It was a nice still and sunny day when I left Ushuaia so I snapped a couple of shots to show the better side of the city before I left. I was headed to Punta Arenas which is the port at the bottom of Chile. It meant I had to back track a couple of hundred kilometres.

On the way in a few days ago I had passed an interesting restaurant place called 3005 Moto, so I dropped in on my way north and checked it out. Lots of old bikes and stories about some of the first people to ride from Ushuaia to Alaska. Or the reverse. They obviously did it a bit tougher than I did. And on such small bikes. Mine is considered small. I have been surprised by the amount of people riding to Ushuaia and the fact that they are mostly from Brazil, Chile and Argentina. And on big bikes.

I reached the coast and it looked okay. The road was very close so I rode down and dipped my boot in. Back to speaking about bikes, I had decided to spend the night at another moto themed place called Motorcycle Fin del Mundo in Rio Grande. I had dropped in and checked it out on my way down. It wasn’t luxury accommodation but had a nice feel about it and a bit of luxury for the bike with a nice safe shed/bar to sleep in. As I was pulling in it started to bucket down rain. Well timed. I seemed like I was the only one there and I took a bed in a dorm which was not flash but cheap and I was the only person. But with the constant rain people started arriving in dribs and drabs. The last three, quite late, and I was in bed half asleep. They were all soaked and also in the dorm and hung their gear everywhere and cranked up the heating. I had a horrible nights sleep.

Next morning I was up and tried to leave early but I met a Korean guy on a bike who’s a bit of a travel legend. He had also bought the bike off the Canadian guy that I met in Peru and Bolivia and had headed off to Antarctica. Small world. Big chat.

An hour after I left I had to cross the border again back into Chile but hopefully this was the last time. It all went smoothly. I also had to cross the Straits of Magellan again but this time it was pretty rough, and I had to sit on my bike all the way over and got splashed with salt water several times. On the other side I took a break for something to eat and to make a decision about whether I continue on to Punta Arenas or backtrack a little further to the small town of San Gregorio where I had stayed before because the wind now was becoming quite strong. I use the Windy app which is popular in Antarctica. I find it amazing how the Andes can just deflect the storms. The colours depict the strength and its shown in knots and so I just double it for kilometres per hour.

I just rode to I got to the turn off without making a decision. I sat there for a few minutes. The wind was pretty horrible and blowing on my right hand side. The forecast for the next day was slightly better. But, I didn’t want to spend another night in a place I had already stayed so I thought I’d give it a go. Before this trip I had no idea how much the wind affects the bike. I’m guessing it was well over 60kms an hour and directly side on. Some of the strong gusts blew me over to the other side of the road. It was a bit scary. When there was an oncoming vehicle, especially a truck or a bus I had to slow right down and keep to the edge and once they had passed the bike swerved to the centre of the road because the disrupt the wind flow. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of traffic. It was only for about 150kms with a petrol station break halfway. It was tiring but good for my core strength which is good for my sciatica. Once I turned left and headed south again towards Punta Arenas it was coming from behind and was nice. Still gusty but much more pleasant. And safe.

Punta Arenas seemed nice. I went to a place I’d looked up. It seemed nice but was booked out for that night. So were the next two places. I eventually got a place at Hostal Torres del Paine which was an old hotel or guesthouse ran by a lovely old lady. Only a couple of years older than me! Cheap, with breakfast and I parked my bike in the yard of the house across the street. The next night I upped the luxury a bit and moved to the place I had chosen the first night that was booked out. Residencia Punta Arenas. I ended up staying there for 4 nights because I had some sort of cold, flu, covid, manflu, thing happening. I was also feeling a bit ran down and battered after a couple of hard days riding in strong winds. It had a nice kitchen and a fruit and veg shop next door so for 3 days I just filled my body with home cooked fruit and veg (and homemade empanadas from the bakery next to the fruiteria). And rested. I did a few small walks and one night went out and had a beer with an English guy who was staying for one night. I also ate out flash one day which was nice.

