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Published: January 22nd 2006
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I was up, packed, and on the bike by 7am this morning as I had to make it to the ferry by 9.30 and it was 25kms away. Five minutes on the bike and I was feeling the cold, by the time I´d ridden 2km my legs and feet were completely numb and when I pulled into the ferry terminal ... the very empty ferry terminal ... I was so cold I could barely get off the bike.
Turns out it only takes an hour and a half to get to the terminal, even with a cold headwind, so (as the nice security guard informed me) I had a two hour wait until the ferry left. As I struggled to put on every ounce of clothing I owned in a vain effort to get warm again, the clouds and rain parted for a moment and I noticed for the first time that overnight it had snowed nearly all the way down to the lake level. Lucky me. I knew these early mornings were bad for you.
Two hours, a hot coffee, two hot chocolates and three hot croissants later I was sitting on the ferry, reunited with Miss 'autobus'
Anti fogging system
The latest in technology ... I'm thinking of patenting this in Australia to make my fortune. Christie and feeling a lot happier with the world.
I spent the next 20 minutes watching the condensation rapidly engulf all of the ferries windows, and smirking to myself about the much touted anti-fog system which (according to the brochures) would ¨ensure that even on a cold and rainy day we would be able to see through the windows¨. But then a man with a squiggy mop and a bottle of dishwashing liquid appeared and before you could say ¨I´ve just cleaned 30 windows¨ in twelve different lanuguages, we could see again!! I was much happier now that I could see the fog outside the window. Were we getting our money's worth.
Actually for those moments you could steal yourself to venture out onto the deck, the views were absolutely magnificent as countless waterfalls cascaded hundreds of metres from the snow topped peaks directly into the lake. Plus if you had biscuits you could feed the flock of seagulls flying along behind us. How sweet is that.
After some confusion on arrival at Puerto Blest (I actually discovered at this point that we were on a guided tour) most people got off, but we stayed on the
boat and crusied to the other side ot the harbour where we went for an hour long cruisy walk up to some more waterfalls and a big tree. Christie had to stay on the boat, because her knee needed more rest.
Somewhat suspiciously on my return from the walk my bike had disappeared. Christie claimed she had thrown it into the water, and I was inclined to believe her, however it turned out that something even worse had happened ... they had loaded my bike onto a truck and taken it to the next ferry ... I had been cheated of 3kms of riding!!!!!!
We killed three hours in the restaurant where this lovely lady, Sylvia, who we had been sitting near shouted us lunch. Aroundl 4pm we jumped on the bus (not bike) for the 3km trip to Lago Farius. The second ferry ride was only 15 minutes, but the lake was this beautiful green colour, and there were two condors flying overhead, it snowed (a lot) and it was just basically pretty cool. Best of all, after some goading from Miss Christie that if I didn't cycle I'd have nothing to say today, I managed to
pull my bike back out of the luggage pile, and after clearing Argentinian immigration, set off on a 4km steep, muddy climb to the top of the Pass and into Chile.
I'd love to say what followed was 27kms of downhill madness to Peulla, but as soon as I topped the pass, the wind whipped up into my face and it hailed like bejesus. I had to slow to a walking pace because it felt like someone was throwing chilled gravel into my face as hard as they could for about 2 kilometers. I came very close to giving up when I found this refugio just off the pass, but I'm stubborn and it got better once I regained the shelter of the trees ... Then I got the 23kms of downhill madness into Peulla ... I wish.
About 12kms from Peulla, a bus passed me, pulled over and told me that he had received a radio request to pick me up because I looked like I was in trouble (unknown to me at this time all the buses that travelled the road, the police and the chilean customs office had been notified that there was a cyclist
in trouble somewhere on the road because when my tour guide had gone past me I had stopped off on the side of the road to take a photo and he thought I was in trouble). Tee hee. I found out later that they'd also asked Christie if she thought they should pick me up but she'd just said "He won't accept a lift, he's too stubborn".
After assuring the bus driver that I couldn't be happier or feel better, he took off and the lovely road disintegrated into something indistiguishable from a river bed. Then the headwind from hell appeared, and it started raining again .. and just as I shouted to the world that it couldn't get any worse so I had them beat, I came across 5kms of deep, soft gravel that felt like glue. Gotta love roadworks. Still, I got into town and was waved into the Chilean customs office to drip all over his floor and fill in what ended up being a very soggy piece of paper which I'm sure he threw straight into the bin as soon as I left.
He told me to then go to the casa blanco (white
house) down the street to get my entry stamp. Problem was that I walked out his office to be greated by a street of white houses ... Luckily I picked the right one first time, handed my sodden passport to this nice guy who was sitting by his fire drinking matte, he took it, disappeared around the corner momentarily, I heard a big 'Ka-thunk' and I was officially in Chile again. Yay!
There is only one hotel in Peulla. It is nice and it costs $US166 for a double for a night. There is no camping, and there are no hostels. Be warned. Christie managed to get us a discounted rate of $US90, but it still hurt the budget even though it was nice to have a hot shower and eat a hot meal. The hot meal was something you´d expect at a University hostel.
++++++
Bariloche to Peulla, Chile
Distance: 57km (25 to Ferry Port and 27km to Peulla)
Weather: Snow, rain and hail. Very overcast. Freeezing.
Mood: Still smiling, but mainly because I've done it.
Route: Road out of Bariloche is all paved, but bad morning traffic, and cracked, steep shoulder. Might be worth missing this,
especially as it costs no more to put your bike on the bus.
All other roads are dirt and muddy, but fun. There is a kiosko at the end of the second lake, and there were a few spots you could wild camp (but it would be tricky as the tour guide keeps a close eye on you), otherwise you're limited to the hotels at Puerto Blest and Peulla which are very pricey. Cruce del Sur (which runs the ferry) wouldn't book us into the hotel on the Chilean side. I think you could catch the three ferries in a single day, but to do so you need to leave Puerto Blest immediately on arrival and then cycle like heck to Peulla to catch the third ferry which leaves somewhere between 2 and 4pm.
** I have heard (18/1/06) from two other cyclists that there is a Hospedaje further along the road past the Hotel almost near the Jetty where you might be able to get cheaper accomodation **
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Rach
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Christie the star : )
christie sounds like a star all the way to me...hehe... loving the updates! xxx