Through the Argentinian pampa and to the Atlantic - byebye Chile

Coyhaique - Laguna Chiguay  - Chile Chico - Los Antiguos (Argentinia) - ? - Las Heras - (Pico Truncado)Caleta Olivia

14.12. - 20.12.2011

(62 - 65 - 19 - 105 - 137 - 97 km)

leaving Coyhaique, with the basalt massiv dominating the landscape

From Coyhaique we continued two more days on the Carreterra Austral, till Puerto Ibanez (from where we took the ferry to Chile Chico) at the lake General Carrera.
Leaving Coyhaique we were steadily going uphill, passing the basalt formations and arriving to a vast plain with agriculture and lots of horseflies tormenting us.
We camped at the camping of the CONAF(Corporacion Foestal Nacional) at Laguna Chiguay, an idyllic place from 21 to 8h, because at night the horseflies reduce their activity.

at this really hot day unfortunately we had to climb at 1000m, and worse, to escape the horseflies 

Laguna Chiguay, with loads of horseflies attacking us

before the pass of 1100m

the impressive Cerro Castillo, in front of Laguna Morales

in Chile Chico at the great and icy lake General Carrera

crossing the border between Chile Chico (Chile) and Los Antiguos (Argentinia)

in Los Antiguos, the cherry capital of the region

After having crossed the border, Los Antiguos (means "the old") was the first Argentinian village of our trip. This village has nothing worth mentioning except for its really good municipal camping (where we had also electricity and wind shelter, very important in this region) and many cherry trees aligning the main streets and with cherries-ready-to-eat.

here the Argentinian pampa and in the distance the Chilean snow-capped peaks

Directly after the border the landscape changed abruptly: while the Chilean Patagonia is covered by deeply green native forests, rivers, lakes fjords and islands, in Argentinia you' ll find the pampa. This is a flat, dry and very windy plain.
And these days I understood what means a wind speed of 50 km/h: the only possible direction to cycle at this wind (which seems more a hurricane) is exactly with it. So we did going east to the Atlantic coast, and it was great (if you don' t want to set up a tent or take an eating break). We rushed at 30 km/h with pedaling seldom, and even uphill there was not much necessity to pedal! This is why during these days we made more than 100km per day without any effort. This is the nearest experience to riding a motorcycle I ever had.

nice cloud formations above Lago Buenos Aires (which in Chile is called General Carrera)

30 km h almost without pedaling - due to strong tailwind

the giant"petrol workman" in Caleta Olivia

Here, in Caleta Olivia, we decided to finish our bike trip, because in every direction you go, the wind is so strong that cycling is no fun and even can throw you off the bike. So we sold our bikes, I bought a giant backpack of 90 liters, which is so heavy that I hate every cloth inside it. And we start by autostop ("a dedo") direction El Chalten and El Calafate, with the glaciar Perito Moreno and the Patagonia of rivers, lakes, snow-capped mountains, instead of te pampa.