To Chalten, Patagonia.

As I wrote elsewhere I am in El Chalten at the moment. I am planning to stay here for a few more days. This place is known as the Trekking Capital and I can understand why. The weather has been a little up and down, so a day like today I am lying low waiting for a break before heading out. It is great not having a tight schedule to stick to. I watched a short movie today about climbing Mt Fitzroy and another on climbing a mountain in the Patagonian Ice Fields. I didn´t realise that the ice fields are really so close to where I am now. For this reason I plan to stay longer as I have found a way to go see them. It is a bit off the beaten tourist track and maybe a bit remote but it sounds like a plan if the weather turns good tomorrow.. Paso de Viento it is called - Windy Pass, hmmm. Actually the wind here can be pretty extreme.






Anyhow back to last week.



A few high lights.







Ruta 40.




Don´t know if this will work. The quality is very poor. The scenery average. The camera shaky as I had to ride one handed. (actually I am guessing that this is the right video..) I have another I took on Pavement but this is taking too long to upload here..




YES! I love(d) it. A bit rough in places, a bit remote and quite beautiful. A spiritual experience?


Well, yes you could say that. It really felt at times like God was leading me by the hand and showing me what He has made: ¨Check out that Canyon, Bruce; Look at all the colours I used; You like that, wait til you get around the corner..¨ To be able to look through the eyes of faith is indeed a rich experience.





I didn´t make to Calefate or El Chalten for Sunday as I originally planned because I took another detour to Lago Posadas. I was expecting snow capped mountains but I got a barren, dry area. Actually it was really beautiful. The eroded mountains and canyons were spectactular and the lake where I camped was a very special place. I stayed here two nights. A nice, tranquil place to spend my Sunday.





Hmmm. Yes, I used to be a model but I got too fat.



I am doing a lot more camping than I thought - my home from home.



A Sunday arvo cruise andI find this...



On Monday I continued South on Ruta 40. I went a bit faster and as a result (I think) I managed to get a puncture. So out with the puncture repair kit. This was the first time I have ever plugged a tubeless tyre and it worked. I was pretty impressed - A really good sense of satisfaction. Makes me think why I never used to carry a repair kit on my bike...

However, my tyre kept going down.. I had two punctures. Since it was quite a slow one I fixed it when I reached El Chaten.





El Chaten.



What an awesome place. I can understand why this place has become a bit of a tourist magnet. It is still a bit rough and ready but the road is almost completely paved and times are a changing.. The views are spectacular. Mount Fitzroy and Cerro Torres really have to be seen in real life. Some of the most extreme rock climbing is done out here and as a rock climber I can appreciate the allure and the passion. The tall rock spires just call out to be climbed. But it is not without danger and risk. There is an interesting history surrounding Cerro Tores. An Italian named Maestri claimed to climb it in 1959. His partner died and the camera was lost and the route has never been repeated... Even with today´s equipment. There is more to the story. Google it.
Mt Fizroy..

View from Lagos de los Tres.

I think I have walked some 80kms of trails since I have been here..

Chau.

Two Hands One Glove

Lost one of my gloves yesterday. I was not very happy.

You know the way it goes: Gloves on the back seat, mind elsewhere, take off, then - hang on something is not right, oh- no gloves, turn around and return to starting point to pick up gloves fallen on the ground. Except this time when I return less than a minute later the glove (the other stayed on my seat..) is gone. Gone. I looked extremely hard for a long time. Nobody felt guilty and came out and gave it back... I don´t know what someone is going to do with one glove except keep it as a memento of some poor ´rich´ tourist.

Any on my day off guess what I did?

I rode my bike.

Some 200k of rough dirt.

I was pretty knackered after that but the national park was beautiful. I was thinking, why can´t Argentina share some of its mountains and lakes with Australia so I can have a few in my Backyard?.

Anyway, today I gave my bike a bit of a birthday. Well not too much, can´t make ´er become used to too much attention. I cleaned the air filter out. Had to take the tank off to do it, but atleast now I´m not worried about the motor being clogged up with dust.

I met a rider (Rodreguez, not sure how to spell this name but I know I will by the end of this trip...) going south today and road with him for some 300kms. I left him to continue down Ruta 40.

Ruta 40. So far it has been mainly pavement (sort of sometimes). The next couple sections are gravel/earth/rocks known to swallow many a rider. Rough and isolated. Sounds like fun. I don´t need to go this way but it almost seems like a right of passage for the motorcycle traveller....

Big bike, little man...

Oh yes, picked up some new gloves today. Had to settle for some moutain bike gloves.

Lago Faulkner a Esquel

A couple nights ago I camped at a place called Lake Faulkner. It is in between Junin and San Martin de los Andes on the 7 Lakes Road (as it is often called). This is area (the lakes district) is truly beautiful. I have been blessed with fantastic weather.

Campsite right on the banks of Lago Faulkner.

