Choose another map, showing:

• South America (south)
• South America
• The World

Other entries in Puerto Tranquilo

Tough roads ahead!

We ended up staying a full week in Punta Arenas, waiting for my tyres to arrive from Santiago!
As usual in such case, we took the opportunity to sort out few things, update the blog and website, catch up with emails, change the oil on both bikes, etc...

The hostal was really nice, but like many hostals it was a converted family house, which means there was only 1 bathroom! One day a group of 15 chileans turned up and took possession of the bathroom until 2 am and started again at 5am! It was unbelievable!

During our stay, we were reunited with few bikers friends from Ushuaia or Viedma: Pete and Carol from Canada; Ken and Carol from Oz and Uschi, a german girl on a suzuki DR350. Everybody was hunting for tyres, and as we kept going to MotoEscar to check if mine had arrived, we kept meeting everybody there!

One day we all went on excursion to Otway Sound, a big penguin colony. They were everywhere and very tame. We were able to get very close to them as the youngs were very curious of people and would get very close. The mothers however were keeping an eye on things and would open a big menacing wide beak if we tried to touch their kids! 

We also went all around town, trying to find some saddle bags for my bike. For some stretches of Ruta 40, we had been advised to carry extra fuel, food and water, as we would be riding through very deserted areas for long distances. Unfortunately, there was only enduro gear in motorcycles shops!

Finally, on Monday 14th afternoon my tyre arrived! It was time to say goodbye to Gonzalo, the helpful owner of Motoescar workshop and chilean champion of enduro and motocross!  We took the tyre to a tyre fitting shop, where for only 2 USD they fitted the new tyre, using the most modern equipment we´d seen since leaving the UK!

In the evening we went for dinner with all our biker friends. Most were also leaving the next day as well. Uschi was going straight to Torres del Paine Park (I warned about her shoes!), Pete and carol were planning to stop at Puerto Natales, Ken and Carol would wait for their tyres, as for us we were planning to get back to Argentina.

Back at the hostel, it was time to goodbye to all the cats that seemed to spend their lives in the parking area. One morning 2 lovely kittens appeared and would not leave the bikes, either sleeping on the seats or on the top boxes. Then there was a black tomcat, who twice peed on my bike seat (!) and would never leave the place, despite being chased out regularly by Betty, the hostal owner! Then there was Mona, the house cat, so stupid, she would watch everyday as the neighbour's cat (a big pregnant female) sneaked into the house and stole her kitekat.

So on Tuesday morning, we were ready to go. It took us half a day to get to the border. The crossing was probably not much used by independants travellers as I had to explain to the custom officer, on the argentinian side, how to do her job! Among useless Chilean/Argentinian forms to fill, I spotted the sheet that we normally fill. So after 15 minutes of confusion, I filled the correct documents and left. It was a long day ride, almost 600 kms with constant wind. We arrived at 8pm to El Calafate, where , by chance, we found 2 bunk beds in a  dormitory. The town is so awashed by tourists during the summer that it is notoriously difficult to find accommodation.

Not too keen on those touristics towns, we left the next morning to get to the national park. We were told at the tourist info that there was a nice campsite by the lake. Unlike Torres del Paine, prices were reasonable. You didn't feel that they were trying to squeeze the last penny out of you. We had a nice wander around the lake in the afternoon and as there was electricity we were able to have our pot noodles for dinner.  In the evening we wandered down to the lake again and this time were kept company by a big group of horses.  They were very curious and Alistair's trick (learned from some TV program or other) of breathing loudly out of your nose at them seemed to do the trick and they came really close and reciprocated!

The next morning we packed slowly and by midday, we rode out to Perito Moreno Glacier. This is one of the rare glaciers that is actually still moving.  It groans and pops and occasionally a chunk of ice will fall off and float away as an iceberg.  By then it was mid-afternoon, and we decided to ride to El Calafate and spend another night there.

As we came into town, in the high street, someone made us big signs. It was Sebastian. We met him about 10 days ago in Torres del Paine Park,as we were leaving. We thought he was way ahead of us by now. We stopped to catch up. He had left the other germans he was travelling with, as he had to come back to El CAlafate to pick up tyres that he got sent up from Buenos Aires. After deciding to meet him at the campsite, we rode round town trying to find accommodation. All was full. We decided to go to the camping where Sebastian and few other bikers were staying. After getting sorted and watching Sebastian change his tyres, we went for an early dinner. Our lunch had consisted of an apple and few nuts, so we treated ourselves with a big pizza!