Punta Arenas is an interesting city and has a long connection with Antarctica. They have lots of seaside monuments and snippets of Antarctica stories. I wasn’t feeling great so I didn’t get to see or do as much as I would have liked. I was also starting to realise that I need to keep moving as I had a long way to go. Just like this blog. I need to stop waffling and get on with it.

Next stop was Puerto Natales. I passed these odd statue/monument thingies which apparently have something to do with the wind. But apparently the wind wanted nothing to do with them and destroyed one of them not long after they were installed. I also came across a small café in the middle of nowhere and had this amazing bowl of chicken and veggie soup. Just what I needed.

The weather was pretty cold but not below zero and I was wearing all my 5 layers. Bottom: jocks, thermal, pants, bike pants, waterproof pants. Top: thermals, t shirt, fleece jacket, bike jacket, waterproof jacket. Head: merino balaclava, merino buff, helmet. Feet: Knee length thick woollen socks, Motorbike boots. Hands: $300 heavy duty, waterproof riding gloves. (I also have a pair of lighter summer ones). The map on the left shows the ride on the way down and the right the start of the ride back. I’m crisscrossing a bit. Due to weather and road conditions.

I had been in contact with a friend from the Kimberely who was on her way to Antarctica. She happened to be in Puerto Natales that day so we caught up for a drink. That was nice. Once again I had trouble finding vacant accommodation in a couple of spots I’d picked out. I should really book ahead. But that also locks me in which I don’t like. It could also make me push on to get to a place which I don’t think is a safe thing to do on the bike. I eventually found an expensive ($140AUD) boring place with a nice breakfast. (I’m a bit loathe to mention that I went for a walk and a few doors down I found a nice place which was half the price)! At breakfast next morning I tried to get my moneys worth by slipping some cake and a banana into my jacket pocket. Later in the day I found I had a pocket full of banana mash and sunglasses. Fail. Luckily it was a waterproof pocket, and it contained the damage to one place.

My plan was to head up north for the day and do a loop around the Torres del Paine National Park and then return to Puerto Natales (300km round trip) and catch up with my friend again. People talk about how amazing the park is, and they hike there for days on end. It’s expensive and booked out months in advance for hikers. I had to buy a ticket online before I arrived. Fifty bucks for the day. Fortunately, you can do the loop and see most of the stuff from the comfort of your motorbike in a couple of hours. I did it clockwise and it was a gravel road but in good condition. The traffic wasn’t too bad with a mix of campervans/trucks, bikes, cars, and bicycles.

I can’t say I was overly impressed but then I look at the photos and yeah, it looks pretty amazing. I think it was just all the hype and then when I saw it, it was just like lots of other stuff I have seen on my ride down. No better. Even smaller. Other parts of the Andes up north are full of similar landscapes on a larger scale. I was surprised when I was suddenly at the exit of the park. That’s it. No more? Outside the park is the small town of Cerro Castillo. Turns out it’s a border town to Argentina. And so this is where my not booking ahead plan works perfectly. But shows up a big flaw in my research. Because I didn’t book a second night in Puerto Natales before I left I was able to cross the border and not go back. Or so I thought. The one flaw in my new plan was fuel.

There were no petrol stations. And I needed fuel. I had enough to get back to Puerto Natales which was a 70km ride into a strong head wind or did I have enough to go 133kms with the same wind but mostly from behind, to the first petrol station in Argentina? I tried everywhere in the small town for fuel. Apparently you can normally buy it at the hotel or the store but neither of them had any as it was some sort of “Return to Cerro Castillo Day” and the place was swamped. Sometimes you can get it from the fire station. But no. I figured I would need five litres and that’s about how much I had in my tank. It’s an adventure so I decided I’d give it a go. The border crossing was small and super fast. Only six kilometres of crappy gravel and then good road. Then about 20kms across the border  I had to make another decision. I could go south about 38kms and there was a petrol station in a small town. Or I could push my luck and go on. This time I went for caution and rode south and got fuel. It was a bit windy but not too bad. I then backtracked the 38kms and continued on to the small town of Esperanza. Nice tail wind most of the way. Such a pleasure. When I arrived, I filled up and calculated I would have used 5.5 litres if I’d come directly and that would have been really testing the bikes fuel capacity.

