Photo Album: Lakes of Argentina
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We reached Esquel of Argentina after leaving the scenic Austral Rt 7 of Chile, and reentered Argentina at Futaleufu in the late afternoon. After a good night sleep, it was time to continue our drive along the western side of Argentina, northwards.
In the distance to the west, we could hardly make out the snow capped Andes mountains which straddle along the border of Argentina and Chile.
We decided to double back a little bit, and drove towards Alerces National Park on Rt 71, instead of the boring highway 40 that runs through this side of Patagonia.
In the distance to the west, we could hardly make out the snow capped Andes mountains which straddle along the border of Argentina and Chile.
We decided to double back a little bit, and drove towards Alerces National Park on Rt 71, instead of the boring highway 40 that runs through this side of Patagonia.
In here, the Lakes District of Argentina kept teasing us with the beautiful and tranquil lakes within Los Alecres National Park.
Alerces has a few beautiful lakes, and beautiful pebble beaches. But then again, after southern
It was good to see the speedometer was able to get up to 120 Kph and sustainable after over 2 weeks of clacking on gravels. Gosh, got to replace that front wheel tomorrow with the uncomfortable wheel balance shake!!
It was an uneventful drive from Esquel to Barilochi, about a 300 Km drive, all except the 120 Km within
And more deep blue lakes along the way....
The sunny day was getting sunnier as we
move north through the lakes into San Carlos de Barilochi. We were still in Patagonia ,
but here have certainly more population, traffics and petrol was getting more
expensive as we go north.
Our first impression of Barilochi was, it's not
living up to the reputation of being Swiss like. Yes there are quite a few big
lakes around, and quite a few tall mountains about, but the outskirt of the
city is quite poor and rugged, until within 1 Km of the city center.
Barilochi is by the southern shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi, the largest lake in the Lakes District, and is a popular skiing resort. However, we were in the middle of summer.
At Cerro Otto, a few hundred meters high up, overlooking Lake Nahuel Huapi, we could get a uninterrupted sweeping view of the big lake. Though the road was very bad,
but there are full of mansions hidden in forests. Just to show that, there is a big divide
between the haves and have nots.
Wonderful views were to be had on a clear day, with the Andes mountains in the distance.
Wonderful views were to be had on a clear day, with the Andes mountains in the distance.
At night, there were only two blocks in the
town center which had people walking around, mainly tourists, I think. The rest of the town was quite dark and quiet.
The winds of Patagonia
had returned this evening, and there was again a chill in the air.
After a restful night, it was time to extend our reach further to the west, along the big lake.
The western outskirts of Barilochi is indeed, very much Swiss like, with its lakes and high mountains around, and a generally tranquil surrounding.
It was a pleasant loop drive of about 100 Km, before we headed out of town north-westwards along the lakeside, towards Llao Llao. However, it seemed a little pale if one had just been through southwestern Patagonia, but it is still great scenery.
It was time to have a picnic lunch under the mild sun, in the town square, before heading out north again. It certainly is Swiss like vacation town.
After lunch, we continued our long drive to the north, hoping to reach San Martin de los Andes in the late afternoon.
Our car picked up RN 40 North on the outskirt, and had one final look at Barilochi from the other side of the lake.
It was again quite a boring drive to San Martin de los Andes, going from lake to lake, nice easy drive, except for about 40 Km of gravel road. This is the Seven Lakes district, tours are offered to take people through all the lakes by bus. At this stage, we were somewhat laked-out !!
The whole area are full of holiday houses with boat marinas everywhere, and the weather was perfect for water activities. With these great lakes who wouldn't ! Unfortunately, we had not planned for a leisurely stay.
On the sealed highway, the wheel balancing problem had again shown up, that needed to be attended to, annoying!
Finally, we could see San Martin at the eastern end of the long Lake Lacar, basking in the late afternoon sun. A quaint little town it seemed, from a distance.
Indeed, San Martin de los Andes is very very beautiful and clean, very European like, if not just Swiss like. A bright little town, like Bright in Victoria, Australia. The Tourism Information office, for the first time, had someone who could actually speak fluent English. The Hotel was comfortable and exceptionally clean, and not expensive at all.
After a restful night, it was time to extend our reach further to the west, along the big lake.
The western outskirts of Barilochi is indeed, very much Swiss like, with its lakes and high mountains around, and a generally tranquil surrounding.
