Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog

A full day off and with nothing planned except resting and relaxing in my room. I was kinda hoping that I'd wake up free of pain and with energy in abundance so I could explore some of this beautiful town and the lake, or perhaps even head up to the ski resort to get some panoramic views, but instead I woke up feeling tired and with the muscles in my back complaining about being laid upon. I tried lying on both sides, but that was worse, even with extra pillows shoved underneath me, so I got up and stood under a warm shower until I could move more freely, then went downstairs for breakfast. It was still only 7.30am, so no-one else was about. At least I got first dibs on the cereal and cold milk...

After breakfast I returned to the room and began the usual round of blogging before sitting back on the bed. Just as I was getting comfortable, there was a knock on the door, the cleaners wanting to sort the room, so I went back downstairs and into the yard to see what was going on. Jeff had started working on Ozzy Andy's bike, stripping down the rear end to remove the broken swinging-arm so that it can be replaced should the new part arrive in time. Current plan is for a part to be shipped from the US as there are none in either Chile or Argentina, and hope it doesn't get stuck in customs on the way. It'll then get fitted in El Calafat where we'll be in around a week. With the offending parts strewn across a wooden board, it's easy to see the extent of the damage caused by the stone – the 3 bits of swinging arm should all be one complete casting...








Leaving Jeff to his work, I headed back to the now clean room and turned on the TV, finding the film Gladiator just starting in English with Spansih subtitles, and so settled down on the bed to watch it. And that's pretty much how my day went, sitting or lying down watching TV for the first time in months, interspersed with brief chats with Laura and Tracy online. At one stage I ventured out into town for a wander round and to buy some chocolate (Bariloche is famous for its chocolate, which is very nice in small amounts). But apart from that, I did next to nothing. Kevin dropped by late afternoon to chat with Jim about alternative routes, as Jim's sciatica has returned and the dirt roads make it too painful. Looks like Mac and Jim will be staying in Argentina and heading down the coast road to El Calafat whilst we head for the Carretera Austral, the dirt-road built by General Pinochet's regime to link North and South Chile. I did consider going with them, but as we ride back up the same route they'll be taking down, and the Carretera Austral and Routa 40 are the classic overland motorcycle routes, I've decided to go the official route and take my time.

After a short meeting at 6pm to discuss the next few days we headed to a bar for pre-dinner beer (the restaurant not opening until 8pm) and then went to the place where Richard & Karen, Kevin and a few others had eaten the night before, after finding it highly recommended on TripAdvisor. They were very vocal about how good the steaks had been, and they had every right to be. At last I got the Argentinian steak that I'd been looking for, a huge hunk of delicious meat cooked to perfection... that's my finger in the picture to help provide some semblance of scale...





I did have a small starter (empenada – like a cornish pasty) and some mashed potato and salad with the steak, so it wasn't just meat. Oh, and a very good bottle of Merlot too, from just up the road near Mendoza. And ice-cream for dessert. Very, very, good, all of it...

And so back to the room and bed, tomorrow we're back on the road again heading back into Chile ready for the start of the Carretera Austral, the next 7 days seeing us riding every day, including Ruta 40 in Argentina, concluding with 3 nights in El Calafate. Then the final push onto Tiera del Fuego and the end of the road... Internet access may get a little intermittent, so I'll apologise in advance if the blog gets a little behind...