We docked and about an hour later we got of the boat and headed north towards Osorno, now just before boarding the boat we met this great guy, Pablo Escobar, he says that when he gets to Colombia he’s not so sure how well he is going to be accepted, funny. Now, he lives in Osorno so when we got there we had a great meal and then it was time for all of us to say our farewells, Graham and Sue with Dave were heading to Bariloche and crossing Argentina further south of us, they still have time, we needed to get to BA, so we took a more northern route through Pucon. After looking back it turns, out that the country I saw the most of and spent the most time in was Chile and I still have an extra 5 days to play with, so if it was my thing I really could have spent a lot of time doing stuff south of Santiago, but on my own, I like to spend time on the bike riding, you bikers out there know what I mean.
Villarica and Pucon are in the Chilian lake district, really stunning, beaches, volcano hiking and thermal springs and who knows what else, but the next day across the boarder and back into Argentina to a little town called San Martin de los Andes, now that town I could spend time in, its like a picture perfect little Swiss ski village nestled on the edge of a lake surrounded by Volcanoes, we were there on the weekend so town was bustling.
The next day was our first really long ride, 650kms to a town called Choele Choel not much to say about this place other than an early start and 700kms later we got to Azul, also not much. The next day was my first solo ride since leaving Santiago and I flew 300kms in 2 hours to Buenos Aires, and in those 2 hours I reflected on the entire trip, the places I’ve been the things I’ve seen, to basically be in a situation in my Life where I can do this, I don’t think stopping now would be smart. Without to much difficulty I get to the street of the hotel and while asking for directions, I hear a loud shout “Chrees”, I turn around and there is Gino, so cool to see him again and he is with his wife and they look great together. So we jump we hug, we laugh and shout and he walks me 50 meters to the hotel where he and I will be staying, I walk in and guess who is standing there waiting for me, Adrian. I nearly fell over with shock, 2 amazing surprises in ten minute of each other. Adrian is on vacation in his home town, he knew I was coming by watching my track on the blog, I had sent him the hotel details, but the timing was perfect.
Well that night, last night, we arranged for all the ‘Cosmotos’ that were in town to meet for dinner, so Gino, his wife and friend Bolivar, Adrian, Johannes and Judy, Philippe, Mike and Alana and friend Tara and me all meet at a restaurant and have a blast, but the interesting thing was after Tara took us to a local Argentinean Tango dance hall. Now you are really only allowed in if you know how to Tango, and I don’t mean, saw it on TV and now Tango is your thing, no these people were absolutely amazing. I now know what the Argentinean Tango is and that has got to be the sexiest thing I have ever seen. We all sat there until 2;30 am watching these people, yes only watching because if we had of decided to give it a shot, we would have been briskly removed from the premises. That Tango stuff, I could get into that!!
Well here I sit in BA wondering what to do next, a quick trip to visit my Brother in Switzerland and then what?
Quite simple really, I’m not ready to stop, I have a place to store my bike here, so I think I’m going to ride from BA to Alaska.
A little therapy can go a long way or a long way can be a little therapy, either way you look at it riding is good for mind, body and soul. I say get a bike leave your cell phone at home and go for a long ride, you will be amazed at what you might find!!!!
