Welcome to Bariloche, a beautifully pictuesque town located on Lago Nahuel Huapi, at the top of the lakes district in upper Patagonia. That will be $5 per breath thanks. Its high season in this area and all the folks getting away from places like Buenos Aires come down here to relax, and the local traders know it. Its for this reason that we decided to look for a way to beat the cost and get some badly needed nature time as well.
A short bus ride later and our 3 day trek into the lakes district mountains had begun. Our plan was to stay in mountain refuges for two nights and walk for three days. And what a plan it turned out to be!!!! We began walking along a track overlooking a beautiful lake under crystal clear skies before headed into the hills, with scenery reminiscent of a Lord of the Rings movie. After what turned out to be a rather hard climb we made the first night´s stop. 
This refuge was packed as there is a huge climbable rock face towering over the site. After a rough night sleep in a tightly packed, 26 mattress loft, we headed out on day 2.
Day 2 was by far our most enjoyable day of walking of the whole trip. We went past snow fed lakes, climbed rocky hillsides across snow remnants, slid down 300 metres of loose gravel on descents, spent two hours lounging by a crystal clear stream, climbed over gravely ridge lines and finally made it to another gorgeous lake which the second night`s refuge overlooked. 
The water was good enough to drink and extremely clear. We ate a great dinner chatting to a couple of girls from Melbourne, one of which was married to a Brazilian and they were bringing along a small kid! Impressive.
The third day began walking out along a valley and as with the first two days the views were impressive. Once we reached the end of the line, we understood a bus would be taking us back into Bariloche. However as we were to discover about an hour later, that bus hasn´t run for about three years and we managed to share a taxi with a couple from Israel, organised by some local Argentinian boys. Lucky as we were both tired and didn´t fancy the extra 3 hours of walking it would have taken!
A short bus ride later and our 3 day trek into the lakes district mountains had begun. Our plan was to stay in mountain refuges for two nights and walk for three days. And what a plan it turned out to be!!!! We began walking along a track overlooking a beautiful lake under crystal clear skies before headed into the hills, with scenery reminiscent of a Lord of the Rings movie. After what turned out to be a rather hard climb we made the first night´s stop. 
This refuge was packed as there is a huge climbable rock face towering over the site. After a rough night sleep in a tightly packed, 26 mattress loft, we headed out on day 2. 
Day 2 was by far our most enjoyable day of walking of the whole trip. We went past snow fed lakes, climbed rocky hillsides across snow remnants, slid down 300 metres of loose gravel on descents, spent two hours lounging by a crystal clear stream, climbed over gravely ridge lines and finally made it to another gorgeous lake which the second night`s refuge overlooked. 
The water was good enough to drink and extremely clear. We ate a great dinner chatting to a couple of girls from Melbourne, one of which was married to a Brazilian and they were bringing along a small kid! Impressive. 
The third day began walking out along a valley and as with the first two days the views were impressive. Once we reached the end of the line, we understood a bus would be taking us back into Bariloche. However as we were to discover about an hour later, that bus hasn´t run for about three years and we managed to share a taxi with a couple from Israel, organised by some local Argentinian boys. Lucky as we were both tired and didn´t fancy the extra 3 hours of walking it would have taken!Safely returned to Bariloche we headed to the greatest ice cream shop we´ve ever been to. I could have bought the place. Heaven in a cone! Now its on down the line to El Bolson........
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