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The legendary winds of Patagonia

On the same day than my last entry, we ate a huge Asado in La Posta. Despite our best efforts and that of few experienced Asado eaters, there was plenty of meat left!
The following day was blazing hot. I woke up early and had to get up by 8am. The sun was shining on my side of the tent and I was overheating. We didn't do much that day, just reading few books left there by previous travellers.

One book that particularly impressed me during my stay at La Posta was ''A short history of progress'', by Wright. An incredibly gripping and fascinating short book. I recommended it to Alistair who read it in a day, which is unusual for him! I won't describe  what the book is about, it's easy to check in Amazon. Just read it! It gave me plenty to think about!

We decided to leave the following day. I was fearing the hot weather, riding with full motorcycle gear in such heat is not pleasant! However as we woke up late that day, there were dark clouds on the sky and the weather had turned rather chilly. We packed up slowly. Our next destinatioon was Tandil, only 85kms away, so there was no rush. We had lunch with Sebastian and hesitated whether to wait for Pollo to come back from his 1st job, at 3pm. As the weather looked like  turning to rain, we decided to leave without further delay. We promised Monica to do our best to be back for the 5th of March,for Pollo's 50th birthday, made our goodbyes to Sebastian and rode off.
We arrived quickly in Tandil, a small town surrounded by beautiful hills. We turned a bit in and out of town, to check out the cabanas, but it was way beyond our budget or fully booked. That's when we realised that some international sporting event would be held here over the weekend. Back in town we found a completely deserted camping and managed to pitch our tent before the rain came. Unfortunately we pitched it under a tree that seemed to be home to 2 big birds. They had a good shot as we found out the next day. Some BIG colourful droppings decorated one side of the tent!
After setting camp and having a quick shower, we wandered into town for dinner. We came back rather wet as the rain turned very heavy.
Coming back we found Alistair's bike covered by a big plastic sheet. One of the camp administrators had kindly covered the bike to protect the sheepskin from the rain.

The next day we used the plastic sheet to protect the tent from the birds dropping, once the rain stopped. We were still alone in the site, and we were given the keys of the showers. Campsites in Argentina tend to lock the showers at night or most of the time if there are few guests only, to stop people from the outside using them for free!
The hills around Tandil are really good for hiking, but we have been unable to do any good trekking as we both have various aches and pains. Alistair due to a football injury 8 months ago, that does not seem to heal. For me a problem with my sciatic nerve as a result of spending long hours sitting in a cramped position on the bike. So we are both occasionally groaning and limping like a couple of old folks. We did a couple of excursions on the bikes to see the sierra and also a nature reserve just out of town which had pumas among other things. Also the weather was very cold and wet. On saturday the campsite filled with day visitors. All campings in Argentina seem to have big brick barbecues built all over the site. Families come to spend the day there, do big Asados, with the comfort of stone tables and chairs, toilets etc... Some even pitch a tent for the day so that they can sleep the siesta after lunch!

In the evening most left but we had a bit of company in the campsite overnight for the first time.  It had been a bit spooky having the whole place to ouselves at night. We went to town for dinner and spotted some of those international athletes having dinner at the same café as us. No clue what the competion was about as we left town the following day. We were going back to the atlantic coast. Near the very trendy and expensive Mar del Plata (which if I remember the movie was the 1st stop of Che Guevara after leaving Buenos Aires!)  there is a smaller town called Miramar.

We arrived there early afternoon and as usual stopped in a main square. We had not seen any hotels around and were discussing which way to go when a man started talking to us. Jorge had seen us and parked his car further down the street to check if we were ok. With him was his tiny and very shy 3-year old daughter Trinidad. As we asked him where we could find hotels, he offered to take us around to few places. He even called few friends to check where we could find hotels in our price range. So we followed Jorge and his daughter around town to various places, to settle finally in the 1st one we checked. We got the price down from 100 to 90 pesos (around 28USD), more than what we normally like to pay, but after 7 days camping we needed a bed. Jorge gave us his details and invited us to his house for an asado. We thanked him and got sorted in the hotel. We were dying for a shower, as the weather had once again turned blazing hot!

After that we went for a late lunch and a walk in town. On our return the owner stopped us and told us that Jorge had brought us 2 bicycles for us to use during our stay in town. We decided to pay him a visit to thank him for the bicycles and his house was only 10 minutes walk. We met his wife Lucila and his 2 other daughters, 7 months old (obviously not identical) twins! We spent a long time chatting. We asked him whether he knew any physios in town and he told us he would investigate and drop details at the hotel next day.

