New Year, New Challenges

Days 171-172

We were sad to say goodbye to Jill as she drove off in her transfer to the airport but knew we had to gear up for the next part of our trip – getting to the bottom of South America! We rode back into Argentina (crossing between Chile and Argentina will be an ongoing theme all the way down) and down “seven lakes road” - a beautiful stretch featuring at least seven lakes which were only marred by a little bit of rain. We continued south to the winter ski resort of Bariloche where we tried to stop for the day but found the first few hostels full and were a little put off by rain, so just bought the obligatory chocolate from the one of a multitude of chocolatiers and carried on to the smaller and more chilled out town of El Bolson. One good reason for stopping there was the market the following day where only handmade goods are allowed. The list of things that Emily would have bought had Ric allowed them on the bike (this list started with a coffee table in Valparaiso) grew dramatically but we escaped with only a new ring and a few yummy empanadas to weigh us down.


Days 173-175

From the Argentinian Lake District we breached the official border to Patagonia and crossed back into Chile, so that we could ride the Carretera Austral – the road that Pinochet carved out to connect Southern Chile, famed for it's beauty (and it's rough surface as it remains mostly unpaved). And it was indeed beautiful: lush green woodland and pastureland backed by dramatic snowy mountains and dotted throughout with tranquil lakes and rushing rivers. It was most beautiful, though, when the clouds weren't obscuring the view, which unfortunately was less often than we'd hoped. Emily recalled that she learned in geography lessons at school that Chile has a similar climate to England. Arriving to Chile in the middle of the desert we were slightly dubious of this assertion, but after experiencing mid-summer in the lake district and further south we understand better – we had rain most days and temperatures ranging from 10 to 15 C, so it really does feel like home!

While riding on the Carretera Austral on the second day we saw some motorbikes pulled over at the roadside taking some photos and decided to stop for a quick chat. As we pulled up we realised it was none other than the German couple Christoph and Silke who we met in Peru! We had kept in touch with them but had thought they would be ahead of us on this stretch. We rode with them this day and the next, New Year's Eve, when we found a beautiful and inexpensive cabana on the lakeshore of Lago General Carrera to spend the evening. A trip to the “supermarket” in the very small town revealed we should have planned a bit ahead, but we cobbled together a very nice meal, improved by good pisco sours, nice wine, and cheapy bubbly to bring in the New Year!

Days 176-178

On New Year's Day morning we all went on a boat trip out on the lake to look at some marble caves, and then after a lengthy breakfast (we cooked pancakes as there was no bread in town!) we set off, parting ways 100km down the road. We skirted round the lake in lovely weather and crossed back into Argentina.

Once over the border we rejoined Ruta 40, another famed road, about half paved, with vast distances of empty Patagonian wilderness, lots of gravel, and hellish winds, and of which our guidebook says “Just be thankful you didn't set out on a bike or motorcycle.” Hmm. The riding conditions really aren't great: you're riding in a thin tyre track which has gravel piled up on each side – the wind blows and blows, trying to push you into the gravel bank on one side and then the one on the other. The wind also reduces the range of both bikes and the gas stations are pretty spread out. Added to this there's always the risk that you'll arrive at a fuel stop to find no fuel... as we did in middle-of-nowhere gas stop Bajo Caracoles. “The tanker didn't come” explained the attendant, “We think it might come tomorrow night”. Thankfully, however, some Germans with a big spare fuel tank who were camping next to us helped us out, otherwise we might still be there waiting.

We spread the love the following day when we found some guys with KTMs on the side of the road. One of them had a broken chain and they didn't have all the tools they needed to fix it, so Ric's “ridiculously oversized” (according to Emily) tool bag saved the day.

The road wasn't all just wind and gravel, though. As well as stopping at some interesting 9,000 year old cave art, we also saw some funky wildlife: guanacos (llama-like deer), nandus (emu-like birds) and even a small armadillo all crossed the road in front of us.