Interestingly when you Google “Bariloche and . . .” one of the instant fillers supplied by Google is “Nazis”. Over 9,000 high ranking third reich officers and collaborators reportedly fled to South America in 1945, and one of the favoured destinations was the picturesque lakeside town of Bariloche in Argentine’s northern Patagonian region. Bariloche earned the dubious distinction of being referred to as “The Third Reich Capital in Exile” and it was even rumoured that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun had faked their deaths and lived out their remaining years in the Bariloche region.

Bariloche, at first blush, is a chocolate boxy type town overlooking the beautiful Lake Nahuel Huapi and the snow capped Andes. It’s two and and a half hours plane ride south-west from Buenos Aires, within spitting distance of the Chilean border. There are numerous large chalets behind large gates and fences with picture perfect gardens and the soft chug-chug sound of sprinkler systems. On closer inspection however there are cracks in the façade – unpaved streets are full of potholes and there is a general state of neglect, especially on the lake frontage.

And that’s probably a good summation of Argentina at the moment – a nation that was once one of the world’s super powers but with an economy currently in a poor state. When the current President, Mauricio Macri was elected in December 2015, annual inflation was sitting at around 25 per cent and the fiscal deficit amounted to an alarming 6 per cent of the country’s GDP. Two years later the economic situation now seems to be improving – single digit inflation is within sight, on the back of hard hitting reforms including slashing subsidies, import tariffs and freeing up the currency.

We are staying in a cute little Swiss style cottage with views (OK a glimpse) of the lake. When you book an Airbnb, or any kind of holiday rental, you are never totally sure of what you will end up with. Our place is certainly cutesy but it’s a fair way from the main centre, up a steep winding hill and without much obvious in the way of walking routes – unless you don’t mind dodging cars on unpaved roads with no pavements. Sounds a bit ungrateful, but hey – now that we have experienced a number of holiday rentals around the world, you end up being a bit choosy . .

On our fourth day we ended up doing what we should have done on our first, that being to take the gondola ride up to Cerro Otto – 1400m above sea level. The views of the lakes and surrounding mountains are jaw dropping and its great to get an appreciation of the local geography. Reminded us all (and, I might add, some English tourists we met up top) of the views from the top of the Skyline Gondola in Queenstown. There is a revolving restaurant that offers exceptional and slowly changing views and we were quite happy sitting back and making our ten-dollar coffees last a good hour.

In the winter this is a ski town, while in summer it’s all about enjoying the outdoors. We decided to head to Cerro Llao Loao on the western end of Lake Nahuel Huapi where there was reportedly some excellent trekking. Our start point differed from the majority of trekkers in that we headed straight to the ultimate swanko potsy Hotel Llao Llao for a pre-trek coffee. It’s a bit like a cross between the beautiful Blanket Bay Resort near Glenorchy and the Millbrook Resort in Arrowtown, both in the South Island of New Zealand. Lightly perspiring golfers were pulling up in their carts as we drove our cheap rental up to the main entrance. Everything about the place is beautiful – from the high wooden ceilings to the huge stone built fireplace to the panoramic views over the lakes and mountains. If we could have sold the rental we might have been able to stay a night . . .

Oh and the trek was amazing – the sun shone brightly through the fir trees that lined our path and we started to see glimpses of the shimmering lake until we emerged onto a clearing with 180 degree views of the lake and mountains. Diving into those crystal clear (but very cold) waters was the ultimate respite from the heat of the day. Heaven . . .

So Bariloche for me was really a place of contrasts – from opulent chalets to pot-holed dusty streets to not so friendly and welcoming people. But overshadowing everything is the nature, mountains, lakes, rivers and trees (lots of them) – and after all, this is really why most people come here . . .