Wednesday 25 January 2012

Bariloche To Esquel & on To Puyuhuapi

Thursday 19th to Friday 20th January

 
Once again the views are stunning as we head to the start of Ruta 40 before we head back into Chile.

 
The landscape changes once again as the trees disappear & the view takes on a more desert scrubland appearance.

 
We arrive at Esquel & join the usual short queue for petrol, you have to be careful in Argentina due to the intermittent shortages & fill up when you can.

 
Esquel is a strange little town, a lot less of a tourist destination than where we have been recently & it shows.
Roger has lost another pair of glasses (a common occurrence for both him & Dave) so we go looking for safety specs, the general stores have the appearance of something from the 1950’s with hardware, clothes & food in one shop.

 
They even sell nails by weight, that’s a thing of the past!!

 
The road to Chile & Puyuhuapi is gravel & forms the start of the ‘Carretera Austral ‘, the scenery changes again & the views are fabulous, it’s great to be up in the mountains again with snow on the peaks.

 
This is what we see all day!!!

 
Along with crystal clear rivers & lakes, South America sure is a continent of contrasts.

 
Whops what happened here Bob? looking at cows at the side of the road the bike strays into the deep gravel which builds up from the passing trucks & cars, Oh S***!! (he & the bike is OK with just a bump on his leg).

 
Puyuhuapi is a great little fishing village on a Chilean fiord that was originally settled by a few German travellers in 1935, they persuaded the authorities to divert the Carretera Austral to pass through so it’s now on the tourist map, this is our cabana for the night & it’s wooden construction is typical of the whole town.

 
You get the impression that life here has changed very little since the original settlers, a fisherman repairs his boat in the old fashioned way.


Sunset over the fiord, now that’s what you call a red sky!

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