Bariloche stole my heart 🇦🇷 My first time in Argentina's Patagonia!

So it's been a wild first week here in South America. I kicked things off in Santiago and that was my first taste of chili. I'm glad we have a local guide showing us around today because this is intimidating for me. I don't know what I was expecting but I didn't expect the city to be this stunning. From there we made our way two hours south to vibrant Valparaiso and this place blew me away. It's just so colorful and vibrant and I love that we're going off the traditional kind of path. It's essential. She's very excited about this one. Then we made our way back to Santiago where we boarded the night bus bound for Pecan. And that's where things got interesting. When we arrived in Pecan it was not at all what I was expecting but I had a lot of fun exploring. Excuse me! That volcano looks exactly like Fuji-san to me. I feel like I'm in Japan. I've popped up in front of Mount Fuji and the actual little town of Pecan reminds me of Banff. It's like two of my favorite places have been sandwiched together. This is absolutely amazing. The lake down here is stunning. The water is so blue and it's so gorgeous surrounded by all these huge mountains and the sand is all black. It is spectacular. I cannot get over that volcano in the background. Chile, I didn't know your landscape looked like this. Then we had to cross the border from Chile to Argentina all on the bus. This is my first time in Patagonia. It's my first time seeing the mountains out here and this is absolutely incredible. And now I'm here in Bariloche and this is my first time in Argentina. This is an absolute muster. This is a muster. And this morning we're going full gaucho. What does that mean? I'm not entirely sure. All I know is a gaucho is an Argentinian cowboy and apparently what we're doing today is going to be the best way to explore this incredible landscape. First things first, I need coffee, I need food and I need to warm my butt by that fire because I'm freezing. I have melted my steed. Thank you Mauricio. I will confess that I don't entirely know what's about to happen here. As I understand it there's some kind of a two-hour ride going. I did not bring gloves because I'm a dummy. So I'm about to freeze my hands off. It's going to be worth it. And I think we're going to see some of the countryside and it's meant to be incredible. We're in Patagonia riding ponies through the mountains. I mean come on, it's got to be good, I am absolutely loving this. This is beautiful and relaxing and the air is so fresh and clear. The landscape is spectacular. This is an amazing experience for me. I grew up riding horses. I wouldn't say I'm an expert and I'm not very good but it's something I really enjoy doing when I travel. And the great thing about this is it's perfect for anybody of any skill level. So if you are experienced you're going to have a really lovely time if you just love to be on a horse. And if you're a newbie or you're coming with kids that's fine too. There's some little kids down here, some are doubled up with their parents, some are riding by themselves. But the key thing is that we kind of stick to a nice basic easy level so it's fine for everybody. After our big ride we've made our way down here to the homestead and they have put on the most incredible lunch down here. Now when you think of Argentina what do you think of? Tango, Lionel Messi, wine and beef. Argentinian beef. They are famous for it except I'm the worst person in the world and I don't eat beef. So I'm completely useless here. I'm gonna get one of my tour mates to do a beef review for you because they've served up some absolutely gorgeous looking meat. But do they do a veggie option? Yes and it's a gigantic plate of food. So I'm gonna try this. I have got what appears to be a stuffed capsicum and some veggies and some rice and it all looks yummy to me. I'm so hungry. It's good. I like veggies. I like rice so that tastes good to me. The thing I really want to show you guys is this chimichurri. It's just this beautiful spicy garlicky oily goodness and you eat it on some bread like this and like this. That is amazing. Okay I'm eating steak and it is covered in chimichurri. Is it good? Juicy. What are you doing? Where are we going? We are going to Bariloche back. Yay and hopefully all of you will be warm. My entire South America adventure is actually part of a group tour I booked with G Adventures and honestly it's been awesome. This is my first time traveling with G and from day one they have taken such good care of us. I will admit I was a little intimidated to explore this part of the world solo so having the support of a group and our amazing chief experience officer Floor has made all the difference. I have felt completely safe, supported and free to just show up and enjoy the experience and the best part I don't have to worry about any of the travel logistics, transport, accommodation, even local tips. Floor's got it covered. All I have to do is show up, soak it all in and have the best time with my tour mates. Now if you're curious about doing a trip like this, I'll pop a link in the description so you can check out G Adventures tours across South America and the rest of the world. This is my first time in Patagonia and I gotta tell you there is some kind of mountain magic in the air here. It's the intangible goodness of the area and it is nothing short of spectacular. Now we're going to be doing a guided tour tomorrow. I'm going to see even more of the scenery around here which I'm really excited for but right now I'm actually exploring Bariloche town and it is really cool. It has a distinctly alpine vibe to it you know all the outdoor activities, the kind of Swiss chalet things, spot selling fondue and whatnot and something I'm really excited about Bariloche is the chocolate capital of Argentina and that's really good news for you and me but especially me because I'm actually here and I'm about to eat my body weight in chocolate. Let's go! Muy rico! That means really delicious right? So this one has fruit. So this is the fruit, the chocolate one had a fruit inside and the white chocolate one had the dulce de leche. That is muy rico. Oh that is muy rico. Muy rico. Hell yeah. I love a free sample. Hola! Bien et tu? All right we were walking past this cafe, Gino Cafe and they very intelligently have these lined up in the window out the front. You cannot tell me you're walking past that not stopping to buy one. That's muy bien. Muy rico. The inside is really lovely and soft and I don't know it just kind of like melts in your mouth and then the outside has got a lovely crunch to it and that sticky sweet something on it. I would love to have a hot chocolate and dip that in chocolate. We found a really cozy quiet spot to enjoy our hot chocolate that's away from all the craziness of the