Seven Lakes Route, Lake District, Argentina

It´s an early start for the 200km drive via the Seven Lakes Route to San Carlos de Bariloche. This is literally a a road that runs by the lakes in the area.

The first three have me completely speechless with their beauty - deep blue mirror lakes trimmed with dense forests and snowy mountains. By the time I reach the fourth lake they´re all starting to look the very similar. While editing my photos on the viewfinder, I can hardly distinguish one from the other. It´s not that they become any less attractive the further south I go, it´s just that in two hours of seeing breathtaking scenery my eyes have become accustomed to it and it almost seems commonplace. I don´t even bother to get my camera out.

Scenic stops:

1) Lago Lacar - from here you can see the Chilean bordering mountains
2) Lago Machonico - a perfectly still lake reflecting the snowcapped mountains like a mirror. At this point we leave Lanin National Park and enter Nahuel Huapi National Park. Many of the local names are in Mapuche, the local (Indian) people who immigrated from Chile. Nahuel Huapi means Puma Island, as there used to be pumas here.
3) Vulignanco Falls
4) Lago Villarino
5) Lago Escondido (Hidden Lake) - called this because it´s surrounded by dense forest which makes it difficult to see the actual lake itself
6) Lago Correntoso
7) Rio Rucamalen - melted glaciers and minerals have turned this river a gorgeous turquoise colour
8) Lago Espejo (Mirror Lake) - although it doesn´t seem any more still or clear than the other lakes. They also call it La Suegra (the mother-in-law) as it has a steep side which people joke is for pushing your mother-in-law off.
9) Lago Nahuel Huapi - the largest of all which is something like 100km long and 20km wide. San Carlos de Bariloche borders its edge.

Bariloche is a relatively large touristy place compared to San Martin de los Andes. It´s full of shops and hotels and even has traffic lights and a cathedral. It´s the main base in the Argentinian lake district for ski-ing and trekking trips.

I arrive at 5pm and whizz the centre of town which takes all of ten minutes. What it and S.M de los Andes does have is lots of exquisite chocolate shops. Doesn´t look like I´ll be shedding the extra pounds I piled on in Buenos Aires. Supposedly the best chocolate in the world comes from Bariloche.