November 4, 2025
Bariloche
It is a warm morning heading to the airport, more so sitting in the taxi, which felt like a hothouse. I was dropped off at the terminal entrance and it being only 09.45, I have over 3 hours to my flight departs
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The airport Jorge Newbury is located a few miles north of the centre facing the milky coffee hued River Plate, a wide waterway with Uruguay on the other side. The terminal building is long and narrow and its hard getting through the crowd with my bike-box wideways across a baggage trolley. I try with the box standing on its end, but then I can't see over it where I'm going and its like reversing a truck looking along the side with the other side blind. Anyway, I make it to the check-in, whereupon its labelled and a man in a yellow hi-vis vest leads the way to the oversize baggage drop where it goes in to a scanner machine and out of sight. Unencumbered then with just my medium size backpack, I take the escalator to the second floor departures to wait out the remaining time.
I had a window seat, useful as once boarding was completed it was a long wait before the plane started to move anywhere and then a long taxi before take off, climbing over the River Plate and then doing a full 180 degree turn and seeing far below Buenos Aires looking quite miniscule before cloud gets in the way. The whole fight is looking down upon a fleece of cloud and the final descend through a fog before emerging into a grey day looking down on a brown lunar landscape.
It is 12 degrees on the ground and I was happy when looking out the window at the baggage truck that it contained the Kona bike-box.
I took a taxi to the city and the taxi driver a thirtysome woman called Daniela chats to me the whole way. She offers to take me on a sightseeing tour tomorrow which I except, before dropping me off at a hostel I had booked.
Tuesday morning I went for a walk in the centre of Bariloche, visiting the cathedral which looks like it's been imported from Northern Europe. Built of local stone and with colourful pictoral windows. On an interpretation board at the side it is mentioned that the Jesuits establish a mission here in 1670. I continue along the waterfront of Lago Nahuel Huapi and stop near the pier with another interpretation board with an old black and photo that says a wooden pier was first built in 1895 to create a trading link with Chile via a pass on the other side of the lake. It was improved over the years, but then badly damaged by fire in 1959. After that a new pier was built in concrete.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
I climb the steps up from the waterfront to the plaza with distinctive stone municipal buildings with a clock tower and an equestrian monuments in its centre, before continuing back to the hostel. On the way I get a WhatsApp message from Daniela the taxi driver to say she is picking me up at 10.30.
Daniela speaks very fast and doesn't speak a word of English, so once again I'm forced to converse in Spanish. She is charming and always smiling and as we drive out of town we talk about our respetive work and lives. Her partner is a taxi driver too and they have 3 children.
The traffic is fairly light as we driver west along the wooded shore of the lake and it's 16 kilometres to our first stop Cerro Campanario with a ski lift up to over a thousand metres to a view point. It was relaxing riding in the seat suspended from a cable as it slowly moved up through a gap in the wooded slope. And the view on top was impressive.
Later having drove another 8 kilometres we pull up in front of a very posh hotel overlooking the lake where prices start at 400 USD a night to stay. It is called Hotel Llao Llao; a Mapuche word for a fruit native to the area; translated into Spanish means Dulce Dulce; or, sweet sweet.
We had intended going to another mountain viewpoint, but time was against us, however we stopped at a few roadside viewpoints and visited Patagonia Craft Beer where I had an IPA and Daniela water as she is driving.
It is almost 14 hrs when we are back in town and Daniela lets me off at the hostel. I get a bite to eat followed by a lay down and catch up with radio podcasts for an hour and a half in which I nap for a while. Later I take the bike out of the box and assemble it, screwing on a rear rake and packing the bags on it ready to set out tomorrow.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 3 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |