San Martin De Los Andes, Argentina
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Mirador Bandurrias, View West
A bloodthirsty animal, only slightly confined and refined by the obligatory use of utensils, I ploughed into my steaks heaping garlic laced roasted vegetables, multiple chutneys and exotic sauces on to every fork of meaty goodness and washing down mouthful after mouthful with delicious gulps of blood red Malbec. We had walked down Avenida San Martin, the main road of San Martin De Los Andes, in search of the best all you can eat deal available from the multiple Parillas (steakhouses) seemingly appearing every which way we looked. Ravenous, I can’t remember the name of the place we chose, but one thing is for certain, for US$10 each we were introduced to a bloated culinary utopia.
Pleasantville... San Martin De Los Andes, Argentina
Like a wealthy Californian coastal town San Martin De Los Andes is resplendent with Spanish, Alpine and possibly German architecture (chalet-style buildings of wood and stone) and is so clean and devoid of decay it’s like walking through the set of a Bavarian version of Pleasantville. Footpaths are lined with well-tended rose gardens of rich, freshly turned soil that compliment the equally well cared for gardens of the cities residents and, in addition to the aforementioned parillas, there are multiple picturesque coffee shops, chocolate stands and ice cream stores (some establishments a combination of all three) whose rustic interiors and enticing gastronomic treats are very hard to refuse.
Mirador Bandurrias, View East
At the cities western extremity is the glorious Lake Lácar with it’s wide stretch of sandy beach and view across its forest encircled waters to the Andes in the south and on its opposing banks the hill of Mirador Bandurrias.
Having allowed a short period to digest we set of on scenic and unchallenging stroll through the native forest north of the lake, slowly making our way around the water and up to the top of Mirador Bandurrias where I think the pictures displayed here speak louder than any words I could conjure.
Off the back of a truck... San Martin De Los Andes, Argentina
Our stay in Martin de los Andes was no more than 24 hours. We should have stayed longer.
There are many other reasons to go to San Martin de los Andes than the ones I experienced. In the winter the Chapelco winter resort, only a few kilometers away, provides world-class skiing facilities and no doubt awe inspiring scenery while in the summer months there are various fishing, hunting, land and lake tours and a whole lot of other fun stuff that due to deficient funds and poor planning I sadly missed out on.
Ben Connor 