Camping Los Coihues [website] Bariloche, 04-03-10
Get me to the wedding on time!
Barrancas to Panguipulli
(9 cycle days; 1 rest
day; 600km; 6938m)
Barrancas to 22 km. after Buta Ranquil (60km;
673m)
22 km. after Buta Ranquil to Chos Malal (66km; 859m)
Chos Malal to 23 km. after Chorriaca (95km; 1087m)
23 km. after Chorriaca to Las Lajas (64km; 513m)
Las Lajas to 500 m. before Argentinian border (55km;
1080m)
Argentinian border to 19 km. > Liucura
- Chile (48km; 723m)
19 km. after Liucura to 9 km. after Melipeuco (63km;
558m)
9 km. after Melipeuco to Villarrica (88km; 664m)
Villarrica to Chauquen - Panguipulli (62km 781m)
Better off wild
Last night, we disagreed on a few too many points and
the sour mood is brought over into the new day. Our
departure is somewhat delayed, but once we are out pedalling
the undulating road to Buta Ranquil, all is forgotten
and forgiven. The camping municipal is difficult to
find and hardly worth the trouble. It's more like a
dumping ground for the roadwork department and pedestrian
course, from one side of the town to the other, for
locals...
Tip
of the month: the perfect fire starter
With all the camping in
the last months and the numerous chances
to light an open fire, I thought back to
this great fire-starting tip I heard about
while cycling in the USA.
Soak cotton wool balls
in petroleum jelly (commonly known as vaseline),
and store in a sturdy ziploc bag. When it
comes to starting a fire, pop one of the
balls on a stick and place in an optimum
position under the wood and light. It will
burn long enough to get your firewood properly
blazing.
Barrancas - Villa Los Coihues (Argentina)
Kilometres: 928 km and 420 m only...
Riding days: 14 (too many parties !!!)
Alti meters: still 11,706 metres up !
Weather: more rain than we bargened for
Best accommodation: Camping
Pemehue near Chauquén (Panguipulli)
great set-up: light, electricity, swimming
pool, perfect view of Villarrica vulcano,
cover when it rained and 7th night free!
Bummer we didn't spend much time here, we
were too busy partying somewhere else...
:-)
Special thanks to:
The Garcia
family for their most amazing hospitality
and warm welcome
at their wonderful home in Panguipulli • Carmen
Gloria for the best tiramisu this side of
Italy. Mmmmmh! • Benja
and Natalia for inviting us to their wedding; being
such
wonderfully relaxed friends; and genuinely
gorgeous people. Love ya! • Manuel
and Marisol for their instant friendship
and also being genuinely
gorgeous people. Love ya too! • Diego
for taking a shine to Ali (Dr. House come
Anthony Bourdain) and
providing plenty of laughs. (especially
when he caught the bride's
bouquet). Okay, love ya as well! • All of
Benja and Natalia's friends (too numerous
to mention) for making
us feel very welcome and totally at home. Love, love ya do...• The Argentinean
family that insisted we took their cold
bottle of water while we were cycling in
the heat of northern Patagonia • John and
Linda for our fourth meeting (twice in Turkey,
once in Thailand and now in San Martin de
los Andes) and some very nice evenings contemplating
the pro's and cons of being on the road
for a while... and not to forget the scrummy
meals! Hope to see ya soon! • James for interrupting his afternoon siesta to
make the 13 kilometre "out of Bariloche" stretch to join us at Camping
Los Coihues . Couldn't have wished for a better reunion
with a better friend. Great to celebrate
seeing you again James. "And Bless
the Blest Beer in Bariloche"... try
that one after a few Frambuesas :-) • Sonya's
Mum and Dad for spending all the phone calls
and negotiation time with Harry to buy her
a new video camera. And then beginning to
think about how to get it shipped safely
to South America! • Everyone
who thought of us and sent messages when
the earthquake. struck Chile. Thanks, it
is great to know people are thinking about
you • Manu at Sunn Bicycles for the news story and link on their website • Rodrigo
for the nice report on his 40milkm.blogspot about travelling adventurers.
Breakdowns:
08: flat tyre (Ali)
14: broken tent pole
14: Sony photo camera gives up... just after we
had it cleaned...
22: Sony video camera record button gives up.
That's not very handy...
