November 30 - December 3, 2018: Hiking, Lakes Tour, and Glaciers in Patagonia!

You could say we saw quite a bit of nature on this trip...

It seems Adam needed to tame his hair more so than I did...

November 30th started in the most beautiful of ways. Our hostel roommate decided it would be a great idea to make a ton of noise not only at 3:00am when she got back to the room, but also when she woke up around 6:00am. Thank you for that, Julie C. When Adam and I woke up (technically for the third time that morning) we ate the hostel breakfast which was included and then took a bus to Cerro Campanario. It was a very steep hike but only 30 minutes long to the top and the views were INSANE.

There was a chair lift that cost about 400 pesos but Adam and I decided to push our luck and try to get on for free. We got in line, acted like we were supposed to be there, didn't say a word, and when we got to the front of the line, the dude didn't even ask for a ticket or anything. We hopped on and burst out laughing and screaming from joy. That was one of the greatest moments of the trip!

The best part about this day is that the activities were free! After hiking this hill, we took a bus to Llao llao Resort which was sadly a bit of a let-down. We ate lunch there and then were able to find a very easy, flat hiking path to do so we did that and then stopped to chill on some branches hanging over the water.

We took a bus back to our hostel after this and then napped for 2.5 hours. We made oatmeal for dinner and then sat around in the common room and played cards for a bit. There was a group of people all chilling and they invited us over and we hung out with them for a bit and it was really fun!! Adam and I went to the bar on the corner with 2 of them and they were friends with the owner so I finessed getting some free olives lol!

They spoke Spanish and a tiny bit of English and we were trying to explain the difference between "diseased" and "deceased" to them but they said it sounded exactly the same hahaha. We didn't stay out too late with them so we headed back to bed after a little while.

On December 1 we did the classic Tour de Los 7 Lagos. We woke up early to get to the meeting point for the excursion and no one was there. We worried that they scammed us but wouldn't ya know it the bus showed up right on Argentinian time 30 minutes late. The first stop on the trip was Villa La Angostura which is a really cute town of about 3 blocks. We bought some fruit and olives there and the man didn't have 1 peso to give us in change so he gave us 3 cherries lol.

The tour is essentially a drive on the "7 Lakes Road" which passes by... 7 lakes... and you stop at various lookout points to take photos and enjoy the nature. Here are some of the pics we took! I think my favorite was lake #3 because the water was the most beautiful greenish color I've ever seen.

We stopped at lakes 1, 2, 3, and 5 on our way to a town called San Martín de los Andes. We had 2 hours to spend there and the lunch ended up taking about 1.5 hours but it was delicious! We walked to the coast after eating and sat there for a bit and admired the view (which was lake #7).

Once we were back on the road, we headed to lake #6 that we skipped on the way over and took in the view there.

We stopped one last time again in Villa La Angostura and I decided to buy some ice cream and enjoy it on a bench in the sun.

For those curious, the flavor is called Tramontana.

We got back to the hostel, figured out some fees we owed, and then I left to go on a run along the beautiful coast. Also here's a photo of Adam sleeping on the bus. Catching flies.

For dinner we ate leftover oatmeal and then headed to bed early... it was a chill night.

We started off December 2 by eating breakfast with a big group of people in the hostel. We decided to do an excursion to Cerro Tronador which is a glacier! We got ripped off a little bit cuz there was a thicc entrance fee to the park which we were not warned about but oh well. Our tour guide was rather unpleasant and boi did she not know how to shut her mouth. Yeah I know I don't really know when to shut up either but the fact that I could recognize she was a talker... that's saying something.

We passed by a point where the water to our left flows to the Pacific Ocean and on our right to the Atlantic... pretty cool. The water was sooooo clear it was amazing!

We stopped at a lookout point where you could see Isla Corazón but our insane guide rushed us so much we could barely enjoy it. She was wild lol.

