Chocolate on Chocolate on Bikes: A day in Bariloche!

The beginning of our (incredibly successful, but very short-lived!) hitchhiking adventures brought us first through El Bolsón – land of baggy-pants-wearing, artisanal jam-loving-hippies! – and then to Bariloche, the wildly beautiful (but also very touristy..) capital of Argentina's Lakes District. Three days of outrageous awesomeness (interspersed with some lake-gazing, bike riding, and waaaay too much chocolate eating.. if that's even possible..) ensued!

The most notable of these three days of EXTREME EXCELLENCE included ALL of the aforementioned activities. We began with a wildly early morning wake-up, followed by an English lesson with our hostel’s owner over a classic South American breakfast of... bread! Then, we hitchhiked out of town to a bike rental shop, where we geared up with ancient mountain bikes, helmets, and bucket-loads of sunscreen before embarking on el Ciruito Chico, the much famed loop through tall evergreen forests shading dozens on dozens of pristine mountain lakes in el Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi.

What followed involved a lot of heavy breathing (as we navigated the very windy and HILL FILLED back roads of the Parque), many, many stops to gaze in wonder at the gorgeous, lake-y panoramas, an incredibly tasty lunch of the Lake District's local specialty of trucha (trout) (there was a brief and necessary digestive nap after this particular stop.. Argentine portions are what some would refer to as ENORMOUS!), and just general enjoyment.

Six hours later we found ourselves slightly dehydrated, very exhausted, and outrageously pleased with both our aerobic and scenic accomplishments. We arrived back in Bariloche (courtesy of Carlos and his large and empty jeep!) just in time to stumble upon the opening celebrations of the 2^nd Annual Bariloche Chocolate Festival! Woohoo! (Easter week is definitely not something you want to miss in Argentina.. So much chocolate... So much time to do nothing but eat chocolate!) Our unintentional first stop was the largest chocolate Easter egg in existence, which we followed promptly (and also accidentally... being lost and confused in foreign cities is one of our specialties. Evidently happening upon chocolate festivals is another. It's only happened once so far... but our fingers are crossed!) with limited views (due to the absurd numbers of spectators thronging the sidewalks) of the largest chocolate bar in the universe. We literally stood by as no less than 50 PROFESSIONAL CHOCOLATEERS poured molten chocolate into a multi-block long mold of what would soon become the MOST GINORMOUS CHOCOLATE BAR IN THE GALAXY. 120 meters long. 700 kilograms in weight. TRULY AWESOME. At least it was until we somehow went home too early and missed the free samples.. WHAAT??

The next day found us cooking up tupperwares full of lentils and rice in preparation for our marathon of bus riding (we got bored of hitchhiking. Though we definitely  standing on the side of hot, dusty, POLLUTED roads, waiting fruitlessly for a kind soul to stop and pick us up, we decided that a 38 hour bus ride might be slightly more practical..) to... BOLIVIA!

Bike break #1, next to a 5 star hotel and manicured golf course

Happy faces after lunch and before the long (and treacherous) uphill to the viewpoint

Worthwhile viewpoint. You can see Lago Perito Moreno, Lago Nahuel Huapi, and some other impressively azul Lago whose name we cannot currently recall...

At the scene of the longest/heaviest/largest chocolate bar in history's birth!
TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE EXCITEMENT

Happy Easter! Biggest Choco Egg on Earth