Lake Faulkner

Oscar recommended Lake Faulkner as a nice place to stop and I´m glad he did (muchas gracias amigo!) . I only stayed one night but it was very beautiful, very tranquil. An awesome place for some time out- another place I´d like to return to someday. Actually the whole area is spectacular.

A view on the 7 Lakes Road to San Martin.

(I am waiting for money from CocaCola for this advert... A fuel stop)

Met some people on the way to Esquel who convinced me (not hard) that El Boson was worth visiting. El Boson is a bit of a hippie town (think Denmark and more all you west aussies..) amongst some jagged mountain peaks. The reason I stopped was because I was told that El Boson brew some really good beer. It is true! I sampled a couple ales from Otto Tipp and they were really, really good. Dare I say better than ´Little Creatures´ or our own homebrew?? Hmmm. Well, maybe. I don´t really know why but I left El Boson before dabbling into any other brews (Yes, I did spend the night there and no I didn´t drink, drive. Thankyou...).

(Actually I bet it had similar hops to what we use in our brew but it was less syrupy - crisper)

So now I am in Esquel some 200k further south. I am staying here for a few days since I have found a great camping ground (a bit like a big backyard and seems to have a good atmosphere) and the area was recommended to me by another traveller I met near Junin. I will explore tomorrow.

Chau.

Ps
Did you know that Argentina (maybe the rest of S America..) operate on the Siesta?? Don´t expect to get much done (well shopping anyway) between about 12 and 6.. It is light here til 10 though.

On my own again

After leaving Oscar and Sylvia I headed for Neuquen. I don´t have much to say about this place. I didn´t like it. A dirty city after all the wide open spaces. Sorry, probably not doing the place justice but I was happy to leave the next morning. Probably didn´t help arriving late with no place booked.. Did meet a couple friendly people in the morning though.

From Neuquen I left for Junin de los Andes, where I am now. I went via El Chocon (something like that). This area has been big for dinosaur sitings. Ok, ok, bones then. The biggest dinosaur ever found was found here.

The highlight of this day would have to be the ´shortcut´I took. (about 50kms) It was marked on my tourist map, really it was...

The road had no sign post and was the right distance out of town so I took it after waiting for a couple wild horses to get out the way. The road was more of a track and I loved it. It ended up at a station in the middle of no where. I needed to go between some buildings and open a gate to keep going (this took some working out talking with a local...). I was told the road wasn´t so good but fine for a motorbike. I was fine. The stones a bit sharp but fine. And the views. Amazing. I cannot describe the feeling of being way out in the sticks, no one around for miles, riding through some pretty barren landscape (small mountain range with canyons) and then cresting a hill and below and way out in front - The Andes!!! A view I had been dreaming about for years and here it was and here I was, on my bike. (I am rambling so I will stop.) Plus snaking through the valley below was Ruta 40, another legend I had come to see and ride..



Junin is a great little town. Went for a bit of a Sunday ride to get away from the masses (there is some festival on here and EVERYONE is here) to a near by national park. The road was a bit rough and if Ruta 40 is going to be like this in the unpaved sections it is going to rattle my bike to pieces but the views were magnificent. Reading from the book of Job (38,39) fitted in very well with the grandeur of the place..

I´m not even in Patagonia yet. Surely it can´t get bettter..
(my new favourite moutain...)
But it is getting colder..

A donde va?

A week has passed since I wrote and it has really been one amazing week.

I have finally begun my motorcycle trip from Buenos Aires to Ushuia (for want of a place) and then North, north, north. So much has been packed into this one week that I don´t know how this can continue... I don´t even know how much to write. I have been keeping a bit of a diary as well so I will try and keep the waffle short, if I can.

To start with I left Dakar Motos on Monday morning. A great place to start for me. Finally a place to meet other sane people who have the same interests as me and don´t think me absolutely crazy - oh yeah, I´m talking motorbikes and travel. A place filled with bikes, people (when I was there) and dreams (completed or in the process of).

From here I went to Azul to visit Pollo at La Posta. Pollo is a motorbike fanatic and one very, very friendly person. He doesn´t have pots of money and can´t travel much himself but he has opened his house for the motorbike traveller. As a matter of fact it seems to have become a bit of a shrine for motorcycle travel. Almost anybody who is somebody in terms of mbike travel has been here and left a message on the wall. It was cool to be there. I didn´t write on the wall..

At La Posta I met an Argentine Couple, Oscar and Sylvia who were travelling in the same direction as me, sort of. Since I don´t really have any fixed plans I was able to modify mine and join them for a few days. We went and camped at Sierra de Ventana (I think, this is memory and mine aint that good..) near Tornquist. Meeting Oscar and Silvia was a definite highlight. Seeing beautiful scenery is great and that is why I am here but getting to meet and make friends with the people from over here tops it all. Oscar and Silvia spoke little English and with my little spanish we had a grand old time.

