It took a while till I could finally
write on the blog. I spent the last 2 weeks on the road from Temuco
towards Metri, 30 kilometers south of Puerto Montt, the tip of the
Carretera Austral. It would be way too long to make a brief of the
journey from Temuco so instead I'll just write down some of the most
significative things that happened on the way.
From Temuco towards the Springs.
We left Temuco on February 3rd
early in the morning as usual with the aim of reaching Coñaripe. A
small town up the mountains which is surrounded by several hot
springs. As the touristic information states, Coñaripe is THE area
for hot springs in Chile, having several hotels and other fancy
facilities where fancy people can go and spend the day in the hot
natural waters. With Daniel, we weren't aiming for paying a shitload
of money but to find some small natural pools next to the rivers that
have the seeked hot water. We knew there was such a place in the area
besides the hotels but nobody could really tell where it was, so we
had to go there and ask the locals. For this we had to go through
Villarrica, Lican Ray and several small lost towns only reachable
through hilly gravel roads. I can't really describe the steep gravel
roads we had to climb but only can say they were hell. I had never
had to push the bike in such steep climbs, it was impossible to climb
the on the bike as the tires just slip over the small rocks that
cover the road. Lucky for us, someone that passed in a pick up truck
asked where we were heading to and offered us a ride. We advanced
pretty fast to Villarrica and we headed towards Coñaripe.
On the way to Coñaripe we met 2 other
long distance bicycle tourers, a young British couple and Alain, and
old french man who has been bicycle touring for 50 years. It was his
first time in Chile ans was using a foldable bike!.
Once we reached Coñaripe it was fairly
easy to know where the hot springs were, after mentioning we weren't
looking for fancy hotels, locals got our idea and pointed us to the
hot springs “La Diuca Cocida” which literally translates as the
“cooked dick”. The mentioning of the name was immediately
followed by uncontrollable laugh by the locals. Quickly we found the
place and mounted the tents to enjoy the hot springs.
Getting lost in the mountains.
After the day of hot springs we had to
keep pushing on. More devil's climbs through the hilly roads of the
mountains of the south area of Chile but with AMAZING landscapes.
Maybe amazing is not the right word to describe such landscapes,
pictures speak for themselves.
From Coñaripe we were supposed reach
Choshuenco, and from there follow a road that ended in a path that
would lead to Riñihue, all of them small towns in the mountain area
of Valdivia. We reached Choshuenco late in the evening and passed the
town to find a place where to camp. More devil's climbs along the way
till we found a suitable place where to mount the tents. Next day we
moved forward towards the trail that should lead us towards Riñihue,
sadly we found a dead end. The path that was marked in the map as
“trail” wasn't even a trail but some old pass that may be crossed
walking, but no way a 4x4, moto or bicycle with load would cross.
Rains crearly destroyed the road that maybe once upon a time was used
to reach Riñihue, but certainly nobody had been in the area in
several years. Two days of pedaling wasted because there was no other
road to reach Riñihue. Still the landscape was awesome and the place
that where the road ended had some special vibe.
After reaching this dead end, it was
time to see the map and check for alternatives, there was only one,
go back to Choshuenco, and go back to take the road towards
Panguipulli and add 100 kilometers extra to the already 100
kilometers wasted kilometers. Add to this bad weather, because the
rain was reaching us. At 4 pm we found a suitable place for camping
in front of the Panguipulli lake and we decided to call it a day
before the rain clouds could make it impossible for pedaling. After 2
hours clouds surrounded everything and heavy rain started. Gladly we
were in our tents facing the elements.
Next morning we woke up early, as
usual, but the rain wouldn't allow us to leave our tents, so we had
to wait till around 10 am in order to start dismounting everything to
keep on. Near to our tents, a motor home had parked to spend the night
in the same spot we were. A man came out from it and yelled if we
wanted to share breakfast with him, we agreed. We ended up talking
about neuroscience and Tibetan monks. Easy talks for a rainy morning
I suppose.
We can't stop here, this is lake country.
