Categories
Bike Touring

End of the Road

I was enjoying staying in my nice hotel in Punta Arenas, but I had to move eventually. I turned up nice and early for the ferry to Porvenir, as I hadn’t reserved a ticket. I was one of the first ones there, but by the time I boarded just after 8:00, quite a few others were arriving. No extra charge for the bike.

Mine was the first bike to go on, and I was one of the first ones in the cabin. So I was a little surprised when I got off to find 7 other bikes there. I thought there might be one or two, but not that many. There’s only a couple of ways onto Tierra del Fuego, and the ferry didn’t run the previous day, so perhaps I should have expected it.

In a turnaround to the normal order of things, it’s the Chilean part of Tierra del Fuego that is boring grasslands, and the Argentinian part that has mountains, lakes, forests. The first part, crossing from Porvenir heading towards San Sebastian, had very strong tailwinds, and I was making good time, over gravel roads. Almost nowhere to shelter out there though, just a handful of trees. I found a small hut on the side of the road, and sheltered in there. There was a table, a stove, and a set of bunk beds, unfortunately missing mattresses. This gave me good shelter from the wind, and somewhere to cook dinner. Many other cyclists have stopped here too, judging by the graffiti on the walls.

The iron bars weren’t going to be very comfortable to sleep on, so I set up the tent next to the hut, getting at least partial shelter from the winds that howled all night. Plus some passing motorist had thoughtfully deposited a turd in the hut, so it wasn’t the best place to sleep. It’s often the way here – any time you find shelter in this exposed land, it turns out that motorists use it to take a crap. Luckily the tampon left lying on the floor was still in its wrapper.

Crossed the border early the next morning, and back onto the pavement. It’s strange having to cross borders here in this small island. If you look at the map, it just doesn’t make sense. When I leave Ushuaia, Argentina, going to Rio Gallegos, Argentina, I will need to cross into Chile, adding hours to the trip time. But as soon as you cross the border, you understand why Argentina won’t give it up – there’s oil here.

Rio Grande next, a surprisingly large town, with two Carrefour and two La Anonima supermarkets. All on the same street of course, not far from each other. Like Asians, Latinos have a different view of competition to that normally seen in the West. I stayed at Club Nautico, where I slept on the floor of the dojo. Was easier and warmer than putting up the tent. Plus of course the wind hadn’t stopped, so I would get a better sleep indoors. My MacPac Minaret tent is very strong in the wind, and has been in some extreme conditions, but it still flaps about a bit, making sleep difficult.

On the way to Tolhuin, the boring grassland finally gives way to short trees and hills, and then forests and mountains. This also means you get some relief from the relentless westerlies. You need it, because the road turns south, then west. At Tolhuin, there is a superb bakery, offering everything a hungry cyclist could need. If you want to, you can even stay there for free, because the owner likes cyclists. Not surprisingly, there were 8 other cyclists there when I arrived. I felt like camping though, so went to Camping Hain by the lake, where the wind shelters have evolved into complete coverings for your tent. Nice place.

Sunshine and no wind made such a change. I could just sit in the forest and relax, something I haven’t been able to do for some time. I was in no rush to get to Ushuaia, so camped 30km from the city, by a river, enjoying the sunshine.

Didn’t last, so the ride into Ushuaia, on a particularly crappy road near the city, wasn’t much fun. I stopped for supplies, then headed to Lapataia, the end of Ruta 3. I had bought a bottle of bubbly for celebrations, but it was cold and windy, with a squall coming in, so I retreated to the campsite. I felt I deserved a decent campsite, so paid, rather than taking the free option. It was cold, and I wanted a hot shower…so after checking in the woman tells me the shower is broken, they’re useless and they can’t be arsed fixing it, and maybe it will be working tomorrow night at 9pm. Cow. Paid 50 pesos to get into the park, then 18 for the campsite, and now there’s not even a hot shower?

Rode the 20km back to Ushuaia the following day, this time getting snowed on. In the middle of summer. I have no idea how these people live here. Found a hostel, and soaked for a while in hot hot water. I’m sure the staff were grateful I washed and changed into clean clothes – I hadn’t changed my riding shirt for 6 days, and some nights I never took it off, because it was too cold.

