First contact with Patagonia. And loving it!

Hey lads! We do not even know how to start explaining you the last few days. They have been absolutely amazing, magic! We have been blown away with the beauty of the Lake District and Bariloche's surroundings. From Villa Gessell the two of us and Pauline, took a long bus journey to San Martin de los Andes, a charming mountain village and door enrty to the Lanin National Park. There, we spent 2 great days, even though the weather was quite bad, with rain and strong winds. One of the days we rented a car and drove to the National Park where we were received by an incredible storm with rain, wind and mist. Basically we did not get a glimpse of the Lanin Volcano, the park's big star. But bravely we walked and had lunch under the shelter of a tree. Cool day! On New Years Eve we got to Bariloche, the biggest city of the district. Located right by a lake, it is beautiful, although too posh and turisty. The big attraction for us was the Nahuel Haupi National Park, an incredible and unforgettable place where we hiked for three days and loved it! We expended New Years Eve' at the Hostel where they organized a massive dinner and every one had to contribute with a dish. Ours, obviously was an Ommelette and "pa amb to tomaquet"!. The cheapest New Years dinner and night, ever! Afterwards we hanged around the Hostel and did not go out, just got a little bit pissed and off to bed! Then we left the civilitzation behind and went off to the National Park.
The Nahuel Haupi National Park comprises a massive extension of land, boasting lakes, rocky peaks and forests. It is a place where we could have easily stayed a week!
The first day we went on a hike up to Cerro Lopez, a 2,000m. rocky peak. The climb was pretty tough at the end, where we had to almost hold ourselves with the nails! It was half covered by snow, so we had good fun sliding our way down! The views from the top where something to die for! Well, just judge yourselves with the pictures.
The next two days we went camping to "Pampa Linda" an even more incredible spot, an idyllic place to pitch our brand new tent and start up a fire at night!
From there we did one of the most rewarding hikes ever! We climbed half way to "Mt. Tronador" ( Thunder Mt.). An extint volcano towereing 3554mt. and surrounded by glaciers! A truly amazing spectacle for our eyes. The name of the mountain it comes from the noise made by the glaciers and its icy blocks when they break. You can hear it from miles away, scary lads! The climb was pretty hard and long, around 25Km all the way up, but hey, on the way down we went pretty fast thanks to the snow. From the top of our hike the views were infinite, something unforgettable! Back to the base camp we had the perfect ending for a day like that, good fun and better fire!
Now we are back to Bariloche and in 2 hours we will be in the longest bus journey of our trip, around 35-40 hours to El Chalten, a town based at the Glaciers National Park. And then, wow! Let's go camping and hiking again! Cross your fingers and wish us good weather!
Kisses!