Did you know that?
- A special fine thread-like plastic material is used to make clothing such as fleece jackets, hats and vests.
However, it was like day and night crossing back over to Chile from Argentina at Futuleufu as almost immediately we saw the clouds roll in and our first night on the Carretera Austral we had rain. The Wicked Witch of the West would not last five minutes in these parts and we imagine the Tin Man would be rusting and creaking from every crevice. We had to choose between strong head winds in Argentina or rain on this side (as The Andes divide the two countries). Kinda both sucky options but the stories of spectacular scenery won us over and so we decided to brave this famous and very remote road. Cycling on the first half to Coyhaique (or we have come to call it, 'the land of rainbows') has reminded Roland of a great tramping trail on Vancouver Island, The West Coast Trail. We feel like we are somewhere very magical but this bubble has been burst a couple of times due to the severe elements and the steep inclines on 'ripio' (gravel) which can sometimes resemble a river bed. To add to this, shelter is few and far between and supermarkets (supermercados) resemble that of some old lady's kitchen cupboard.
It feels wonderful to be in Coyhaique, the middle of the Carretera Austral and an opportunity to warm up, dry off, recharge our batteries and get rid of our stink. As our time on the bike draws to an end we find ourselves thinking about the past 16 months but also trying to muster up enough energy to complete this mammoth adventure and continue to absorb the charms of Patagonia. We are getting really tired.
Extras
- To give you an indication of how wet it gets here, tent sites in campgrounds have permanent shelters to shield your tent from all forms of bad weather.
- Flip flopping back and forth between Chile and Argentina means continuously converting money and getting your head around the different exchange rates.
- Books being read: Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen, Shogun by James Clavell and Laguna by Barbara Kingsolver.
- Crib scores: Roland 52, Belinda 37.
- 31 pages left in our South America Lonely Planet (as we have shed the rest).
- After many weeks of humming and harring over whether to buy new shoes knowing the prospects of wet weather ahead we took the jump and are both now sporting a new pair of Salomon sneakers. We feel so cool!