PATAGONIA Tour on Motorcycle-01/02 February 2018 Days 11-12

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

Day-11 (01 February 2018) :  El Chalten>>>El Calafate (225 km)

The weather is very nice today. The wind has calmed down. It  happened a  strange thing last night. A wild rabbit came to the parking lot and died under my motorcycle. It was laying just under the engine of the bike.  After the breakfast, at 09:20 we departed from the Hotel .  

After a few kilometer we stopped at the fuel station at the exit of El Chalten and filled up our tanks. We departed again and we stopped after 2-3 kms at a place where we had got the view of El Chalten and the Fitz Roy mountains. 

Fitz Roy in the darkness

El Chalten and Fitz Roy

Sadik and I , Fitz Roy is behind us.

Fitz Roy and El Chalten in the backround.

We took  a group picture, too. Then we departed from the view point -Mirador- around 10:20. The Route 23 took us to the junction with Route 40. It is 94 km distance with a very good quality asphalt. I enjoyed the ride very much. 

At the junction point we waited for Philippe about 20 minutes. When he reached to us, he said that there was some nice birds of which he took pictures. We left the Lake Lago Viedma on our right hand side and we arrived at the Parador La Leona.

Parador La Leona is a coffee house and restaurant at the East side of the lake just after the bridge over the river La Leona. We sat there and I ate empanada and bought a coffee. After a quarter an hour the other part of the group arrived at the La Leona. There is also a corner in the restaurant where they have shown some old hand tools or pictures from the old times discoverers of the glaciers. After this break we continued our ride on the asphalt road.
Soon we arrived at the East coast of the lake Lago Argentino. We stopped there for a while and took some pictures.

We were on the East side of the lake but we had a view to the city El Calafate far away on the other side of the lake. We moved further and took the right turn in the direction to 
El Calafate. It is the Route 11 and was still nice to ride. We left the airport on our right hand side and arrived at the city. Since we were early for the Hotel we had been taken further to the Glaciers Museum (Glaciarium). The museum is located about 5-6 kms on the west of the city. There was a strong wind on the hill of the Glaciarium. I visited the Museum and then I sat for coffee. 

Glaciers Museum of El Calafate:- Glaciarium

Then we took the road to our Hotel which is located at the East entrance of the city. Meanwhile we bought fuel for our motorcycles. We checked in the Hotel Park Plaza Patagonia Kempinsky. We are sharing Room 3019 with Sadik. The Hotel is on a hill at the rim of the city. It is a big and modern hotel with a nice view over the lake and the city. 

We went out at 17:00 and walked down to the down town. There is a main street through the city and there are a lot of shops, Pubs, restaurants at both sides. We looked for a change office. After 18:00 all the change offices are closing. Luckily we found a Western Union office where I changed 200.-USD and bought 3,800.-A$. Then we sat at the Pub Wanaco and tried their IPA beer. 

Then we walked to the Restaurant La Tablita. This one is a nice and big restaurant adjacent to the fuel station. We had a reservation for 19:30. The whole group came together and ate there with fun. I ordered a portion of Patagonian lamb as I did last night in El Chalten. This is a special lamb grill at the open fire. The furnace was set in the middle of the entrance hall. It is tasty together with a red Malbec wine. The portions are big. I suggest to order one portion for two persons. 

After the dinner we walked back to our Hotel. After having a Scotch whiskey and a coffee I went to bed.

Day-12 (02 February 2018) :  Extra day in El Calafate (190 km)

Today is the second day for us in El Calafate. After the breakfast we departed altogether to the Glaciers Perito Moreno.It is located within the National Park about 70-75 km on the West of El Calafate. The roads are very nice. The sky is blue and the temperature is good for having a comfortable ride. After approx. one hour we reached to the entrance of te National Park Perito Moreno. One of our guides, Thomas bought the entrance ticket for the whole group and after half an hour waiting at the entry we continued our ride within the N.P. The roads are nicely curving and the view is beautiful everywhere. In some place there are parking/resting areas for visitors. Coming closer to the end point which means the glaciers watching area we stopped and we took a couple of pictures.

