PATAGONIA Tour on Motorcycle-03/04 February 2018 Days 13-14

SOUTH AMERICA / PATAGONIA TOUR with MOTORCYCLE
Riding to EL FIN DEL MUNDO between 21 January - 10 February 2018.

Day-13 (03 February 2018) :  El Calafate>>>Puerto Natales (220 km)

We departed from the Hotel after the breakfast around 08:50. The weather is nice and there is no rain. The road 11  took us to Route 40. It is about 30 km to the junction with Route 40.
The good quality asphalt road became steeper after the junction. We climbed nice and curving road up to Co Los Escarchados (818 m). The climbing road is something around 
10 km. After getting to the top, it is very smooth to ride on this flat part of the country. It took approx. 30 minutes and then we came to the junction El Cerrito. 
The temperature is 15 deg C. After having a short break at the junction we followed the gravel road in the south west sense. After the massive gravel road of 65 km we came to the fuel station at Tapi Aike. We filled up our tanks at this station.

The lodge at the side of  the fuel station at Tapi Aike.

We continued our ride up to the border city named Cancha Carrera. This one is the Argentinian town at the border. The adjacent town named Cerro Castillo is on the Chilean side. We left Argentina and crossed the border to Chile. The procedures at the border took another 1,5 hour.

Horses in Argentina before reaching to the Argentinian border with Chile

There is a better quality at the Chilean side. The people at the border processing the entrance works are looking also better. The road pavement is also better on the Chilean side. There was a restaurant/café right after the border building. We all sat there for lunch. 
After the lunch we departed from Cerro Castillo and together with Sadik we arrived at our Hotel in Puerto Natales. We parked our motorcycles in the back yard of the Hotel Cost Australis. It is right at the coast. 

There is a strong wind outside. After a short rest in the room which we shared with Sadik I came out and took some pictures in the small city Puerto Natales. Because of his neck   Sadik wanted to rest in the room . 

Looking to the west from our Hotel.

I walked to the downtown. There is a small but very nice coffee shop. I suggest !!! I tried No.18.

Available coffee types.

One of the shops in Puerto Natales.

Main square of the city.

At 19:30 our group met at the lobby of our Hotel and Christian took us to a restaurant. The restaurant is in walking distance. We walked in 10 minutes. We enjoyed our meal and wine. 
The ambiance was also very different. The restaurant was built out off marine transport containers. They had cut and welded number of containers each other.After the dinner we walked in the town and we ate ice cream together with our guys from UK. Then we returned to the Hotel. I drank two Mojitos in the lobby and then went up to the room in order to sleep.

Day-14 (04 February 2018) :  extra day in Puerto Natales - Torres del Paine (250 km)

Today, after the breakfast we left the Hotel in order to move to another Hotel in the same city. Edelweiss people have done a mistake and they have booked only for one night at the first Hotel. Therefore we will overnight in Altiplanico.

We gave all our luggage to Thomas' van and we departed with our bikes in the direction of the National Park Torres del Paine. Sadik is not riding together with us. He wanted to rest full day in the city. We took the road to Pt. Prat and then went further. Most of the road was unpaved and with dusty gravel. The wind was blowing advantageous during the ride in this direction. The dust was not causing big effect. When we came to the lake on our right hand side we stopped and took some pictures of the awesome view.

Lago del Toro

Lago del Toro

Lago del Toro

Our guides bought the entrance ticket to the National Park and our group entered the park.
Riding in the park is soft and comfortable. The gravel road are OK for riding. We arrived at a point at the north side of the Lake Grey where we parked our motorcycles. Then we walked about 300 meter in order to watch the water fall from the glaciers lake.

Our riding route in the National Park

 It was very windy on this road. Sometimes the was so strong that the people must stop and protect themselves by leaning their body down the ground.

Warning ! Area with strong winds !

