http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/KJ-and-Phil/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from KJ and Phil en-us Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:57:42 +0000 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:57:42 +0000 As we settle into life here in La Paz we have given up our travelling ways our camera has become burried somewhere in one of our packs and our days have been filled with job training and food finding. We almost have a room sorted as we wait for one of the old guides to leave as we endure the last round of musical beds we long for desparately to unpack. We have managed to get out and ride a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-371645.html Bus travel is of an extremely different standard to that in Argentina definately not helped by the state of the roads. Very few roads are sealed here and when the ripio dirt road gets too muddy or corregated it appears many drivers just go cross country and make new ones. Unfortuantely we didn't time it ride for the smoother train rides so bus it was. Villazon to Uyuni a mere 350km took http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Bolivia/La-Paz-Department/La-Paz/blog-367741.html We left the heat of Cordoba on Friday night without a hitch along with our bikes after a weeks separation and arrived in Salta in the cool early morning. Salta was lush and green and old buildings abound. We decided to bus to San Salvador de Jujuy that arvo to begin our ride to avoid the main busy road. After waiting over an hour at the bus depot getting more and more anxious we realised once http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Jujuy/Quebrada-de-Humahuaca/blog-366418.html AAAaaarrgh....just when we thought we had it sorted we found ourselves up against The Way Things Work Here. 5 minutes before the bus left for Salta we discovered that we couldnt take the bikes on the bus despite the assurances from the ticket office. So we watched in despair as the bus pulled away from the terminal without us. We had to arrange for the bikes to travel separately to Cordob http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Cordoba/Cordoba/blog-363739.html El Chalten was a great reintroduction to vibrant Argentina after the sparsly populated southern section of the Carretera Austral. A magnet for climbers and other adventuous travellers there are few cars on the streets but tents and backpacks abound. We enjoyed chatting with climbers at the free campground and other cyclists including the American couple who had a trailer like mine carrying m http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Santa-Cruz/El-Calafate/blog-362130.html 2009 began in fine style for us. After seeing in the new year with the family who run the hospedaje some entertaining yanks and a couple of dutch cyclists in Tortel we dragged ourselves out of bed after not enough sleep to take a boat through the fiords to join the Carretera Astral further south. We joined Carson a cyclist from Germany and together we rode three abreast on roads in much bet http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Aisen/Carretera-Austral/blog-360416.html After 3 days of feasting in Coyhaique we departed feeling rejuvenated with bulging panniers filled with our xmas treats. We left with a howling tail wind and almost sunshine. Just before we left town we popped into the Aysen Reserva de vida information centre to learn more about the SIN REPRESAbattle and were lucky enough to find a very passionate American woman to answer all our questio http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Aisen/Carretera-Austral/blog-360423.html Just a few photos we might sort out a few words shortly. We are in the wee town of Cochrane after some wonderful diverse days of riding and are keen to have our rest day at a interesting sounding isolated refugio down the road. So next town Totel the town with no roads well up until they went and built a road for us to cycle in on. On second thought only two photos its painfully slow We http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Aisen/Carretera-Austral/blog-357596.html When we first arrived in Chile 10 days ago we were perhaps a little dissapointed as our expectations didnt reconcile with what we found in Futeleufu. With our pantry almost empty we hoped to restock with food and fuel but found shops to be few small and with limited supplies. We talked with some Americans who were faced with the prospect of a 150km drive to the nearest petrol station on a n http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Aisen/Carretera-Austral/blog-356172.html Well we obviously jinxed our vegetarian luck with proclaiming our vegetarian sucess. That very night we had lenteje and tocino soup according to the picture filled with lots of veges we found out afterwards tocino is pork fat And its continued on that way as we blindly select foods from stalls and restaurants. Oh well Waking up in a saturated tent and putting on yesterdays soggy clothe http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Aisen/Carretera-Austral/blog-355732.html A few days ago we departed Trevelin Argentina and our lovely campsite amongst the fruit orchards that we had all to ourselves well that was because it was still closed and headed towards the hills to Paso Futaleufu. Named after the amazing milky green giant river that we followed into Chile a world renown whitewater destination. We camped at a desserted old campsite that had a thick coating http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Aisen/Carretera-Austral/blog-354427.html ... i want to have a roadside stall selling goodies to hungry cycle tourists. We passed lots of signs for cerezas before our curiosity got the better of us and we discovered we were in prime cherry growing country. So weighed down with fresh cerezas and torte frita sconelike cakes of bread we continued south from the quaint wee lakeside village of Epuyen through the picturesque Chubut region a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Chubut/Esquel/blog-353419.html So we finally left our cabaa in Bariloche on Friday arvo with Santiago our landlord for a week there to bid us farewell. After a giant hug like the kind my dad gives me we waved goodbye and wobbled our way down the drive. Panniers on mountain bikes feel different plus it was Phil's maiden voyage with the loaded Bob Beast of Burden Ibex trailer.Our first day was what cycle touring is all a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/El-Bolson/blog-351927.html ... but it can be a hassle sometimes. The traditional siesta is firmly entrenched here which is great but makes it difficult to get things done. We spent a few hours yesterday trying to find some info on the best route out of town but everyone seemed to have a different opinion. It was hard to tell fact from fiction. We have three options by which we can cross from here into Chile via an intere http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-350964.html Ok so Santiago had a point Bariloche is beautiful. The weather has flipped the wind dissapeared and revealed a most beautiful lake rugged snowcapped peaks massive lakes crsytal clear rivers the whole deal. If youre into the outdoors you could happily spend weeks exploring and adventuring here but unfortunately after our week of intensive spanish we are leaving at the end of the week. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Neuquen/Neuquen/blog-350378.html Well we managed to sucessfully aquire tickets for us and our bikes for the very long bus ride to Bariloche. Although it was a bit confusing checking in our bikes at a special location hours before our departure like we thought they asked and then having to get everything upstairs and check them on to the bus ourselves minutes before we left was all very confusing and exhausting. So obviously s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Rio-Negro/San-Carlos-de-Bariloche/blog-349621.html You tend to notice a lot of things whe you're on a plane for 13 hours. The uncomfortable seats and lack of leg room were givens the terrible TV screens disapointing the broken fittnings around the place disconcerting. The unsmiling hostesses didn't seem to care that the headphones didn't work but I don't think that audio would have added much to the formulaic hollywood romcom and budget thrill http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/blog-348408.html Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the the bowlines. Sail away from the safe habour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.Mark Twain http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/blog-347334.html Well with our wee house renovations almost complete we've beginning to feel like we have time to get our head around our upcoming adventures. Just a few giant to do lists to tick off an enormous amount of school work for KJ and a kitchen bench to go. Today we survived our final immunisation visit with no adverse reaction to the dreaded yellow fever jab yet. Really I'm just sussing out how thi http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Christchurch/blog-341509.html