It’s a bit much of a rich tourist town this one, too many shops selling overpriced crap. Sure, lots of places have English speaking staff, but you pay for it. At least I can get some English books, which I’ll need for the next phase of the trip.

I’m going to get a series of buses north, stopping off at various points along the way, to break up the journey. My first leg will be to Rio Gallegos, then perhaps to Comodoro Rivadavia. Went to one bus company, they said no, you can’t bring a bike. Try these guys instead. Went there, they said yes, but you need to put it in a box. Crap. Bike boxes are very scarce here, too many cyclists riding in and flying/busing out. Plus if I box the bike, it’s a pain to get to the bus station. So my current plan is to ride down to the bus station at 4am (departure 5am), and take a few large pieces of cardboard and a big roll of tape. Then I’ll have a chat to the driver, see if it really needs to be boxed, if it does, I’ll strap some cardboard around it, tape it up, and hope for the best.

  • Punta Arenas to Porvenir ferry
  • Boat not seaworthy anymore? Just drive it up on the beach.
  • Fishing huts - hard to say if they were occupied
  • Guanaco
  • Yes, it is windy. Very, very few trees in northern Tierra del Fuego
  • The hut I sheltered in/beside
  • Cyclist graffiti
  • Sleeping in a dojo at Club Nautico
  • Boring flat grasslands
  • Traditional Fuegian name that
  • Inside of my rear tire. Not good.
  • Superb camp shelter at Tolhuin
  • Dunno what the people who live there actually do
  • Mountains again - note the road slowly climbing across it
  • Lago Escondido
  • Ushuaia at last
  • Southernmost rugby club in the world?
  • The end of Ruta 3, 3079km to Buenos Aires
  • Past the end of the road, at the edge of the sea
  • Incoming squall
  • Not quite how I planned my celebration
Categories
Bike Touring

Just a cool breeze

It’s amazing how quickly things change. I woke up in El Chalten, in the mountains, to drizzle. It would probably rain all day. By nightfall I was in a place that receives only 20mm of rain per year.

I had been considering a day off in El Chalten, but listening to the rain I decided I’d had enough of it. I knew I didn’t have far east to go, and within 10km I was pulling off the raingear. I was also riding on pavement for the first time in a couple of weeks, with a strong tailwind, and a gentle downhill. Very, very easy going, and such a change to the last few weeks.

The countryside changed very quickly, from lush forest, to dry country. Not many houses, to almost none. Just a few estancias along the way. The estancias are a mystery to me. They are generally large, with multiple buildings, and they appear to control a large area. However, I saw almost no sheep or cattle in the ride from El Chalten to El Calafate. A few horses, a guanaco, an armadillo, but only two sheep. Where are they all? My guess is that there used to be thousands of sheep, and large sums of money were made, but they destroyed the land. It’s too fragile out here, and when the sheep eat the grass low, the soil just blows away in the relentless wind. It will probably take thousands of years to recover.

Some people struggle with the bleakness here, but so far it’s OK for me. There are still mountain ranges, glacier fed lakes, and a handful of buildings. I’ve seen much, much bleaker than this.

I’m joined by Marko today, and we have a very easy ride for the first 90km. We then turn around the end of the lake, and it’s a different story. The wind is hammering us, pushing us all over the road. Thankfully there’s little traffic. After 20km of that, we stop at one of two places to stop along the whole 220km, at Hotel La Leona. It’s a very nice place, and we’re grateful when we shut the door and get relief from the wind. But we know there’s another place 10km down the road, and decide to push on, since we know the next day will be tough. So we just have cake and a drink.

Down the road we get to Parador Luz Divina (Divine Light), where it seems the proprietors are chasing a different sort of divine light. It seems to be run by a bunch of stoners, and is not so fancy, but it ends up being a good place. I would prefer if the owners spent more time clearing up the dead cattle and empty beer bottles from the camping area, than getting stoned. Walking around inside with a hoody on and wearing sunglasses is a bit odd too. But one guy speaks English, and is nice to us. I have a shower under a dribble of water, but at least it’s warm.

A couple stay in the hammock near our tents, talking and giggling all night. I don’t understand the way the locals manage time. It’s not that hot at day, so why sleep all day, and do things at night? Doesn’t make sense.