The next day we packed slowly once again as we had not far to go, although half would be unpaved and bumpy. El Chalten was only 125km away and used to be an Estancia (ranch) that grew up to the size of a small village, due to its location. The place is popular for hiking and is growing fast. Unfortunately for the time being the town is like a giant construction site, with unpaved gravelly streets, big construction trucks all over the place, digging or making a mess of the streets, and buildings mushrooming all over the place in the most anarchic way. The constant wind making a nightmare of the place with constant clouds of dust all over the place.

We found a backpacker place with 2 bunk beds free in a 4 bed dormitory. We shared it with 2 quiet italian guys for 2 nights. The hostal was not too bad, as it had 2 shared bathrooms!  However, in the morning it was the usual circus to get in the bathrooms! I have the precaucion on that sort of place to use the toilet before 7am, as I know there is no chance I will be able to get in again until late morning. Now I ask you, what on earth are some people doing in there that takes so long? How can they be so slow for a shower? Anyway, after a nice day hiking in the mountains, not losing my shoes this time, we had an early night and woke up early the next morning, to beat everyone in the bathroom and have a quiet breakfast.

Ruta 40 is legendary. It extends from north to south of Argentina, over 4000kms, of usually rough road. Most of it is now paved or being paved but some challenging stretches remain in Patagonia. We were about to find out.

We had already been following ruta 40 since El Calafate, sometimes on unpaved road, but the tough time was about to come. Leaving El Chalten it was a short ride to Tres Lagos. We were planning to spend the night there. The road turns to ripio (loose stones/gravel) a few miles before and we had to get prepared for what was ahead. Betweeen Tres Lagos and the next fuel station in Bajo Caracoles, 250 miles away, we had been warned to take extra fuel, water and food as it was very deserted. We found a pleasant little empty camping in Tres Lagos.

All enquiries I made regarding the road between Tres Lagos and Bajo Caracoles turned more or less the same way:
- Is there something in between?
- Nothing, there is nothing on that road.
- What, not even a fuel station?
- Nothing, there is nothing on that road.
- What, not even a kiosko for food and drinks?
- Nothing, there is nothing on that road.
- What not even a camping or hotel?
- Nothing, there is nothing on that road.
- So, there is nothing on that road?
- That's right, there is nothing on that road!

Tres Lagos was basically a 2 streets village with unfriendly people. The gravel dusty streets were deserted and the only noise was the wind and the dogs barking constantly. There didn't seem to be many places to eat. One house advertised itself as a restaurant, so I knocked at the door. A grumpy woman pushed a bit the net curtain of the window and looked at me through the glass. From her stare, it was like she was looking at some sort of alien from outer space! I asked if the place was open for lunch or dinner, pointing at the sign outdoor, but her expression was a give away! We would not get any food there! As I walked away I could feel her stare on my back! Alistair had a similar experience at another ''restaurant'' (Flopy!). As there was a small shop near our camping, we decided to buy some food and make sandwiches. Also the camping had many cherry trees so Alistair spent most of day day eating cherries!
We had bought a big salami and cheese in El Chalten, so with some bread and apples we had plenty to survive for few days!

In the afternoon we went to the fuel station to fill the bikes and also filled our 2 extra fuel canisters. We were lucky that the fuel station had fuel. We were told that the previou day, lots of travellers had to camp in the camping, waiting for the fuel truck to arrive!
Discussing with the camping guardian, and confirmed by a french family that stopped for lunch in our camping, the distance bewteen Tres LAgos and Bajo caracoles was of 215 miles, not 250. Our map was wrong, once again!

The following morning we packed early and left by 10. The road was rough, bumpy and with lots of loose stones. With the bikes, it was essential to remain on the cars wheels' tracks, where the road was hard, in bewteen lines of high loose gravel. Riding over the high loose gravel would send the bikes out of control. The difficulty was the wind, and as we woke up that morning the wind was fairly strong, so manouvering on the road was difficult and a constant struggle, fighting constantly to keep the bikes within the narrow wheel track.

 By lunch time we had only made 55 miles, and came accross an estancia ( ranch) that advertised food and camping on a board. We stopped there for a very salty sandwich.

