So after a few days of R&R, the obligatory visit to Tierra del Fuego National Park and an oil change for the bikes, we set off north back the way we came. The winds had picked up noticably and were now making the ride difficult. Camping got even more complicated when one our tent poles broke during the night and we had to use ourselves as temporary ‘poles’
Iza’s Bros was now fighting every inch of the way and consuming fuel like crazy, at over 5L/100km. That’s alot when you consider it was only going 60km/h. To top things off the rain came and stayed with us for two whole days. Cold doesn’t even begin to describe how we felt. Finally, with boots full of water and wet to the bone, we reached the Magelan Straight for the second time. The view of the turbulent waters was impressive. The skill of the barge captains even more so. In Rio Grande we met a couple of French guys on Enfield’s traveleing from Santiago to Ushuaia. Apparently these bikes cost around 400euro in Chile. Overrated or not, they still look like a pretty cool ride…

From Rio Gallegos we headed west to Chile on the legendary Ruta40. Unfortunately it’s being progressively paved so we only got a taste of the ‘hardcore’ conditions it’s known for. Our target was El Calafate, the jumping off point for visits to the Moreno Glacier. In perfect weather conditions, the glacier fully lived up to its reputation…

In El Calaftae we also ‘bumped’ into our moto-traveler friend Yuki, who we last saw 18 months ago in Uzbekistan. Yuki is traveling solo around the world on a motorbike (Suzuki Djebel XC 250cc) for the second time! We caught up over a bottle of wine and recalled our adventures over the past year or so. Yuki told us about her misadventures in Namibia where, due to technical problems with her bike, she was forced to wait a whole month in a Himba village. By the end of her stay, she was attracting just as much attention from the tourists as the colouful Himba women.

From El Calafate we decided to continue north together with Yuki towards El Chalten, situated at the foot of Mt.Fitz Roy. We arrived by late afternoon and together with another motorcycling couple from Germany (Anja and Bolde), we trekked up to Lake Carpie to camp for the night. Dinner was a combination of miso soup and rice, thanks Yuki and her complete assortment of Japanese culinary delights. It seems Yuki brought along her whole kitchen when you look at her heavily laden bike and it might go some way to explaining the many broken spokes she suffers. Anyway, we weren’t complaining

In the morning we were dazzled by the magic of Mt.Fitz Roy at sunrise… wow!

Later we trekked further up to Lago de los Tres for more stupendous views of Mt.Fitz Roy. It really made an impression on us!

The next day we continued north along Ruta40. We hit a 340km section (between Tres Lagos and Bajo Caracoles), void of any petrol stations and full of dirt, washboard and pot holes. It was complete wilderness. The wind had also picked up considerbly so we spent the night in a roadside pit to shield our weary tents…

We decided to enter Chile via the less traveled Paso Rodolfo Roballos. It turned out to be a good decision as we were rewarded with one of our most scenic routes in South America so far. An easy gravel road led through a moon-like landscape, full of twisty turns, canions and dry salt lakes. Once in Chile we continued west until we hit Ruta7 - the Caratera Austral. Backtracked 15km to Cochrane for fuel and then turned north again for an hour or so before finding a camping spot in one of the forests. Both Chile and Argentina have their fair share of official campsites, but we find bush camping adds that little bit of adrenaline to our trip. You never know what the night will bring…

Next day we continued on the Carretera Austral through wild pine forests, turquoise lakes and cristal clear rivers. This part of the Andes is really green and ‘picturesque’. It’s like a wilder version of the Alps. No wonder it’s so popular for hiking…
The next major town on our route was La Junta, where we stocked up on fuel and supplies. In the tourist office we also got a good tip on some secluded hot springs 15km’s away, that weren’t on any of our maps. In fact, it took a god deal of searching before we finally found the farm house at which you pick up a key to access the hot springs.

It was definitely worth the effort, as the hot springs turned out to be one of the best we’ve seen. Situated in a river and hugging a cliff face, they made an impression! And the best bit was that we had the whole place to ourselves. For a moment Yuki felt as if she was back in Japan.

We spent a couple hours soaking our tired muscles in the hot soothing water, before going back to our campsite by a river. We tried our luck at fishing, but had to be content with sausages by the campfire.

We spent two nights chilling by the river before continuing north on Ruta 7 towards Palena and then the border with Argentina. So far border formalities in South America have been a breeze. No visas and no costly import permits for the bike. The only confusion arises when the customs guys see us with Polish passports riding bikes from Singapore and Brazil. As foreigners we cannot take a ‘local’ bike out of Brazil or Argentina, so each time we have to convince the officials that Iza lives in Brazil. The fact hat she doesn’t speak portugese doesn’t seem to matter

So far we’ve been having great weather, missing both the recent rains and earthquake. Maybe the delay in Brazil has turned out in our favour…

After a night spent bush camping near the town of Esquel, Yuki has a problem starting her bike.
Only a change of spark plugs and a series push starts get the Suzuki going again. Unfortunately the problem resurfaces again by the time we reach Bariloche and this time no amount of push helps. Yuki is forced to seek the help of a local mechanic, who suggests cleaning our the carburator, but warns that it could be the valves. Not a good sign…

Iza’s little Honda Bros on the other hand, seems to be handling the rough roads pretty well. In Bariloche it will get a change of oil, as well as a new set of chain and sprochets.

Bariloche is a nice enough place but just a bit too touristy for us, so tomorrow we’ll continue on to San Martin de los Andes and then Buenos Aires.