The best ice-cream, possibly in South America, perhaps the world, is in El Bolson. We always had an excuse to buy more!! For breakfast, lunch, 4 o’clock snack and dinner, we would be in line deliberating over which flavour to try next. The almond and coconut ice-creams were undisputedly the best and they work exceptionally well with chocolate andino (walnuts and chocolate) or one of the many fruit flavours. And the best part is that we don’t feel at all guilty for indulging in so much. This is our deserved reward after 10 days of hiking in Southern Patagonia followed by a torturously long and dusty bus journey that lasted 32 hours.
Southern Patagonia is a harshly beautiful place. After a week in Buenos Aires we were more than ready to escape the bustling city for the tranquillity of the mountains. However, though desolate, Southern Patagonia was far from tranquil. Parque National Torres del Paine in Chile resembled a natural Disney World, complete with visitors and amenities. We completed the circuit, a 8 day 80km hike around the famous rock towers. The first half of the trek takes you deep into the narrow valleys under the sheer granite peaks, however the trails were busy and the campgrounds crowded and dirty. It amazed us that fellow trekkers would leave their trash on the trail and that the National Park turned a blind eye to this problem. The second half of the trek was more physically challenging (20 miles on day 5) and consequently quieter and cleaner. The scenery was stunning: enormous blue glaciers tumbling from the large ice cap, jagged mountains, wide valleys, forests of gnarled beech trees, frothy rivers and alpine lakes. However, by day 8 we were dreaming of the lamb asado and generous glasses of red wine we were going to order for dinner in Puerto Natales and the hopefully hot shower back at Isabel’s home. We also visited Los Glaciars National Park just across the border in Argentina and though our two long day hikes took us deep into the mountains, the two famous peaks, Monte Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, remained shrouded in thick cloud.
32 hours later with swollen ankles (from hiking or bus seats), after a long bus journey on a dusty dirt road through the dry Patagonian steppe, we arrived in hippy El Bolson, home of the amazing ice-cream. We stopped for a day, long enough to experience the 'hippieness' of the town. As we staggered towards our campsite at 8 in the morning, we encountered a 'hippy' using a front garden as a public latrine, with beautiful Rose bushes to provide modesty (barely!). Minutes later, after pitching the tent, our neighbour burst from his tent very unwell. Possible food poisoning or too much locally brewed beer?
Now we’re settled in Bariloche, in the Argentine Lake District. We’ve rented a beautiful apartment with views over the lake towards the Andes. We’re enjoying the quiet of the apartment and Jon loves having a kitchen all to himself. For the next 3 days we’ll be touring the lakes by bike. The weather is beautiful and a welcome relief from windy Patagonia. Our next step on the South America tour is Mendoza.
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