One stop on this trip was a BEAUTIFUL glacier with light blue / green water and snow caps. It was stunning to stand there and take it all in.

Here we are taking silly pics like the silly folk we are.

The journey continued until we reached a very small hike called Garganta del diablo. We ate lunch before doing it (overpriced and bad lol) and then started the trail with a nice guy from Switzerland that we met on the trip.

The drive back was horrid because it was on the bumpiest gravel road and we were only going 20 kilometers per hour... it took forever! At one point, our Swiss friend asked the guide to speak quieter and his Spanish was awful... it was so hilarious, the 3 of us were cracking up in the back of the van.

We finally got back to the hostel and I left for a run. After the run, I chatted with a guy named Maxi in the hostel for a bit and he told me some interesting stories about his life. He walked with me so I could buy pasta to make for dinner and then I cooked it and ate dinner with a ton of people in the hostel when we got back.

Maxi and I went on a walk after dinner because we were both bloated and we tried to hit something shiny floating in the water by throwing rocks at it. Sadly our throws were all off-target. We went to an ice cream shop and Maxi pretended to only speak English (he's Argentine) and it was hilarious because his English wasn't even fluent and the people in the shop had no idea what was going on. I came back to the hostel around 11:30pm and then headed to bed.

Our last day in Bariloche, December 3, was pretty chill. I woke up kind of early and ate the hostel breakfast and then decided to go back to bed and nap for a bit. I went on a great run when I woke up and the lake was so clear this day that you could see the reflections of the mountains in it.

Adam and I met up to talk for a bit and discuss working on getting along better because we fought more than we would have liked to on this trip. Saying sorry and talking through disagreements is important, people!!

After this, we took the bus to the airport and flew back to Buenos Aires. We got to exit the plane using a staircase from the back and I felt like a queen. I guess there wasn't space for us at the regular gates so we had to take a bus back to the airport building. We also got yelled at for taking this pic lol and we had to delete it but thank god for the "deleted photos" section ayyy hehehe.

Once back in Buenos Aires, we walked around to do some souvenir shopping for our pals and fam and that was a lovely experience. When we parted ways, I began to pack and it was surprisingly not that time-consuming.

My parents Facetimed Adam and I in to light the menorah for Hanukkah and I sadly found out it was in fact the second day of Hanukkah, and not the first as I had thought. Never been a devout Jew, what do ya expect?

Adam and I went on a walk afterwards just to enjoy the city one last time and it was a little sad for me but I tried not to think about it too much. My nose was super stuffy and my body was sore from hiking so I didn't last long anyway.

We said goodbye around 11:00pm and Adam headed to his hostel where he would nap for 3 hours before heading to the airport... yikes. He's currently flying over Paraguay as I write this!

I continued packing and then headed to bed once I was essentially finished. Randi called me as I was laying in bed and we lit the "menorah" (one of the candles she had in her room with 2 wicks lol) and we used a lighter as the shamus. We did the same thing last year and I'm glad we carried on the tradition!

After having lit the menorah twice, I could now finally go to sleep!

I am grateful for my trip to Patagonia and grateful to have seen some of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen in my life. I love that the people of Patagonia enforce strict guidelines for the protection and preservation of the nature. You can really see that it all stays so clean and beautiful year round! I am also grateful that Adam could visit me and I appreciate him taking the time off work. It was great to show him where I've been living for the past 4.5 months and how my life has been. I hope that he enjoyed Argentina!

Song Recommendation of the Day: "Reggaeton" by J. Balvin

P.S. - I had to pee SOOOO BAD when we stopped at that beautiful glacier and I had no other option but to do it out in the open. Adam stood guard while I did the deed and it was oh so hilarious.

P.P.S. - This tour guide woman was talking so loud I feared for my hearing, so every time Adam and I got on or off the bus (which was a lot of times because we stopped at lookouts) we fidgeted with the switch to make the volume quieter HAHA. Sadly she turned it up to full blast every single time she started talking again :(