Thermal Baths of Villavicencio

Aside from the small interpretive center with the pet llama and the bottled water that it is famous around the country for, Villavicencio in Argentina has little more to offer visitors than the thermal pools. Hard to reach, the thermal pools are tucked into a spot that rests high in the mountains, several kilometers past the interpretive center on a gravel road near a small sandwich joint that plays 80s music for tourists.

It makes sense that, because many believe that the bottled water from these mineral springs offers special properties, they would also believe that bathing in the waters can heal physical and emotional wounds. The site was known hundreds of years ago, but it wasn’t until 1902 that locals started speaking about the springs’ therapeutic values.

In 1941, a Great Hotel was built in the area to help draw in more tourists. The hotel’s park includes leafy groves, humid paths, and nostalgic arbors filled with ivy that rest in the hotel’s shadows.