Leaving Puerto Montt, Again

-- Story by Erin --

Sunday, Feb. 24^th: It's a gray day in Puerto Natales as we catch the 8am bus to Punta Arenas in the south of Chile. Punta Arenas is also gray when we arrive a few hours later, but the view has changed. The town is situated on the southeast coast looking across a strait at the big island of Tierra del Fuego. We walk around town in the afternoon and admire the grand old mansions that still stand in the center of town---- otherwise there isn’t much to do or see.

Monday, Feb 25^th: Catch a flight back to Puerto Montt on Aero Continente -- the 2 hour flight cost us a wopping US$62 each! Weather is rainy and foggy in Puerto Montt when we land.  When we arrive at the Rocco guesthouse we find that our friends Annet and Alex are there too.

Tuesday, Feb. 26^th: The weather is really bad with lots of rain and wind. Instead of going out to Puerto Varas to retrieve the bikes, we decide to relax, read and watch TV all day. We get our box and package from www.Travellers.cl, who stored this extra gear for us while we were away. Annet and Alex get work done on their bikes.

Wednesday, Feb. 27^th: Weather is slightly better. We get our bikes from the Puerto Varas Honda shop -- MotoRancho. The bikes are a bit slow to start but are okay after jump starting them with jumper cables.  Its good to be back on the bikes again after one month without them. We buy tickets for the ferry to Chaiten for the next day.

Thursday, Feb. 28^th: The weather is fine in the morning but we hear the weather is supposed to be bad for the next several days, so we decide not to go south by ferry to Chaiten and the Carratera Austral. Alex goes that direction anyway.  We drive with Annet to Osorno and then through Paso Puyehue (near the Aguas Calientes baths where we went with C’s parents) and into Argentina. It’s cold going through the pass, which is at 1500 meters, and there is snow covering the landscape.

On the Argentine side, we drive through the town of Villa La Angostura and notice our friend’s motorbike parked on the side of the road. It is Sebastian and Sofia from Buenos Aires. They are around Bariloche for a 2-week holiday, and we've been trying to hook up with them (emails to friends in Argentina who could leave a message for them).  They purposefully put the bike out on the road so that we would see it.  Sofia is a relatively new rider, and wanted to take her bike (Honda Shadow) on a long ride.  Sebastian decided to leave his Harley in BsAs, and became a pillion passenger for the 1,600km journey -- what a testiment to the two of them!  We stayed in Angostura with them overnight and had a delicious meal and fun playing games at their friend’s restaurant, Reises. Annet elected to drive on to Bariloche and check out her options for trekking.