Jan 28 2020
So not such a good sleep as I was expecting at my riverside beach. My air mattress still leaked. I woke up about 5 times during the night to blow it up again. Around 7:30 I gave up, and got up. After making myself a sausage sandwich, I had another go at fixing the mattress, this time glueing a patch from the tent repair kit onto the mattress. We will see if it works. The night before I had given up on dry clothes, so left them hanging in the rain for a rinse so they don’t get smelly. After packing the bike I realised that my wallet was in the tent, so I had to unpack it again. Camping on a beach is nice, but sand gets everywhere.
Eventually packed, I set off heading for Coyhaique. The scenery is simply stunning on the Carreterra Austral, all the time. Even though it was raining continuously, I still enjoyed the views. The first bit of dirt (apart from several short sections), about 20km, started off with loose rutted gravel, which then gave way to more compact stuff, and the rain actually seemed to improve the road. Then lots more tarmac, wending it’s way through some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen. I ran into a couple from Canada on identical Suzuki DR 650’s with large fuel tanks, and stopped for a quick chat.
Here a quick word in the bike: the side-stand is the one serious design flaw on the Himalayan. It is too long, with too small a footprint. On tarmac, but especially on dirt, there have been many times that I wanted to stop and get off the bike, but couldn’t due to camber on the road or a soft surface. Why I didn’t get it modified by the welder in Salta is a continuous source of self admonishment. For anyone contemplating a long trip on a Himalayan do yourself a favour, chop a couple of centimetres off the side-stand, and fit a bigger foot.
Back to the trip. Did I mention the scenery? Mountains, glens, forests, farms, bigger mountains, the road a ribbon following the contours as it makes it’s way south. Temperature varied between 13 and 18 degrees. I had the heated grips on most of the day.
The second stretch of gravel, about 30km, makes it’s way up and over a steep pass. There were a lot of huge trucks, but I managed to get past most of them as they laboured round hairpin bends. The road surface, though very wet, was actually pretty grippy, though the hairpins were generally chewed up messes of rock, sand and gravel and required a lot of care to negotiate. Some sections also had a lot of potholes. Near the start of the pass, I met a group of Chilean bikers, one of whose chain had come off. They asked to borrow tools, but by the time I got them out the guy had managed to get his chain back on. I carried on, the rain now what they call in Ireland “soft”, ie, small droplets, almost like a mist. At the top I was in cloud briefly, then started down the other side.
At the end of the pass, just before the road became tarmac again, I found a hotdog stand and bought a Chilean specialty called a “completo”, which is a hotdog with guacamole and sour cream. As the temperature has been dropping my appetite has increased, and I really enjoyed the hotdog and a cup of coffee. A short while later the rain stopped. A long stretch of tarmac followed, and, once again, the scenery was just amazing. The road here follows the Cisnes River for a while, passing over the Viaducto Piedra Del Gato, which has a viewpoint looking out over the river. I found myself exclaiming aloud rounding every corner. The last 45 km to Coyhaique was gravel, a bit gnarly, very loose and quite deep in places. You can’t take your eyes off the road to admire the scenery too long without regretting it. The scenery, however, was still epic. I would rate this as the most beautiful road I have ever ridden on.
I arrived in Coyhaique about 5:30pm, and the weather and fatigue decided I would find a hostel. A quick look on iOverlander led me to the Puesto Patagonia. It is a lovely hostel in someone’s home, and, even though I slept in a dorm for the first time since school, I had a great sleep. The crazy old lady who ran it made me feel I was staying with an eccentric aunt. After a Shower, I called Jackie, and it only took minor prompting to make me decide to take a day off, do some washing, a bit of bike maintenance, buy some socks and food, and have a generally lazy day. It looks like it will take another two days to reach the end of the Carretera Austral.
