San Martin de los Andes

After a few hours of good, deep sleep we got up and ready for today's tour to San Martin de los Andes. And on the way to there we make stops at seven lakes along the famous route 40. First up we drove along the lake Nahuel Huapi for 1.5 hours until the scenic little town Villa La Angostura which gave us Banff vibes. Due to the small but expensive little shops and wooden structures along the main street. We had a little rest stop for half an hour there but an older couple decided to take its time so we waited for almost half an hour for them 🙄
There started the "Camino De Los Siete Lagos" with the first one Lago Espejo (Mirror lake) which didn't have any reflection 😒 But it was still a very pretty sight, especially the water color! The next one is Lago Correntoso, where we had just a short photo stop. The third lake, Lago Escondido, is the smallest of the seven lakes and is completely surrounded by trees and we didn't make a stop. Next up the fourth lake, Lago Villarino was skipped as well. So we got off the minibus at the 5th lake, Lago Falkner, with a nice little pebbly beach. The 6th lake, Lago Machónico was also skipped because we're going to stop there on the way back. The 7th lake and destination of today's tour is located next to the town of San Martin de los Andes. Lago Lacar is the biggest of the lakes and offers a lot of activities, especially for adventure seekers. We got off the bus and had two hours to explore the town and its surroundings.

First we went to the beach and walked along the shore until the end. There we expected a walkway leading up to a viewpoint but it was a dead end. Instead of searching further we decided to walk through the scenic little town center with nice parks and interesting architecture. The time flew while doing so and soon afterwards we needed to get back on the bus. The drive back was pretty uneventful for most of the time and we both got some good naps 😴 We made a 30 minute stop again in Villa La Angostura and had a delicious ice cream 🍦

When arriving back in Bariloche, Julia went to El Boliche De Alberto Pasta to queue an hour before opening time for dinner. Meanwhile I went back to the hostel to pick up the laundry. This worked out perfectly fine and I came back a few minutes before opening time while Julia had the first spot. They have a similar concept just instead of meat they offer pastas. Having learned from yesterday we queued early and ordered fast. I've had the house speciality lasagna and Julia the Gnocchi with a tomato sauce. It was tasty and fresh but not as spectacular as yesterday. But at least our choice of wine was better 😁 We shared a dessert but after having tried three, we have to say that it's not their speciality...
On the way back to the hostel we stopped at a supermarket for some snacks for tomorrow. We also decided to get some eggs and cheese that we can prepare for breakfast. Tomorrow we're planning to rent a bicycle to do the small circuit, a nearby ring road of at least 27km.Read more