Wow. Chile has its Lake Country, south of Santiago, and it’s beautiful. Towns like Pucon are wrapped in nature and really inviting. Argentina’s Lake Country is at a similar latitude but a bit further south, and its towns are more sophisticated and, more importantly, they’re nestled in and up against the Andes, which makes them truly spectacular.

This range just east of El Bolson reminded me of Mt. Whitney with its in your face vertical and craggy rock spires and parts of the drive north from Perito Moreno to El Bolson felt like Route 395 on the eastern flank of the Sierra.

El Bolson continued to charm me my second day there. I asked about laundromats and was informed that there were none, but that there were a number of laundry services available. Perfect. I brought my laundry to one of them and was told it would be ready the next morning. The charge to have everything washed, dried and and expertly folded? $1.40. Crazy… Next door to the laundry service at a great cafe with unbelievably delicious home made bread, I met Rick, a really nice guy with Argentine, British and Italian citizenship. We talked in Spanish about a lot of things for quite a while. Great guy with a really interesting life.

Un gaucho:

My campsite for the night in Lago Puelo National Park, just south of El Bolson:

Meandering towards Bariloche:

I met an incredible young woman – Florencia – from Buenos Aires when I was visiting Bariloche. She worked as an au pair in the states for three years, speaks absolutely perfect English (although I wanted to speak Spanish with her) and wants to move back, get her degree and settle down. Super bright, engaging and enterprising – exactly the kind of person America has welcomed for time immemorial to make it what it is. I’m gonna help her with her visa application pro bono. She definitely deserves a shot in the land of the free….

After Bariloche, I set my sights on La Ruta de Los Siete Lagos – the route of the seven lakes. This drive was crazy beautiful, and reminded me in a sense of the abundant lakes in the Adirondack Park (sans the huge peaks surrounding them). Here they are, in order from south to north, along the legendary Ruta 40 – Lago Nahuel Huapi; Espejo Lago; Lago Correntoso; Lago Traful; Lago Faulkner; Lago Machonico and Lago Lacar. Stunning, all.

I stopped on the way in the upscale tourist town of Villa La Angostura, home of Parque Nacional Los Arrayanes, and boy am I glad I did. What a magical place. I meandered into the Park, on the water, and fell into a trance that lasted for hours, including lunch. Some shots from there:

Stunning scenery and an amazing lunch – tapas and the biggest glass of Malbec I’ve ever been served. Lunch cost $4.00 with tip….

A digression and word of thanks to these guys, without which I would’ve been totally screwed on four huge legs of the journey, ridiculously far from any fuel and gas stations. They truly saved my a*s.

I arrived last night in San Martin de Los Andes – at the northern end of Siete Lagos. Another posh and gorgeous resort for those fleeing Buenos Aires for cooler temps in the summer and great skiing in the winter. It has a really nice vibe, and the whole town was out in force on the Plaza de Armas Sunday night, riding bikes, playing impromptu soccer games and of course, enjoying their helado and postre (helado is not quite ice cream and not quite gelato, but it’s scrumptious; and postre encompasses the entire galaxy of sweets and deserts, which are ubiquitous in Argentina).

A 110 km bike race ended in San Martin de Los Andes yesterday afternoon – I spoke with a number of riders and the vert was 6,000′. I drove the route and it definitely had plenty of big hills…

Today I’ve decided, with two weeks left in the trip, to head north towards Mendoza and the wine country and then north of there, to the Northwest Territory, a land of huge gerography and contrasts. Should be great. I’m off – catch you in a bit…