From Buenos Aires to Bariloche

We treated ourselves to carma class on the bus for the 20 hours south to Bariloche and it was a sweet ride. Our front row, second-story seats were so comfy and we got a really good meal (much better than airline food) and a good night's sleep - we were even offered champagne!

We didn't warm to Bariloche on our fist scoot around town, but in the following days, once we got some great advice from our excellent mountain-bike hire guy Daniel, we got amongst the best of Bariloche.

Once we got to grips with the buses, we headed out of town to get our bikes to navigate the Circuito Chico, the road around the lake. For me on the hills it was a bit of a case of 'i think I can I think I can' and well yes with a lot of encouragement from Chris and some whinging I made it, but on that last hill I knew I had my own definition of Phil Leggett and Paul Sherwen's Tour de France expression 'cracking'. But I made it and it was a good feeling. Maybe I will invest in some bike shorts however : )

The weather was not so kind the next day when we did some national park walking, we scaled Llao Llao hill in the rain...so of course we had to do it the next day to get the views! But I did insist on the nice slower pace of a lake cruise after that. We headed to some really beautiful forests with the oldies for a look around.

Eating and drinking highlights in Bariloche were Albertos, where we had excellent steak,chorizo and provoleta and we enjoyed happy hour at Antares.

After hiking and biking our way around Bariloche,the Switzerland of Argentina , we were busward bound again, this time for Puerto Varas, Chile

Little quirk - people take thermoses (a real word?) everywhere for their mate (like tea but more bitter and strong). You can top up your thermos anywhere!