A great day again today - 26 November.
Many thanks to those who left comments on the blog yesterday: Scotty and Frances. Also to Janice Jones who keeps the staff at Shirley's school uptodate. It's a funny thing with a blog - you send it off into the ether and you're never sure whether it is being read or not.
We had breakfast at the hostel this morning even though it wasn't served until 8am. The original plan was to come to Coyhuique and we knew there was a certain amount of tarseal so we weren't in a huge hurry.
About 20kms down the road we turned off to a national park to a glacier called Ventisquiro Colgante (the Hanging Glacier). We waited for the gates to open
and drove about 2kms to the car park.
We walked up this very NZ-like track to the viewing point.
And there was the glacier.
I thought it was pretty amazing. A hanging glacier indeed.
On the way back we met up with Mark Donham, aka Radioman.
He is riding his BMW F800 around the world and has a very well known blog on www.advrider.com. Also at http://radiomanridestheworld.com/ Go and have a look - you might see some familiar faces!
Kiwi checked out his mascot. Hmmmmm .... A bit grubby but seems ok.
This was an nice accessory on the pannier.
Mark decided to join up with us and we headed off down the gravel road.
The scenery was the NZ West Coast on steroids. I wish I could have stopped more often. We were riding down a valley with snow capped mountains on both sides with a river below.
Southern beech trees line the road.
The road wasn't too bad but we were pleased to see the tarseal.
At the intersection there was this memorial - obviously someone had been to it today because there were candles still burning inside.
Onto the tarseal we got on with it, stopping for a view down the valley.
Along with this taciturn bloke from Russia on a Honda 250.
and pulled in for lunch at Villa Manihuales (I think). Some great views.
These are quirky weatherboards.
We then rode on to Coyhuique where we found the Mirador Hostel. Mark decided to risk my crook stomach so he and I are sharing a room. At the back of the hostel are even more amazing views.
What an extraordinary place. I went for a little walk. I'm not sure what the background to this set of figures is but they looked great.
And also this copper lighthouse.
At 7pm we went to the fire station for dinner. I'm not quite sure why but the fire station has a restaurant attached. We had a great meal of steak, potatoes and salad and that was about our day.
Today's run: 225km (much of it on gravel)
Cumulative: 36,198kms
Tipovers: 7
Location:Coyhuique, Chile
Really enjoying the blogs and following along on your fabulous journey Kennif.
ReplyDeleteThe contrasts of the last few days from the dry sand blown desert to the snow capped mountains so like NZ.
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DeleteThanks Jilly. It's great to know that you're following.
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