Stage 2, Leg 5: Junin De Los Andes to Bariloche

The carnival (and beer and ice cream) took it's toll the next morning and we had our latest start yet for the short trip to San Martin De Los Andes. Fortunately, we covered the 44km in just 2 hours. San Martin is bigger and more up-market than Junin, a year-round mountain resort in the vein of Banff, and we were pleased to see many 'boaty-types' with pastel sweaters tied loosely about their necks in a jaunty fashion. It also has a beautiful swimming beach so we decided to stay for a day so that Catherine could top up her tan lines, and so that I could get whistled at by the lifeguard for swimming past the buoys, set 15ft from the beach. At night our luck continued as the town was hosting a street fair that night with more clowns (bigger in Argentina than one would think), open-air art galleries, free chocolate and liqueur tastings, and even those crappy speed-landscape 'artists' (à la Bob Ross).

Whilst in San Martin we also met Mike, another English cycle-tourer, whose journey was taking him north from Puerto Montt in Chile all the way to Peru. He had an exciting soundin job at Lockheed Martin, integrating weapons systems into military helicopters. The type of work that cannot be spoken about unless he kills you afterwards. Unfortunately we had a few drinks that day with Mike and he told us all about it, so we shall be looking over our shoulders from now on. Catherine has grown a moustache just in case.

After the rest day we began the much-anticipated Ruta De Los Siete Lagos, a semi-paved route through the mountains, linking a series of beautiful lakes, waterfalls, free campsites and hitch-hikers. This route is listed as a real 'must-do' in the guide books so we have been looking forward to it since the start of the trip. The route is 115km long so we split it into two days; the first being defined by the graceful ribbon of smooth tarmac winding between imposing mountains and deep blue lakes, the second being defined by the rutted and dusty ripio road, clogged up with an endless procession of camper vans and lorries ... only their headlights visible through the permanent dustcloud. The route as a whole was still worthwhile but we should have set off even earlier than 7am to beat the trafic on the second day. The best bit was the free campsite at Lago Faulkner, where we set up camp in the middle of an old forest on the shores of the lake. We lit a campfire, had dinner, and watched the fishermen as the sun set over the lake. Incidentally, another wild camp; another lesson learned (Ray Mears didn't cover this one): never put a campfire out be weeing on it. The fire doesn't go out, and the next day your hair still smells of hot wee. The hawks were back in large numbers too, the trees were full of them, and in the morning I caught them going through the belongings of some guys sleeping in the forest without a tent. Fools.


The 'Seven Lakes Route' is also a real favourite for domestic Argentine bike tourers, so we seem to have lost some (all) of our novelty status as we roll into a town or village or campsite. Even we're bored of them; whereas we used to stifle tears at the sight of another tourer, we can now barely be bothered to raise a hand as they go by.
After the disappointing ripio section, the drop out of the mountains into Villa La Angostura was spectacular. The descent crosses a high bridge over a river linking two huge lakes, and the town itself spills down a hill to a couple of lovely wooded bays facing the snow-capped Andes. Villa La Angostura is an even fancier resort than San Martin, and you pass a string of hill-top spa hotels on the way in. Even the campsite was a cut above, complete with marble sink tops and beaten-copper washbasins. Very La De Da.


The next morning we set off on the last leg of stage 2, an 85km nicely undulating route following the north and eastern shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi, finishing in Bariloche. At just over 2500km, it is the halfway marker for our trip. The ride was a beauty, surrounded by high mountains and always within spitting distance of the 100km-long deep blue lake, fringed with some amazing beaches. Whilst we had lunch we also met Hugo and Angel (note to self: good name for a cop show), a couple of Argentine bike tourers on holiday from Buenos Aires. Hugo was an odd guy, all teeth and ears, and covered in spandex and tattoos. He would punctuate the conversation by lifting a piece of clothing, exposing another tattoo that would illustrate or emphasize his point. Even as we cycled together for a while he would still be talking, wobbling about with a sleeve rolled up or a thigh exposed.

We'd heard mixed things about Bariloche; mostly bad, and mostly complaints that it's not a Swiss-styled jewell of the mountains, but a touristy moneypit, so when we rolled into the town square and saw gypsies asking for money to have your photo taken with St Bernard pups, the signs weren't good.

Day 28: Junin to San Martin De Los Andes - 44km
Day 29: San Martin to Lago Faulkner - 56km
Day 30: Lago Faulkner to Villa La Angostura - 58km
Day 31: Villa La Angostura to Bariolche - 85km