The next day I fill my bottles with very silty water – but it’s silty from the glacier feeding the lake at the other end, so it will be fine to drink. We set off early, knowing it will be a long day. Starts out OK, but then we climb, straight into the wind. At the top is a gentle downhill, but I can’t roll down it – I have to pedal, or I won’t move. But we can see the road turning just ahead, and crawl towards it. Speed again, and on a longer downhill I hit 73km/h. The road turns ahead though, so I brake, knowing that if I’m going to fast, the crosswind will fling me over the corner.

We all stop for lunch, Marko and I, and Neil and Victoria, a Scottish/NZ couple riding this way. We’re sheltering in a ditch, apparently also used as a toilet, to get out of the wind, before the intersection where we turn directly into the wind. We’re all apprehensive about the next 32km.

Can’t be put off forever though, so we try and get it out of the way. It is a ridiculous headwind, at least 40km/h, and we can barely move into it. Sometimes we’re reduced to pushing the bikes. One couple of cyclists will stop for a break, 10 minutes later you can still see the others, only a kilometre ahead.

All I can do is put my head down and focus on the white line under my tires. Sometimes 4km/h, occasionally up to 10. Drafting helps, but it still hurts. It will take us 5 hours to cover the 32km into town. Reaching the municipal campsite, we’re all shattered. You’re happy to have made it, so don’t quite realise how tired you are at first, until later that night, when you’re falling asleep at the restaurant. We all slept well.

I’ve been having 3 days off in El Calafate, preparing for the next leg, which will probably have both headwinds and tailwinds. The best I can hope for is light winds. That or I could head east to Rio Gallegos, instead of east, south, west to Puerto Natales.

While here, I went on a daytrip to Perito Moreno Glacier. This is the main reason for this town existing, and it really is remarkable. Just an enormous river of ice, 5km wide, 60m high, 30m long, and moving 1-2m per day. I’ve now seen a few glaciers on this trip, but this really is the most impressive. You might just be able to make out a boat to the right of this photo:

That’s quite a large catamaran (at least 65ft), but it looks tiny.

Photos from the ride to Calafate here, and a few of the Perito Moreno Glacier:

  • Smooth straight roads ahead
  • Mountains and rain behind me
  • Glacier Viedma, feeding Lago Viedma
  • Turns out this means "photo spot ahead"
  • Marko climbing, Lago Viedma in background
  • Yeah, we know
  • Perito Moreno - note boat in far right
  • Perito Moreno
  • Perito Moreno
  • Perito Moreno
  • Perito Moreno
Categories
Bike Touring

The hard way back to Argentina

I’m back in Argentina, after one of the more interesting border crossings I’ve done. I’ve crossed many, many borders now, and usually the fun and games come with the customs formalities. But this time customs on both sides were very quick, and the fun was the physical crossing.

The ferry leaves from about 8km out of town, so we (Susan, Martin and I) had a short ride to warm up. Early start for me these days, on the road by 7:45. Usually it’s been closer to 9 I’ve been getting away. Easy ride down to the ferry, where the bikes are loaded on. As we’re getting on, an old guy with crutches is being lifted onto the boat. Hmmm, is this crossing as hard as people make it out to be? Later turns out that he’s going to the estancia – he was probably one of the early people breaking in this land.

After everyone is aboard, another cyclist appears – he’s a Brazilian, who has been riding very long days for weeks, as he’s been short on time. Short on planning too, as he arrived at Villa O’Higgins on Wednesday, the day the last boat left. He also had no more Chilean money, so he had been camping for three days in a disused boat near the ferry. Despite being closest to the departure point, he is somehow late.

The ferry is straightforward enough – strong winds, but mostly behind us. On the way down the long narrow arm of the lake, we stop to drop supplies at one place, and drop a passenger (and his 3 dogs, who had crapped on the deck) at another. These are extraordinarily isolated spots – little regular transport in summer, none in winter. Guess they like their own company.

At the other side of Lago O’Higgins, we stop for lunch, before completing border formalities, and starting the trek. The Chilean side starts out very steep, but it’s dry, and the 4WD track is mostly rideable. A bit of pushing, but things are going OK. At the top, the track levels out, for some good riding. At one point, the road is diverted through a runway. The only time I’ve ridden on a runway before was on the emergency landing strips on the Stuart Highway. Strange runway to have in an isolated place, complete with fence and all – must have been military. Can’t see what Argentina would want to invade for. We meet a couple of cyclists coming down. They said it was tough, but OK. They don’t look too much the worse for wear.

