On Monday, we take the first break of the tour. It’s supposed to be cloudy all day and raining a lot – not exactly the best weather for driving through a national park where you mainly want to look at mountains. We use the day to sleep in, write in our diaries, write a blog entry, filter water, sew some almost-broken clothes and go swimming (uff, that was cold).
We spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Torres del Paine National Park – with the best weather and even a slight tailwind for a short time. We enjoy the view and don’t really make much progress anyway because of all the photo stops. In the evening, we take a short “hike” from the campsite to a viewpoint – Mirador Condor.
After leaving the park, we drive through dry and uninhabited countryside for a few days. We cross the border at Cerro Castillo and are back in Argentina. Apart from a few houses at the border and a few police stations, we see virtually nothing and nobody for several days. To shorten the Ruta Nacional 40 a little, we take a supposedly terrible gravel road for 65 km, which saves us about 90 kilometers. This is actually by far the worst road I have ever ridden on (huge stones, deep potholes, heavy bumps and simply no road surface to ride on), but at least we have tailwind for a change. After about two thirds of the route, we come to an abandoned police station, which we – like many other cyclists before us – take as our accommodation for the night. Such a cool place, with lots of drawings of other cyclists on the walls and even an old prison cell.
The last 50-100 km to El Calafate are really beautiful, with good weather (only a slight headwind) and even better views. While taking a break and enjoying the view, we meet two Swiss people on motorcycles with whom we have a long chat.
We arrive in El Calafate on Saturday and once the tent is pitched (on a campsite for a change) we go shopping and plan the next few days. For Sunday we have booked the earliest bus to the Perito Moreno glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. With relatively few other visitors, we enjoy the view of the impressive glacier from the boat and from some small “hiking trails”.
Disclaimer: As much as I enjoy writing in English, I might not always have the time for it. This post was therefore translated with DeepL and proofread to match my style at least a little bit.