After that the wind calmed down a bit and it got hotter as the day went. We decided to continue as far as possible and try to find an area sheltered from the wind to camp in the evening. The landscape was flat and semi-desert. We pressed on. By mid-afternoon we came across major road works that sent us on a detour trail, dusty, sandy, bumpy for nearly 60 miles. We could not see any sign of improvement as the heavy vehicules seemed to make a huge mess of the road! Soon enough Ruta 40 will be entirely paved. I had mixed feeling on this. Given the choice I would choose tarmac any time. However, once ruta 40 is fully paved it will be the end of the legend. What challenge on riding Ruta 40 then?  Tarmac, soon followed by McDonald and Carrefour, Ruta 40 will become only another long flat windy boring road like ruta 3. Definitely the end of the legend.

Apart from few road workers, guanacos and rheas, we could not see much evidence of life. We crossed many cattle grids but barely saw a couple of sheep running away and some horses in the entire day! By late afternoon, we could not find any place to camp that would be sheltered from the wind so we decided to continue. By 8pm, exhausted, we finally saw few houses far away. That was it. If you expected a village, you are wrong! The place is barely an expensive fuel station/grocery store/hostel/camping/bar/restaurant!

After being offered 2 bunk beds in a shed that had 8 bunk beds, we decided to pitch the tent  instead. We did not fancy to share a tiny dormitory with 8 people! After such a long riding day, on a challenging road, we were exhausted. We ate a couple of sandwiches at the fuel station/restaurant/shop/bar etc... And went to sleep.

The next day was the 22d of January, my birthday! Originally we thought to go on excursion to an archeological site, Cueva de las manos, which has 9000 year old cave painting, then come back and spend the night there before getting back on Ruta 40. However, considering the place, we did not fancy spending another night there. We decided to pack up, visit the caves, come back and ride all the way to the small village of Perito Moreno. We packed and went to refuel. Unfortunately it coincided with the arrival of various tourist buses.  We had to wait a long time that all tourists were served in the shop before an old grumpy sod came to serve us fuel!

Now let me tell you, normally Argentinians are really friendly, but on this road they have been most unfriendly and miserable. But then, as Alistair pointed out to me, I would probably be the same if I had to live in such a god forsaken place! We took the road to the caves. It was awful, very stoney, lots of very bad corrugation, the bikes were getting a lot of punishment! Then we had to come back the same way. It was another long riding day. We arrived at Perito Moreno around 7pm, once again totally exhausted. Every muscle in my body ached from the corrugations, the vibrations and the physical effort involved on riding such difficult roads.
In Perito Moreno, we decided to treat ourselves to an overpriced, not too clean room, with a private bathroom. It had been a long time since we last had a room with a private bathroom, and after all, it was my birthday!

The next day we left early. No choice! In Argentina, the check out time for hotels is 10 am! I know, it's crazy! Still very tired from the previous days, we left. It was time to leave ruta 40 and join another legendary road, this time in Chile: the Carretera Austral.

The Carretera Austral had been recently extended and it was this part we wanted to ride. Our guide described that this section of the road is the wildest and most dramatic with beautiful unspoilt landscape. The 40 miles to the border were paved. The border crossing was fast but all our luggage was searched on the chilean side. Chileans are obsessive about diseases that could be imported and create havoc in their farming industry. No products from animal or vegetable origin is allowed to enter as a result. All food is removed, confiscated and burnt! We knew about this and had nothing. Considering the mess that foot and mouth and mad cow diseases cause regularly in the UK, I can't blame them! 

After the border, we took the trail that joined the Carretera Austral. It was awful for the first 10 or 20 miles. We were afraid the whole road would be like this but it got a lot better thankfully.  And our guide was right, the trail took us around lake General Carrera, which straddles the border and is the 2nd biggest lake in south America. The road climbed and twisted in the mountains, with sheer drops and spectacular views!

We had been hoping to stop soon after the border but the tiny spot on our map were just tiny settlements with no accommodation or facilities. So we continued and joined the Carretera Austral. The road was no better than Ruta 40 with some sections so stony, corrugated and big loose stones that I as fearing that the bikes would fall apart!

In the evening we arrived at a bigger settlement (can't call it a village!) where we could stay. The place had 2 expensives hostels but we found a shop that rented few rooms at a reasonable price. The place was simple but very clean, and we could even use the family kitchen.

This part of Chile is sparsely populated, difficult to access without your own vehicule and isolated from the rest of the country. The Carretera Austral has opened a bit the area to tourism, buts it still involves 100s of miles of a very rough road! Lucky enough, our off-road skills have improved significantly since Colombia, and despite having still a long way to go before getting on tarmac, we are now much more confident and can manage without too much difficulties. BUT! As usual when life is getting too easy, DISASTER was about to strike!

Don´t miss my next post to find out!

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit

Photos / videos of "Tough roads ahead!":