18th Jan
Once again, virtually no one stirred in the camp site
until 9 pm !! One almost feels guilty
starting the car engine at 9 am to leave, in case you wake people up ! Once again, when I woke up a couple of those
Chimango eagle type birds were fossicking around next to my car – They seem to
be the local garbage scavengers !
Fernando and Max were just getting up as I was about to leave, so at
least I got to say goodbye to them – Cecelia and Juan were still asleep ! I had
checked the map and it seemed that there was a longer alternative around the
shores of the lake, and when I checked with the camp host, he confirmed it was
a road I should take.
So it was straight out on to the dirt road again, heading
round the shore of Lago Moreno – There are actually two lakes – An Este (east)
and an Oeste (guess what !). Coming to
one junction, I stopped to take a couple of photos and a car came round the
corner – With much waving of arms out of the window ! It was my high climbing hitch hiking friend
Martiniano from yesterday, out for a Sunday morning drive with his family, all
holding their maté cups as they travelled !!
Amazing who you meet out on a dirt road on a Sunday morning in Argentina
!! He confirmed that the road accident
yesterday was a motorcycle, and as he had sadly died at the scene, it had taken some
time before the road was reopened.
The second part of my drive, overlooking Lago Moreno
Oeste, was perhaps the most stunning of the whole day. I found a couple of viewpoints early on,
looking down the length of the lake, with mountains in the background and
islands dotting the lake. Then I came to
a little hill and a couple of local
artisans were setting up their stalls for the day – Obviously this was a major
tourist stop for the views, but as it was still only 9.30 am, I had the road
(and the viewpoints) virtually to myself.
I chatted to one of the vendors and he reckoned he worked in the office
with the best view in the world !! He
may just have been right – It really was a stunning view.
From there it was on round the lake, with incredible rock
formations on one side, and water on the other.
This is a major hiking and cycling centre, and I can see why – It really
has a lot to offer once you get out of the town and into the country.
One local (Central / South American) habit that I find most disconcerting it that
when they close things at night, they often leave the “Open” sign in place –
Perhaps it saves the effort of putting it back up again in the morning. But roadside cafés and restaurants always say
“Apierto” (Open), but are often closed – You have to stop and go in and check
each time ! In this instance there was a
Dinosaur exhibit – Apparently the biggest dinosaur skeleton in the world was
found here, and there are signs everywhere about it. When you get there, a big “Apierto” sign on
the gate – Which is securely closed and padlocked shut. Didn’t want to go there anyway !!
From there the road became tarmac again, and we were soon
back into “civilisation”. All through
Llao Llao, and then all the way back along the coast to Bariloche, you hardly see any lake because big houses
have been built completely blocking any views.
So basically from there to Bariloche, I didn’t stop again. The best bit had been
the dirt road on the
southern side, and that was plenty for me – It had been excellent. So I decided to head on up to the northern
Lakes District loop I had planned. The
road followed the Rio Limay, and it is a big, fast flowing river which is
popular with canoists as well as rafting expeditions. At one point we past a couple of rubber rafts
with the people obviously having a great time – As soon as they saw people on
the banks waving or taking photos, they all shouted and waved back ! We then passed a little township on the other
side of the river called Villa Llanquin – You have to walk across a narrow wire
bridge to get there, and can take your car on a little one-car ferry if you want. I walked across the bridge – It seems to be a
spot for people to go for a coffee or lunch, although being a Sunday morning,
seemed a bit quiet today.
As I drove on north, the rock formations beside the road
became more and more amazing – You can easily see that the famous areas like
Torres del Paine are not just isolated examples of these rock formations –
What I saw today was almost like a mini T del P in places. Some are so spectacular that you just have to
keep pulling off to the side of the road to take photos. Eventually, coming through a valley called
“Valle Encantado” - The Enchanted
Valley, I just had to stop at the side of the river – It was lunch time anyway,
and what better place to stop for a while.
Just delightful.
After lunch, it was back on the dirt. The main road to San Martin de los Andes is
the well known Ruta 40 that runs
virtually from the top to the bottom of Argentina. We had been on it before when we were in
northern Argentina before Christmas. But
I was trying to take the back roads – and once again succeeded, finding an
amazing dirt road through the heart of the Lanin Parque Nacional, and it was
just rough and rocky enough to keep most “normal” vehicles off it. So once
again, for a couple of hours, I was out in the wilderness, in some of the most
amazing country, and hardly a soul in sight.
There were a number of great free camping spots beside the river, and it
was so tempting to stop there – But it was far too early, so I plodded on. Great spot to come back to another time and
just veg out there for a week or so, walking some of the trails up there.
After passing the summit of the pass at 1300 metres, the
road then wound on down the valley, eventually getting down to a level and much
smoother dirt road, which now became quite crowded with people coming up from
the other end of the road to camp or just spend the day beside the river. Soon we linked back up with the tarmac Ruta
40, for the run into San Martin de los Andes – A very scenic drive down a
valley to Lago Lacar, and after running alongside the lake, you come into the
little town which nestles at the sheltered head of the lake. Nice little town – More back packers and many
cyclists, and the usual bars, restaurants and hotels everywhere. On the way in I had spotted a camp site about
20 kms back that was quiet and located beside a little river, so I went back
there to investigate, and found a lovely little spot with only a few cars
there, most of which left as the sun went down – They were just day trippers
from San Martin. One of those was a chap
called Horacio, and his daughter Anna, who were there in a Land Rover. He couldn’t resist and came over for a chat
about Troopie – It turns out he lives in San Martin, is Land Rover crazy, and
is a Land Rover mechanic ! I need to put him in touch with my mechanical
guru (and Land Rover expert! ) Dean on the Gold Coast !
Anyway, very pleasant spot beside the river. Had a couple
of beers and an afternoon snooze on the grass, and then turned in after
supper. Not too many facilities at this
camp site, but a good little spot.
Tomorrow will start heading back towards the Chilean border so as to get
down to Puerto Montt and start down the Caretera Austral. I want to cross the border early in the
morning on Tuesday – Based on their camp site behaviour all the Argentinians
should still be asleep if I cross before 9 am !!
Photos here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0179ColoniaSuizaToSanMartinDeLosAndes?authkey=Gv1sRgCNK4mful2tTk-AE#
No comments:
Post a Comment