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Published: March 12th 2006
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Lago Lancanao
Lago Lacanao is on the road in Chile from Peurto Ramirez to Futaleufu (Ruta 231). It is a great road to ride. You follow the bank of the River Futaleufu which is famous for kayaking, rafting and flyfishing (Futaleufu comes from the indigenous Chilean for flowing water). Not many kebab shops or newsagents though. "I´m going over to that brook with this meat pie, where I plan to eat enough for three days, because I´ve heard my master , Don Quixote, say that the squire of a knight errant has to eat whenever he can, and as much as he can, because they might go into the woods so deep they can´t find their way out again for six days, and if the man isn´t full, or his saddlebags aren´t well-provisioned, he might stay there, as often happens, until his flesh wrinkles and dries like a mummy´s."
(Sancho Panza, Don Quixote First Part Chapter L)
I have been following Sancho´s sound advice during my time on the Carterra Austral (Southern Highway) in Chile. As a result my commitment to a spartan existence under canvas has faltered somewhat recently. As the weather got slightly damper I found myself drifting gradually into the cosy world of the Chilean Hospadaje (bed and breakfast). Hospadaje´s tended to pop up rather conveniently on the route. At the end of the day my tired and hungry eyes would be met by ladies with large smiles and even larger frying pans. I succumbed to these sirens of convenience and easy
living. The prospect of a warm bed and a hot shower has meant that I have not erected my tent for several days. The actual quality of the food provided in these establishments varies but as my current travelling companion Don Quixote says, hunger is the best sauce.
One of my most enjoyable days began in an unpromising way. In the early hours of the morning I woke up to find the bottom of my sleeping bag had become distinctly soggy. There followed a brief few frantic Blair Witch Project type moments (i.e. me running around a dark wet wood trying to work out where the road is, why my bike is now in a foot of water and dragging my tent up the slope of what was a pleasant campsite but was rapidly becoming a small lagoon). The next time I dare to poke my head out of the tent I see a large black wading bird splodging around looking for its breakfast. A sure sign to pack up and push on. A couple of moist hours of pedalling followed before I turn off the road into a hospadaje. A man simply ushered me in the direction of
View from Carterra Austral, Chile
One of the things that has impresed me most in Chile is the colour (and volume) of the water. In this photo you can see where the water turns from blue to green. a hot shower. I spent the rest of the day eating extremely large tasty Malloch-sized meals and arranging my clothes in front of a massive log burning stove.
The ride itself has been spectacular over extremely varied terrain. Mountains, lakes, waterfalls, glaciars one day beautiful rolling farmland the next then dense forests with impressive rock formations. One quite damp section was livened up by young gentlemen in yellow waterproofs and bright pink umbrellas popping out from underneath dense fuscia bushes and huge rhubarb-like plants. I asked two of them, Armando and Roderigo, what they were doing. They explained that they were civil engineers working here for 3 months as part of a project to increase the width of that section of the road from 8 metres to 18 metres. Given the dramatic nature of the terrain this looks like a difficult job and the weather wasn´t helping their cause. They looked rather glum and did not seem to be enjoying surveying in the rain.
Anyway when the sun does shine the Carterra Austral is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. No matter how much urban regeneration funding Tooting High Street receives it will
Horse and cart
At last after six weeks I have finally managed to overtake something. I planned the move strategically, tucking in behind the cart for several minutes I sheltered from an oppressive headwind, then sensing a moment of weakness I made my move on a downhill section and secured a stage victory into the small hamlet of El Blanco. Instead of a podium, models and champagne an old lady in a shop sold me a can of coke and a bar of chocolate. never be able to equal the Arcadian splendour of Southern Chile.