On Monday we found the tourist information office and asked the addresses of cheaper hotels. If we were to stay longer in town we would need to move. Meanwhile Jorge had dropped a note at our hotel regarding the physio, as well as an invitation for dinner. We went to the physio to book a session for the next day.
That day we also filled a bag of laundry and took it to a laundry shop. Luxury of luxuries! We normally do our laundry ourselves in hotel sinks or in campsite washing facilities. We can buy big bars of soap that are specifically to wash clothes by hand and they are very good. However the last few days we had been unable to do any washing, and I wanted to get some stuff cleaned in a machine.

In the evening we went to Jorge's house. There we also met with Gaby, an english teacher. She is going to England later this month to further study english, in what is here the summer break. The school year ends in December in this side of the planet! We look forward to her feedback and impressions about the strange little Island of Britain!
We were only expecting take-away pizza but Jorge had seen some fresh fruit and veg in town so prepared a pasta dish with asparagus and home-made pesto sauce with tasty strawberries and cherries for desert.  It turned out that Jorge used to be a chef and it showed.  It was one of the best meals we had had in all our time in South America.  Simple but delicious.

The next day, we had our sessions with the physio. His treatment brought great relief to my pains on the leg and lower back, although less for Alistair football injury. I decided I needed a 2nd session. For 20 pesos a session (under 7 USD) it was definitely worth it!
In the afternoon we went cycling a bit and took back the bicycles to Jorge's house, as we would move hotel the next morning. We were invited to meet his mother. We met with a beautiful woman in her late 50s or early 60, with piercing blue eyes and delicate very 50s style blond hair. She looked very much like one of those holiwood 1950's movie stars.  She also spoke near perfect french and english. I was very impressed. I forgot to mention that Jorge too spoke excellent english.  We had tea on the lawn then moved inside for a couple of beers.  We had only intended to stay for a few minutes but ended up staying until 10pm.

The following day we moved to a much cheaper hotel. They were renovating the place before the summer but were still open. We were the only guests. When leaving from the other hotel, the owner stopped Alistair just before he left and gave him a hat for me, saying it was for when we got down south as it is really cold in Patagonia! I felt a bit guilty moving hotel as they were so charming there, but really we can't spend that much all the time! That same day I had a 2nd session with the physio that helped greatly with my sciatic problem, although I will need more sessions when I can find another physio.

In the afternoon we met Gaby walking in town. We had discussed with her and Jorge the possibility of us doing a presentation about our trip in a school. No doubt the kids would have been impressed, seeing us turning up on 2 big bikes. Unfortunately it was end of year exams this week and the head teacher refused. It would have been possible the following week but we could not wait that long. So the next day we packed and stopped at Jorge's house to say goodbye and drop off some chocolates as a thank you for their hospitality. Jorge was out but we met Lucila. Maybe we will meet them somewhere during the holiday season. Would be great!

We then got on the road and had a long day's ride, south, to the hill town of Sierra de la Ventana. We pitched our tent at the campsite in the entrance of town. We were careful not to pitch it under a tree this time! The campsite was packed with 70 teenagers and their teachers. We were told they would leave the next day. I was glad to hear that as I observed the never ending queues by the showers!  We decided to go for dinner and hoped the showers would be free by the time we got back. It had been a very hot day. Indeed the next day they left in the afternoon and once again we had the campsite to ourselves.

The next day I had a long conversation with the lady who owned the camping. She just bought the site and had lots of projects. Alistair tells me that people love to come up to me and tell me the story of their life! I must admit it happens often but then I speak spanish and people here are very welcoming.

Another day, walking in town we started talking to a woman on her doorstep. She invited us indoor to note our website address and gave us her business card in case we went to Bahia Blanca, where she lived. Most interesting lady, once again. Her business card described her as a ''national public story teller''. Whatever that may be sounds interesting! She was very enthusiastic about our trip. Her younger son was a keen biker and traveller and she was trying to encourage him to follow his dreams. She used to have 4 sons, but one of them died burnt alive in a terrible accident, few years earlier. Her younger son was inconsolable since. I told her about the international motorcycle travellers meeting in Viedma, held on the 8th and 9th of December, and she noted the details. She insisted that we contact her if we ever go to Bahia Blanca.
I hope her son can make it to Viedma!

During our stay in town, we were adopted by a couple of dogs.  They followed us everywhere, to the shops, for walks in the hills, slept under the table when we ate, they even followed us to the showers. One dog in particular that we called Scruffy, was with us all the time, even sleeping against the tent overnight.  He didn't seem to want food , just a bit of attention.  Unfortunately, the day we bought him a bag of dogfood, he left the campsite. Alistair saw him few times round town but he did not come back. In a way it made our departure easier, it would have been difficult to say goodbye! If it had been possible we'd have dognapped him and taken him with us!
One morning we visited an ''Ecopark''. Not too much there but they had few interesting birds and animals and we had a game of crazy golf, ping-pong and pool.  Everything was in such poor condition it was a lottery who won.

