With much sadness, seven of us left the farm on Friday, crammed into the truck with all our stuff and Sofi the dog in her crate. At Osorno we all got buses to our different destinations, promising to definitely meet up again in the future.

My bus was taking me to Bariloche as I’d decided to make my way back up to Santiago via Argentina – just because I could. The border crossing was painless – but felt odd as its a good hour-long drive from getting stamped out of Chile until you get stamped into Argentina!

Bariloche is basically a big ski town – but the area, like all ski areas, is absolutely beautiful in the summer too and is heaving with hikers. Arriving with no Argentinian pesos and finding no ATM at the bus terminal I was obliged to walk into town (about 50 mins). That evening I tracked down Rowan and Angel, two friends from the farm who happened to also be in town, and hung out at their hostel before heading to a bar, eventually getting to bed about 3am. Not the ideal prepartion for the next day’s activities…

In the morning I caught a local bus out to the start of the ‘Circuito Chico’, a 28km loop of road that winds its way around some of the smaller lakes. I hired a mountain bike and set off. There were plenty of viewpoints and quiet lakeside spots to stop off at along the way. I regretted not taking my kindle and some snacks as I could have hung out at one particular deserted lake for hours. As I rode the second half of the loop I was dismayed at the lack of ice-cream shops – an essential component of any good bike ride, as you probably know. Arriving back at the bike hire place I asked about the glaring absence of frozen dessert establishments and was directed to a place 3km up and down some steep climbs along the main road. Fortunately it was totally worth it and I rode back energized by a mountain of Dulce de Leche ice-cream.

After dropping off the bike, I climbed the 30 minute trail up Cerro Campanario, a hill with fantastic views over the whole region.

The region around Bariloche is seriously one of the most picturesque places I’ve ever been. I’d have loved to stay longer and do some proper hikes. If you ever visit Argentina, make sure you get to Bariloche!