It was a small town with only one real option of accommodation across from the petrol station. Hotel la Esperanza. I didn’t even ask the price ($125AUD). I had to park the bike out the front but it seemed safe enough. The hotel didn’t sell beer so I went for a walk and found a weird little bar, forgot to take photos. Just the owner and another guy at a table. Lots of old outback paraphernalia hanging on the walls. They just chatted away in Spanish. I didn’t understand a word. I went back to the hotel and a couple of my staple, empanadas, for dinner and an early night after my big day.

Next day it was only another 163kms to El Calafate which is also a backpacker mecca because of the Perito Moreno Glacier an hour away. It was a nice little town and I found a great hostel, Hostal Schilling for $75AUD. It seemed so cheap! And came with breakfast. I desperately needed to change money and also pay for my bikes third party insurance but I thought I’d ride out to the glacier first. Luckily I was able to check in early and dump all my stuff and ride out the glacier unencumbered. Which was actually really nice as it was a great rode for a ride. I had all my bike clothes on as it was 77kms away and about an hour and a half.

The entrance ticket was $65AUD (it had just doubled in price recently) which was pretty high. I did consider not going as I’ve seen heaps of glaciers before and even touched them from the frozen ocean and walked across one all roped up and wearing crampons in Antarctica. But FOMO (fear of missing out) got the better of me, so I headed in with low expectations. And I was pleasantly surprised. If you’ve never seen a glacier before then this is a pretty nice one. There are several kilometres of walkways which give you great viewing from different angles and elevations. Although there were a lot of people it didn’t seem crowded. I’d taken my runners but I opted to do the walk in my motorbike boots which made it more difficult as there were a LOT of steps. I spent longer there than I expected. My bike was happy hanging out in the carpark with the other bikes. I even managed to park it with a couple of other Colombian bikes.

It was a nice ride back, passing everyone stuck in queues of slow moving traffic. But. I got back too late to pay my insurance. Five minutes late. And I wanted to leave early next morning and it didn’t open until 10:00am. I eventually found another place that could do it but I had to pay with cash. I had just enough money with my remaining Argentinian pesos and they accepted my left over Chilean pesos at a crap rate but at least I was able to pay it. Now to find a money changer!

The young girls at reception at the hostel were both lovely and super helpful. They suggested a restaurant that may change money. I entered the restaurant and asked about changing money and they motioned me up a staircase in the corner. There was a little office with a queue and a lady flicking pesos through a counting machine at a rapid pace. The rate was only 1100 (I did get 1200 once) compared to the banks 1050 but at least it was available and looked safe. I changed $200US (and got rid of my two worst looking $US notes) and walked out of there like I was some sort of drug dealer on payday. I had beer and an icecream for dinner.

I had a long chat in English to the young lady on reception about travel and Australia. She is keen to go there. She questioned why I wasn’t going to El Chalten while I was so close. It’s another trendy hyped up hiking place, about 220kms north. It was about another 200km (round trip) detour and to the west and not to the east where I wanted to go. I decided if the weather was in my favour, then I’d do it. If not then not.

Turned out to be a nice day and a lovely ride. I had looked at staying there the night, but accommodation was hard to find and the cheapest room was in a dorm with eight beds and it was $60AUD. So I figured if I left early I could just ride there and have lunch and then head back east. So I did that. But before I left I had probably the best hostal breakfast that I’ve had so far. Beautiful scenery along the way. El Chalten is the starting point for hikes to Mount Fitz Roy. And others. It’s a spectacular backdrop to the town. The town looks pretty new and built around the hikers who come to visit. And like all the gear the hikers were wearing it was very expensive. I had a nice ride around and although I wasn’t really hungry I had to eat a delicious looking homemade empanada. I’m beginning to realise that I eat a lot of empanadas.

After a nice break I backtracked for an hour and then a short ride to Tres Lagos. From here I was taking a bit of a risk. I had three options to continue on my journey. Two of them were blocked off with a sign saying to visit the police station prior to entering. The third was to backtrack several hours and follow a nice safe road and probably add a day to my trip. There was a nice place to stay so I checked in. And then assessed my options for tomorrow.

KMS 26805