When we came to the end point we stopped our bikes in the big parking lot. I changed my motorcycle boots with the relaxed shoes and I put on my outdoor jacket which I had brought with me. There we had to walk on the steel/wooden staircases and platform in order to watch the glaciers. There are shuttles from the parking lot which transports the visitors free of charge to the glaciers' view point. There is a ten minute drive from the parking lot.
Together with Sadik we came to the glaciers' entry and we walked down on the wooden platforms in order to have a closer view.

Even the glaciers of the world are getting smaller and smaller because of the global warming, this one (Perito Moreno) is not loosing the size. The scientists should give a reasoning for this ? It is cold there but is very interesting and peculiar view. Ice is broken and some parts of the glacier are getting apart and falling into the water with noise.

After a couple of hours we climbed up to the area where there is the building for restaurant, souvenir shops and other facilities. This is also the place where the shuttles are picking the people downstairs to the parking lots. We went into the restaurant and bought something to eat. After that we looked for some souvenirs in the museum shop and then we took the shuttle to come down. 

We put on our motorcycle gear. At that minute I remarked that the lens cap of my camera is not in my pocket. While Sadik was waiting for me I looked around to the walking way to the shuttles station. I saw our shuttle and I went in in order to check my seat. Suddenly, the driver recognized me searching something in the midi-bus he gave the lens cap which he had found after our trip. Around 13:30 we departed with Sadik in the direction to the city.

When we came to the city we filled up our tanks and then went to the Hotel and had rest a little bit. We agreed with Sadik to meet in downtown at the corner-café which is called 
La Zorra. I walked down alone and I stopped in the beer garden just after the fuel station at the bridge. I took an Indian Pale Ale for 100.-A$. I looked around and bought some souvenirs for my son and friends. Then we met with Sadik at La Zorra. It is an attractive Pub just at the side of the main road in the city and has good view to the street. We sat a little bit and then we moved to the beer garden where I sat before. We sat there outside and shared a long table with two girls. 

These two girls were from UK and they were travelling together South America. We chat a lot and bought  beer and took some pictures. They were funny and very positive girls. Louisa C'Connell is also writing her travel experiences  on ecolouisa.wordpress.com

We ate at the same restaurant as we did last night. La Tablita is a very nice and fine restaurant. Then these two ladies took us to La Zorra and bought a wine for the friendship. 

PATAGONIA Tour on Motorcycle-30/31 January 2018 Days 9-10

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

Day-9 (30 January 2018) :  Parador Austral >>> Governador Gregores (440 km)

After the breakfast at the Hotel Parador Austral, around 09:00, we took the gravel road to Va. Chacabuco. It is one of the most beautiful and scenic routes but also the toughest !! We had taken the road to Paso R. Raballos. The weather was nice and sunny but little bit cool. 
Before the Pass Raballos we stopped at the Patagonia Natural Park for coffee. There was a beautiful building at the entrance where we could have coffee. There was also a short airfield and a small plane.

After the coffee break we continued to Passo Raballos and then we stopped at the border crossing. There are a few buildings belonging to the Chilean Army. As usual we made the paper work here for getting out from Chile. There was some wind blowing us in the direction to Argentina.

Border and buildings of Chile

 

After that we came to the Argentinian border authority. The officer wanted to handle us little bit impolitely. But one of our guys proposed to take picture with the motor bikes and he calmed down and behaved better. 

The road was getting longer and longer because we were getting hungry and thirsty. At the end we reached to the junction with the asphalt road Route 40. The only fuel stop,in Bajo Caracoles- a small village in the middle of nowhere. We bought fuel and also some sandwiches and soft drinks. The gas station functions also as a hotel, coffee shop and drugstore. It is like an oasis in the desert.

