Oren on the other hand, became a bit concerned. After 7 years of having a small voice (Lilya) telling him when he had enough to eat, suddenly there is no such voice any longer, and had to decide for himself. He was really frightened by this amount of freedom given to him. He tried to put Lilya through some very difficult tests, for example offered to go get some chocolate/ice cream after a very very large dinner, but to his surprise, she failed them all.
The Steaks here are only the padding for the premium chocolate which is flushed by a quality (but quite cheep) wine. The afternoon is the icecream time, maybe after a good pasta or pizza. This is the Bariloche way of life.
After we were back from the Carretera, Oren had a nasty pain in his back so we decided to stay in Bariloche for a while. But we didn't spent all the time in the chocolate stores. While here, Lilya did a nice bicycle trip with Ohad, Gabi and Achia around few of the countless lakes around Bariloche (The "Circuito Chico"). On the next day we went together to the "17th km" - a nice lookout above the Nahuel Huapi (read as na-well wa-pee) lake.
After Oren got better, we rented a car (just the two of us this time) for 3 days and drove north on a road called "the 7 lakes road". The road crosses the Argentinian lake district and passes through 5-10 lakes (depending
on your definition to how small can a lake should be and still be named a lake). We had a wonderful weather on the first day and the drive was fantastic. A full day is enough to see all the lakes even if someone (the name is not important right now) constantly asks for picture stops. We came to the conclusion that the beauty of a lake depends on the location of the sun in the sky and the absence of wind. That's why lake number 5 is our favorite. The sun was low and the light was warm, so the landscape was painted with wonderful colors. There was no wind at all, so the lake became a mirror and reflected the mountains behind it. On the way back, by the way, this lake wasn't that great with all the clouds blocking the sun.
On that day we slept in San Martin de los Andes. This is a small (and better) version of Bariloche. The chocolates are here and so are the good restaurants, but the town is smaller, cleaner and more stylish, and just like a Dolce and Gabbana purse, for style you have to pay more. That's why there are almost no cheep places for budget tourists like ourselves. We spent the night at (probably) the only hostel in town. We got a big room with TV, so we could watch "Old Christine" and "Friends" even before breakfast. But most of all, we will probably remember this day as the day we ate 5 different animals (none of which was a chicken): A pig, a boar, a cow, a deer and a lamb. Argentina can be so diverse!
The next day we drove to Junin de los Andes. Several km north of Junin there is the northern entrance to Lanin National Park. The road takes you to the northern viewpoint over Lanin volcano. The sky had no clouds and the view of the snowy conical peak of Lanin with the clear blue sky was classic. We climbed the steep road through the rain forest for an hour, and arrived to one of the nicest lookouts we've seen until now. If you are there don't miss it.
In Argentina, every second town is the capital of something. Junin, for example is the capital of traut fish. Even the signs of the street names have a fish on them. So, you must try a trout in Junin, and so we did. We got a recommendation in return for helping a local Indian, and had two delicious trouts for dinner. We slept in San Martin again, since we wanted to see the next episode of "Old Christine".
On the next day we drove back to Bariloche. The road back goes back through the marvelous lake Traful. Only after driving for some time we realized that we are almost out of fuel. The red light lit 50 km from the nearest town. We got to Villa Traful on the last fuel vapors, only to find out that the gas station is closed. We already prepared ourselves to hitchhike to the next town (60 km ahead) with an empty juice bottle, when we remembered the first rule of Argentina: Nothing is open on the Siesta! We acted like the locals and had a Siesta of our own in our car, in the gas station. Luckily, because of the delay we got a better weather for the rest of the road (for the pictures, of course). We celebrated our return to heaven (Bariloche) with a nice pair of steaks.
On the next morning we tried to climb Mt. Catedral, near Bariloche. The cable cars that should have taken us up the mountain didn't work (well, it was Sunday, and why would something so touristic will be open on Sundays?), so we had to climb it by ourselves. Pacha Mama was on vacation this day and her place was probably filled by her wicked brother Bob, so we were stopped on the way up by the snow that started to fall. Bob didn't think that we will like it very much but he was wrong. Being the Israelis that we are, we didn't experienced snow falling for a long long time and we were very excited and naturally, took a lot of pictures.
We left Bariloche the next day to Osorno (in Chile) to see the Chilean lake district.
On that day we slept in San Martin de los Andes. This is a small (and better) version of Bariloche. The chocolates are here and so are the good restaurants, but the town is smaller, cleaner and more stylish, and just like a Dolce and Gabbana purse, for style you have to pay more. That's why there are almost no cheep places for budget tourists like ourselves. We spent the night at (probably) the only hostel in town. We got a big room with TV, so we could watch "Old Christine" and "Friends" even before breakfast. But most of all, we will probably remember this day as the day we ate 5 different animals (none of which was a chicken): A pig, a boar, a cow, a deer and a lamb. Argentina can be so diverse!
The next day we drove to Junin de los Andes. Several km north of Junin there is the northern entrance to Lanin National Park. The road takes you to the northern viewpoint over Lanin volcano. The sky had no clouds and the view of the snowy conical peak of Lanin with the clear blue sky was classic. We climbed the steep road through the rain forest for an hour, and arrived to one of the nicest lookouts we've seen until now. If you are there don't miss it.
In Argentina, every second town is the capital of something. Junin, for example is the capital of traut fish. Even the signs of the street names have a fish on them. So, you must try a trout in Junin, and so we did. We got a recommendation in return for helping a local Indian, and had two delicious trouts for dinner. We slept in San Martin again, since we wanted to see the next episode of "Old Christine".
On the next day we drove back to Bariloche. The road back goes back through the marvelous lake Traful. Only after driving for some time we realized that we are almost out of fuel. The red light lit 50 km from the nearest town. We got to Villa Traful on the last fuel vapors, only to find out that the gas station is closed. We already prepared ourselves to hitchhike to the next town (60 km ahead) with an empty juice bottle, when we remembered the first rule of Argentina: Nothing is open on the Siesta! We acted like the locals and had a Siesta of our own in our car, in the gas station. Luckily, because of the delay we got a better weather for the rest of the road (for the pictures, of course). We celebrated our return to heaven (Bariloche) with a nice pair of steaks.
On the next morning we tried to climb Mt. Catedral, near Bariloche. The cable cars that should have taken us up the mountain didn't work (well, it was Sunday, and why would something so touristic will be open on Sundays?), so we had to climb it by ourselves. Pacha Mama was on vacation this day and her place was probably filled by her wicked brother Bob, so we were stopped on the way up by the snow that started to fall. Bob didn't think that we will like it very much but he was wrong. Being the Israelis that we are, we didn't experienced snow falling for a long long time and we were very excited and naturally, took a lot of pictures.
We left Bariloche the next day to Osorno (in Chile) to see the Chilean lake district.
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