We reach the actual border around 3pm, and so far we’re all OK. We could have camped right there, but figure we should make a start on the Argentine side. As we find out though, once you start, you can’t stop – you have to push on. It started to rain at this point, and the 4WD track became an ugly horse track.

What had been a manageable bike ride became something that would be a fun adventure on an unloaded mountainbike. Except now I’ve got panniers to deal with as I slog through the mud, across streams, sometimes with a few branches as a bridge, bash the bike on rocks, snag the front panniers on bushes…all while being rained on constantly. It’s a…challenge. Sometimes I have to leave the panniers behind, take the bike, come back for the panniers. Other times I sink in the mud up to my knees. Waterproof socks don’t work when they get flooded from the top.

At one point, the track was so deeply rutted that the sides were almost at the level of my handlebars. Sometimes I have the bike down in the ruts, while I walk with my feet on the bank above. How come the other cyclists we met weren’t filthy? I think they must have stopped off for a wash in the river somewhere. It would have been much harder for them, some parts were very steep. The track is also very slippery, so even when I want to ride on the level parts, I have trouble with the wheel slipping. My shoe tread is also full of mud, so they slip too. But there was a perverse enjoyment in it. I just wish I wasn’t bashing the hell out of my panniers – they’re at the end of their life, but I need them to last a couple more months.

Finally I make it to the Argentinian customs, on the north side of Lago del Desierto, at about 6pm. We hadn’t planned on making this crossing on the same day, but the boat is supposed to be due in 30 minutes. The hikers are hanging around waiting, so we join them. Thinking the boat won’t be far away, we don’t get fully changed into dry clothes. We wait, and we wait…finally the boat turns up, around 7pm. We get on the boat and wait some more. All four cyclists are very cold at this point, sitting still, trying to concentrate on staying alive. Other tourists open the windows to look out, we have to move around the boat to find somewhere no windows are open.

Finally the engines start…then die. A little later, the mate goes up to the bridge, holding a pair of pliers. A few minutes later, the engines start again, and we’re moving. We start moving down the lake. Gusts of wind coming roaring down the mountain, bringing up a lot of spray. It’s all quite interesting, but I can’t focus enough to get the camera out, and I don’t want to hang out the window, in the wind, to get a picture.

In front of me are a young Argentine couple. She has her eyes painted like a doll, or maybe like a young girl playing with makeup might. They keep kissing, but she keeps her eyes open, staring coldly at him. It’s very disturbing. It’s like she’s a Thai or Russian bride, pretending to get along with her suitor. The captain comes to talk to them. He looks like Maradona, although maybe not so fat. Could be he’s dressed to look more like him, and I can definitely see him doing a swan dive on the turf. He keeps opening the window to point out things you can’t see in the mist, and I’m thinking “Shut the ****ing window or I’ll die of hypothermia here.”

Finally we make it to the other side, around 8:30pm now, and hurry off the boat. A sign says “Camping 200m”, so we head that way. There’s no showers at the campsite – well there were, but they’ve been broken a while(years probably…), and there’s a pile of turds in one of them. But we’re too cold to argue about paying for not much, and then the guy hauls us all into the office in front of the fire…we all make the same sound, as some warmth finally returns.

As I put up the tent, some hail falls on me. I change into dry clothes, and we head to the cooking shelter, where a couple of Argentines have a fire going. They appear to be cooking half a beast, but it’s just dinner for the two of them. Not minding the smoke in our eyes, we cook dinner. Half an hour later, warm(ish), dry, sheltered from the wind and rain, with warm food inside us, the world is a different place.

The next morning we have clear skies, but it’s still cold. Clear skies show the glacier close to our campsite, and we are rewarded with views of Mt Fitzroy – normally covered in cloud 4 days out of 5. We have a strong tailwind pushing us down the rough road to El Chalten. Good campsite there too, lots of hot water. The only casualty is I lose my Icebreaker hat to the wind somewhere – didn’t notice until later that it had blown out of my barbag. Sunshine, pizza and beer in El Chalten, and things are looking up. I also catch up with Marko, who I last saw in Coyhaique.

