Sooooo… What did you guys do today…??

Returning unwanted gifts…?? Planning on spending your last few days of holiday productively before getting back to work next week…??

Ah, well….!! Sorry for you…!!

The Big Fella and I had another interesting day to say the least…!! We crossed over from Chile into Argentina…. The 85th country on our little tour…!!

Took just 8 hours to cover about 400 kilometres…!! But there was lots of stops to take photos, deep breaths and suck in the atmosphere…

But let me show you a little to give you a better idea…!! I’ll let the photos tell the story…

Early morning view from my B&B in Pucon...

Argentina here we come...!!

Chilean water torture...?? This area is famous for it's hot water springs and mineral baths...

I planned to ride as far as San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentinea which was about 400 km away…

After yesterday’s long ride down from Santiago, I figured a shorter day would be in order…!! The landlord advised me that the road was tarred all the way, so no problems there…!!

But the man turned out to be just another local who had no idea what he was talking about…!! If I had known that I was in for an 8 hour haul, I would have left a lot earlier…!!

The first 60 odd km’s out of Pucon towards the border was on a good road that wound through this very mountainous area, which is littered with dormant volcanoes… I videoed a few of the twistier bits, enjoying pushing the bike through the long looping curves…

Fast moving rockfalls, or hostile locals.... You never can tell...!!

I have remounted my video camera after the original mounting broke in Townsville, Australia, and have not bothered to video any of my rides until now…

Back in Santiago, I scratched around in my spares pannier and found a full set of Ram mounts that I have carried around for two years now…!! I knew they would come in handy some time, you see…!! The new set up isn’t perfect, but it’ll do for now…

And so it begins... An earlier than expected introduction to the gravel roads of South America...

About 15 km from the border, the tarred surface ended rather abruptly…!! I stopped an gave Gi-Gi a quizzical look…

“You messing with my head again, Dear…?? Landlord says no dirt roads today…!!”

“Landlords lie…!!” came her swift reply…

I took a deep breath, and set off up a steep winding dirt road, littered with fist-sized stones, which took us up onto a plateau where it leveled out and wound it’s way through a dry and boulder strewn landscape…

We skirted a large volcano, but a mere pimple in the greater scheme of South American volcanoes… The Andes form part of the legendary “Ring of Fire” and further to the south of us, one of these volcanoes was still belching ash from an eruption that took place eight months ago…!!

The road passed numerous alpine-like lakes, the waters reflecting the mountains that held them captive...

Just another bog-standard day at the office...!!

Then there was the odd tree that sprouted from the centre of the road...!!

It's all good out here...!!

Apart from a few twitches from the rear end, we got up and out of the rougher stuff and onto a hard packed gravel road, where all I had to worry about was staying on the tyre tracks made by vehicles that had preceded me up there… The loose gravel thrown to either side was a nightmare to cross at speed, which I had to do occasionally to avoid oncoming cars and the odd bus…!!

I was nevertheless enjoying this early challenge on my road to Ushuaia, and stopped often to take photos… For the most part, I was alone up there on the plateau that forms part of the Villaricca National Park…

I spent about half an hour at the Chilean Border post, where I had to hand back the documents that I had been given at Santiago airport by the customs officials… Seems I have to get these forms filled in each time I exit and enter Chile, which will be 3 or 4 times before I cross into Bolivia in a six or seven weeks time…!!

The form I had was supposed to carry a special stamp, which it did not have, and I just shrugged my shoulders at the officials, smiled and spoke to them in English, which they did not understand of course…!! After a while, they gave up and accepted the documents and let me cross over into Argentina…

Goodbye Chile, see you again in a couple of days...!!

Hello Argentina...!! Where's the bloody tarred roads...??

The Argentine border post lay a few kilometres beyond the Chilean one, and was also part of a national park that joined up with the one on the Chilean side… The large wooden building was covered in dust from the many vehicles that pass this way… It looked rather bleak as I came over a low hill and saw it for the first time…

Getting through took longer than I expected, as I had to visit three separate counters, present registration papers for the Big Fella, and answer a host of questions about the bike…

The Argentine border post... The officials helpful, gracious and slow...!! Looks like something out of the wild west, huh...!!

Another five kilometres of this before we reached the tarred road leading into the interior... I was fairly grateful to get through this without mishap...!!

Not to be taken at speed...!!

I had to cross a few dicey looking bridges on the way to Junin de los Andes, the first major town I was headed towards in Argentina…

They were all one lane only affairs, and the planks laid across them were not in the best of condition either…!! I watched a few cars bump slowly across them each time, before riding onto the bridges myself…!!

First stop in Argentina...!! The town totally unprepared for the arrival of the Conquistadores de S.A. ...!! Quite rude we thought...!!

Gaps between the timbers did their best to attract the front tyre, just to make things a little more interesting than they already were…!!

I made good time to Junin de los Andes, and considered stopping to look for a Sim card and to buy something to eat, but after cruising down the main street of this nondescript little one-horse town, I decided to ride on to the next place and stop there instead…

The air all the way from Junin de los Andes to San Martin de los Andes was filled with the volcanic dust I had been warned about, and by the time I reached the town, my kit was covered in a fine layer of ash…!!

The town itself was wreathed in a light gray cloud of dust that was blowing in from the south… The volcano was over 200 km away, and the effects of it;s eruption last year, was being felt far and wide…

A haze of fine ash hangs over the town, covering everything, and blocking out the view of the mountains beyond...

