| Location: | Fuetalufu |
Leaving Santiago we have two days on the Pan Am to move the whole game south. The first night we stay at Salto De Lajo, where someone appears to have installed a not so mini Niagra Falls outside our cabins. On to Osorno where we are all fitting knobbly tyres at Moto Aventure Chile for the long stretches of dirt and gravel roads to come. This is a BMW hire bike company with a fleet of 40 R1200, 800 and 650 GS's, so if ever you are in Chile and want one...
“It'll be cold” says Kevin about the ride over the Andes back to Argentina. This turns out to be a bit of an understatement. The ride to the border is cold, very cold, and as we approach the border we see a snow plough coming the other way covered in snow. We should have taken this as a warning! We pass out of Chile but have 30 miles to go to the Argentinian side. This, for 15 miles has 2-3 inches of snow settled on the road! We pass a man fitting snow chains and a Mack truck stuck in the snow wheel spinning and going nowhere. It is very cold and slippery. When we get to the Argentinian side the customs ladies look out their window and laugh at us. This tells us a lot.
We ride on into the Argentine lake district. It's like Windermere and Scarfell Pike on growth hormones. What in the UK lasts for minutes, here lasts for hundreds of kilometres. “I fancy a cheese and ham toasty and a coffee” says one rider at a stop and at the end of the road we come across an alpine lodge. The menu includes “Queso y Jamon sandwiche tostada” Excellent!
San Martin Los Andes is a lake front town where many riders have their first taste of Patagonian Lamb, which is barbecued over a real fire in the restaurant windows. The next day has an optional dirt side road. It has among the best views of the trip. Sharp edged mountains capped with frosty white snow, round hills with porcupines of fir trees, turquoise gem stone lakes with white horses, it is incredible.
It is a bad day for Andy though as he hits a pothole with a square rock at the far edge that lifts his front wheel high, flattens the tyre and trashes the wheel. It also allows the swinging arm to hit the rock before the rear wheel with disastrous results.... It snaps in two!
We have a day off on Barriloche, also known as Chocolate Town, which allows us all to prepare for Ruta 40 and Carreterra Austral. We have over 1000 miles of dirt roads to do and we need to be fresh and energetic, or at least something close! Again we are riding to Chile and traversing the Argentinian Lake District which remains incredibly beautiful. Lake, Mountain. Lake. Lake, Mountain, but you can't get jaded as each corner brings a new vista that takes your breath away. We cross the border at a shed at the end of 40 miles of gravel at which the guards are very friendly and relaxed. Their chubby tabby cat is highly furr'ed and needs to be at these temperatures. A whole seven kilometres later we arrive at Fuetalufu. A frontier town with a nice grassed central square and little else. The hostel is log construction with high ceilings, an unusual collection of old tills and typewriters and a great roaring fire. Perfect…