There is a waterfall from the upper lake group to the lower one. The wind comes from the mountains in the north and blowing through aisles among the earth shape.

Waterfall from Lago Nordenskjöld to Lago Pehoe

Dead trees in the N.P.

Lago Pehoe

Since the wind became stronger, we cancelled the rest part of our tour. We would go further to Cerro Castillo and had finished our tour from North to Puerto Natales. We used the same route as we had taken this morning. We stopped at a place at the lake and passed the bridge by walking and reached to the restaurant there. I ordered a hamburger and drank a Coke.

After this lunch stop here we continued our ride. At the exit of the N.P. we took a right turn and had got very spectacular and awesome view over the valley and meandering river. I took some pictures of this fantastic view.

Then we departed and took the road back to Puerto Natales. The wind was stronger and it was also causing more dust on the road. Following and overtaking the cars was really difficult in such a dusty environment. But I managed to reach to the Hotel without any damage. But I was fully in dust.

We came to our new Hotel which is Altiplanico Puerto Natales. It is a concept design Hotel. Almost all the building is within the earth. Only the windows are visible from outside.

After a shower and refreshing I went to the lobby and ordered a cold beer to clean my throat. Then we sat to dinner. It was a tasty dinner and nice service. 

PATAGONIA Tour on Motorcycle-27/29 January 2018 Days 6-7-8

SOUTH AMERICA / PATAGONIA TOUR with MOTORCYCLE
Riding to EL FIN DEL MUNDO between 21 January - 10 February 2018.

Day-6 (27 January 2018) :  Puyuhuapi >>> Coihaique (275 km)

After having breakfast at the Hotel Hosteleria Alemana we departed around 09:30 in the direction South. There is rain today. It is not much but looks like will be getting stronger.
I put on my rain gear on the top. It is little bit difficult to have rain pants and this is why I did not put on this time. The top of the hills around us are cloudy. It means that there is rain over there. We have had good road conditions except that part of the road where there was road construction. It is always actual in Chile to have road construction any day in any place.
It is long country mostly with raw nature.
We had a good ride at the east coast of the fjord. The spectacular scenery continues on our ride through the rain forest. A challenging unpaved road about 40 km took us away from Puyuhuapi. 
After the junction in the direction to Pt. Cisnes the road (X25) becomes wonderful. It is a high quality asphalt and is around 60 km.At the junction we stopped for a break where there was some religious flags and symbols.

After a smooth and fast ride we arrived at the Pt. Cisnes. A small town at the coast and tranquil for the holiday makers. The weather is cloudy but there is no rain. I took of my rain gear. It was 11:40 and our guides have made the plan for lunch at a restaurant here in Cisnes. The food shop was not open yet and our reservation was for 12:00 o'clock. Walking at the coast, we took some pictures in the meantime. 

The food was not tasty. They do not have good food here in this restaurant. 
Not to recommend !!!  After the lunch break in Cisnes we took the same road back to the main route. It is again nice ride on the asphalt road. When we came to the main road we waited a little bit for the rest of the group and then we continued to the direction Campo Grande. The road is very nice after Campo Grande and we had got a very smooth ride.

On the way to Coyhaique we stopped in a small village for coffee. The café is called Luis Nick. The whole group had gathered there and after the break we continued around 30 km and stopped at a place where we had got wide view over the city Coihaique. 

Small village 50 km ahead to Coihaique for coffee break.

Around 18:30 we arrived at our Hotel called Hotel Dreams in Coihaique. We have today 275 kms behind us. The hotel is very modern and clean. Our room is large and nice. After having some rest in the room we went out with Sadik. The downtown is away 400 meters
from the Hotel. The downtown is located around the "pentagon shaped" Plaza de Armas. We walked around and I bought a Chilean flag as a gift. Sadik has bought also some small items in a outdoor shop. It is a small city having a special character. Close to our hotel we discovered a nice restaurant (Saboros del Sur) and we took dinner there. It was wonderful and testy food. Sadik had chosen also a very good wine made of Malbec grapes.The  waitress  was also very friendly and amiable.

