Riding south into Patagonia has been like a journey back in time. On one hand the country has become more and more like the Okanagan Valley, and at the same time it is like we are dropping back an era or two.
Jakob and I made the crossing into Argentina for a day or two. Lucky for me, I found out that Argentina has enacted a reciprocity tax against Canada (thanks to the Tories) because Canada now charges Mexicans, Chileans, and Argentinians to enter our Country. I would not have been able to pay the entry tax at the border, and while arranging for moto insurance found about about the newly enacted tax against Canadians..(thanx Mr. Harper). The passage from Chile to Argentina was the first real tast of dirt for Blondy in a long time, and with the extra weight of the tire, the front end of the bike is somewhat light..
The Argentinian countryside is giving me a serious case of homesickness, as the blue skies, fields of cows, sheep and harvesting reminds me very much of the northern Okanagan..
The mountains, however, are much taller, and have lots of snow on them..
We spent some time on the famous ruta 40, before taking a side road and about 250 km of gravel back into Chile. The Argentinian leaving process was fairly easy, with the Aduna people being fairly straight forward and easy going. Of course, entering Chile again met that I had to empty all my panniers and have my gear checked for tanks, automatic weapons, and assorted contraband that motos are bound to carry.(insert sarcasm). The road was gravel, and although I did see one grader today, it appeared that he had about 400 kilometers of road to grade....
For my Welsh friends, and their wannabe Welsh friends, I made a point of stopping in
Trevelin and taking a few photos before we left Argentina.
Before any Welsh references, how do you think Argentinian woodpeckers survive with poles like this??
Anyways, Trevelin was established by Welshmen....
and is surrounded by mountains like this...
Somehow poor John Daniel Evans got a street named after him, but they spelled it incorrectly...
Very pointy rocks in this region...
The center of town is a tribute to a might band of Welshmen....
and some Argentinos...
And then the Argentine Pampas for a few hundred kilometers. The sky keeps getting bluer and bluer...
I hesitate to put the Karoo on, as it will be chewed up in short order. Maybe I will leave it on the back for weight....
Sheep, farms, and mountains...
The rivers are crystal clear, and I hesitate to say cleaner than BC rivers....
The Argentine border post...
It says something like if you screw up and mess up the country, your father will be pissed off, and so will your kids....
There is a sun on the Argentinian flag....
Arrived in a small Chilean town for the night. Nice timberwork...
And the family we stayed with had the nicest roses that I have seen in January, ever....
These birds were as big as seagulls, but had very long beaks for picking the bugs out of the grass....
Harvest time in January....
A beautiful rafting river, with wonderfully clear and green water...
Cows, gravel roads, and Mountains....
Pampas grass in Patagonia...I guess I have arrived....
While the sign attributes the Carrata Austral to Pinochet, there are still unanswered crimes from this dictators' era which need addressing...
This O'Higgins dude keeps showing up.....