Since Brazil we have seen so many amazing birds. I was never that interested in birds before, but here, there are so many species, they are so colourful, so spectacular, it is difficult not to turn into a bird watcher! Unfortunately they are very difficult to photograph! We have a long lense but it hasn't proved much good without a tripod. In term of wildlife we are now seeing a lot more: armadillos, giant lizards or iguanas (huge!), even last night we saw a small marsupial. I can't remember the name I was told, but it looked like a small badger, it climbed to a tree and disappeared.

We spent 4 nights in the camping. The only annoying thing was the amount of bugs and mosquitoes. We had many vicious bites that were really itchy! One night we found 2 biggish spiders in the tent. Alistair killed them quickly. Funny enough he was freaking out more than me about it (because they were on my side of the tent - and didn't want them falling on me when sleeping - Alistair). Though terrified of spiders at home, I'm pragmatic and expect the odd creepy crawly in campings.  After all, nature is their domain. I wouldn't like to find a tarantula in the tent though, mainly because it is too big to be squashed. Can you squash a tarantula with a motorcycle boot?

On Monday 3rd we left. As you may notice we are travelling slowly these days. Well, we are waiting for the Viedma meet this weekend. We are close now. Actually, leaving Sierra de la Ventana, the only spot of interest before Viedma was a small fishing village, 100 kms north of Viedma, famous for shark fishing. That's where we were heading.

Around 2 pm that day, we stopped in a non-descript town. Now you must understand that in Argentina, absolutely everything closes between 1 and 5pm.  A bit like Spain. We were hungry and looking for a place to eat. Under bright sunshine we rode through empty dusty gravelly streets. The only noise being our bikes, the wind blowing in the very rare trees, empty plastic bags or litter rolling, maybe the clomping of a horse pulling a cart...
We found a place to eat (the only one in town open). Now the game starts. What do you have for lunch? The waitress tells me there is a choice of 3 dishes that are served everywhere in Argentina. Cost? She pretends she doesn't know, goes to the back to check. I can feel how they try to evaluate how much they can get away with... 2 gringos, on 2 expensive bikes... She comes back with a price. Overpriced, but it's the only place open. We order a milanesa to share. Coming with chips, and some water. When the bill comes they charge for the chips on top of the price quoted so it's even more expensive. Even the water was extortionate. Thieves!  There is NO WAY that a local is going to pay that much for that meal, especially in a piss pot little town like that! We pay and leave, I wish them bad Karma! That sort of thing happens from time to time.   Annoying, not that we can't afford it, just that we don't like being ripped off.  It's all part of travelling....

The road to Bahia San Blas, our fishing village, involves 58 kms of gravel road. We are doing fine now on that sort of surface. It is tricky as the gravel can be very loose sometimes. Well we'd better get used to it as Ruta 40, that we will have to follow on the way up through the Andes, is only gravel, not paved. Only few thousands kms then!
Now that I've lost so much weight (in term of lugagge!) at the back, the bike handles much better on the loose. I carry only about 15kgs including topbox, while before, with my panniers, maybe 40kgs. It makes a massive difference as now my front wheel is gripping the ground rather that barelly touching it!

We are finally in Patagonia. The northern bit. To get to Ushuaia we still have about 2,500kms to go. Yup! That's a long way! Patagonia is BIG. I bet Europe could fit nicely in! We had only been in Patagonia for a few minutes when the wind arrived.  As we rode south the wind got stronger. The winds of Patagonia are legendary, strong enough to push a heavy vehicule off the road. It will be interesting by motorbike! Anyone we ask locally comfirms the legend and we've been advised to leave at 5am and only ride until lunchtime to avoid it! Argh!

We are planning to be in Ushuaia for Christmas, which means that after Viedma, we will need to travel fast. Down Ruta 3, along the Atlantic coast, on a mainly paved road, we will still visit some fascinating places. Petrified forests, amazing wildlife, more dinosaures and hopefully see our first penguins... Not sure we'll make it to Antarctica.  Especially as one of the locally operated boats has just sunk. At one point (until the reservation fell through) we were provisionally booked to leave on that very boat on the 9th December - lucky it fell through.
The journey continues, and we are taking you with us... So stay tuned!

PS. we will upload the corresponding photos in this post in the next few days! Give us some time and opportunity to find good internet connection!

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