main street. It's on the main street but it's like up near pizzeria popular. We love that. We've ordered these tiny little hot chocolates. It's like an espresso shot size full and the lovely girl who works here suggested we put our marshmallow in it so let's do that and let that bad boy melt a little. This had better be good. I braved hell on earth inside Rapa Nui. I survived. Delicious. A tasty hot chocolate. I definitely think this is the appropriate size to get. Sorry it's gone everywhere. I absolutely think you eat that in one bite. In favor of an actual dinner and because I'm embracing the Swiss Alpine influence here I'm having chocolate fondue for dinner. Mom if you're watching I'm so sorry. Not only am I having chocolate fondue for dinner I'm also having ice cream which I think if we're honest with each other is a dream come true. So the chocolate fondue situation is pancakes yummy yummy with a big old tub of chocolate. There's Oreos, fruit, bananas and then we're gonna hit it with some ice cream as well so let's just hold on. This makes eight-year-old me so happy. Let's soak that bad boy. Yeah. It's sweet. It's got a kick to it. The pancake absorbed all the chocolate and it's within me. Okay we're oozing out. Honestly no regrets. I'm going back for more immediately. So good. The fine people of Argentina know what they're doing. Oh no I've dropped it. There's chocolate everywhere. Good morning guys. We are up super early this morning. Just before the sun peeks over the mountains there that's because we're doing a little bit more exploring of the natural beauty here in Patagonia around Bariloche and we're starting at this spectacular lake and the thing that's blowing my mind is how clear the water is. It is perfection. It looks like you're not even really looking at anything. If you just scoop that out put it in the bottle I'd be very happy with that. Apparently there's absolutely no sediment in it whatsoever. I think we're in for a pretty incredible day checking out this landscape. Good morning. It's a bit fresh. Tell us what's going on inside this lake. Okay we are in Bariloche and we are walking around the Nahuelhuapi lake. Yes the emblematic Nahuelhuapi lake and also it's the name of the national park that we have here and we were talking about what one is the most important thing of the Nahuelhuapi and came to one funny fact about this that it's called the Nahuelito. Since that we are childs we start to hear about this and it's that kind of monster as the Lagones. The first view of this monster dates about in 1910. Oh my god. But it's a big legend for us Nahuelhuapi is a monster that is here in this lake. It's like about from five meters to seven meters. They love human beings meat so well. The carnivore. What? So maybe if you want to have like for example a swim around here well you need to think about that. Apart it's very cold so well it's not a good idea to have a swim in the lake. Maybe summertime yes for sure. Oh my gosh. Okay I'm officially terrified of Nahuelito. Nahuelito. Absolutely beautiful. It's actually reminding me a lot of the South Island of New Zealand. I feel like I could be standing on Lake Moanaka right now. Spectacular and gorgeous scene with this first morning light. Hello my name is Gaby. I'm a tourism guide here in Bariloche. I'm happy to do this work every day. Moana I want to show you a rosehip fruit which is like this but this one is a little bit damaged. It's full stuffed of seeds and kind of hairs. We use the skin for tea when it's dry and and the and we prepare jam of it. The jam is just delicious. It's a must to try it. Can you try the jam in Bariloche? Yeah. Si. Yeah and the best the best brand is La Mexicana. The others are more industrial. So try La Mexicana which is a one way to one way or when you try it you will return because of the jam. Crushed it. We are on the Cerro Campario. Why did we stop? We are on the Cerro Campario. That sounds Italian to me not Spanish. I think this is called the Cerro Campario in my terrible Australian Spanish accent. So this is a really great chairlift and it's going to take us up to what is reported to be one of the most panoramic views in all of South America. 360 baby. Whoa. What? This is an absolute muster. This is a muster. This is one of the best views I've ever seen in my life. We are heading west here. We have the most beautiful stunning scenery here in Bariloche. For me it's the best, the most beautiful place. Incredible. Yeah. I have never seen anything like this. Like this yeah. Everybody says the same thing. Do you ever get sick of this view? Yeah. No no no. For me every day it's very special. I travel a lot. I've seen a lot of nothing like this. They're not messing around. Whoa. I cannot stress this enough. This is a must-do activity. If you watch any of my South America episodes you're wondering what's one thing I should do. Do this. Come to Argentina and do this. This is incredible. Honestly one of the best views I've ever seen in my entire life. Totally. Ever. Doesn't even look real. It doesn't even look real. Whoa. Now this area isn't just famous for beautiful scenery and delicious chocolate. It's also famous for its craft breweries and we have rolled up hot to one right now and it is all kinds of cozy in here. This gorgeous like log cabin kind of thing going on. They've got a potbelly stove in the corner. The brewmaster is running around saying hello to everybody. We've got some charcuterie to share. Some beers to try. You guys know I don't really drink so I'm useless with the beer review. I'll see if I can get someone else to do one for you. But what I can review for you is the potatoes. Oh my gosh. My mouth is watering just looking at it. These look and smell incredible. That's a good spud. So tasty and crispy. I could just eat the whole bowl of those. Oh my gosh. So good. So this is the IPA. It's about six percent more citrusy. Smells strong. It's brewed in-house. It's very fresh. This place is so cozy and cute. Now we are going to jump back in the van and make our way back to Bariloche and I need to pack because tomorrow morning we are flying to Buenos Aires. I am beyond excited. This is one I have been really looking forward to and I am just loving my time on this tour. I'm having a really great time. It's so nice having all the local guides and having other people to share it with and also having Floor take care of all the travel admins so I can switch my brain off and just show up and have a great time is kind of magical for me. All right you guys and with that that brings this week's episode to a close. I really hope you've enjoyed it. Now if you don't already be sure to subscribe right now so you never miss a single episode and say hello in the comments below. I hope you have a great weekend and I will see you with a brand new episode next week. You know I love ya. Te amo. Te amo.