Mendoza to the lake district.

I spent 10 days in Mendoza, unfortunately not wine tasting as I had intended, but laying in bed and going to doctors with yet another chest infection, a nice little souvenir from my travels in Africa. My friend Cecilia never made it over as she has problems with her bike, so on Saturday 8th Nov I headed out of town , pleased to be on the road and moving south at last. Its 2000 miles down to Ushuaia and that is the really starting point, this really is a long journey.

The first stretch of road was fine, but after 30 miles the Ruta 40, the road that I want to follow down, turned to dirt and very badly corrugated. Not that hard to ride on, but bloody uncomfortable, just a series of ripples in the surface that promise to rattle the teeth out of your head. When, after 5 hours, I eventually found tarmac again, I was sorely tempted to get off the bike and kiss it, it felt smoother than a cashmere codpiece.

I stayed the night in some flee pit town called Malargue, where you couldn't get a morsel to eat before 8.30pm, as I arrived at 5pm having found no where to get lunch, this was not what I wanted to hear I can tell you, especially with my healthy appetite.But all the bars were open!

The next day I set off early to get moving before the heat took hold. The road was 50% dirt and 50% tarmac, normally without rime or reason, you just come around a corner and the road evaporates to stone and shale, it certainly sharpens the senses. The scenery was arid and desert like and as I came towards my stop over, almost lunar, strange rock formations carved by occasional rain and a lot of wind. The town of Chos Malal appeared like an oasis, green and lush in the harsh desert that surrounds it, giving the weary traveller some shade and a place to rest his head for the night. The reality is that its a dusty old town with a sprinkling of hotels for people to overnight in on there way south, the sight of a heavily laden BMW motorcycle pulling in to town raised a few eye brows, but most locals where just resting on a tree in the shade, avoiding doing too much.

The next days ride was fantastic, great sealed roads all day long, a town to stop for lunch and at last some trees and greenery. As I pulled off Ruta 40 towards my stop for a couple of days, Junin de los Andes, the terrain changed to lush green fields, rivers , hills, lakes and meadows.I love deserts, but riding in to such splendid countryside, only came as a reminder of how much more alive I fell when surrounded by green nature, another reason that I don't want to live in London anymore. I camped for the first time on this trip at an idyllic camp site , on an island in the middle of the river, within walking distance of town, it was perfect. I set up camp, got the stove out, the fire lit and dinner on the go, it felt great, total independence.

The next day I relaxed in the sun and stretched my aching body with some yoga, it was good to move after a few days in the saddle. Later in the afternoon a couple of other bikers turned up, Martin and Lauren from South Africa and Axel from Germany. We shared a BBQ together and a few biking stories. The follow day we headed out to the Parque National Lanin to get closer to the area dominating Volcan Lanin. A 3500 meter monster of a volcano that has held sway over the life of this area for thousands of years. As the surrounding area is only around 700 to 1000 metres, it gives you an idea of how impressive this site is. The guys stayed out at the park, but I had packed light and left my stuff at the campsite, so returned for the night, but we agreed to meet up the following morning as we where all heading in the same direction.

We headed out on dirt road to do a circuit called the seven lakes, well that doesn't take a lot of explanation, but lets just say it was beautiful. Massive crystal clear lakes surrounded my snow capped hills, it takes a lot of beating. We camped out by one of the lakes, just pulling off the road and setting up camp, now that is freedom. The nights are now starting to get cool as I get further south and you could feel it as the sun went down the layers went on, sitting around the fire, you all start to get slowly closer to the flames.

The following day saw more great dirt road, stunning landscapes and beautiful lakes, its hard to come up with more expletives to describe these sights, so I am glad that I can add photos for you to be able to see some of this for yourselves. We arrived at the plush town of Villa la Angostora, where you could get a descent cup of coffee at the many street side cafes. West booked in to a first class campsite, the Argies do like to camp and its a pleasure to stay the night at there sites, especially a hot shower. The next day we all just relaxed and did some checking over of the bikes, Axel has been on the road for 2 years 8 months, so his Africa Twin is, lets say, well run in.

More BBQ and red wine finished off the day and helped to keep us warm through the night, just as well as we woke to find frost on the tents and bikes, a clear reminder that we are now at the same latitude as Tasmania and we still have 1200 miles to go further south to Ushuaia!

We headed out of town after drying off the tents in the welcome warmth of the morning sun, for a leisurely ride to the very "twee" town of Bariloche, where every second shop is a chocolate shop and if it was not for the absence of watch shops and the odd Bentley, you could easily be in Switzerland.

So this is where I am now writing to you, enjoying the vista over the lake and consulting maps of the route south. Tomorrow we leave for El Bolson and then to Esquel, this will all be tarmac, but after that the real dirt road starts and the legendary Patagonia weather. The next up date should be from way down south, where I will be wearing my thermals 24/7 and tying string to my willy so that I can still find it.

Hasta la vista. Stu x