's 'house mountain', Cerro Otto. Below the cable car, we scramble up the rather steep path with a magnificent view of Lake Nahuel Huapi and find the perfect way back down, away from the lazy cable car tourists. We can fortify ourselves with the best bread in the country, according to the Russian baker who proudly presents us with a dark bread in the morning and declares (in German!): 'THIS IS RYE BREAD!!!!' Wow - we buy it. Together with the (first available) vegetable spread, it's not bad at all!

The hike on Day 2 to Cerro Catedral is a bit more demanding but even more beautiful. The path is simply fantastic, above a lake, through a wonderful forest (where the dead trees are left to themselves and everything doesn't look perfect like in German forests) with a delicious shimmering glacier river and a final steep climb until the snow line is reached! And so we trudge the last meters through the snow in shorts until we reach our destination, the Refugio Frey. Here you could spend the night, and a few tents are already set up. But we just sit by the beautiful half-covered snow-covered lake and enjoy (also today) a rye bread. Unfortunately, we don't have much time for the break because due to the non-existent bus schedules in Bariloche, we waited 1.5 hours for our bus in the morning, which cost us valuable time. After almost 3 hours, we are back down and thankfully get a ride with a local person who drops us off near our hostel. He is a tour guide and ski instructor, he tells us, because in winter, the largest ski resort in South America can be found here at Cerro Catedral!

After 2 days of hiking, we decide to use some different muscle groups and rent bicycles for a tour of the lake district, the so-called 'Circuito Chico' - Small Circuit. The path is 36km long, up and down through the beautiful landscape, with various viewpoints. And we've really missed cycling! We make a detour to Colonia Suiza, but we are rather disappointed because besides a few nice houses, not much cultural seems to have remained from the Swiss immigrants. Our hope for Käsespätzle (cheese spaetzle) is greatly disappointed because just like everywhere else, there is only sandwich, hot dog, pizza, and fries here. But it doesn't matter, at least we pass by some sheep (!!) on the way, and we also have our own bread (no, not the RYE BREAD today, but one from probably the only half-organic store in all of Argentina!). Cycling is so much fun and we really enjoy the ride, even though Lisa is suffering from hay fever - well, it's spring here, after all!

Overall, the surroundings of Bariloche are truly fantastic, even though the city is a bit too big and touristy for us. But we are always in nature... even in the shower of the hostel. Here we have our own small zoo and in the 4 days, we count 2 spiders, 5 snails, and 16 woodlice. On the first day, Lisa even showers together with Rafael - the earthworm. Apparently, the window has a direct connection to the garden, and the creatures seem to like our bathroom. Fortunately, Jan gradually removes all of them back outside, greatly increasing the comfort factor. Upon departure, we ceremoniously hand over our tally sheet to the hostel staff, who are thrilled with our list but apologize and promise to pass it on to the owner! Well then :)