One more note – the place next to the campsite had a sign up “All the pizza you can eat for $28” (about $7USD). But when we go past later, it’s gone – I think they saw 5 hungry cyclists ride past, and decide it might break the budget…

Some photos from the crossing here:

  • On the ferry, heading down Lago O'Higgins
  • This was actually an easy part. Note the wide, dry road, even if we did have to push
  • Looking back to Lago O'Higgins. The colour is because it's glacier fed
  • Susan riding up a manageable part
  • The truck stopped just before this bridge
  • Not every day you ride down a runway
  • This was a good bridge
  • Here it started getting ugly
  • Like this
  • Joke of a bridge
  • The ruts got deeper a little further down
  • Woke up the following morning, to realise a glacier was very close to the campsite.
  • Rare clear view of Mt Fitzroy. Too steep for snow to stick to it.
  • Not so nice in the mountains

Like Jeff Kruys says, I would have taken more photos, but it was too damn hard.

Categories
Bike Touring

Keeping up with the Jones

Well New Years wasn’t quite alone in a forest, but it wasn’t too far off. I was in a nice little riverside campsite, along with maybe 10 others. I had had a tough day on the bike, so although I could have joined them in the cabin, I ended up drinking some wine from the Tetrapak I was carrying, and falling asleep by 10pm. People talk about noisy Argentinian campsites, and I was a little worried about that, but it was no problem. I would have been too deeply asleep to notice anyway.

After Bariloche, I headed south in the wind and rain to Lago Steffen. This is a 10km dirt road detour off the main road. 4 of those 10km are very steep, with multiple switchbacks. I lost 400m in altitude, coming down to just below 600m. I think that this, combined with being more sheltered, made it feel warmer at the campsite. Still cold though – the temperature inside my tent dropped to 5 degrees overnight. It was a simple campsite, but with a shower block. There was a wood burner attached, that heated the water. There was no fire at first, but later someone lit it – lucky for me, because I didn’t think they would, since so few people were there. I was pretty grateful though, as I was too cold to face a cold shower.

In El Bolson, I stopped at the brewery, which has a campsite. Only one other person was camping, but plenty of locals were eating at the restaurant. Hot water, shelters, food, beer and Wifi – I was pretty happy.

More cold, wind and rain the next day, interspersed with hot sunshine, and some bad roads, made for a tough New Years Eve. New Years Day was a shorter day, but still a lot more climbing than I would have liked. At one stage I picked up a stray dog, that decided to follow me for 5km. It was mostly climbing, so it could keep up. Couldn’t seem to shake it, until I hit a long downhill. Kept trying to discourage it, because I didn’t want the skinny thing following me for miles, only to luck out on food.

Finally the sun came out for extended periods, as I rolled into Trevelin, a former Welsh colony. First time in short sleeves for weeks. Nice easy day too, and a nice hostel – Casa Verde.

I was planning a quiet night, but some others encouraged me to go out. At first we sat by the main plaza/roundabout watching the same cars go by again and again. Turns out there’s not a lot happening in this town of 5-10,000. It has one bar, the “San Patricio Irish Pub” which would be the least Irish Irish pub I’ve ever seen. The only Irish thing was the green curtains.

The problem of course is that Argentinians don’t go out until quite late – we got there at 1:30, but it didn’t pick up until at least 2am. I have no idea where all these people were the rest of the night, but they were still going strong at 5am when we pulled the plug. A note to others going to this pub – do not order the “Cuban Mojiti” – rather than use fresh mint, they appeared to have used toothpaste for flavour. We’re not sure what was in the “destornallido” either, but it was strong. Another note is that you should be wary of places that let you pour your own vodka mix. Perhaps we should have done what the locals did, and stuck to beer.

So today was spent recovering, and wandering about this town. Odd place, with fair Welsh-looking people speaking Spanish. It’s also interesting seeing the places with immaculately groomed and watered lawns, something you don’t often see here. It rains a lot, but the dry winds seem to strip the moisture rapidly.

Tomorrow I will head back to Chile, to join the famed Carretera Austral. Not sure what communications will be like for the next week or so. Will update the blog, and add photos when possible.