After crossing the panguipulli lake, we
had to keep going next to several lakes in order to reach the
norpatagonia area. Since we left Temuco, we had already crossed next
to the Huilipilún lake, Villarrica lake, Calafquen lake, Pellaifa
Lake, Neltume lake, Riñihue lake and Panguipulli lake. After leaving
the area of Panguipulli we kept on going next to the Ranco lake,
Puyehue lake, Rupanco lake and Llanquihue lake till we finally
reached Ensenada area where there were no more lakes and the
carretera austral starts.
Am I in Chile?
Once we entered the ensenada area, the
landscape changed drastically. No more lakes from now on but the
Petrohue river, famous for the “Saltos del Petrohue” national
park. Landscape here turned to a different green that we had seen so
far. Vegetation turned to be way more dense around the hills and big
rivers turned to a turquoise color while small streams coming from
the mountains had no color at all and you could see through them as
if there was no water at all. Pristine and unpolluted nature all
around us with houses now and then to remind us that there was people
living in the area.
Then suddenly, the sea. From Ensenada
we reached the Estuario de Reloncaví, a fjord south of Puerto Montt
and the first one of the several that are found in the Carretera
Austral. Being there reminded me a lot about Norway and its amazing
landscapes. The only difference maybe, in Norway they would have a
paved road in a good condition. Here, being the countryside, lost in
the tip of the austral area of Chile, no way there was pavement, and
no way the road is in good shape. With several devil's climbs I faced
the first real problem with my bike. My chain broke right before a
huge climb. Too much force and changing the gear in the wrong moment
made the chain collapse and break. Lucky me I had the right tool to
fix my problem and in 15 minutes I was riding again.
The condition of the road was bad or
the worst I've faced so far. Too much loose stones, the road not
being width enough for 2 cars, add to this buses coming and going
every 3 hours at high speed not caring about us cyclist on the road.
It made it difficult to pedal but the landscapes, shit the landscapes
made all that not matter as the eyes and the brain enjoyed what they
were seeing. We easily spent 2 hours everyday just looking at the
landscapes we found on the roads.
Soon we reached Metri, where I am right
now. Sadly there is no good Internet to upload the pictures, so I'll
try to upload them from somewhere else at some point.
Briefly.
So far, so good. The broken chain was a
minor pane that I managed to fix easily, it could have been way
worse if I hadn't know how to fix it. I'm still waiting for some
spoke to break too but I hope that doesn't happen soon but once I
reach Coyhaique or further south.
After the 10 days of pedaling my legs
hurted. Despite the fact I rode almost 800 kms from Santiago to
Temuco and my legs were trained, I had never rode non stop for 10
consecutive days, so the rest in Metri was more than welcome to
recover and create more muscles in my legs.
I passed the barrier of 1000 kilometers
several days ago, I think I passed it near Panguipulli, I can't
really tell as I am not really counting the total distance but the
places I've been in. I think the chain broke near the 1500
kilometers.
Riding with a partner made a huge
difference in several aspects of the ride. It's easier to buy things
and to carry things around as it is possible to split what you carry.
You carry less, you advance more (?). I spent more money though, I
bought more things and ate way more than when riding alone. Also it
was more difficult to find a place where to sleep, lucky us though,
we found splendid camping places where nobody really bothered for our
presence, so we managed to sleep more that what I was sleeping so
far.
Funny thing, people don't go protective
when riding with someone. They didn't pay that much attention to us
compared to when I was riding alone. They would continue greeting
though, but funny thins was that they would greet when I was in front
rather than when Daniel was in front. Daniel says it's because they
think I'm not Chilean, so they assume he is not Chilean too. If he
was in front, they would know he was Chilean and assume I was too,
therefore they wouldn't greet. Funny people.
Ask Daniel about the name of the hot
springs we visited. He knows why they are called like that. Lol.
Next step is to reach Chiloe, visit
Ancud, Castro and then Quellón where I will stay for a few days to
visit friends. From there I will take a ferry towards Chaiten and
ride the Austral road till who knows where.
Till then.
Cheers.
Update; I'm uploading pictures now, but they are too many and I won't have the time to be here till all the pictures are uploaded, so it will be till next time.
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