Day 9 - Guanaco's & Estancia

This place speaks to me.

It says volumes for the wild places, for the commitment of the peoples, their love, hard work, trial and family. The are also eye wateringly beautiful. 

We are at the incredible ranch, Estancia Al Angastoura in the very heart of Patagonia. It would be called a sheep station in Australia, with land as far as the eye can see totalling more tha 27,000 acres. That is a medium size by Argentinian standards. 

Our day started in the tiny town of Perito Mereno, named after a famous Chilean who worked out where the border was going to be, between Chile and Argentina. This saved a lot of battles time and worry for the officials. Our road headed up the hill out of town, when I remembered that I had left my GoPro batteries back in the room, plugged into a high power point on the wall where the TV was normally anchored. So I returned and chased down the mob. Generally the roads out here are very good, and average speeds of 140km/hr are quite common with higher speeds possible, until the "Baches" signs are seen - they are potholes of great depth and severity and everyone slows to a literal crawl. In our case it is to save our bike rims! A replacement here is US$2500 each.

At one point JC observes a family of Llama (called Guanaco's here) when suddenly and very un-expectedly the male charges across the road and misses him by just inches. I am riding right behind and am sure there is going to be a might crash. But no, he survives. Guanacos are clever and I have never seen a carcas on the road, so I think this was a rare instance. 

We are headed south as always, and now more than half way to Ushuaia. For coffee we stop at a very old hotel made very famous by Chalie Boorman and crew, on their "Long Way Up" movie trip. Here attached to the side wall are two motorcycle charging stations - probably used by them and no one else ever! The stone building is called Bajo Caracoles and is quite an interesting joint. The coffee is not bad but not great either.

We ride further into the Patagonian plains and I stop to take various photos, videos and to pee. I absolutely love it here and could have sat by the road just looking at the view for an hour or so. After a couple of hours we reach the 43km turnoff to the Estancia and a batch of gravel road  (called ripio) that has me at my best concentration, as it is the toughest yet for me. I strain with fierce concentration and all my strength to manage it. At one point on a hill there is a car in my path, with the owners changing their tire in the wind and sun. I MUST move across to another rut, and do so with a wild tank-slapper wobble that very nearly sends me off my bike into the dust. But I am VERY determined to stay upright and I do. I am every so pleased with my slightly improving gravel-riding skills. 

Eventually we turn off again and head down into the valley where the ranch sits behind a small hill. It is over a 100 years old, and we stay in the old house, with the family residing in a new one next door. It is a real working farm, with all the cats and dogs and horses that you would expect. Also the solar panels and microwave tower that gives me access to the internet and the ranchers, to safety. As you would expect, the kitchen is huge with multiple fridges, supplies of gas bottles outside and all the implements that you would expect in a remote location. I absolutely love it. 

In one of the little sheds next door, the son has killed a lamb and has skinned it for our dinner plus hung it as you do. This is going to be a great night, so I open a bottle of the local Riserva Malbec. Perfect. 

Day 8 - Meeting more Compass Riders

Every day riding in South America is a new adventure. And this was to be no different. 

Our plan was to ride on the sealed road due south in Argentina, along the border near to Chile, but to start early to avoid the winds that start blowing from the SW around lunch time. We left at 08:00am which was earlier than some wanted but turned out to be a good idea. For JC, this was to be a "long boring day" of 590 km, as he had ridden it all before. For us it was all new and fascinating.

The forest (Bosque) gives way to wide treeless savanna type country, with gentle hills and some mountains in the distance. This is the Patagonia that I dreamed about, with the snow covered peaks to come further south. It was decidely cooler today, and my wearing long underwear was an excellent idea. I also tried out my new gloves from Sian and Sheryle. 

We stopped a couple of times for fuel and a Cortado coffee (like a macciato with slightly more milk) but eventually reached a road-house where another Compass party of 27 was stopped, waiting for us to join them for a picnic lunch set up around the trucks. It was delightful in full sun and no wind. When I stopped, one guy ran over to say he could not believe he was seeing an ACT Registration plate in Argentina! (As he had worked in Canberra). The others knew each other from BMW clubs and rallies, and they were coming from the south, so we compared notes on the organisation of the rides and gravel roads, as you do!

