4th of Feb - Tres Lagos to Bajo Caracoles - 406km, 6h36
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With 7 Pesos (80 cents) in the pocket but with a full tank we started north. The 120km to Gobernador Gregores went well even though we had two big showers. A cleaner in the ATM room of the bank said something about 15 minutes later there should be money available. How can he know (?:-) but some people waited already. We drove to the petrol station first because we knew from our tour south four weeks before that this one would accept our Visa card. We met some people from Lengries heading for an expedition to Fitz Roy.
Later we got our money at the ATM (he was right!) and we had lunch in a small restaurant. Three totally drunk guys failed to behave and had to leave the restaurant finally. They have patience here, wow. The Mama from Dom Rep served us a big Pizza, well done.
The sky was black when we were outside again. We put our rain gloves and soon we were in the middle of heavy rain. Shortly before the tarmac ended we overtook a pickup. The gravel was ok but there were some slippery parts in between, wow. In a road construction area we were on mud like greasy clay and I reduced the speed to about 30 - 40km/h but then all of a sudden we were on the ground. Both wheels just slid and we had a soft landing in middle of a big puddle.
We got up, dripping from mud and heavy rain from the top and made certain that all was ok with each other and pushed up the bike together. In one of the aluminum boxes was a hole but the outer part was bent inside so nothing could fall out. The pickup caught up with us and the guys were really worried. They told us to drive in front of them. After a while I waved them an OK and they speeded up. Soon we found tarmac again, not released for the traffic but anyway in this bad weather there were no construction workers around.
After a while we passed by Las Horquetas where we had the storm on the way south. We arrived in Bajo Caracoles, a nest with maybe 50 inhabitants and decided to stay in the overpriced “hotel” at the gas station: 45 Euro for a small room and one have to share the one and only bathroom with other guests. Alternatively there would have been a campground available but too much effort for one night.
The Pizza stop. The guy was so happy that he found some people (us) to talk to :-)
« Back to journal
With 7 Pesos (80 cents) in the pocket but with a full tank we started north. The 120km to Gobernador Gregores went well even though we had two big showers. A cleaner in the ATM room of the bank said something about 15 minutes later there should be money available. How can he know (?:-) but some people waited already. We drove to the petrol station first because we knew from our tour south four weeks before that this one would accept our Visa card. We met some people from Lengries heading for an expedition to Fitz Roy.
Later we got our money at the ATM (he was right!) and we had lunch in a small restaurant. Three totally drunk guys failed to behave and had to leave the restaurant finally. They have patience here, wow. The Mama from Dom Rep served us a big Pizza, well done.
The sky was black when we were outside again. We put our rain gloves and soon we were in the middle of heavy rain. Shortly before the tarmac ended we overtook a pickup. The gravel was ok but there were some slippery parts in between, wow. In a road construction area we were on mud like greasy clay and I reduced the speed to about 30 - 40km/h but then all of a sudden we were on the ground. Both wheels just slid and we had a soft landing in middle of a big puddle.
We got up, dripping from mud and heavy rain from the top and made certain that all was ok with each other and pushed up the bike together. In one of the aluminum boxes was a hole but the outer part was bent inside so nothing could fall out. The pickup caught up with us and the guys were really worried. They told us to drive in front of them. After a while I waved them an OK and they speeded up. Soon we found tarmac again, not released for the traffic but anyway in this bad weather there were no construction workers around.
After a while we passed by Las Horquetas where we had the storm on the way south. We arrived in Bajo Caracoles, a nest with maybe 50 inhabitants and decided to stay in the overpriced “hotel” at the gas station: 45 Euro for a small room and one have to share the one and only bathroom with other guests. Alternatively there would have been a campground available but too much effort for one night.
The Pizza stop. The guy was so happy that he found some people (us) to talk to :-)
