Getting there is not, as commonly believed, half the fun

"There is a slight delay on QANTAS flight 155 to Auckland. Passengers will be informed of the new boarding time shortly"

30 minutes later.

"There is a delay on QANTAS flight 155. QANTAS apologises for any inconvenience"

1 hour later.

"There is a major delay on QANTAS flight 155. QANTAS is relieved to have already banked the large amount of money you have paid for this ´service´. QANTAS does not care for you or your petty concerns regarding missing flight connections and would like all passengers from rows 1 - 32 to please bend over while we make our way with you".

Four hours later I finally boarded the first leg of a four month trip to South America, with my itinerary in ruins. On arrival to Auckland my fairly straight forward journey from Brisbane to Bariloche had suddenly morphed into a world tour, taking in towns from other areas of the alphabet such as Dallas and Los Angeles, but at least the logistics people at QANTAS were considerate enough to add in another ´B´town by way of Buenos Aires. Fortunately for me an angelic LAN Chile rep at Auckland airport found me curled up in the fetal position sobbing in a corner of the airport muttering incoherent threats against QANTAS, and no doubt out of pity was able to squeezed me onto the last seat of the Auckland to Santiago flight, saving me from an impromptu tour of North America and an additional 16 hours of travel.

At length I arrived in Bariloche to meet up with Tim, who has being living with his Argentinean girlfriend (a souvenir from a previous trip) in Buenos Aires for the last 6 mths and had taken the 19 hour bus journey. Amusingly (for me at least) he had traveled one-fifth the distance but had taken around the same amount of time. Over a few duty free whiskies we developed our plan for the next week, which basically involved using Bariloche as a base to explore the natural surrounds, not least Argentina´s biggest ski resort Cerro Catedral.

Bariloche, in the heart of Argentina´s Lake District, is south-west of Buenos Aires, sitting at the foot of the Andes and the shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi, one of the districts biggest lakes (actually I have no idea but it looks pretty big). My guidebook informs me that architect Ezequiel Bustillo adopted Central European styles to create a tasteful urban plan. However, in the last two decades rapid growth has undermined Ezies´(as he liked to be called) vision. No other building typifies this than Bariloche Centre, a 10 storey behemoth in the heart of the town and of course the building we would call home for the next week.

The building, no doubt designed by the same people responsible for mass Soviet welfare housing, is modeled on a shape highly prized by Tetras players but less so by architects. As a result it has won the ´ugliest building in town´award every year since it´s construction. The Hostel we had booked graces the 10th floor of the building ensuring it capitalises on its one redeeming feature, brilliant views. What´s more, by staying in the ugliest building in town the view of the rest of the city was all the better for it. With lakes, mountains and alpine architecture to feast your eyes on, the city is very beautiful (as the following images will attest) despite the best efforts of local urban planners.





Image 1: That building
Image 2: View of the lake and mountains from the balcony of our hostel in the Bariloche Centre building.
Image 2: View of the town from the balcony
Image 3: Tim minutes before frost-bite would claim both his ears
Image 4: Bariloche Civic Centre
Image 5: View from the lake shore
Image 6: Speaks for itself

More photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16449&l=823c5&id=545465517