The road surface had been very good, so we sped along up to this point, but soon after the road-house there were lots of potholes (Baches in Spanish) and they were serious in size and number. On another trip, riders had destroyed the front rims on their bikes, so we took it easy, dodging the holes and often riding on little bridges of tar, barely 10cm wide between the baches. 

At one point JC had his Mobile Phone blown clean off his bike in a gust, and it was destroyed on the side of the road. So he will be looking for a fast replacement from Paraguay!

Soon they cleared and we raced along at about 140km/hour, until JC pulled over on some gravel on a shoulder and I did too, and dropped my bikedown a hill! A group of Brazillian riders also on BMWs came along and picked it up very easily. All they wanted in exchange was a little petrol for one rider, which we quickly provided. No harm was done to me and nothing to the bike thank god. 

Soon we had covered the long distance and were in the small town of Perito Mereno, named after an Argentinian who surveyed and planned the agreed border between Chile and Argentina, quite a task as they had been arguing over it for years. 

We go further south tomorrow and that includes some 30km of gravel, but the harder stuff is the day after that.

Day 7 - Serious Gravel to Esquel

 Now we are heading into Patagonia proper. The mountains are incredible.

Patagonia's Pata means big-foot in the local language. Prior to 1900 no westerners had come here, including the SPanish, but the Welsh came first and built homes and had particularly good relationships with the locals. One is a pub just nearby to the homestead which was Butch Cassidy's hideout before he was almost discovered. When warned he escaped north to Bolivia and was killed in a shootout. We visited his house here.

Our next outing was 43km of rough gravel road through the national park which initially I was dreading. After a few miles, I got the hang of it, and actually enjoyed most of it, having removed the panniers from my bike and reduced the tyre pressures, plus put it in "Enduro" mode. About two thirds of the way down the track, I was stung by a bee on the back of my neck which was quite a distraction for a few hours!

We have stopped in the tiny but beautiful town of Esquel after some sensational riding on curvy roads, plus magnificent scenery. It is not possible to describe how magnificent it is.

Day 6 Bariloche

We had this one day in Bariloche and many riders took the time to do some washing and catch up with personal things.

We rode around a prepared route from JC, and particularly enjoyed the castle that was made famous by Hitlers henchmen, called Ya Ya but spelt Llau Llau about 20km to the south. We had coffee in the huge building and a tour.

It was built in 1938, burnt down 15 months later and rebuilt by the Argentinian Government but financed by the Nazis. On a hill-top it is truly spectacular. 

Our guide told us that her grandfather had met Hitler after WWII at "El Chaco" a local villa just nearby. Who knows the truth. 

Day 5 - Argentina!

 Day 5 was to be an epic, with more "Wows" than you can imagine. Our route took us out of Pucon Chile, and up the beautiful curves on a perfect sealed surface to the Argentinian border, then onto San Carlos de Bariloche - generally shortened to Bariloche.

The first hour was incredible riding, the best of the trip so far, and the border crossing (the first of 13) was made easy and short, but the very helpful preparation and guidance of Willy. Officially Argentina will not allow a "guide" without two years of requests and paperwork, so JC went ahead as a regular tourist. Obviously you need to exit customs and immigation on the Chilean side, then ride 400m with our spare tyres loosly strapped on the back, then go through immigration and customs on the Argentinian side. The only hiccup, was the nice lady who wanted to confiscate our (huge) pile of spare tyres, as "they collect water and mosquitos so they are a risk to the population from Dengue Fever!" Easy peasy overall after this was fixe, except that the new road was bumpy gravel which extended for 17km and so I took it very easy, not wishing to dump the heavy bike in the middle of the road. Dust was everywhere especially from passing cars.

Argentina is different. It is not as wealthy and the money situation is weird. Credit cards are not often accepted but the largest cash note is 1000 Pesos, about a dollar so everyone is carrying around vast quantities of paper money.

Anyway the ride was brilliant, and took us around the Siete Lagos, the seven lakes of the Argentinian Lakes District! It is truly beautiful in every direction across the lakes and up to the mountains some with snow. We stopped for lunch in Saint Martin, of which we all very pleased. It had been tiring. I must say that the planned stops are just perfect in timing and location, all learnt from last years event. In this case we sat on a verandah and took in the view across the lake with the little yachts floating in front. 

