a self-supported bicycle tour through South America

 October 24th - 31st: Confluencia - Villa Traful (34km) - Villa Angostura (68km) - Bariloche (86km)

Argentina would have to be one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited.  The scenery in the last few days has been almost Tolken-like and the grandness is breathtaking.  I don’t think our readers at home could possibly comprehend the beauty of what we are seeing, and our photos don’t really do it justice.  But goodness gracious me, Mother Nature sure has tested our patience…..

We set off from Neuquen a little down at having to bus another section to make up for lost time (due to having to deal with bike repairs), but we were heading into the Argentine Lake District and were very much looking forward to getting back on the road confident in our rims keeping up with the pace.

After arriving in Confluencia late in the evening we checked into the local Hostel for a warm, dry wonderful nights’ sleep with the wind howling through the valley.  The view in the morning was gorgeous and promising of what was to come, but the drizzle relentless.  This was the first day that we donned the WWG (wet, weather gear) from the get go and we didn’t get to take it off until the hot chocolate break at 1700!

We had been told by Martin that the road into the Nahuel Huapi National Park was good; unpaved, but compacted and hard.  Boy was he wrong!  Despite the road turning "Bolivian" on us we struggled, sodden and downhearted for 40 kilometers stopping often to wow at the spectacular view.  Interestingly enough, most of the area is fenced off as it is owned my Ted Turner (is he the old time American movie star married to Jane Fonda?) and we couldn’t help but wonder how on earth any one person could own a national park!  One would have thought that he could do something about the road though.

We know that we are seeing and experiencing wonderful things and are so grateful for this opportunity.  We know how lucky we are, but sometimes, when the rain is soaking your bones and the sweat is cooling down faster than you can warm it up, we question our sanity!

  The day was long and hard and when we rolled into Villa Traful, a sleepy lakeside resort town, and found a cafe selling the BEST hot chocolate and apple pie in front of a roaring wood fire, the trials of the day were all forgotten. That night we made home in a lovely little log cabana as the skies cleared briefly to reveal how close the snow line was before being covered up again in rain clouds.

The following day we started out in blue skies and sunshine following the shore along Lake Traful but progress was again slow due to the now muddy, swampy roads.  Oh joy!  At least it wasn’t raining.  The going was very slow and when the going is slow and there is distance to be done, the Mountain Goat gets testy, and I get slower, and terse words get said.  This adventure traveling thing sure pushes your buttons let me tell you! 

I won’t go into too much detail, but basically the day got worse as the sun retreated behind the clouds, we got a flat tyre (for the same reason we spent 3 days in Neuquen getting the rims fixed!) and the road became progressively worse.  There appeared to be a lot of roadwork going on - preparing for the summer onslaught of SUV’s packed full with Argentine teenagers we suspect - and the uphill grind soul destroying, but we only had 50 km to do before we reached the tarmac road that would take us 10 km into Villa Angostura.  And we had never appreciated a road so much in our lives.  Smooth roads are so underestimated and will never be taken for granted again.

  Villa Angostura is a lovely lakeside resort town that must pump with life during the summer months as there are so many hotels and cabanas and it has such a relaxing feel to it.  The snowcapped mountains that overlook the lake frame the view with such postcard perfection that we decided to stay for 2 rest days, and I don’t want to leave especially considering it hasn’t stopped raining!  I, unlike some, am not a masochist and like being dry and warm when it is wet and cold outside….

Onto Bariloche tomorrow with an early start to avoid the wind and hopefully the rain.  We might be moving a little too far south too quickly as we were hoping for an endless 6 month summer, but the rain seems to be thwarting our plans….