  • Just south of Bariloche
  • I´m not quite sure why you should leave a plastic bottle at this shrine
  • Looking up the valley
  • 10km dirt road detour
  • Lago Steffen, view from the tent
  • Lago Steffen detour, steep dirt road
  • Looking back down to Lago Steffen
  • Big loose rocks == no fun for riding
  • See the road going down the valley?
  • I liked that the shanty knew what it was
  • Beer plus camping. Perfect.
  • Hoping the rain front stays over there
  • Changing scenery, much drier
  • Random large house in the middle of nowhere. Someone has money.
  • Not far from Butch Cassidys ranch, terrible road
  • Villa Rivadavia
  • This stray decided to follow me for several km
  • Parque Nacional Los Alerces
  • Round and round the plaza in Trevelin
  • It had been an interesting night
  • Casa Verde Hostel - highly recommended
  • It looks innocuous in the daylight
  • Note the detail on the sign - speed lines, wheel nuts
  • Gravel road on the way to the border
  • Rio Futaleufu
Categories
Bike Touring

Where to for New Years?

I’m sitting in “San Carlos de Bariloche” – or just Bariloche for short – trying to work out what I should do for New Years Eve. I’m planning to leave here tomorrow, and head to El Bolson, an old hippy community about 125km south. It will take me two days to get there, so I should arrive on the 30th. If I don’t stop there for a rest day, then New Years Eve will almost certainly be camped somewhere in a forest, by myself. Again. I need to decide now, because places are getting fully booked now, and it looks like there is going to be a LOT of camping coming up, because that will be the only place I’ll be able to get.

Christmas was spent alone though, so it won’t make much difference if I do the same for New Years. Probably wouldn’t be the best idea to ride out of town on New Years Day anyway. At the time I’m leaving, people will just be getting into the swing of the party. So I’ll keep riding, even if it’s only short days.

I left San Martin on Christmas Day, through eerily empty streets. Around the lake the good road was deserted, but then as I began a long climb up a gentle gradient, I was surprised at the number of vehicles passing me. Cars, trucks, carrying/towing boats, old American-style pick-up trucks with 10 niños (kids) in the back, all sorts. I couldn’t work out where they were all going – don’t they know it’s Christmas?

At the top of the pass was “Arroyo Partido” – it doesn’t look like much, but it’s where a small river splits in two. Yes Lindsay, that’s boring, who cares. Well it turns out that one branch of the river ultimately flows to the Atlantic, while the other flows to the Pacific. I think that’s pretty cool. So I stopped there for a while, reading in the sunshine.

Later in the day, I finally worked out where everyone was going – they were all parked next to Lago Falkner, or its neighbour, Lago Villarino. There was a large field beside Villarino, and I was concerned about the clouds that were coming in, so I decided to stop and camp there, with all the Argentinian day campers. You see, although a place looks very busy during the day, they almost all leave at night, leaving you in peace. There were a couple of British cyclists there, who were just packing up. They’d been having the day off, but felt they should probably do some exercise, so were going to push on 20 or so km down the road, before the rain hit. I’ll probably catch up with them again soon.

I thought I’d done well with my tent site, behind a little bit of shelter from the rising wind, not far from some small clean creeks that ran across the field. But then as various vehicles left, and drove close to my tent, I started getting concerned, because there was a bit of standing water left where the vehicles had passed, and the rain was about to start. Suddenly I realised that I could be in trouble if ground water levels started rising, as my tent handles wind and rain, but not groundwater. It was too late to move though, so it was a nervous night huddled in the tent, listening to the wind and rain.

Boxing Day brought more rain, but luckily there were breaks in it. First time I’ve had to get all the wet weather gear out, and I needed it. During a break in the rain, I packed up my tent, and got moving. The tarmac ended after a kilometre, and then I had gravel roads, that they’ve been working on for several years. Roads being worked on can be even harder than un-maintained roads, but these were generally in quite ridable condition. Based on their progress, I think it will be a few more years before it’s all paved though. Some bits are ready for paving, other parts still need some massive earthworks. Beautiful area though.

I had planned on camping, but I was cold, wet and tired, so I wimped out, and got a dorm bed in a hostel at Villa La Angostura. Central heating, very nice. I got confused trying to follow my GPS to the hostel location though – it was saying there was a road in this direction, and to head up that road…but all I could see was a little dirt track. Turned out that was the road though. It’s like Romania here – the main road through town is paved, but nothing off it.

