Day 1,666
Marble caves
We were making our way to Puerto Rio Tranquillo, a journey of just under 80 miles, with no challenging climbs. It was a distance that without too much of a push we could make in a long day on the bike. However, there are miles and there are Carretera Austral miles, so we planned to do it in two, perhaps even three days. As mentioned before we have time to kill, so we can afford to slow down and smell the roses, plus there is the not so small matter of the tarmac running out and that changes things big style!
Leaving Cerro Castillo very early to hopefully avoid the heat and headwind,we headed straight up the hill, and as we climbed we enjoyed the last few miles of easy going tarmac, within 8 miles it was going to get way way tougher. All too soon we were there, ripio! It's hard to describe just how demoralising it is, our speed instantly slows. We now have less time to admire the stunning mountains all around us, we barely glance at the blue and emerald lakes that this area is so famous for, it's a case of head down and focus. Just to add to the joy the roads became pretty busy. We saw a fair few fellow tourers, all as focused as us.
We had a plan. Rather than struggle all day, we'd stop early and just sit back and enjoy the views, and that is precisely what we did. Just after some road works, where they appeared to be adding yet more loose gravel to the already loose surface, we reached a small farm which doubled as a campsite. Very basic, but it had showers and even a kitchen, luxury. The showers turned out to be cold but everything else was great. We spent the afternoon just taking our time to enjoy the stunning views and let the dogs, sheep, horses, chickens, turkey mum and chicks entertain us. By early evening we had been joined by another 5 cycle tourers who, like us, were not enjoying that ripio. A father and son were accompanied by a collie, who had apparently joined them just outside Cerro Castillo. It's quite a thing on the Carretera Austral, dogs regularly join tourers for a few hours, days, weeks and sometimes a lifetime. We spent a few hours swopping stories before Tom and I headed to bed. We planned another early start. We'd managed to avoid the worst of the wind today and it had made the riding so much easier.
Beautiful colours where Laguna Verde meets the Ibáñez River
By 6am we were back on the road. When Matt had ridden this section a couple of years ago he had found it so unenjoyable and slow going that he contemplated leaving Chile and returning to Argentina. Fortunately for him, just a few miles on from our campsite it improved enormously. We weren't to be so lucky. At times there was definitely less gravel, but we simply got more ripio, washboard surfaces instead, then it got worse. We pulled in by an abandoned house to recover and realised just how beautiful it was there beside the river, so out came the flask and biscuits and chairs and we settled down for a drink. Tom spotted them first, two humming birds, their green feathers ensuring they blended in with the trees, but as they darted about from tree to tree we watched their every move. We also had a pair of swifts flying between us, totally relaxed with us being there. This was more like it. We reluctantly returned to the gravel. We rode with another tourer for a few miles, but after an hour or so we spotted another beautiful spot to relax by the river, so we said our goodbyes and ate our lunch, eggs provided by the farm chickens and bread by the owners, simple but wonderfully tasty.
Our friends Bella and Bastian had recommended we stop for a night at Puerto Murta. Just a tiny hamlet at the head of the General Carrera Lake. The road had become increasingly awful. So much traffic, deep gravel, we disappeared into a wall of dust and stones thrown up by the passing cars, and the riding was just so uncomfortable. The side road to Puerto Murta was tarmac, no choice then, we took it. They were right, it was a stunning setting, nothing much there, a few houses, some cabanas, a shop and a small park,and play area overlooking the lake, and no gravel! For an hour or so we sat and enjoyed the views, again we had birds to entertain us and in such a stunning setting, we soon forgot about that blessed ripio!
Sweet relief from the ripio on the way back from Puerto Murta
In the morning though there was no option, back on it. Just 20 miles to Puerto Rio Tranquillo and a few days off. As soon as I rejoined the road a collie dog leapt up towards me from the verge. It didn't want to bite me though, no it wanted to be ‘our dog’. We recognised it immediately, it was the collie which had been with the dad and son 2 days ago. It was clearly experienced at running besides cycle tourers. It happily trotted, ran, and sprinted along besides Tom, occasionally turning his head to make sure I was still there. The road surface was getting worse, not since the Bolivian Amazon had we seen dust like this, and to be honest this was worse. It was a constant battle to find a reasonable line to ride. Some of the drivers seemed to think they were on a racetrack, and not only that but they were invincible. One guy in particular past me at break neck speed flying over a blind summit, fortunately nothing was coming, he wasn't so lucky at the next summit, there was a squeal of brakes and horn from the oncoming truck, Tom was in the way, I blinked and the crazy driver was gone. How there hadn't been a crash I'll never know. Fido trotted along, he simply diverted to the verge as cars appeared, he clearly knew the score.
We climbed possibly the steepest hill of the trip, a short and paved section with a 20% incline. I managed to zigzag up it, not far to go now. As we crested yet another hill, it had been a few days of constant ups and downs, we reached Rio Tranquillo. Now what to do with Fido. We stopped to get some cash and he wandered off, phew! We had lunch whilst we waited for check-in time, but when we returned to our bikes, there was Fido, waiting patiently. Damn! Nothing for it, a quick dash, and we were in our cabana. Fido stood guard for an hour or so until he realised we weren't going to adopt him and wandered off to find a new family. We were relieved and heart broken in equal measure.
Fido, waiting faithfully for us to return
For us though, we had chores to do. The bikes were cleaned, Tom's rear wheel needed attention, it enjoyed the ripio less than us, the blog needed updating and there are films to create.
We've taken a morning to be tourists, joining a group of holiday makers on a speedboat trip to see the marble caves that this area is famous for. We had planned to kayak but the strong possibility of rain and the choppy lake changed our minds. We were so glad we made this decision. The boat took us into the caves, we could relax and enjoy the spectacular scenery. After an hour it was time to return, this is when it got interesting.
Our boat trip suddenly became a rip roaring speedboat ride. We bounced up and over the waves, hanging on, screaming at the top of our lungs in a mixture of fear and excitement. It lasted 30 minutes, and by the end we were exhausted but exhilarated. We have a couple more days here, then it's back to that blessed ripio. I wonder if we will see Fido again?
