Sunday 22 March 2015

Villa O´Higgins to Coyhaique

We left Villa O´Higgins in reasonably fine weather and marvelled at the lack of wind in our faces.  We cycled for 5 hours, two of which in the rain.  We finally came across the refugio other cyclists had told us about. We were happy to find 4 other cyclist already there - The Aussie stoking the fire and greeted us with ´Howz it goin´
We had a great evening swapping stories around the fire.



Back on the road the next morning with Tortel in our sites.  Once again, another very rainy day.
We went over 3 passes but didn´t really see a lot due to the shocking weather.


It was still raining the next morning, but we walked around the town known for its Cyprus paths around the town.  There are no cars or roads, just wooden trails.



As we left Tortel, we were joined by two enthusiastic Dogs.  They ran with us for 33km!  Stopped and rested if we stopped to adjust something, yelped if we road too fast on the downhills.  They were very cute.  The rain finally stopped after 50km.  We saw beautiful waterfalls, lakes and great riding.  We couldn´t believe our luck when we stopped to ask a lady for directions at the end of the day and she invited us into her house to stay the night.  She gave us fresh bread and home made jam.... and coffee.  They were so lovely and we enjoyed talking with our dictionaries and laughing.




The next morning as we rolled into Cochrane, we saw there was a festival on. It was a cool atmosphere and we ended up staying 2 hours!




We couldn´t resist camping beside the beautiful Rio Baker.  We pulled over about 4pm so got to enjoy some sun and even had a bit of a wash in the river.  We had a real fire and enjoyed the stunning evening.



We had lunch at a deserted house - also told to us by a fellow cyclist. Then continued onto Puerto Rio Tranquil.... unfortunately the day and the town disappointed and we spent the afternoon battling rain, headwinds and rutted roads before rolling into a pretty grotty non-tranquil town









Most people visiting Rio Traquil visit the famous Marble Caves.  We were glad we did too




After the cave tour, we were back on the road and at 6pm when the heavens opened we came across another deserted house.  It was incredible luck.  We pitched our tent in the house as some windows were missing and had a great sleep out of the howling winds and pouring rain.



Ah, silence in the morning - no wind or rain.  We had a great day cycling amongst rocky cliffs, contors and plenty of downhill!  We stopped in Cerro Castello for a huge Chicken Avo and Tomato sandwich before tackling our biggest pass yet.  The seal started again here.







We found a nice little spot to camp but woke to a very very thick frost.  our bikes and tent were covered in frost... brrrrr




but what a day it turned out to be.  The scenery changed as we approached Coyhaique.  farmland and cars.




And here we are.... in Coyhaique.
Washing done
Shopping done
Happy campers.




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