A bit more Bariloche ... and is that a Drago truck I spy?

Civic Centre, Bariloche

Having been modelled on an alpine village, Bariloche is often referred to as a chocolate box town, and is one of those places that everyone seems to love. Honestly, I couldn't quite see it. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with the place, it's pleasant enough, it just didn't feel as special as its reputation.

My recollection of those chocolate box pictures, is of quaint thatched country cottages, stately manor houses, or rustic cabins, so when people talk about a 'chocolate box' town, I think it has to be either impressive, pretty, or at the least, charmingly old-fashioned. Bariloche is none of these.

Civic Centre, Bariloche

Its Civic Centre, which dates from 1940, is the closest it gets, but even that looked a bit fake, rather than impressive, pretty or old-fashioned. There is something about the stone and wood that looks more like a modern imitation, and alongside the haphazard mix of styles in the rest of the buildings in the main streets, it loses any real impact.

The town has no defining character or style to set it apart from anywhere else. Again, there's nothing wrong with it, just in my view, there's nothing special about it either.

Cathedral, Bariloche

It's a bit like the cathedral here, which has some nicely detailed stained glass windows that includes scenes relevant to the area, but has a strange unplastered concrete look to some of the pillars and walls inside. It just ends up not quite working, and so left me underwhelmed.

What does set the place apart - aside from the unbelievable number, and in particular the size, of the chocolate shops, is the setting. Looking out from the town, you have the lake and mountains, and once you get out into the national parks, or up the mountains, the views are beautiful.

Mind you, the lake - or rather one of the islands in the lake - holds a secret past. Apparently, in the 1950s, the then President Perón tried to build the world's first fusion reactor. It was done covertly, on Huemel Island, but was never completed, despite running up a huge bill.

Confession Box, Cathedral, Bariloche

Then there is the less well kept secret of the link between this area of Argentina and the Nazis. It is well known that a number of them fled to this region after the end of World War II, and some settled here in Bariloche. The most famous, was Erich Priebke, an ex SS Captain, who was the well respected Director of the German school here, until he was 'found' in 1994. The following year he was extradited to Italy, where he was convicted for the Ardeatine Caves massacre of 335 Italians in March 1944. He was given a life sentence, and died under house arrest in 2013.

German School, Bariloche

It is reported that Josef Mengele, Auschwitz's 'Angel of Death', was here for a while, and there are even theories that Hitler faked his death, and lived out his years at a property called Inalco, close to the nearby town of Villa La Angostura, though most consider that to be fallacy.

It appears the local population were quite content to have such people in their midst, judging them on their time in the community, rather than on the acts they committed previously. Perhaps I could understand that if the individuals concerned had acted under pressure, rather than their own prejudices and choices, or if they genuinely showed remorse for their actions, but reports suggest that Priebke and others were still quite fond of the same terrible ideologies, so it seems unthinkable to me.

Civic Centre, Bariloche

Anyhow, enough of the past, let's move back in to the present and a fortunate coincidence. When we were arriving in Chile, we realised that we would arrive in Pucon just after one of our Dragoman drivers, from our Myanmar trip, had passed through on his latest route. He had mentioned though, that he might be in Bariloche at the same time as us.

Of course we'd all forgotten about this, so it was a nice surprise when, walking back to our hostel one evening, we saw a Drago truck parked outside the hostel opposite. We popped in, and sure enough, the hostel confirmed that Duncan was one of the drivers. He wasn't there at the time, so we left him a message, and we were able to meet up the next evening.

It's always nice to catch up with people we know, and even better on this occasion, as we used it as a good excuse to go to Manush, the brew pub on the corner that we had, thus far, valiantly resisted. So we had a great evening, treating ourselves to a burger and a few of their excellent beers. We even had a nice little boost when Duncan said he had immediately noticed the difference in how we looked from before, so that was encouraging.

Civic Centre, Bariloche

Cathedral, Bariloche

Cathedral, Bariloche

Cathedral, Bariloche

Cathedral, Bariloche

Cathedral, Bariloche

Bariloche

Bariloche

Bariloche

Nahuel Huapi Lake, Bariloche

Cerro Tronador, the black glacier, and pretty leaves ...

