Dear All,

Let's go back to our travel report!

Finally we spent almost one week in Coihaique relaxing, meeting people from all the ages and all the countries,  sharing with them ideas and international meals...

Eating Arthur's handmade crepes each of us with his favourite drink...   

One week after the energy and motivation are recovered and we are ready to continue towards the north along the Carrettera (or, more prosaically, Ruta 7).

Let's go!

The wind is still present, but no as strong as in the pampa and seems that the people here prefer to use it instead of fighting against it... 

Are the eoliens the most viable solution for Patagonia energy supply?Maybe...

For the next 150km we could ride on perfect paved the road...but we start missing ripio roads... the lack of traffic and the feeling of riding on something not completely disconnected from the surrounding landscape.

Sometimes, one finish to love and miss what at the beginning he was hating and refusing...  

Oh Ripio... mon bon Ripio...que j`'suis bien sur mon Ripio...

Along this road we discover a new landscape which witness of the "liberation de la tierra" policy developed in all this region some decades ago: thousands of hectars of nacked lands and rests of dead trees standing or laying on the ground like skeletons.  

A field after the battle..

Why that?

Well, the idea was that the most efficient way to have free land for agriculture was to simply completely burn the native thousand of year old unusefull forest.

Like a violonist playng a sad melody in a cemetery...

The result of this action: the "liberated lands" are only little cultivated because too little people moved in the region. Strong erosion occuers everywhere and the eroded sediments brought from the rivers, arrive to the harbours and plug them (Puerto Aysen is nowaday completely unuseful).

Conclusion: now they are planting pines to stabilize the ground. They are absolutely not endemic and create a strange landscape in the middle of the coique , lenga and ñirre, but the grow much faster and they much more rentable for the wood industry... (link)

35 km after our departure from Coihaique we arrive in villa Ortega a little isolated pueblo where we met Jorge and his lovely family who invite us to their place "para tomar un Mate". They live in a completely artesenal house made by themself woth wood, ground and plastic bottles. Jorge and his partner are both artesans. In particular he transforms piece of burnt wood in artistic object sensibilizing people to what happened in the past and giving a second life to the dead wood.

The atmosphere is nice and we spontaneously finish to stay there for the rest of the day and the night. Arthur fixe the bicycle of the children and Ilaria cook "risotto ai funghi" for every body.

Mec'arthur, specialised in bike restoration.

After this nice encounter we continue our road toward north. Before leaving the "pueblito" of Villa Ortega we say good bye as well to Don Guillermo: the towering mountain with the shape of a cavalier on his horse. 

Don Guillermo on his horse take care of us.........

The next step is villa Amengual where we plan to stop for a summer festival of music and chilean traditions.

On the road we can enjoy our first bath in a lake.  

Trying to smile....come on it's not so cold..

At the camp site near to the lake we adopt for one evening a nice cat...  

Who is the happiest? the small or the big cat? certainly is clear who is the nicest...

And enjoy a barbecue with a Chilean family from Cohyaique.

Don't keep the mate for so long time, it's not a microphone! (typical chilean expression)

They come to the festival to sell their artesanal beer.

Our friend and her home made beer 

The day after we ar at the festival and we discover that the afternoon program is an international Jinetiada competition:the famous horse rodeo!!!

In  this traditional activity, the fierce chilean and argentinian patagonian gauchos compete trying to remain 30 seconds on a wild horse with as much style as possible...

Wild horses really quite and peaceful when nobody approach them...

All the concurrents are ready for the show... 

Judges are talking about the rules... 

The horse is ready, the cavalier almost...

Let's go!!!!

Stay on the horse!!!!!!!!!

All the show is rythmed by live played traditionnal music and Ilaria get in love for one of the musician...

But the musician doesn't seems to reciprocate her love....

The day after we enter the National Park of Queulat: the zone of dead "tierra liberada" is behind us and we are again in the dense, wild, amazing native forest!

Happy to come back to alive, ancient and strong nature.

 Phtos are better than words to illustrate this amazing part of the Carrettera...

Passes and glaciars.... 

Green native forest all around us..

We make as well a small hike called "El bosque encantado" and we understand sussenly the reason of the name...  

Penetrating the inpenetrable forest 

Moss, wood, roots, flowers...all growing on an hundreds years old tree...

When the dense jungle finishes we arrive in another enchanted place...

Yes, we are enchanted!

And again on the climbing road... 

Water falls every where 

...everywhere...as well as glaciers and forest...

..and finally the downhill! enjoying the ride with no more effort....

Here we are in the most rainy region of the whole patagonia: 4 meters of rain per year!!!

Well...we are definitely lucky...not clouds in the sky! 

Enjoying the most rainy zone of Cile!!!!  

Rain and cold? Are you kidding me? Instead, lets' have a swim!

Few days ago we had the chance of discussing with one of the engineer who participate to the costrustion of the Carrettera Austral and discover many other challenges they had to face to built it. They did an impressive job that our civil engineer Bac appreciate all along our travel.

But maybe when they did this section they were a bit tired  and enough of the work...as our swiss-french civil geotecnical enginneer said by quickly passing this section, afraid that the rocks slope up to the road. 

Where are the rockfall protections????   If my calculations are ok rocks are supposed to fall every where!!!

