Marc & Nora ROUND THE WORLD 2005/2006 - Join us!

After arriving in the hostel I booked only 2 days ago (and received confirmation!!) we found out that it was closed due to renovation. But a stone-throw away was another one really nice one where we checked in for a couple of days.

Bariloche lies on the shores of the Nahuel Huapi lake in the province of Rio Negro. Its location is so unique as it is surrounded by lakes, woods, mountains and glaciers. The entire area is in fact a huge National Park (the biggest in this area), covering 705,000 hectares. At the same time it is also the first national park of the lake district as it was created in 1934 after the land was donated in 1903 by Perito Francisco Moreno.

We had fantastic weather and decided to do some hikes. The first hike however failed as the path was so steep and slippery due to snow and ice that we couldnt finish our ascent with the poor equipment (wrong shoes, no walking sticks, etc) we had. But we still enjoyed ourselves having a huge snow ball fight ( I still have bruises all over my leg!)
We didnt have to be at the top to enjoy magnificent views over the valley. There are so many lakes, all beautiful deep blue and surrounded by hills. The biggest one, Nahuel Huapi lake, has a surface of 650 square kilometers and is 454 meters deep. The view is fantastic - so beautiful, so peaceful! (Liesi, you would love it here!)

On the descent I slipped and my bum was covered in mud! I dont have to explain how embarrassing that looked! A few minutes later i slipped again and this time my entire right side of my pants were brown and completely wet. It was such a funny sight, we both pissed ourselves!

At the base of the mountain we decided to walk to the Swiss Colony, a small village that has (as the name says) some Swiss influence. As it was low season all the restaurants there were shut but we found one restaurant called "Nora" that sold strudels.

The next day we decided to go horse riding. I told the Gaucho Marcello that I have only ridden a horse a couple of times and that was a long long time ago. He just smiled, helped me onto my horse (name: Kasimiro) and explained to me that if i kick the horse it goes quicker and if i pull the reins the horse will slow down. OK! That is not difficult.
The horses started walking, marc's horse (name: infiel - english: unfaithful) was the slowest horse on earth. My horse was doing not too bad but as soon as we started to ascend we all realised that my horse must have eaten beans for breakfast. For the entire trip
(2.5 hrs) it farted loudly. It was so funny! Marc was far behind as his horse took it easy and he just couldnt stop laughing. I tried to talk to Kasimiro and tell him that he shouldnt be embarrassed but I think he didnt care anyway! He just happily farted away...

...from the top of the hill we had some gorgeous views over the lakes again!

When we started to ride back I soon realised that the horses must know that they are going home. Mine started to go faster and faster and when we reached the gate it started to gallop! I tried to hold on to the reins and pull them but Kasimiro didnt care. Oh my god! I just bounced up and down, and landed on his neck (!!) and held onto his mane with my hands....like in a cartoon. Mercifully we arrived before I fell off!

What a finish! My bum hurt even days later!
And Marc and Infiel? Not surprisingly they came last!
After the horse riding experience we took a bus further up the lake to enjoy coffee and cake in the famous Llao-Llao Hotel, a "Leading Hotel in the World". It is set in an astonishing scenery and the hotel itself is pretty beautiful as well.