Hennie’s Tripsite Travelogue – Argentina & Chile (Patagonia)

In November 2025, Tripsite founder Hennie van den Hengel travelled to Patagonia to prepare for the launch of Tripsite's brand-new tour – North Patagonia & Andean Lakes – of which Hennie's route was a variation.

From testing local accommodations to exploring the region’s dramatic trails, Hennie experienced the route first-hand, working closely with local guides to shape an itinerary that reflects Tripsite’s commitment to quality and authenticity.

Below is a glimpse of her journey and the behind-the-scenes process that helped bring this spectacular adventure to life for Tripsite travelers.

Sunday Nov 9th, 2025

We arrived in Bariloche, Argentina (Patagonia). We had a great night’s sleep and decided to climb a mountain the next day! That was very difficult and a rather steep climb of more than half an hour (good training for our hike up the volcano later this week). The views on top were breathtaking – impossible to describe in words. We probably saw five or six different lakes and snow-covered mountains in the glowing sunshine.

The downhill was difficult as well but all but two of us did it, the other two taking the lift back down.

That afternoon at 3:30pm we were picked up by our guide, Facundo (Facu for short), and his driver, Pablo. After about two hours, we arrived at our hotel in Villa La Angostura for the start of our adventure. We all got fitted with our bikes at the hotel.

Tuesday Nov 11th, 2025

Rain was expected all day, but it is what it is! We all had good rain gear.

It was a great ride – partially singletrack through the forest and always with a lake nearby. Due to the rain, we decided to go all the way, having several stops for snacks and coffee in the van before having lunch in an outdoor building at our hotel. Julian, Facu, and Pablo served us a great lunch – everybody was sooo pleased with the salad, chicken, grapes, and beer. Our guides do everything they can to please us.

In the evening, we enjoyed the hotel pool and hot tub. We had dinner in the hotel at 7pm.

Wednesday Nov 12th, 2025

Yesterday, we biked from Villa La Angostura to Villa Traful. Then today, we cycled from Villa Traful to a small town called Melinquina. It felt as if we were deep in the mountains, and we were!

We made a couple of stops for a drink and snacks, then had lunch around noon. The crew always prepares us a good lunch to eat along the road somewhere, pulling out a large table and chairs that are always with us in the trailer.

After lunch, we slowly started to climb the pass called ‘Cordoba’. We biked through a couple of national parks and had a nice stop for pictures 1300 meters up. The weather was beautiful – a cool morning but it warmed up nicely.

We arrived at our hotel around 5pm, tired but having had a good day. The dinner at the hotel was great.

Thursday 13th November, 2025

This is such a fabulous trip – all 8 of us agree on that!

We left our hotel this morning at around 9am, again on a gravel road (this is Patagonia) but it wasn’t too bumpy, then joined a stretch of paved road before climbing over a pass again. We had a couple of stops again for snacks, water, or Gatorade.

Gorgeous views at times as we biked the last stretch on a decent gravel road, cycled over another pass, then continued downhill to the lake and a tiny town. We had a very good lunch again on the beach, with food served on the table under a large tree.

Lots of relaxing, chatting, eating and drinking until it was time to catch the boat over the lake to San Martin de los Andes, a good-size tourist town with 40,000 inhabitants and the headquarters of our guide. The views along the way were so spectacular – lakes, snow-capped mountains, etc.

We have a day of rest here in San Martin de los Andes, and 7 of us have a massage booked either tonight or tomorrow. On Saturday, we’ll bike a loop from here, meaning we have 3 nights in this hotel, which is great.

Saturday 15th November, 2025

We left San Martin de los Andes at 8:30am for the ride to the border. We hopped on our bikes just before leaving Argentina.

When all border formalities were complete, we biked for just a few minutes to the crossing into Chile.

We then began a nice ride on pavement, riding between two mountain ranges. We cycled past high mountains, the odd vacation home, a campground – nobody really lives here permanently, so it was another 25 miles or so before we entered a small village.

We had a fabulous lunch in a restaurant before riding to a hot spring. The hot water felt so good!

The bikes were loaded onto the trailer for the last stretch in the van to our hotel in Pucon. We had a great dinner.

Tomorrow we climb the volcano – we’re all excited.

Sunday 16th November, 2025

We left this morning at 6am to go to the outfitter where we got our equipment, outfits, and shoes etc. for the volcano hike.

We started the walk at around 7:30am, starting at 1200 meters (the peak is 2800 meters). You know how it goes – the weakest in the group get the least rest and I knew this wasn’t for me, so I told them, “Guys, keep going. Have fun – I’ll turn around!”

Only the two youngest members of our group – Rose and Kory – made it to the top. The last 500 meters to the top is in the snow so you have to use crampons. Even though not all of us finished the hike, everyone was happy with what they accomplished.

Monday 17th November, 2025

Today we had slightly cooler weather, no rain, and a great lunch (entirely prepared by our driver, Pablo) on the beach of a humungous lake.

After lunch, we had a short ride to a fabulous hotel where we will have a barbeque prepared by Julian, Facu, and Pablo.

Tuesday 18th November, 2025

Another fantastic ride today, this time entirely on paved roads with a nice shoulder and not too much traffic.

We biked along the shores of another large lake (the crew prepared lunch for us along the way), and after 45 miles, we ended up at the edge of another very large lake.

We are spending the night in an amazing hotel complex in the woods.

Wednesday 19th November, 2025

This trip was such a huge success – I don’t know how it will be possible to repeat it! Our guides are the best.

We left our treehouse hotel yesterday morning for a short ride to the ferry on the large lake. Another short ride to the border crossing brought us into Argentina from Chile.

We hopped on our bikes in Argentina again and knew that soon we would be on gravel roads all the way to San Martin – the end of our tour.

After not too long, we stopped at a very simple restaurant for lunch – the second time we had lunch at a restaurant, with all other lunches being served by our crew.

After lunch, we had 25 miles left to go before San Martin. Fortunately, we didn’t run into too many cars. We were actually biking at a good pace because after a week of cycling in Patagonia, we were all used to the secondary gravel roads (only the main roads are paved).

My friends all can’t stop thanking me for this tour – they obviously don’t have to do that but it really warms my heart! They will all leave in half an hour for the transfer to the airport. I am staying here one more night, leaving early Friday morning for the bus ride to Chile and my next adventure.

Want to experience Hennie's adventure for yourself? Our North Patagonia & Andean Lakes tour is now available to book!