At the end of the day we have the chance to find a beautiful thermal center on the side of the road. The owner invites us to put the tent near to the house. And, at the sunset, we can relax our muscle in a 40ºC pools just facing the fjord...

... 

The day after is sunny again anD we are full of energy to continue...

What is this souk around the tent???

...even if a bad insect decides to sting Arthur's right foot...  

Should we cut doctor??? 

So the road continue. 

Arthur leads....

And Ilaria stops every 50m to take pictures of or with the local faune..

Sometimes the ripio is interupted by huge and beautiful bridges

The local golden gate...

Rays of sun sew the bridge and the ground...

We finally reach Villa Sta Lucia where the first traditional churches start to appear...  

This is the first point where we have to decide where to go: we can turn right and cross to Argentina by Futaluefu or continue straight on the Carretera to join Chaiten and the Pumalin Park . 

In order to think about, nothing better than a football match!

Chile against tourists...

We decide to continue straight in order to do the whole Carretera.  

Forest...  

...glaciars....   

...lakes...whith whales... 

But it's every km the paradise is not the paradise. On this part of the caretera there are also a lot  of construction works: they are part of the big project of paving the whole road. In few years there will be no ripio anymore!

Construction site inspection...

Finally we join the famous Pumalin park. This park is the world biggest private initiative (promoted by the Thomkins family: the owner of the North Face and Esprit  Companies) of land protection (link).

On  the southern part only walking paths access the park whereas on the northern side, after Chaiten, the Carrettera passes directly through the park to join Puerto Montt.

Is it a golf field?

Finally few clouds remember us why the nature here around is so green...

Would you say that is a volcano?

As the road is paved and down hill we easily reach Chaiten on the see side. In 2008 the ononimous volcano start ejecting tons of ahses and continue for 2 years.

The city was evacuated and covered by one meter and an half of ash. Nowaday the city is accessible again and people start coming back. The sign of the disaster are still present and the vulcan continue to smoke..  

It's not a cloud on the mountain...   Do you think it's a good idea to stay there?

Sign of destruction in Chaiten...

To accentuate the strange atmosphere of the zone, here the condors have a red head and look to us with enthusiam and hunger...

Quiet guys...stay quiet..

After leaving Chaiten and before entering the Pumalin park we take lunch on a paradisiac beach. 

Copacabana before Rio Janeiro construction...

Now we are ready to enter in the Pumalin jungle!

Where is Tarzan?

 We are among the first cyclist passing here because the road re-opened only 4 months ago after the volcano disaster and in many points we can still observe the sign of the volcano eruption.

Why does this cloud never move?

In the park the most dangerous risk is the puma attack.

Hopefully this time the animal only eat the tire....

Fixing the tire after the feline bite...

In the park we can observe some of the last Alerces surving in Chile. In fact, the wood of this millenary tree is so good for constructions that the most part of them have been cut. Today this tree is declared national monument and protected. 

The giant Alerce.

A small path give the access to one of the rare very old ones close to the street (the other one survive only in remote zone where the human being couldn't go so easily).

Lum, don't touch!!!!

The road is interrupted by fjords which must be crossed taking two ferries, as the time to cycle the 10km between the two fjords is short, we can either give a try and risk to loose the second one or to find a lift.

Luckily we meet some really nice chileans which were working in the removal of the ash operation Chaiten and they offer us to carry the bike on one of their truck.

  Good luck Bac and Lum....

Let's go!

This ferries sections are very well organized. 

  First ferry...

...and the second one...next departure in 10 chilean minutes (2 hours) ...

The second ferrie travel last 3 hours in this amazing Fjord and give us the chance to observe the local flore and faune.

Look, look!!!! 

There are dolphins!!!!!!! 

Here is nature spectacle...

...and there are human spectators... 

This small cruze leads us to Hornopiren  near to the vulcan of the same name.

Here it's ok for the tent?

In the village we met a future travelling friend.

Do you want to come with us?

We get enchrmed by this little village on the border of the sea and surrounded by mountains and, finally, we decide to take a  rest day here.

Apero along the bay...

Thia allow us,in the evening, to go to the national meeting of Cuenca, the traditional chilean courting dance. 

Traditional music

Ten couples of chileans will show us the art of the Cuenca.

 You don't need to be young and hyperfit to be a good cuenca dancer... 

This is a dance where the man must captivate the woman shaking a piece of tissu in all the sens.

...what you need is passion!

From here we start the last part of the Carretera. Actually we take for 40 km a deviation that, instead of passing inlad with the increasing number of car (as we are getting close to Puerto Montt) allow us to still enjoy the almost inhabited coast.

Our traditional travel lunch: avocado, tomatoes, garlic and bread

Only pleasure...

...shared with our friend the dolphins!

Today is the last day on the Caretera. More than one month ago we started this amazing road with clouds and rain and today we finish it with the same weather. The circle is closed!   

Finally a little bit of rain...

It seems to be in Bretagne and this weather gives us a different perspective and feeling of the region. 

Only one more ferry and we will join Puerto Montt...Gentle local people carry us and our bike on their car as we can avoid to pay the ferry. 

When we arrive we have the impression that the ferry brought us out of a dream in a totally different country: everywhere are  houses, cars, asphalt, empanadas shops... 

Carretera Austral is finished, a new travel will start.

Few km left... Good by Carretera......