Day 166 – Saturday 4th March 2006
I thought it would be a good idea to hire a bike for the day in order to see some more of the countryside surrounding Bariloche. My intention was to cycle the 65km Circuito Chico, leaving from town and heading out along Lago Nahuel Huapi and towards the most famous hotel in Argentina – Hotel Llao Llao – after which it cuts through a National Park and curves back towards Bariloche.
Things didn’t begin too well. Without taking the time to plan where I was going I gung-ho started peddaling, only stopping about 5km later when I realised that the lake was on my left, when in fact it should have been on my right. Yep, I had been going in completely the wrong direction. Once I had corrected this mistake by turning around and heading back into town I got onto the right road and started the trail in earnest.
This road out of town had a lot less traffic on it which was comforting, but I was still wary of those Argentine drivers. I hadn’t realised quite how big a tourist town Bariloche was until I began this route. For the first 10km out of town there were nothing but restuarants, hotels and chalets. No wonder the town seemed to have more tourists than locals.
About 15km out of town I stopped to refill the tank with steak and mash potato before continuing my voyage. After 20km I saw a nice looking little beach so stopped for a rest and ended up falling asleep. When I woke up a few hours later it was a bit late for continuing as I wasn’t sure I could make it all the way around before dark and I didn’t want to be riding in the dark on the roads, so I decided to turn back and make use of another beach I had seen at about km12. I spent the remainder of the afternoon there and set out cycling back to Bariloche about an hour before it got dark, making sure I arrived in the light.
I thought about going out in the evening and bought a bottle of wine but after a few glasses I wasn’t feeling it, and the people weren’t inspiring me to go out, so I sacked it off and called it a night.
