San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina

After leaving the amazing hot springs at Parque Huerquehue we made a pact with each other to try to find more hot springs in Argentina - our next stop. We boarded a bus in Pucon headed for San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina. The Bus ride took us through National Park Villa Rica with great views of the Volcan Villa Rica and some time to catch up on sleep (for me).

We got to San Martin in the evening and found a hostel that we stayed at for two nights. There we took showers, did our laundry and explored the town trying to find out where our next backpacking trip should be.
San Martin is right on Lago Lacar (one of the largest lakes in the chain of the Seven Lakes district of Argentina). Giovannina spent part of the day at the beach but the winds were bringing in ash from a volcano that was erupting nearby. It irritated her eyes and sinuses so she spent the rest of the day inside getting ready for our trip to the mountains, while Woody wandered the town in search of empanadas. We had heard there where hot springs in National Park Lanin next to a small lake called Lago Queni. We booked a bus for the next morning and prepared for our 25km hike into the mountains.
Most of the hike ended up being on a dirt road so we were able to hitchhike for about half of the way and enjoyed the ease of walking on a road as well.
This was Lago Queni - It was the end of the road and there was a sign saying one hour to the hot springs. There were lots of people camping here so we had lunch and were glad we were prepared to go all the way.
About five minutes from the hot springs we found the perfect camping spot and swimming hole. There was an old downed tree to help us cross the river with all of our stuff and hot sand to set up our tent on - it stayed hot most of the night to keep us warm after the sun went down.


We set up camp, went swimming while the sun was still up and then when the sun went down we hiked to the hot springs to soak. There were about 20 people when we first got there but they were all on there way out to hike back to the lake camp grounds. We were the only ones camping up there so we could stay as long as we wanted.


Steaming hot waterfall at the Lake Queni Hotsprings. Like having your own outdoor shower.




We got up the next day and headed straight for the hot springs where we sufficiently pruned ourselves in the hot, muddy waters. Before breaking camp, we took another dip in the river and then hiked to the end of Lake Queni so we could catch a bus early the next morning back to San Martin. The weather had changed. A cold rain fell on us as we prepared our camp that night and the next day we hiked in our raincoats. We got back to San Martin around noon Sunday February 29th. Without really knowing where to go, we took the advice of a stranger in the bus station and bought tickets for El Bolson, Argentina. It turned out to be a great choice.

For more photos check out our web album.