I left early the next day to get across the border and start heading across Tierra del Fuego to the most Northerly Chilean town of Puerto Natales a big day on the bike of 550km I say big, normaly that would be fine, but when the temperature is 10 degrees Celcius it’s not funny, plus as I left Rio it was raining. I was glad to pull into town and find a nice little hotel almost straight away. While I was trying to warm up and also decide if I was going to stay in the Torres Del Paine national park the Hotel owner suggested that I take a tour the next day and come back to them the next night. I was already starting to feel crook so I took the offer. Boy was that the right idea, the next day was a twelve hour tour around the park, mainly on rough surface “ripio” which would have been very hard on the bike, and I don’t think I would have got to see half of what I did. Plus by the time I got back all I could do was try to find a pharmacy to get something to stop me coughing and my head from exploding!!
Torres del Paine
The Waterfalls in the park
Icebergs from the Grey Glacier
Finally a chance to phtograph the Guanacos (not Lamas)
And even more timid choique (like a small Emu)
I left the next day with a reasonable 350km to do and a border crossing almost straight away. The border crossings are fairly straight forward, with the passport done first followed by the bike paperwork. Apart from being behind a coach that was full, all was going smoothly until I came to do the bike into Argentina again. They asked for the paperwork for the bike? Of course coming into the country they needed to fill in the temporary import papers, but all of this seemed to cause confusion, but they stamped the back of something the customs in Buenos Aires had given me, and said it was all fine, I have my doubts, but we will see when I cross into Chile again.
El Calafate is a lakeside town that once again is a centre for the tourist trade for the area. The main attraction here is the Perito Moreno Glacier a gentle 70km ride out of town around the lake and toward the mountains. The last twenty km in the National park (once you’ve paid you 75 Pecos entrance fee) is a spectacular ride on a bike with beautiful twisty roads surrounded by he mountain scenery. A free shuttle service runs from the carpark up to the viewing platforms for the Glacier. After visiting the Hubbard and one or two other Glaciers in Alaska last year, they realy have got it right here, with layers of viewing platform that almost take you right up (it seems) to the face of the Glacier.
Only when I turned around to climb back up the stairs did I realise how bad my chest was. I could hardly breath! And my right lung was painful. The decision was made there and then to break out the emergency supply of antibiotics I had got from the travel doctor as a last minute decision (a good one as it turns out) Whatever I had it wasn’t going to go away on it’s own!! And tomorrow was the start of Routa 40 and a ball breaking 620km most of which was going to be off road!!
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