Chile and Argentina / Xile i Argentina

And so while driving along surrounded by volcanoes we found ourselves in Chile, and the first thing that hit us was how clean and tidy the country was and how well behaved the drivers were, a pleasant change from Bolivia and their Peruvian neighbours.

I mentre conduïm entre volcans ens trobem que som a Xile, i el primer que ens sobte es que net es el pais i que be condueixen, un bon canvi venint de Bolívia i del seu veí Perú. 

After two days into the country we both thought  Dan Walsh, the motorcycle journalist really nailed it when he said Chile was like a supermodel:  long, very thin, way to expensive to maintain and just a little bit boring! (...well, the northern half anyway). After 3 days of driving through desert and looking at nothing but sand and with boredom levels reaching melt down point we reached the capital Santiago for a few days rest after the Bolivian experience and the desert heat.

Desprès de dos dies al país vam pensar en la frase que el Dan Walsh, el periodista motorista esmena quan en el seu moment va escriu sobre Xile dient que es com una supermodel: llarga, prima, molt cara de mantenir i una miqueta avorrida! (...be, a menys la part del nord). Desprès de 3 dies de travessar desert , tot sorra i amb el nivells d’avorriment a tope arribem a la capital Santiago per uns quans dies i per poder descansar desprès de la experiència Boliviana i la calor del desert.

After that we headed south where things started to get greener and a little more interesting. Soon after we took a left turn and headed for the Argentinian border through beautiful mountanous pass via the Nahuel Huapi National Park. It was strange driving on a road and feeling quite cold with snow all along the edges when just a few days before we were driving through sand dunes and sweating our asses off, but at least it gave us a good excuse to start wearing all the warm clothes we dragged all the way from Canada!

Anem tirant cap el sud on el paisatge es van anar tornant mes verd i mes interessant.  Vam fer un gir  cap a l’esquerra i vam tirar cap a la frontera Argentina mentre conduíem a traves d’un bonic pas muntanyós pel Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. Molt estrany de conduir amb sensació de fred i al costat de carreteres plenes de neu als costats quan uns dies abans conduíem a traves de dunes de sorra i torrant-nos, però tota excusa es bona per poder començar a fer servir la tona de roba d’abric que carretejàvem a la moto des de Canada!

Spent a night in Villa Angostura and then headed for Bariloche and its beautiful  surroundings where we got the first formal introduction with the Patagonian wind.  We stayed there a bit longer than planned as Eva picked up a viral stomach bug that grounded us for an extra 2 days.  When she was up and about again we headed south to El Bolson and Trevellin and crossed back into Chile to drive a section of the Carretera Austral with its stunning scenery and the first of nearly 900Km of gravel and dirt roads. The drive was amazing from the very start: ice blue lakes, cascades, rivers, and snow capped mountains,  postcard perfect scenery, the best of Chile without a doubt!

Vam pasar la nit a Villa Angostura i desprès vam tirar cap a Bariloche i els seus bonics voltants, a on vam tenir la oportunitat de conèixer per primer cop el famós vent de la Patagonia. Vam pasar mes dies dels previstos a Bariloche ja que a Eva va enganxar un virus gastrointestinal que ens va fer parar 2 dies mes. Un cop recuperada anem tirant cap el sud a El Bolsón i Trevellin i creuem cap a Xile novament per fer un tros de la espectacular Carretera Austral xilena, el que serien quasi 900Km de vies de muntanya. El recorregut ens va encantar des de el primer moment: llacs d’aigües d’un blau cel, salts d’aigua, rius i montanyes nevades, com una postal, el mitllor de Xile sens dubte!

We left the Carretera Austral and headed for Puerto Ibañez, a small lakeside village (the second biggest lake in SouthAmerica) wich has a ferry crossing to Chile Chico,a Chilean village quite near to the border with Argentina.

Deixem la Carretera Austral i tirem cap a Puerto Ibañez, un poblet al costat del llac (el segon llac mes gran de l’amèrica del Sud) que te conexió via ferry fins a Chile Chico, un poblet Xilè molt a prop de la frontera Argentina.

Our next destination was Perito Moreno and for us it would mean the start of the infamous Ruta 40. We stocked up on food and extra fuel, a plastic gallon in each of the side tank bags...an explosion waiting to happen!

El nostre següent destí es Perito Moreno i per nosaltres això representa el començament de la infame Ruta 40. Vam comprar provisions i gasolina de reposada, dos bidonets de benzina a cada bossa lateral de la moto...una bomba sobre rodes! 

We have heard horror stories about this stretch of road like people being blown off their bike from the strong Patagonian winds. The whole road is covered in gravel, some of it deep some of it not so deep and the difficulty lies in the fact that you must keep in the tracks created by the 4 wheeled vehicles which have moved the gravel to the center and the side of the road into deep rows. That’s not so bad but when you see that the tracks are in fact only 300 to 400mm wide and with the wind constantly pushing you towards the deeper rows of gravel it wasn’t so funny anymore!! And that was when you can see the tracks, in some places the road had been graded and the gravel had been spread all over the road, so it felt like aquaplaneing on dry land! This day we put down 665Km (our longest days drive so far) but thankfully 250Km was tared. When we got to El Calafate 12 hours later we were so happy all had gone well that we felt like celebrating but after a quick bite to eat we collapsed into bed exhausted but happy.

Hem sentit històries terrorífiques sobre aquest tram de carretera com motoristes els quals se’ls ha emportat volant el fort vent Patagònic. Tota la carretera esta coberta de graveta, a uns trams mes espessa que d’altres i el que es mes dificultós per les motos es el mantenir la roda dins dels carrils creats pels vehicles de quatre rodes que van empenyent la graveta i les pedres cap al centre i costats de la carretera creant muntanyes de pedra. Això es fa mes difícil en quan de sobte aquests carrils nomes tenen uns 30 o 40mm d’amplada i el fort vent et va constantment empenyent cap a la part on hi ha mes pedra, llavors no fa gaire gràcia la cosa!! I el pitjor es quan la màquina ha passat esborrant tots els carrils i deixant la graveta estesa per tot arreu, llavors sembla que condueixis sobre l’aigua però en sec! Aquest dia vam fer 665Km (el dia de conducció mes llarg des de que vàrem començar el viatge) però gràcies a deu 250Km eren asfaltats. Quan vam arribar a El Calafate 12 hores desprès vam arribar tan contents que teníem ganes de celebrar-ho però desprès d’un sopar ràpid vam caure al llit rebentats, però feliços.

El Calafate is home to the one of the few advancing glaciers in the world, the Perito Moreno glacier, a blue monster 5Km wide and 75m high above water level, the world’s third largest water reserve! An absolutely stunning natural phenomenon, words can’t describe it, hopefully the pictures and videos can do that for us.

Prop de El Calafate hi ha un dels pocs glacials del mon que segueixen creixent, el Perito Moreno, un gegant blau de 5Km d’amplada i 75m de alçada sobre el nivell del llac!! Una meravella de la natura, indescriptible en paraules, esperem que les fotos i el video facin mes justicia. 

A couple of days ago we got back into Chile, to the town of Puerto Natales where we spend  two nights and visited the Torres del Paine National Park.

Fa un parell de dies hem tornat a passar cap a Xile, cap el poble de Puerto Natales a on vam passar dues nits i vam visitar el Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.

 

Today we finally entered the province of Tierra del Fuego and now spending the night in Rio Grande. Tomorrow we are heading to Ushuaia, more to follow soon!

Avui  hem finalment arribat a la provincia de Tierra del Fuego i avui pasem la nit a Rio Grande. Demà anem cap a Ushuaia, ja os contarem!