Mount Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Our other trip out of Bariloche was to Cerro Tronador and the Ventisquero Negro, or the Black Glacier.

We had traipsed around some of the tour agents in town, at least those that had actually deigned to open when they said they would after the lengthy afternoon siesta here, to check out the tours and prices.

Lake Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

It seemed from the consistency of the information, that they all booked the same tour, but we found an operator that not only offered a discount for cash, but also charged a significantly lower additional fee for having the guide do an English commentary. So we booked with them.

In the morning, we were happy to see that the weather was, as forecast, bright and sunny, so we could have a decent expectation of getting good, unobstructed views of the scenery. The driver/guide gave a pretty decent commentary, with enough information to feel that we'd learnt something, without feeling like we were completely bombarded with facts and figures.

Lake Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

As we drove out of town, we passed an area that was apparently once a great place to view the stars, until the town expanded and the light pollution increased, he pointed out the various mountains, including Cerro Otto, which we had been up previously, Cerro Catedral, and Cerro Ventana, or Window Mountain, which gets its names from the round hole that forms a 'window' through a sticky up piece of rock.

When we arrived at the National Park, we had to pay the entrance fee. This was fine for us, as the agent we booked through had told us that it needed to be paid in cash - in fact all of the agents had mentioned it. Unfortunately, some of our fellow passengers, who had booked through their hotels, weren't aware of this, and had no Argentine money with them, just US dollars and credit cards, which meant that we spent a good fifteen minutes while they sorted it out.

Lake Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

So a word of warning, if you go into any one the National Parks around this way, you should expect to pay an entrance fee, which at the time of writing was 250 pesos, and needs to be paid in Argentine cash. Don't be the one who isn't prepared and holds everyone else up! Another warning for this particular park, Nahuel Huapi, is that a large part of the route to the mountain and glacier is subject to a variable one way system, with the direction of permitted traffic changing during the day. Do check before you go, or you could find yourself stranded for a couple of hours either on the way there or on the way back.

Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

The Nahuel Huapi National Park is the oldest and, at just over 700,000 hectares, the largest in the area. The land was donated by a man named Franciso P Moreno, commonly known as Perito, which is a title meaning expert or specialist. Those of you who have been reading since last time we were here in Argentina, may recall us visiting a place called the Perito Moreno Glacier, in El Calafate, and that is indeed named after him, a is a town and a few other things around here.

Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

He didn't get that honour just because he donated some land though. He set up the Argentine Scientific Society, and carried out an extensive exploration of the area, and his surveys were used to help support Argentina's claims of land when the Boundary Treaty of 1881 decided where the border should fall between Chile and Argentina. He also 'discovered' another of the places that we visited, Mount Fitzroy in El Chalten.

Well I say he discovered it, but this, like many of the credited discoveries, is another case of the same kind of arrogance that we colonial nations show, when we claim to have 'discovered' somewhere new. The local indigenous people were already well aware of the mountain, and had named it Chalten, before Moreno came along, 'discovered' it, and named it after the Robert Fitzroy, Captain of Charles Darwin's ship HMS Beagle.

Black Beach, Lake Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Anyhow, back to the park. Our first few stops were along the edge of Lake Mascardi, which was named after an Italian Jesuit missionary, Nicolás Mascardi. Mascardi was in Chile and Argentina in the late 1600s, trying to convert the Mapuche people to Catholicism. He was later murdered by the Mapuche in this area, possibly because they were concerned about the possibility of him telling others about the secret short route across the Andes, and putting them in danger.

Lake Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

The second stop was on Black Beach, the name of which has nothing to do with the colour of the beach, but rather reflects the once dangerous nature of driving along this route, which was prone to sudden severe flooding, which could cause people to be cut off.

Piuque Huapi, Lake Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

The next viewpoint was overlooking the island of Piuqué Huapi, or Isla Corazon, Heart Island. If you see it from directly above, you can see how the island gets it's name, but from the viewpoint here, it is rather less obvious.

Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

We continued to wind our way through the national park, stopping occasionally for the odd photo opportunity, until we reached Tronador. Tronador means thunder, and there are two explanations for its name. The first is that it comes from the rumbling sounds that were made by the volcano became it became extinct, and the second is that it reflects the sounds of the snow and ice moving when one of the frequent avalanches occurs.