Yesterday I had an easy 60km, with a strong wind behind me, and I was just cruising. Couldn’t last though – I hit a 90° junction, and now the wind was trying to knock me over onto the now busy road. Struggled through the last 20km, and was grateful to make it to my hostel, “41 Below“, run by a Kiwi here. Nice place too, I would recommend it. Safe, warm, quiet, but very central. Cool people here too.

Just been mucking around this morning, getting a few chores done, trying to track down a few items I need. I’ve also gotten a haircut. Low maintenance, number 3 all over. Next time I’ll go shorter though I think. Should cut down on the amount of soap I need to carry. Now if only I could track down some White Gas aka Bencina Blanca…

Oh and before I forget, does anyone know why the Argentinian car fleet is a weird mix of mostly new, and a few quite old vehicles? There’s not much from say 80s, early 90s, but there are quite a few old Ford Falcons and Renaults from the 70s, and a few crappy old Minis. Something odd about it, there’s no progression to the ages. Must be a reason for it.

  • Heading out of Villaricca, to Lican Ray
  • Coming into Lican Ray - everywhere around here is scenes like this
  • Villaricca Volcano - note the clouds of sulphuric gases coming out of it
  • Lagos Calafquen
  • Lagos Calafquen
  • Lagos Calafquen
  • Random sign on side of road
  • The crossed rifles emblem disturbs me a little
  • Map of the "Termases" (thermal pools) in the region - there are many
  • The end of the pavement, and the beginning of ripio - there will be a lot more of this
  • Random riverside lunchstop
  • Bridges are not the strongest-looking structures
  • Steep+loose stones = slippery = pushing the bike
  • Looking down to my destination, Eco Termas Pellaifa
  • No rails or anything, just a bit of loose dirt between me and slipping down
  • Encamped at the Termas
  • A bit of an exaggeration, but not always
  • Random bridge, a few metres of blessedly smooth concrete
  • More pushing. Just too steep and slippery, couldn't get traction
  • Looking down over the valley
  • More dodgy bridges
  • And I guess that was the old one that fell down
  • Some sort of fair going on - couldn't work out what.
  • Ferry across Lagos Pirihueico - only two cars on this sailing
  • On the ferry
  • Plenty of clean rivers like this, easy to get water around here.
  • Wild camp site
  • Roads up the border are usually bad - notice the large loose stones on the Chilean side
  • Entering Argentina. The road improved immediately, to a hard, reasonably smooth surface
  • At the top of the climb, along the north of Lago Lacar
  • Luckily a tailwind for this exposed section
  • Note the sign pointing right, but the road going left
  • San Martin de Los Andes - all downhill!
Categories
Bike Touring

Argentina Already

The problem with random conversations with cyclists, is that you can end up different things to what you planned. So it was, and so it is that I am now in Argentina, several weeks earlier than I had thought I would first visit. I had planned on staying in Chile a while longer, but after chatting with another cyclist, I decided to head to Argentina from Villaricca.

I headed down to Lican Ray, then around the lake to Conaripe. Herr Meyer struck again here – my high school German managed to get me free lunch. I was picking up some supplies from the supermercado, when a local came and started chatting to me. He had been born here, but his parents were from Munich, and so he spoke German. There is a strong German influence in Chile, which you can see in the houses, some names, and the beer. Anyway, he took me to a local bakery, where he seems to have an account, and bought me an empanada. These are a pastry turnover, with different fillings – e.g. cheese, mince, etc. I’d been pretty disappointed with them in the past, as they were quite lacking in substance, but this was a proper one, filled with good quality ingredients. He told me a bit about the place and people, and sent me on my way, not letting me pay for anything.

From Conaripe, the pavement ended, and the ripio (gravel roads) began. A big slog up a hill, then a very steep descent down to a Termas. The Termas Conaripe is a fancy place, with expensive hotel rooms…but right next to it is the “Eco Termas Pellaifa” which is a bit more basic. Camping sites, 3 pools (cool, warm, warmer), bathrooms, etc. Plenty of other people there when I arrived,but they were only day camping. So by evening, I was the only one there. A bargain at $6USD for the campsite and access to the pools. I would have just liked to relax in the pools, but a Mapuche girl wanted to practice her English. Oddly enough, you are generally left alone by Chilenos, completely different to China, where people are always interested in you. I could have done with the rest, but it was good to chat, to learn a bit more about the place, and hopefully improve the image of tourists.