The incredible riding continued around hundreds of corners and we stopped at times for photos of the views. My iPhone is now playing up as the gyro sensor cannot deal with the vibration on the handle bars and so I am carrying it closed in my jacket. Too late?

Bariloche is beautiful. It is reknowned as the town that the Nazi High Command came to both before and after the second world war and there is a magnificent house where they stayed. For the consipiracy theorists, this is where Hitler finally hid out after his exit from Europe. 

Here at the "best hotel in Baroloche" an NHN called Nahuel Huapi, we have small rooms and no airconditioning, but I am not complaining. I was to sleep soundly. but first we had to change money for our few weeks in Argentina, so $400 turned into hundreds of thousands of Pesos and piles of paper, changed in the hotel with the head of the Italian Mafia, Pablo - as you do. He is Mr Fixit here, having got a past Compass traveller out of jail on a Sunday, normally an impossible task!

The restaurants are all European in style and we at a first class steak at Weis Restauant and Rahn and I had a magnificent bottle of Malbec of course. It was a 2017, cost about $50 and was truly excellent. 

Tomorrow, we have a few fix its to fix including getting some paperwork that Homer left behind and getting tyres changed on Rahn's bike as they are nealy through to the threads! Then a ride. 

Day 4 - Enduro Mode

 Day three saw us staying in Pucon (pronounced with a hard C), the "adventure sports capital" of Chile. Here there is much mountain biking, ziplining, rafting and horse riding undertaken by all and sundry as it is in Queenstown NZ.

We decided to take a recommended ride of 140 km around the mountain lakes, and ended up at Lake Caburgua where the trials for the Chile Olympic triathalon team were underway, resulting in a long wait for traffic on the way into town. It was a perfect summers day for swimming, running and cycling. As for other places, everyone wanted to talk about our bikes, and one young lady a "chico" of about 8, wanted to sit on a bike, so we all took photos of course. She was a delight and gave us all chewing gum, provided by her adoring mother. The chileans are overall family orientated people and very relaxed.

After the lake, we headed up a winding gravel road towards three waterfalls. On recommendation from Paul, I put the bike into "enduro" mode, one of four on the BMW, the others being road, rain and dynamic. Modern bikes are run by fancy software that provides ABS, traction control, hill start control and many other things, that can be an advantage on a sealed road, but not on washboard gravel. In Enduro mode, ALL of these are turned off, so you are back riding a bike  where you CAN lock up the back wheel and manage it as a good rider must. And this is important on a switchback mountain road to the falls (Sala). 

There was a 4000 peso fee to enter but it was well worth it. Rahn and I then walked up a steep track to the other two falls and took photos. The forest was spectacular.

On return we tried to ride to another set of falls, on a very dusty and loose-gravel road, but after a few kilometres, returned, filled with gasolina and had a chicken hamburger and a beer for lunch. Now for Siesta.

Day 3: Vamanos! (Lets go boys)

 I fianally managed to get a good nights sleep in Chile - all 6 hours of it. 

And that despite waking at 1:47am and talking to Sheryle on the phone as mentioned. Today's Desayno breakfast did not start until 8am and finished at 9, so I had plenty of time to prepare before our 303km ride to Pucon, a spectacular tourist town in the mountains beside lake Villaricca, a favourite holiday spot for many Chileans as I was to find out when I went for a swim.

About 27 km before we reached the classic hotel on the Lake, we stopped on the other side for lunch to revel in the sight of a perfect vulcano cone also called Viallarrica. We decided to climb it tomorrow. However the gods did not agree and it started smoking from the caldera in the afternoon. Climb is off!

So we stopped our perfect hotel, and I put some washing in, went shopping for water etc, had my clothes washed and waited for Paul to deliver two new speciality power adapters, which he did. Wonderful mate.

I ate tea alone as Rahn could not find my pin, and enjoyed my first very alcoholic Pisco Sour and a Salmon Navarra - one of the best pieces I have eaten in ages. And now to sleep as tomorrow we stay here another day and maybe go to the Piscina Caliente (hot springs!).