Yes, people were talking a lot about the O’Higgins crossing: the transfer by boat was not guaranteed if the weather was bad and we might get stuck in the town, the trail is a real challenge and it would be better to do it in flip flops as we need to cross so many streams and we need to push the bikes most time anyway. Of course we met only people who did the crossing…
Yes, we arrived in Villa O’Higgins. 1500km after our start in Osorno. What seemed like a very long distance out of a sudden became an almost normal bike ride, if I can say that. Of course there was a bit of rain and a bit of wind from time to time and we even experienced some moments where we were not sure anymore if our idea to cycle Patagonia was such a great idea. But…
I stood at the edge of the jetty, articulating with hands and feet, throwing half-baked sentences of broken Spanish at the service personal. It was 12:02 and the friendly looking sailor in his green oilskin trousers tried to make me understand that the ferry had to leave on time. This ferry was supposed to bring us across the fjord to Rio Bravo, but Dorit wasn’t there yet. I was very much out of breath, since…
In Coyhaique we got some great recommendations how to continue our journey. There are 2 options. Just before Villa Cerro Castillo it’s possible to take the R7, the Carretera Austral, in order to descend to the Lago General Carrera. There is the famous and touristy town of Puerto Tranquillo. We did read that it’s one of the hardest bits of the Carretera Austral. A guy in Coyhaique recommended us a camping in Villa Cerro Castillo, to…
Coyhaique is the so called capital of Patagonia. At least that’s how locals name the town. Indeed, it’s the capital of Aysen, the 11th region of Chile and from what we have seen so far a beautiful part of Chile without any doubt. The view to the south of Coyhaique resemble quite much of Grenoble. Looking at the far mountains in the west made me feel like standing somewhere in Chambery. And to make the…