A place where I could read the menu...!!

San Martin de los Andes reminded me of places like Phokara in Nepal, and Luang Prahbang in Laos; dedicated to the tourist trade and offering a huge variety of outdoor activities…

The most popular at this time of year, was cycling, horse-riding and hiking excursions into the nearby mountains…

The tops of the mountains in the area, and for the next few hundred kilometres, are all covered in ash, as are most of the building in town…!! I stopped to have a late lunch at an Irish restaurant, where I would be sure of seeing an English menu, and watched people drift by in the scorching 36 degree heat… Many of them wore dust masks or scarves wrapped around their necks and mouths to protect them from the dust…

The "beach" at San Martin de los Andes... Lago Lacar is a narrow skinny lake that runs east all the way to the Chilean border, 25 kilometres away...

Despite the heat, I chose to cover my mouth and nose with a "buff" to ward off the ash that hung over the area...

Up to this point, the road surfaces were in relatively good condition, except for the many small cracks that had been filled with liquid tar, which was melting in the heat… The bike tended to “skate” when it came into contact with these, making cornering a very interesting exercise…!! I was riding a lot faster than the recommended speed in this section, filming as we rode the “twisties” leading towards the “Seven Lakes Region”… Would have been a lot more fun, if I hadn’t had to deal with a skittish Big Fella who was not enjoying the lack of grip that these “wet tar” areas offered…!!

A short while later, I stopped to curse the landlord from Pucon once more…!!

The tar road ended, and the “Ripio” began… For the next eighty kilometres, things were a little hair-raising, and I hung on grimly, dodging rocks, long lines of gravel, road working machinery, stray cattle and horses, and oncoming vehicles which threw up huge plumes of dust…!!

I still enjoyed the ride... Maybe it was because I do not have much hair to raise...!!

Gabions have been erected to hold back the constant rockfalls... Beautiful scenery, despite the ash that covered everything...!!

No fears Amigo...!! I'm taking as many of them as I can...!! Luckily the road had been cleared recently, and the ash piled up on the side of it...!!

This is what the road leading into Bariloche looked like a few months ago...!! Very glad I did not have this to contend with...!!

Once the volcano stops belching ash, this area will return to the pristine beauty it is well known for... Until then, this is as good as it gets...!!

Pinched myself and the Big Fella to remind us that we were riding in an area we had long dreamed about...!!

We finally reached the tarred road that led east into Chile, where most sane riders would enter Argentina from to get to San Carlos de Bariloche… The Big Fella was low on fuel and I had to “nurse” him carefully to the little town of Villa La Angustura, where he got his first taste of cheaper Argentine fuel… Petrol here is about 25% cheaper than in Chile…!!

I met twin brothers, Alfredo and Andreo from Brazil at the service station... They are also on their way to Ushuaia, and I no doubt will meet up with them again...

This dormant volcano is actually on an island in the lake...!! Lago Nahuel Huapi is by far the largest in this region of many lakes...!!

Melting tar makes for tricky riding conditions....!!

Eighty kilometres later, I skirted the south eastern portion of Lago Nahuel Huapi, and turned east and rode into San Carlos de Bariloche…

I was looking for the same hostel that Michel had stayed in the week before and after asking around, was directed there by an obliging taxi driver and half a dozen other locals, all eager to help, and doing their best to understand my Spanglish…!!

The only drawback about Penthouse 1004, is that it is located on the 10th floor of a ugly building on the main street… But once you are up there though, it is well worth the effort of lugging your kit into and out of the lift…

Even had time to stop and admire these pretty flowers that grow all along the roadside...!!

The days ride was almost over, but had taken a lot longer than I expected, and probably cost me a day as well... If I wanted to write about it, I was going to have to hole up here tomorrow...!!

Hotel with a view....!! Can't touch this...!! Cue the music....!!

Looking out to the west from the wide balcony on the 10th floor of Penthouse 1004....

It is one of the best hostels I have been in, and it has unbeatable views over the city and the lake, which is just two blocks away…!!

The public areas are large and comfortable and the management extremely friendly and helpful…

There were no private rooms available, and for the first time ever, I have shared a dorm room with seven other people…!!

I am used to scattering my gear all over the place, and these cramped conditions, in comparison, take some getting used to…!!

Bariloche has a very European feel to it....!! This was taken at sundown from the balcony... At 9.30 pm...!!

At “1004”, men and women share the same room…!! In many other hostels, they are housed in separate rooms, whether you are a couple or not…!! This unisex arrangement can lead to some embarrassing moments, as you might imagine…!!

The days here in Patagonia are longer than normal, and even though I arrived after 6.00pm, the sun was still beating down, and I was sweating profusely… A long cold shower got that problem out of the way, and then I sat chatting to many people who are already booked in here…

Annie, the Swedish assistant who works here, checked in seven years ago, and hasn’t left…!!

Bariloche has that effect on some people… I would like to linger here for a few days, but I feel I haven’t ridden hard enough yet to give myself a few days off…!! That time will no doubt come in the long days ahead…!!

The view that greeted me this morning...!! The volcanic ash is being blown to the east of here, but the wind will turn later this afternoon and send it all this way... The view then will disappear completely...!!

From inside the common area, the view is just as special....!!

©GBWT 2012