Pedro and Maria Motorcycle South America!: Puerto Varas to Bariloche, 200 miles and a border crossing

We were able to take advantage of the really nice kitchen in the morning before heading off. Had some oatmeal, yogurt and banana; delicious and healthy. We love it when we have a grocery store option.

The ride was absolutely beautiful today, and as the day progressed so did the beauty. We are officially in the ‘lake district’. Mountains, grassy rolling hills, small thick forests and crystal clear lakes amongst snowy topped mountains; all with beautiful sunny skies. The miles went by quick as the road was great and scenery pleasurable. We made it back over into Argentina, even though we’ve done the Chile-Argentina shuffles several times already, every border crossing proves to be different. This time as we exited Chile we read a sign on the side of the road stating to buy our mandatory Argentinean insurance here. Well, we learned in Nicaragua that we had to purchase this insurance as about a mile down the road from the border crossing you are pulled over and requested to show proof. But, considering we have not been told to buy insurance in Argentina thus far on our trip AND the cops here have not yet pulled us over (knock on wood), we decided to take a chance and ignore the sign. It was a good choice, at least so far, as we somehow got through the aduana and importation personnel without them asking for it. Maybe we were lucky, or maybe Mikes very strategically place questions were at our aid.

It felt good to be back in Argentina, we got gas and filled up for about a third of the cost. The YPF stations were yet again filled with delicious snacks all for a great price and you actually felt you could buy yourself something to eat anywhere you wanted and not break the bank.

All day today Yosh wasn’t feeling too good. Poor thing only has to take us about another 1K miles, but she is in bad need for a new chain and a rear brake. The brake pad we have, but the chain, we’re hoping she will last…

We knew Adam was camping just outside of Bariloche, so we cruised through the town until we ran across the campground. We spotted his tent right away as it is the same as ours (how cute), pulled up the bank and just as he was stepping out of his tent from his siesta Mike dropped the bike to the side. Nothing like a crash landing welcome!

Adam, resembling a young Fidel Castro looks great. He has a wicked beard growing, but a nice addition to his character. After chatting it up with some stories we walked into town to get some of the great Argentinean steaks, ice cream and chocolate which is what Bariloche is known for. Great steak, amazing ice cream and outstanding chocolate! This country sure knows how to treat you right…although I’m sure my heart and butt are singing another story!

Before the end of the night even though we had been riding out own way for just about 2 months, I felt it was just yesterday that we went our separate ways in Huanchacho Peru. It was nice to be reunited with Adam.

Leaving our nice hostal