4. Bariloche, ARG
Osorno, Chile
I got off the ferry early in the morning right after sunrise. It was still quite cold and foggy in the town. I got out of the port very quickly. It was nice to be on the dry land again. My destination today is town Osorno about 120 km north. There is a freeway there, so it is a very relaxing and fast drive. I booked my place for three nights there. The reason for my stay is that there is a BMW dealer there and I need a big inspection on my bike.
The ride up north was uneventful in nice and sunny weather. I checked in my place, drop all my bags off and drove to the dealer. I already emailed them what I need so they were ready for me. Besides regular maintenance I need new tires and also need to fix the damage caused when they were transporting my bike on the truck. They started to work on my bike right away. Awesome service!
I rented a small cabin in town, which was fully furnished including a washing machine. I took advantage of it and washed everything I have. It will be nice to have some clean stuff again. Meantime, there was not too much to do around the town, so I was hanging around downtown. In the evening, I went over to my host house, he invited me for some wine tasting. Actually, in two nights, we polished few bottles of wine and a bottle of pisco… And we talked about airplanes and politics. In Spanish. That was a handful for me but I survived.
My bike was ready the next day as promised. Everything was good and fixed. It is nice to know that the bike is good and I'm ready for the next part of the trip. All my clothes are washed and dry so nothing will stop me now.
Bariloche, Argentina
I said goodbye to my host Carlos and I was heading east towards the border. An easy drive. It was cloudy at first, but when I was getting closer to the border, I can see some blue skies and at the end it was all clear. It was a short drive to the border. This is the ninth time I'm crossing the border between Chile and Argentina. And this should be the last time as well. The border crossing was as easy as at all previous times. Very organized and fast. Even though there were a lot of people from few buses, it all went very quickly. And before you know it, I was Argentina again.
My destination today is Bariloche. It is an Argentinian playground for outdoor activities. The road there is beautiful and twisty. It goes through mountains and around lakes with turquoise water. It is very similar to place where I live. The weather is beautiful. There is no cloud in the skies. The place is very touristy, though. There are hotels, cabins and restaurants everywhere. Traffic on the road reflects all that as well. You won’t get anywhere fast here. Just go with the flow, there are many beautiful things to look at anyway.
Brioche sits on the shore of a huge lake with mountains right behind it. There is a gondola going right from the town to the peak above. There is a dirt road I can take to the top with my bike. Much nicer alternative. There is a panoramic view from the top. There's also a revolving restaurant but it was full and I didn't have the patience to wait in line just to have a beer. I went for a hike instead. Beautiful trail in the forest with many places overlooking the town or the lakes in the mountains. Incredible views. From there, I can see the ski resort of Cerro Catedral one of the magnet of this place. It looks like a pretty decent ski resort. I went there the next day. It is big, however it is quite dated. Buildings in the town, the ski lift and everything around have seen better days. There was nobody there, all shops were closed and the ski lifts where idle. Other ski resorts around the world successfully harnessed the mountain biking popularity for the summer operations. Not here. Too bad, because there is a lot of biking around this town.
The town itself has a definite alpine character. Most of the houses are wood and stone just like in the Alps. Unfortunately, the town is also a victim of unrestricted and unregulated growth. Among beautiful houses are ugly condominiums and timeshares which wouldn't fit pretty much anywhere. The Main Street is just a big tourist trap. Clothing stores and souvenirs. There are also several dozens shops selling chocolates in any shape, taste or form.
It is a beautiful place, but I can imagine it must be crazy here in the winter time. There's only one road in and out of the town and also in and out of the ski resort. But it'll be nice to spend a few weeks over here. Well, four days will have to do for this time. I had absolutely fantastic and sunny weather. It was cool overnight and nice and warm in the afternoon. Perfect. It was nice to just chill with no particular agenda. But it is time to move on. I am at the point that if I don't ride my bike for two days I feel like I'm having withdrawal symptoms. Just need to get on my bike.
I'm leaving tomorrow north through the mountains again. One more day after that, and I should be heading east towards the Atlantic and Buenos Aires. But that will be another blog entry.