We drank mate, had asados, camped, drank the odd bit of red wine, made jokes, and all under the shade of Gum trees. Yep, there seem to be heaps of Eucalyptus trees around here. So, yes, I was sad to leave but I had places to go...

(I seem to only be able to put 5 photos per post so I´ll start a new one)

The photo says it all.

A rather successful day.
yeeehah!!!!

overandout

¡¡ Iguazu !!

                                                  These falls stretch out some 3 kms....

I promised to share a bit about my trip to Iguazu and since I have some time before heading for dinner I will tell you now.I went to Iguazu with a group from the place where I was studying Spanish (Xpanish). It is some 1000kms north of Buenos Aires right near the border of Paraguay and Brazil. We by bus over night - think double story, roomy seats that recline a long way, food, wine, champange.. - yes quite the luxury for a bus. I am not sure if the trip takes 12hours or 18. Probably somewhere in between. Any it is a long way but well worth it.
153 160 174 180 183 145 186 192 190 (these numbers are for my reference for photos - blogger or this computer is playing up..)
Every one who goes to Iguazu will go and see the Falls. They are amazing, awe inspiring and inspirational. I am glad that I had the opportunity to witness this part of God´s creation. Coming from Australia I have hardly seen a ´large´waterfall so you can imagine that Iguazu blew my mind. The power of the water strips you back to nothing and makes you realise how small you are and how powerful our creator is and how comforting it is to know that he can be our Father...
No picture can truly capture the sheer immensity, power and majesty of this place. I could have stayed there much longer. This is one place I would love to visit again.

I was going to add a few more photos but it is taking way to long to upload...

overandout.

nearly...

Often when things don´t go to plan you find opportunity to meet many helpful people...

No I don´t have the bike in my pocession but I have seen it! It exists! It is hard to describe the feeling as we made our way through the cargo storage yard towards the shed which held the reason for all these headaches - my motorbike. I know it is an inanimate object made of steel and plastic but I was ready to give it a big hug.

Sandra is amazing. All major obstacles have been cleared. Almost all the paperwork is complete. The only reason that I couldn´t take it out the crate, put it back together and ride off is because I didn´t have insurance.. While, ofcourse, insurance is a wise idea it is not normally required in order to get your importation papers. So tomorrow, when the insurance office opens at 12 I will go there, buy some insurance and then head back to the Cargo yard (whatever it is called) to finish it all off.

So, mañana it might be....

No, I do not have my bike yet.
I don´t know.
This day has just been very frustrating and very confusing. I have lost track of the problems and obstacles that have arrisen. My lack of Spanish has often left me in the dark as to what exactly is going on - though at times this could be a good thing...
Well, to start the day we (Sandra Kapìer is helping me out which I am eternally grateful for - she has helped out other travellers before though my case seems rather more difficult than normal) - we went down to Customs office at the port. The previous day we had purchaced the Bill of Lading document needed from our Shipping Agent mentioned before which cost me an arm and leg. Well to start with the computers were down. We waited. Then once we started we found the Bill of Lading to be a photocopy - not the original. A no no. Bugger. Not happy. Without the Document it would be impossible to get the bike at all or atleast an extremely lengthy process. So catch a taxi back to the Agent after talking to someone a bit higher up the ladder to exert a bit more pressure. We were joined by the boss at the shipping agent who was more helpful. He wasn´t to happy with what had happened yesterday. So he tells us that he will get hold of the original. hmmm. I think he just made something up. We get the new papers. About to catch another cab and I notice that they forgot to add the document number so back to square one. Fixed that and then back to the port. Continued with the process and then found out that in the last copy of the `original`they had omitted that I was importing a motorbike.. Well we filled out as much as we could with the plan to return back to the shipping agent. Then we hit another hurdle which I can´t work out what is all about yet. Actually noone seems to know and we used a lot different contacts but the bike seems to be held back by the Customs Police or something. I have no idea why and nor does anyone else. So we left around then. Some helpful people at the port were going to follow it up and Sandra was going to organise the final copy of the orginal bill of lading document when I left. Not everyone is out to make life difficult.
So, yes, maybe tomorrow. I have no expectations anymore. From now on I will be charged storage fees on top of any other fee I am given...

anyway enough of that. I need to leave now and catch up with a few friends.


chau

Bike update

I have recently returned from a quick trip to Iguazu and am feeling muy consado.
The Iguazu Falls were/are phenominal but I will write about them later.

I don´t have my bike yet. The agent over here doesn´t seem too helpful and is rather confusing. At the moment he is still waiting for a ´Number´ from the customs authority so that the bike can then be processed. This number should be here already. I also seem to be being charged double than normal - supposedly there are two companies responsible for my bike. We only have the phone number of one and no addresses for either... hmmm. Something is not right.

The other problem being the longer it takes for me to get the bike the more it costs me in port fees. I am expecting to have to pay a bit to get the bike but I don´t enjoy getting screwed over. I´m glad Sandra from Dakarmotos is helping me out..