It was a pleasant loop drive of about 100 Km, before we headed out of town north-westwards along the lakeside, towards Llao Llao. However, it seemed a little pale if one had just been through southwestern Patagonia, but it is still great scenery.
It was time to have a picnic lunch under the mild sun, in the town square, before heading out north again. It certainly is Swiss like vacation town.
After lunch, we continued our long drive to the north, hoping to reach San Martin de los Andes in the late afternoon.
Our car picked up RN 40 North on the outskirt, and had one final look at Barilochi from the other side of the lake.
It was again quite a boring drive to San Martin de los Andes, going from lake to lake, nice easy drive, except for about 40 Km of gravel road. This is the Seven Lakes district, tours are offered to take people through all the lakes by bus. At this stage, we were somewhat laked-out !!
The whole area are full of holiday houses with boat marinas everywhere, and the weather was perfect for water activities. With these great lakes who wouldn't ! Unfortunately, we had not planned for a leisurely stay.
On the sealed highway, the wheel balancing problem had again shown up, that needed to be attended to, annoying!
Finally, we could see San Martin at the eastern end of the long Lake Lacar, basking in the late afternoon sun. A quaint little town it seemed, from a distance.
Indeed, San Martin de los Andes is very very beautiful and clean, very European like, if not just Swiss like. A bright little town, like Bright in Victoria, Australia. The Tourism Information office, for the first time, had someone who could actually speak fluent English. The Hotel was comfortable and exceptionally clean, and not expensive at all.
The first thing in the next morning was to change the new tyre with the spare, that should rid of the annoying steering shake at high speed, as largely, good roads were expected from here onwards. We hope.
There were only rotten fruits & veges
at the supermarket in San Martin de los Andes, despite being a nice, rich
looking little town, I would not vouch
for its selections of fresh foods.
It had been a bit annoying for the last few
days, that quite a few YPF Service Stations were not able to process Credit Cards
with smart chips, therefore we had to fork out cash for fuels. That means we
might have to change more Peso cash soon, the next big town was Mendoza
Ahead of us, was a long and boring drive to Chos
Malal in Neuquen Province, a 470 km northward drive
through wide ancient canyons. The
general landscape is very mush semi arid desert like, similar to Central
Australia or Utah.
But the volcanoes that dot the Andes ranges are hanging about in the distant horizon.
Our trip odometer breached 8000 Km shortly before we arrived at Chos Malal, ie since 25 days ago from Buenos Aires.
It looked like a major fibre optic network was being laid, piles of fibre optic cable ducting were lying along the highway. Future travelers will see great improvements of their internet speed, we hope !
Chos Malal is a 5 street town, with a very
enthusiastic policeman at the southern entrance of the town on RN40. Once he knew we were tourists from Australia
A small distance down the road was the tourism information office. The lady had just closed shop ( just after 6 pm) and when she saw us rolling into the car park, she quickly retraced and unlocked the office, to help us with all the information, which was basically a local map, with all the hotels marked. But her attitude counted a lot in my parlance.
Just before reaching the center of the township, there was a long line of, what seemed like car wrecks, that's worrying !!
A small distance down the road was the tourism information office. The lady had just closed shop ( just after 6 pm) and when she saw us rolling into the car park, she quickly retraced and unlocked the office, to help us with all the information, which was basically a local map, with all the hotels marked. But her attitude counted a lot in my parlance.
Just before reaching the center of the township, there was a long line of, what seemed like car wrecks, that's worrying !!
As we cruised along the main street, I did
not like the look of a long queue in front of the only YPF service station in
town….the question of petrol availability came to mind immediately. So quickly after checking into a local hotel, I
dashed to join the queue, for tomorrow was likely to be a long 500 Km drive. And we needed and got a full tank.
The local supermarket was much better
stocked, with fruits and veges, despite the isolation and the less than
interesting outlook of the town.
So it was time for an early night, ready for a long drive ahead, continuing north. We were going to leave Patagonia sometime soon.
So it was time for an early night, ready for a long drive ahead, continuing north. We were going to leave Patagonia sometime soon.
Next Post : Day 28 - 29 Ciao Patagonia, hello Cuyo
Other Posts: Index - 2013 Argentina-Chile self drive.
Other Posts: Index - 2013 Argentina-Chile self drive.
