Leaving Bariloche…

After spending a full day in the resort town of San Carlos de Bariloche, tramping the main street to buy supplies, getting a Sim card for my phone, and sampling the chocolate that this town in very famous for, I sat on the balcony of the Hotel and watched the people far below me on Bariloche’s “Beach”…

Bariloche Beach... Despite the freezing water, locals still swim here throughout the day...!!

“Isn’t the water here cold…??” I ask the guys around me…

“No, it’s not cold…” replied the American to my left, “It’s frikking freezing…!! I went down yesterday for a swim and only got my ankles wet before getting the hell outta there…!!”

And that quickly put paid to any thoughts I had of taking a short dip…!!

As the sun set, the wind changed direction again and the ash cloud from the volcano began drifting in towards us again...

My first stay in a dorm room... Not conducive to privacy...!! But the people I shared the room with were all great fun, and eager to exchange info about themselves and their recent adventures...

Cecilia of Penthouse 1004 passed on invaluable information about my route south from Bariloche. Ever helpful and friendly, she and Annie were always on hnad to ensure their guests were comfortable and happy...

I wanted to leave San Carl;os de Bariloche as early as possible, because the afternoon before, a massive cloud of ash, belched from the Puyehue Volcano across the border in Chile, drifted over the town and prevented me from riding out to do the “Circuito Chico”…

This is a short scenic drive that takes to out towards the jagged Llao-Llao peninsula west of town, and then loops back through a range of low mountains and hills before re-entering Bariloche again, or veering off to the south and hooking up with Ruta 40 eventually…

After a quick breakfast and an even quicker goodbye to Cecilia the manager, I took the lift down 12 floors to the lower basement, loaded the bike and got on my way…

I stopped in the main square just a short distance from the hotel to take a picture of the huge flag that flew at half mast there… The town was abuzz with the news that on New Year’s Eve, the wife of the local governor, had decided she had had enough of her husband’s philandering ways, and had put the barrel of a gun to his forehead as he slept, and pulled the trigger…!!

Talk about starting the year off with a bang…!!

Flag at half mast... The governor of the province had met a sticky end on New Years Eve....!!

An hour later, and after numerous stops to gape at the scenery, I was happy that I’d taken the time to ride the Circuito Chico, rather than barrel south to my next destination…

The scenery on Circuito Chico was well worth the 60 km detour...

A network of small lakes and narrow channels link the waterways in this region...

I passed the famous Llao-Llao hotel and Golf Resort, remembering that Willie had told me to stop there for a drink… Besides it being too early for that, the price of a drink and a snack to go with it here, was equivalent to half a tank of petrol…!!

Lago Puerto Moreno from the narrow twisting road that runs along the ridge that separates it from Lago Nahuel Huapi...

A cycle race was in progress on the Circuito Chico, and I had to dodge more than than one bunch of riders who seemed to think the route was there for their benefit only… After nearly colliding with a minivan that was also trying to avoid the cyclists, I decided to make my presence known well before reaching the next bunch of riders, by blasting my hooter as I came upon them…

This friendly marshal stopped to chat to me, and then had his mates snap half a dozen photos of us...

Lago Gutierrez slides by as I put the hammer down and head south for Esquel...

The weather was perfect, and would remain so for the rest of the day… Except for a few strong gusts of wind that had me sitting up straighter and paying more attention, the sun shone brightly, the sky was a bright blue, and reflected off the many small lakes that dot the area…

I planned to ride to Esquel, which in winter is Argentina’s premier ski area… This small town lay 300 km directly south of San Carlos de Bariloche, and I planned to stop there to refuel and have lunch before trying to reach Rio Mayo, a further 400 km beyond that…

©GBWT 2012