Bariloche to Frias

Leaving the Eidelweiss Hotel in Bariloche at around 09.45, we drove along the road that skirts the large Nahuel Huapi lake for about half an hour, passing by some beautiful homes and gardens in one of the most stunning settings in the world - looking out to islands and snow-covered mountains across blue waters.

Half an hour later, we arrived at the tiny port of Panuelo set in a tranquil inlet just off the main lake. On a hill above the jetty, stands the Llao Llao Resort, an impressive looking hotel set in lawns that sweep down to the water's edge. Great swathes of golden broom border the lawns at this time of the year. The hotel is named after the symbol of this area, the beautiful llao llao fungus that forms irregular growths on the trees. If we ever get back to this place, we've promised ourselves time at 'Llao Llao'( www.llaollao.com ) or at the nearby 'La Cascade Hotel'( www.lacascada.com ). Both are in delightful settings and yet not too far from Bariloche. There are good walks nearby and the possibility of interesting drives through wonderful scenery. And…I doubt that the noisy ¨schoolies¨ brigade, whom we had encountered in Bariloche, would ever frequent these hotels! I certainly hope not!

Our first boating section of the trip, on the catamaran "El Condor", took us about 25kms up the Blest branch of the lake. We sailed through part of the 705 km2 "Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi" - Argentina's first National Park. It was founded in 1934 on land donated in 1903 by Argentinian explorer, Francisco Pascasio Moreno, known as Perito (expert) Moreno. Each day, as "El Condor" passes by Perito's grave on the banks of the lake, the boat slows down and the Captain rings the bell three times, as a mark of respect. The scenery was very reminiscent of Norway with mainly spruce and larch trees on the lower slopes of rocky, snow-topped mountains. At water's edge, these slopes disappear straight down four hundred and sixty odd metres into the depths of a glacier-carved valley that forms the deepest part of the lake.

Puerto Blest is tucked away at the very end of this arm of the lake - far from the wide, white capped waters of the main lake. Very blessed indeed. There's not much sign of human habitation, just a small jetty, a hotel and the headquarters of the National Park, and that's all. The old world charm of the hotel was most welcoming, a very special place to stay for a day or two to explore the park. I´d certainly like to be one of their 34 guests. The small garden was filled with purple and pink lupins, blousy red-orange poppies, daisies, embothrium with its red spidery flowers, and a never-ending supply of golden broom. The garden beds flowed down to the quiet waters of the lake with mountains rising up on the other side.

Alas, we did not have two days to discover the wonders of this park. We had been given just an hour and a half to explore a little and have some lunch. Rather than sit indoors, we walked up the track to the park headquarters in a small clearing in the forest. Our choice was rewarded when a young kestrel came down very close to check us out. He must have known that lunch was the next order of the day for these tourists.

At the kiosk in the park, I ordered our toasted sandwiches in my halting 'chickadito Spanish' - much to the delight of the staff. Very few people speak any English outside of the bigger towns. It's not a subject taught in schools as neither Argentina nor Chile has ever had a lot of contact with the English in their history. Spanish and German, yes, but not English. We had been gradually adding to our knowledge of those words 'most-needed-by -travellers' in Spanish-speaking countries! Our favourite word, ´chickadito´ (meaning small or little), was taught to us by our friendly waitress, Carolina, in Santiago. Everyone smiled when we used it - it really broke down the barriers and helped to make the inevitable ¨charades¨ fun for everyone.

Our departure from Puerto Blest was delayed because three of the ¨International¨ passengers were missing. Heaven knows where they'd got to but it wasn't possible for us to leave without them. That might just cause 'an international incident'! And, it wasn't possible for us to take part in the search. We didn't know which people were lost! We had shared the boat with two busloads of ¨schoolies¨, on their way home to Puerto Montt, as well as a crowd of 'day excursioners'. It was a logistical nightmare! Eventually, 45 minutes late, we boarded a small, very old bus to go 3km down a rough bush road through the forest to Puerto Alegre. We could have walked it in that 45 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed the walk! Ah, well! By the time we had all lined up to be counted yet again, the three who were lost had been found and delivered safely to the boat. Hurrah! Let's get on with the day!

A flat-bottomed barge-like ferry, Dalca, took us a further 3 kms across the milky-green glacial waters of Lake Frias, right to the very edge of Argentina. This is indeed a lonely customs outpost. We saw one small cottage tucked into the trees but nothing else except the soaring mountains on either side.

At the very end of the lake is the 'border post'. The only buildings here are a small wooden house that serves as the custom's office, a block of toilets (most welcome) and a small shop (also most welcome and which thankfully sold cold water and, for which, very thankfully, we had enough Argentian money to pay). But before we were free to use either facility, we had to line up for "roll call" by our Argentinian guide, Roberto. Relieved that numbers of people matched his list, he handed us over to our Chilean guide, Eduardo. He, in turn, lined us up in order, according to 'his list'. As each of us fronted the small desk that served as the custom's booth, one officer stamped our passports while another ticked us off on 'his list' - a hot, slow process in the cramped room. We were then free to use the facilities - at last! Although we stood on the same patch of earth, outside the same house, beside the same jetty, we were now no longer in Argentina but neither were we yet in Chile!