Mount Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Tronador is distinctive in that it has three peaks, which are shared between the two bordering countries. One is in Chile, one in Argentina, and the third marks the border between the two.

We had a break for lunch, where we were yet again bad on our diets and gave in to the temptation of an amazing looking chocolate, dulce de leche and meringue cake. We did at least just share the one piece, and happily it was worth it, as it tasted as good as it looked.

Waterfalls, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

We figured that after that, we should at least make the short walk up to the waterfalls, which probably exercised off only about one spoonful of the cake. The waterfalls aren't anything special, but the overall scenery is quite nice.

Autumn leaves, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

With a little time to kill, I had little wander around amongst the trees with their beautiful autumnal colours. It seems strange that these dying leaves should be so appealing, but I love the yellows, oranges and reds that they create, and they looked especially stunning against the bright blue sky. When I looked back at my photos of the day, it felt a little wrong that my favourite photo was of some leaves, rather than the lakes, mountains or glacier!

Black Glacier, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

In fact I found the glacier, which was our last stop, and expected to be the highlight of the trip, to be slightly disappointing. It wasn't just that it was hard to take a decent photo of it, because by the time we were there, the sun was in exactly the wrong place. It was just not as good as I'd hoped it would be.

It may be partly that the colour of the ice means that it is less obviously distinguishable from its surroundings. The ice itself isn't actually black of course, it just takes on a black appearance as a result of the dirt and sediment that it has collected on it's descent.

Mount Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

We heard the rumble of Tronador a few times, but of course once you've heard it, you are too late to see anything but the last vestiges of the snow and ice dropping down. Luckily, we did happen to be watching the right place at the right time for the last and biggest fall, so saw a huge chunk drop from the ledge. 

Black Glacier, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

The scene had all the potential to be great, with Tronador in the background, the greeny-blue lake in the foreground, and the black ice in between, but somehow it just didn't quite have the impact I'd imagined. Perhaps we have just been a little spoiled for glaciers with the polar regions and the stunning Perito Moreno, which still remains one of the most beautiful sights that I've seen.

We still enjoyed the day though, as there was plenty of lovely scenery along the way.

Lake Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Lake Mascardi, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Mount Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Turkey Vulture, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Waterfalls, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Waterfalls, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Autumn leaves and Mount Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Autumn leaves, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Black Glacier, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Piece of the Black Glacier, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Black Glacier, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Lizard, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Mount Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

Mount Tronador, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

The Bare Bones of Bergen Belsen

This is a piece that I wrote for a little competition run by Wanderlust magazine, which they published in the latest May edition.

A childhood school trip that has stayed with me for 34 years.

They say that the birds don't sing in Bergen Belsen; outside, the birds sing in the heath and woodlands, but inside, they remain quiet. It seems fitting.

My father was in the armed forces, and for many of my school years we were in northern Germany, so it was natural that one of our history lessons saw us visiting the nearby site of the concentration camp, famous for having had Anne Frank as one of its prisoners, claiming her young life just months before the camp was liberated on 15 April 1945.

There is little left of the camp, which was burned down by the British liberators, but the mounds of thirteen mass graves stood as testament to just some of the horrors of the place. These graves were where the soldiers hurriedly buried around ten thousand bodies that had been left to decompose when the German guards fled. Many thousands of others who perished here were not even afforded that small dignity in their death.

Around one hundred and twenty thousand Soviet POWs and Jewish prisoners came through Bergen Belsen, and of those, almost half are believed to have died, mostly of diseases like typhus, or simply of starvation. The grounds of the place were a memorial to those who had their lives taken from them, and it was a very moving place to walk around.

It was quiet too - those birds didn't sing.

But as thought provoking as the grounds and graves were, it was what I saw inside the documentary house that was to become burned into my memory for ever more.

It was here, alongside the plans of the camp, discarded prisoners' belongings, and all of the historical facts and statistics, that they had on display the photographs taken when the camp was liberated.

Those pictures, of men, women and children, little more than living skeletons, were truly haunting. Their eyes stared out, too large for their shrunken faces, and it seemed that you could see every single bone in their emaciated bodies. These were the fortunate ones, the lucky sixty thousand or so survivors of the camp.