Day-7 (28 January 2018) :  Coyhaique >>>Hotel Parador Austral (260 km)

We have got a strong and very rich breakfast at the Hotel. Nice fruit, various cheese, vegetables etc. There were also some walnuts served within the banquet. After the breakfast we have had a briefing and then we departed from the city. The city has a population of about 55,000.

Leaving Coyhaique on a paved road to the South, we climbed a pass more than 900 meter. Then we descended towards warmer regions.The road was wonderful to ride and mountainous scenery was also amazing. 

Roughly after 100 km from Coihaque which took approx. 1,5 hours (it was around 10:30) we stopped in a small town called Va. Cerro Castillo for coffee. It was just after descending from the hill. The café was neat and the people were friendly. We bought some stickers and after the coffee break we continued to ride on Route 7. The gravel road started to cover us and our bikes with dust. The rest of the day was almost 180 km on gravel.

On the way we stopped in a place very close to the river Rio Murta in the valley and we took a few pictures. It is a romantic view in between mountains.

Rio Murta

At the Rio Murta

Getting closer to the lunch point we faced the big lake Lago General Carrera. The weather was wonderful and the lake was shining under the blue sky. It is a long lake from west to east and 1/3 is within the Argentinian side.

For the lunch we stopped in Pt.R.Tranquilo.  It is a small village right at the coast of the lake.

Lunch in a small restaurant at Pt.R.Tranquilo (Sadik, Michael, Cristian, Philippe and Winfried)

After the lunch we started to ride. After 5 km we took the steep path to the left. ıt is a curving and steep path down to the coast of the lake. There is boat excursion to the marble caves. It is the so called Puerto Marmol. Because of the strong wind we couldn 't take the boat to the caves. We climbed back to the gravel road and then we continued our trip in the direction to the Parador Austral which is the place where we stayed for two nights.

At the jetty Puerto Marmol

Lake General Carrera:- Looking from North to the South

On the southern coast (El Canal) of the lake.

Red bridge very close to Parador Austral

Lago Bertrand on the South side of the red Bridge

With my Companiero Sadik

It took only 10 minutes to our Hotel Parador Austral. We arrived at the Hotel at 17:00. It is located at the right hand side of the road at a small lake. Nice and silent part of the world !!! It is also very romantic for the young couples. Our room has a view over the lake. We parked our bikes in the parking lot at the entrance of the Hotel and we carried our luggage to our bungalows. ours was about 200 m away from the reception.

Our neighbors were playing a soft music which was really fitting to this environment. Sadik bought a bottle of Malbec wine and we enjoyed the view and silence. 

For the night, our group dines together at the restaurant of the Hotel. We came together at 19:30. It is very joyful at the dinner. The people are knowing and chatting each other better and better. Some pictures from the area. We went to our room at 22:00 and we fired the stove and it made the room warm throughout the night.

 Day-8 (29 January 2018) :  Hotel Parador Austral (No riding today)

Today we have got OFF. No riding today. After the breakfast we went for the outdoor activities which we had fixed yesterday. The first one was trolley sliding and the second one was boat tour on the small lake. We had got 9 or 11 sections with trolley down the hill close to our Hotel. A mini-bus took us up there and we started to slide down with trolley. 

View over the Lake General Carrera from Pt. Guadal

Sadik is at the departure of the trolley.

In the boat touring on the small lake.

Boat Tour

We sat together with some of our group members together for lunch. We enjoyed our meal and wine. After the lunch it was a relaxing day for me. I read my book and napped. 
At the dinner, all the group members sat together and it was OK with the food.
I would only stay one night here at this Hotel if I would do the plans for this trip.

Tomorrow will be a long and hard day. Therefore we went to our room and fired the stove again in order to have a warm and calm sleep during the night.