Such beauty comes at a price. Much of the Carterra Austral is unpaved and despite riding carefully I have had to have my frame welded twice. The first time, in Cochrane, I was initially comforted by the fact that when I met the mechanic, Senor Gomez, he was gently stroking a little pussy cat. The liquid oxygen weld that he did on my bike was considerably less delicate. I watched nervously and helplessly as the paint peeled away and my frame glowed bright white. It looked ok at first but after two days later I noticed that it had started to crack. I limped into the tiny village of Puerto Tranquilo unsure what to do next. Standing outside a bakery evaluating my options I had the good fortune to meet Benjamin from Munich. Benjamin, also cycle touring but heading south, in addition to being a bike mechanic he was also a welder. He took me to a local mechanic, Victor, that had just welded his bike frame. Together they discussed what to do and Victor´s welding has, touchwood, held out so far. So thank you very much Victor
and Benjamin. I am hoping it will get me at least as far as Santiago in Chile (where I think I am going to try and buy a Bob trailer).
The welding incidents made me ride very cautiously on unpaved surfaces (have been going really slowly taking my time downhill and averaging about roughly 10km an hour). It has also really made me appreciate paved roads. Coihaique is the largest town on the Carterra Austral. It offers many things that are not available elsewhere, including a good bike shop, Figon on Avenue Simpson (which gave its blessing to Victor´s work), and a really good internet cafe, the Blue Note Cafe (after weeks of Nescafe, Detlet´s double espressos and delicious fruit tart were very much appreciated. Thank you very much Detlet.). The best thing about Coihaique however is that for about 100km either side of it there is lovely baby bottom smooth paved road. When I reached the end of it, I felt rather like a man with a well developed silk stocking fetish who has just been unwillingly packed off on a two-week rugby tour. A great sense of deprivation and foreboding filled my body. The luxury of a
Vaguely amusing sign
Several people, including my granny Barbara, have said that they found the photograph of the ice cream parlour in El Calafate amusing. As a result I have been scouring the highways and byways of Argentina and Chile for something similar. This I am afraid is the best I have been able to do so far. Arturo Prat is one of the main thoroughfares of Coihaique sleek slippery frictionless surface was replaced by the burly jolting and rattling of rugged stony roads. Anyway am in Trevelin now, a Welsh town in Argentina, and the map has lots of very healthy thick red lines on it so it should be time to renew my aquaintance with Ruta 40. Hopefully it should be mostly paved sailing from now until Bolivia.
During this time the background music has been provided by Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Doobie Brothers, Jefferson Airplane (which is me trying to make listening to the Forrest Gump sound track sound cool) and Franz Ferdinand (not, for the avoidance of doubt, on the Forrest Gump soundtrack).
On the kit front tried to send home some clothes that I wasn´t wearing but the lady in the post office at Cochrane explained that her post office didn´t send parcels abroad. I attempted to reason with her by pointing at the many other parcels currently in that very same post office. However she wasn´t interested in "getting to yes", "going beyond winning" or any other Harvard Business School negotiating techniques that I attempted to deploy. So now you know why your distant relatives in Cochrane, Chile never send you
Rather less amusing sign
This sign give you an idea of just how big, or at least long, Chile is. Arica is the most northern town in Chile near to the border with Peru. anything for Christmas. The end result of this process was that Celine, a rather surly Chilean youth in lodgings next to my campsite, unexpectedly aquired two of my tops, a pair of shorts, a pair of my brother´s walking socks (sorry Fraser) and a can of beer.
Just a reminder that I am riding from Argentina to Alaska to try to raise money for Medecins Sans Frontieres. If you would like to make a donation please visit my website www.pushonnorth.com. My site has a direct link to my page on the justgiving.com site that enable you to make a donation over a secure internet link or alternatively has details about where to send a cheque. All donations will go directly to MSF and will not be frittered away by me, my agents, my employees or my ethnic finger puppets, in Acapulco, or any other hedonistic fleshpots that I may visit during my trip. Any such activities will be financed independently.
I would also like to say a big thank you very much to everyone for all the emails that you have sent me.
Push on
Tim
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