Other photographs showed those that had not managed to outlive the horrors of the place. Piles and piles of corpses, already skin and bones when they died, and now with the remaining flesh falling away.

These photos have stayed with me, etched into my brain, for the 34 years that have passed since I visited.

And if they weren't already a lasting memory when we left the camp, then our school dinner that day would seal it permanently. We got back to the school, to a meal of roast chicken portions. A single look at the visible ribcage of the cooked bird took me straight back to that documentary house and those graphic images. I wasn't the only one; you could clearly see who had been to Bergen Belsen that morning - I don't think that a single one of us touched our food.

I can eat it now, of course, but to this day, when I see those ribs on a portion of roast chicken, my mind goes to that visit and those photographs. It truly was a sight that I will never forget.

Not a bad view from Cerro Otto ...

View of Lake Nahuel Huapi, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

We took a few breaks from all of that chocolate eating and those penitential gym visits, to see a couple of the sites around Bariloche.

It was a bit limited, as we're not yet up to the multi day, or long and steep treks, and whilst not cold, most of the days here were pretty cloudy, so there wasn't any point in trying to see the views then.

Gondola ride up Cerro Otto, Bariloche

We were quite keen to get a view from somewhere high though, and if we weren't going to hike up somewhere, and as Nic didn't think he fancied the open chairlift up Cerro Campanario, we settled on the gondola, or cable car, up Cerro Otto.



The company offer a shuttle bus up to the base station, although there is only one an hour, and you do have to book your place some time ahead if you want to get on a particular one.

Gondola ride up Cerro Otto, Bariloche

We hadn't booked - the decision to go was a bit spur of the moment when we saw the sky had finally turned from being overcast to blue and sunny - so we pottered around the market stalls for a bit, then  hung out with one of the many stray local dogs that had taken up residence in the warm hut that served as ticket office and waiting room.



As it was towards the end of the days, and we wanted to ensure we got up the mountain before the sun decided to do a disappearing act, we positioned ourselves at the front of the bus, so that we could be first off, and not end up stuck behind the whole bus-load waiting for a gondola. That worked well, and we were soon in the little red cabin, being winched up to the top of Cerro Otto.

Michaelangelo replicas at Cerro Otto, Bariloche

There are a few activities at the top, like sledding in the winter, or going down a vinyl slope on an inflatable 'cart' in the summer, and hiking or - for some obscure reason - a cabin of distorting mirrors! They had an exhibition of replica Michaelangelo sculptures, and there is even a disco up there. We weren't partaking of any of these though, we were just interested in the view.

View of Bariloche on Lake Nahuel Huapi, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

It was quite a nice view! From up here, in one direction, you can get a little glimpse of Lake Gutierrez, alongside another mountain, Cerro Catedral.

In the other direction is a wonderful view of Lake Nahuel Huapi, with its mountainous backdrop and Victoria Island in the middle. As we were here later in the afternoon, the sun was glistening on the water, and the colours seemed to become various shades of blue.

St Bernard dog at Cerro Otto, Bariloche

Up here, as in town, there were a few St Bernard dogs, complete with their emergency barrels around their necks. I don't know whether these are actually used as rescue dogs too, but day to day, their primary purpose is to hang around tourist sites, hoping that they will entice someone to pay to have their photo taken with them.

View of Lake Gutierrez, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

After taking a wander around the top, we decided to head back down, to see if we could make the next bus back, rather than waiting another hour for the last one.  As we were a two, we were able to skip a big chunk of the queue, as they wanted two people to fill up a four person gondola.

View of Lake Nahuel Huapi, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

That was lucky, as when the bus arrived, it was quickly filled, so I suspect that had we had to wait for all those in front, we may well not have got on, or possibly even not been down in time for the bus at all. As it was, we were soon back at the hostel, battling with the lousy WiFi to try to upload our photos!

 

View of Lake Nahuel Huapi, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

View of Lake Nahuel Huapi, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

View of Lake Nahuel Huapi, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

View of Lake Nahuel Huapi, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

View from Cerro Otto, Bariloche

View of Cerro Catedral, from Cerro Otto, Bariloche