I shared most of my sandwich with dogs.After finishing all paperwork we started to ride on the gravel road. There was also some rain but not disturbing us very much. The road condition went worse. Somewhere maybe in the mid section I felt down to the left side because of the loose gravel on the road. I was lucky the ground was soft and loose therefore I did not experienced bad things. The sky was nice but there was heavy wind blowing us.

The bike,BMW 1200 GS of Jeff had got some problem and therefore we had to put this into the Van of Motoavventura. Jeff took the bike (Yamaha Supertenere 1200) of one of our guides and Christian -our guide- followed us in the Van.


The Route 40 which took us to the South direction was wonderful with pavement but the wind. A very strong wind (maybe 70 km/hr) was pushing us from West to East. Concentrated to the road and to the wind we came to the city Governador Gregores.
We first filled up our tanks and then entered the Hosteria Lago Cardiel. It is a 3rd class Hotel. I believe that there is no better one in this town !

Sadik has got some problem with his neck. He supposed that the wind has caused him this
and 3-4 fingers of his left hand were weak now. The weakness of his left hand fingers caused us to be careful for the on going days.

We ate altogether at Hotel restaurant and we went to bed early.

Day-10 (31 January 2018) :  Governador Gregores >>> El Chalten (380 km)

The breakfast at the Hosteria Lago Cardiel was not good.But better than nothing !
The morning was windy. The sky was blue. Our guides briefed us after the breakfast and they changed the route to Tres Lagos. Because of the heavy West wind the main road Route 40 has been washed with sand and mud. It was dangerous to ride or drive and the road was closed. Therefore we took the other road which took us Southeast to the 
Ea. La Julia. The road conditions up to La Julia (approx.115 km) was good. After that junction we took Route 288 in the direction West. It is gravel road (approx 140 kms) but with good quality. The gravel is not loose and we could ride fast like 80-90 km/h. Both side of the road were empty and not populated. We could see only 3-5 vehicles in 140 km distance. The only bad thing was the wind from head. We stopped in two or three points for rest. It is like desert around us.

Michael and I during one of the rest stops.

We passed the town Punta Piedra and then we arrived at Tres Lagos. There, we stopped in a fuel station and filled up our tanks. The wind was very strong and was also getting stronger. We ate some biscuits, empanada and bought coffee for lunch. We had to pay cash for the fuel. Travelers with vehicles must be prepared for cash payments at the fuel stations!

At the fuel station at Tres Lagos

Robert, Nick and Kevin resting in the drugstore of the Tank Station at Tres Lagos

After a break of 40 minutes or something we continued our way. We merged to Route 40. The road conditions are very well. Then we took the right in the direction to El Chalten. The Route 23 was also good but the wind was so strong that it was really difficult to hold the bikes on the road.
getting closer to El Chalten we lost most of energy against the wind and for controlling the bikes. Almost the whole distance from the junction to El Chalten (approx. 100 km) was terrible because of the West Wind.

El Chalten

El Chalten is behind me.

When we came to El Chalten we found our Hotel "Chalten Suites". It is a nice Hotel with a parking lot for our bikes. El Chalten is a touristic town and good for trekking, hiking and such activities.

Our Hotel in El Chalten

 After a shower and a short rest in the Hotel we made a small tour in El Chalten. 
At the hotel lobby I met our guys and we fixed a restaurant (Viejo Nindo) for dinner and we met there at 21:30. I bought T-shirts for my son and nephew. Some pictures from El Chalten.

Dinner together with our friends :- Geoff, Robert, Kevin (US), Nick, Kevin (UK)

Chickpeas with meat :- Very tasty starter.

Sadik did not come out with us. He wanted to take a massage at the Hotel and then to sleep early. He suffers from his neck and weakness of his fingers of his left hand. We ate lamb and drank red wine altogether. We paid 1,100.-A$ per person.