Southern Exposure

Thursday, March 19

We got up at 7:30 am knowing that we had a long day ahead of us as we were crossing back into Chile. We realized that we had no Chilean money and the travel book mentioned that there are no ATMs in the 500 km stretch of the Carretera Austral, so after breakfast we set out to look for a money exchange. Neither of us thought about taking a passport which was necessary to make the exchange, so we went back to the hotel, loaded the bikes and exchanged the money on the way out of town.

We rode along a lake and a mountain valley, underwhelmed by the scenery for a couple of hours, stopping for gas and a cup of coffee at a small town of El Boson. Past the town the scenery has changed dramatically and the pine forests were replaced by stunted meseta-style vegetation, expansive pampas and rugged mountains in the distance.

The famous Patagonia wind was finally making its presence felt, but for now it didn’t bother us as the road was smooth and we were the only ones on the road.

We reached a small Welsh town of Trevelin, which had a pioneering feel to it, and stopped at the only place that resembled a cafe. I had packed a lunch with us, so we bought the drinks at the cafe and ate our lunch outside. We used their wi-fi to call home and soon thereafter were on our way to the border with Chile.

The road out of town turned to dirt, but was manageable and scenic.

When we finally reached the border and checked out of Argentina I noticed that the infamous bolt was missing again. This is the third time it has gone missing! The last one we replaced in Bolivia was not stock, but thankfully Matt’s mom brought us two stock replacements, so we installed it and were on the way to Chile. This one better stay in, or else! [it defies locktite -Matt]

Entering Chile was very easy and took only 15 minutes at the aduana. [hardly a pass at 1200 ft -Matt] The road was also nicely paved so we coasted to the wood-built town of Futaleufú, and after a bit of a hassle trying to find a suiting place to stay settled on a cabaña with a kitchen. We did a run to the “super”market to purchase groceries and enjoyed a quiet evening with a home cooked meal of salad, chicken, potatoe and mushrooms gratin and a bottle of wine.