Next day was tough, taking a little used road towards Puerto Fuy. Some sections were extremely steep, with very loose gravel. In 20km, I saw about 5 vehicles. At the top, a guy in a ute asked if I wanted a lift – a bit late! On the way up to Puerto Fuy, I passed the Montana Magica Lodge. Surrounded by forest, up a gravel road, is this enormous wooden hotel. Looks like the sort of place that very rich celebrities go to when they want to “rough it” in a 5-star hotel in the middle of nowhere.

From Puerto Fuy, there is a ferry across Lake Pirihueico to Puerto Pirihueico. There is a very rough track around the lake, but the 90 minute ferry along the long, narrow lake is a better option. I had no idea what the timetable was, but figured I could always stay in Puerto Fuy if need be. But luck was with me, and somehow I managed to roll onto the boat 2 minutes before the 14:00 sailing. Turns out that the current timetable is 14:00 Fuy -> Pirihueico, and 16:00 return. In Janurary and February, it runs at 8:00, 13:00 and 18:00, returning 2 hours later. If I’d been just a little slower, I would have had a whole day to kill in the tiny town of Puerto Fuy.

At the other side, it’s about 11km to the border, so I decided to camp for the night. I thought I had a perfectly good little spot, hidden from the road, didn’t appear to have been anyone else around for a few weeks…and then after I’d set up a guy came past with a couple of cows. He didn’t seem to care though.

At the Chilean customs the next morning, the place was deserted. They are supposed to be open, but they know that there were no ferries due for hours. After a bit of waiting, I eventually went and woke some people up, and they stamped me out. Just as well I did get them to, as on the Argentinian side they checked my exit stamp.

A pretty long, very slow climb on the Argentinian side. At least the road surface improved dramatically, from loose stones, to a hard, reasonably smooth surface. But it was slow going, exacerbated by the fact I was very low on food, and there was nowhere open selling food until my destination. I was pretty happy when I reached the highest point (1040m), because then I knew I could reach San Martin de Los Andes, and food wouldn’t be a problem.

This is a very upmarket kind of place, and a big change to the villages on the Chilean side. It’s too expensive to stay long, but I will stay 3 nights, so that I will be here on Christmas Eve (Christmas Day NZ time). I’ll then ride out on Christmas Day, heading towards Bariloche. Looks like New Years Eve is going to be in the middle of nowhere too…

  • Heading out of Villaricca, to Lican Ray
  • Coming into Lican Ray - everywhere around here is scenes like this
  • Villaricca Volcano - note the clouds of sulphuric gases coming out of it
  • Lagos Calafquen
  • Lagos Calafquen
  • Lagos Calafquen
  • Random sign on side of road
  • The crossed rifles emblem disturbs me a little
  • Map of the "Termases" (thermal pools) in the region - there are many
  • The end of the pavement, and the beginning of ripio - there will be a lot more of this
  • Random riverside lunchstop
  • Bridges are not the strongest-looking structures
  • Steep+loose stones = slippery = pushing the bike
  • Looking down to my destination, Eco Termas Pellaifa
  • No rails or anything, just a bit of loose dirt between me and slipping down
  • Encamped at the Termas
  • A bit of an exaggeration, but not always
  • Random bridge, a few metres of blessedly smooth concrete
  • More pushing. Just too steep and slippery, couldn't get traction
  • Looking down over the valley
  • More dodgy bridges
  • And I guess that was the old one that fell down
  • Some sort of fair going on - couldn't work out what.
  • Ferry across Lagos Pirihueico - only two cars on this sailing
  • On the ferry
  • Plenty of clean rivers like this, easy to get water around here.
  • Wild camp site
  • Roads up the border are usually bad - notice the large loose stones on the Chilean side
  • Entering Argentina. The road improved immediately, to a hard, reasonably smooth surface
  • At the top of the climb, along the north of Lago Lacar
  • Luckily a tailwind for this exposed section
  • Note the sign pointing right, but the road going left
  • San Martin de Los Andes - all downhill!