Cycling and Backpacking in Chile & Argentina, Part Two
(a tale of organic farmers, trout hatcheries and bicycle advocacy, South American style)by Amy Blumenberg
April 2000
NOTE: Amy and her boyfriend Chris set out on a bicycling and backpacking adventure in South America in March. This is Amy's second dispatch on the adventure. For the first dispatch, click here
Hi folks. I'm sitting in a rafting guide service place that also has four computers for internet. It seems all kinds of businesses in these tourist towns try to have one or two computers to generate some extra income from travelers eager to check e-mail. It's past tourist season here so there's no rafting going on. My fingers are numb because they insist on keeping the doors open and it's rainy and cold out. Here's an update on our trip:
Things definitely got better since we first encountered the problem with our racks. In the end, we were lucky to have the problem where we did because Miguel Nitsche (the guy who made the racks for us) does world class frame building and rack building. He custom designed and built two racks for us in less than a week for $130 total. In the U.S. we would have had to pay $130 per rack. Plus, we were forced to stay near Bariloche on the drier, Argentine side of the Andes. We had wonderfully crisp, sunny fall weather for two straight weeks and saw the fall colors develop while we were there. Miguel and Chris share many interests and spent hours talking about cars, photography, etc. Miguel has such a lovely family. His wife is a biologist who also teaches English. All three kids have blond hair and blue eyes which is not uncommon in Argentina with the strong European influence.
Bariloche is a ski resort town settled by Germans, Austrians and Swiss. There are amazing bakeries, chocolate factories and lots of German food all over. Also, huge St. Bernard dogs in the Alps-like town square. The Argentines really love dessert which suited Chris and me just fine.
In El Bolson, a hippie, organic farming, artsy-craftsy community south of Bariloche, we stayed at a youth hostel 7 km outside of town. The owners were Hector Edelburg and his daughter Lillie. They were such wonderful people. It turns out that Hector's parents were from Odessa, Russia and the Alsace region of France. Hector was a well known photographer from Buenos Aires and his wife still lived there. But now, he was somewhat of a gentleman farmer in his retirement, furiously planting trees all over his expansive property. They made us feel like family and we were sorry to leave them after 4 days.
The day we left El Bolson and started cycling 120 km back to Bariloche was the horrid day where I was chased by various dogs and fell twice. I have so many ugly black and blues all up and down my legs but my arm is all healed. When we got back into Bariloche, we spent several dog free days of cycling and sightseeing in the area. One day we visited a trout hatchery which was run by the university and Chris enjoyed sharing information with one of the technicians about fisheries management in California. The guy was quite familiar with fisheries management in the U.S. and had many questions for
Chris.As a result of our bike rack delay, we were able to participate in the first ever bicycle advocacy event in Bariloche on April 1. It was a 5 km family bike ride to raise awareness of bicycle safety and to generate support for a bike path along the lake. This was such a special event for us since we had noticed from the start how bad the roads were for cyclists in the area and
how rude the Argentine drivers were to pedestrians and cyclists. Everyday we had to do a 15 km roundtrip ride into town along a busy road and cursed the drivers who never bothered to slow down or move over. In Argentina there must be no law giving bicyclists and pedestrians the right of way.Drivers are much nicer in Chile--in fact, it seems in general that Chillenos are nicer than Argentines. It was incredible to see little kids riding along such a dangerous road and we thought of writing a letter to the mayor of the town telling him that if he wants to promote his town for tourists he better do something about the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. As it turns out, the local townspeople shared the same sentiment and were advocating for a bike path along the lake. We were thrilled to be there for the big event.
Miguel (the guy who built our frames) rode a tandem with his 10 year old son and 6 year old daughter while his wife and 14 year old daughter road sepatate bikes. There were 1,000 participants of all ages--this is phenomenal for a town this size. It was a sunny, warm day and everyone was having a blast. When we went to register and the woman found out we were
cyclists from the U.S. she was so excited and called over the organizer of the event to meet us. Along the ride we saw a number of people with Miguel's racks and we felt like we were 'in the know.' We also met a woman who had lived in Los Angeles for 5 years and was married to a guy from Davis, California. Turns out she was friends with Miguel. Small world!After the bike ride, on April 2, we packed up and finally left the Bariloche area. We cycled and took ferries across a series of lakes from Argentina back into Chile. Along the way we stayed at two grand lodges in national parks, similar to the Awanhee in Yosemite or one of the old Adirondack retreats. This was pure heaven as it turns out we were the only guests at
the first lodge and shared the second lodge with a family from Idaho. It was so odd to dine in a huge, 100 year old formal dining room with seating for about 100 but we were the only two! Since it was low season we paid only $80 and that included dinner and breakfast.Since we were cycling in national parks for a few days there were no dogs and no cars which was fantastic. But, the roads were extremely rocky. It was definitely mountain bike terrain but we were doing it on touring bikes with 60-70 pounds of gear. Of course I got more hideous bruises on my legs from falling several times. I can't even wear shorts because people will
wonder how I got so bruised.We just spent two wonderful days in Pucon, an outdoor adventure hub in the Chilean lake district. One day we did a 45 km ride to a lake and yesterday we spent the day at a hot springs place. Tonight we take the overnight bus to Santiago. Chris leaves on Sunday night and I'm hoping to hook up with two women from New Zealand I met in Pucon to travel in Northern Chile together.
Other than the dogs, things are totally safe in Chile and Argentina so DON'T WORRY! Bye for now.
Any tips for AMY? Send them here and we'll pass them on.