The Seven Lakes and The Amphitheatre

After the insect escapades of the previous days we were quite happy to wake up to a rather windy but still clear morning in Bariloche. My head was still a bit dizzy from the copious amounts of internal insect repellent aka Malbec consumed the day before but the fresh air, the sunshine and the prospect of a great day trip made me quickly forget about the headache.

We were about to discover the route of the Seven Lakes, drive up to San Martin de los Andes and then back t Bariloche. This road, according to all the guidebooks we read about Argentina is one of the the most beautiful things you will ever see in Argentina and / or Patagonia as a whole. I always give respect where respect is due, the lakes were alright but they could not compare in beauty or adventure with the road we took back to Bariloche. A road that wasn’t mentioned anywhere. A road we found by complete accident. How did we get there?

We took the dreaded Ruta 40 north from Bariloche. The road here is paved for a long section and makes access to the lakes easy. I do get why people fell in love with the lakes, the amazing blue combined with the wild peaks of the Andes looks quite great, but after the third lake they all started looking the same. Beauty overload. I wouldn’t say they were boring but they weren’t exciting either.

The roadside stuff provided us with the fun we needed. Every country has its fair share of crazy signs (I think Britain wins this competition with the sign that says “Sign not in use”) but the omnipresent “don’t dig” signs placed next to Argentinean roads got me. I just can’t believe that locals jump out of their cars all the time and start wildly digging for some assumed treasure at every possible turn and in the meantime destroy some electric / gas installations (for which by the way there is no warning signage). We couldn’t solve this mystery.

To compensate for the lack of solution we fell in love with an omnipresent Patagonian plant, the lupin. The lupin’s colour palette ranges from white through yellow through blue to red and everything in between and they grow in huge patches. Did I mention that they are extremely photogenic?Also, before reaching San Martin we got our first taste of how Ruta 40 really is as it turned into gravel. We thought the myths were not true but I have to admit they really are. I have been on some semi-nice gravel roads, Ruta 40 is not one of them. We were so shocked by its quality that we decided we would find another way back. We still had two lakes to see and we were more than happy to stop the gravel horror for at least a bit to stop by a lake. Two of the trip’s memorable sayings were created here.

Lake #6 seemed particularly unfriendly with a greyish blue and there was a cold wind – we were freezing. That was until a British girl turned up in a miniskirt, apparently enjoying the weather. Looking at her and shivering by the sight I said that “I’m sure her Pampa Linda must be frozen” thereby referring to a certain Pampa Linda we visited the day before and well... her Pampa Linda. It was also here that we noticed the complete disappearance of our sworn insect enemies, the tabanos aka Los Talibanos. The joy came out saying “I’m so glad the Taliban is over”.

We finally arrived in San Martin and were hungry for some carbs and caffeine while we searched for an alternative way home. It was here that we encountered the world’s most horrible waitress ever. Before anyone would think that my expectations were high, I have to state they weren’t. In all honesty I have no idea what profession I would choose for this poor girl, but it definitely would not be a consumer facing one. Her demeanour was reminiscent of the nanny from Omen and the pitch of her voice was one that would make deaf people jump in sheer horror. Combine this with the speed of a snail, the reaction time of a sloth and the habit of pouring stuff on people and there you go. Bingo. At first I thought this is a TV show and someone’s making fun of me, but no. There are no words to describe the liquid called coffee she put in front of me. In more than one culture I know this stuff would be used as rat poison. Let’s just say that our coffee house visit in San Martin was not a big success.

On the other hand, the way we found home was an unexpected miracle and our first taste of the real Patagonia. The back country behind Bariloche and San Martin consists of rugged peaks, glacier carved valleys, winding roads, wild rivers, windswept lakes, yellow grasslands with battled cattle lazily grazing and a howling, arid climate hosting huge dust storms. The wild change surprised and energised us at the same time. After 3 days we finally saw why we came here. It really felt like the end of the world.

My account would not be full without talking about The Amphitheatre. It is located around 50 kms from Bariloche. The name is perfect as it is a round valley with a river flowing through it and another river joining the main river. It is at this confluence of the rivers where the completely arid landscape turns vividly green. The effect is mesmerising and we stood speechless for about 10 minutes. None of the guidebooks mention this place which is a shame. We stumbled upon it by chance. We got to learn only later that Patagonia has many hidden, never mentioned treasures to be discovered.