chasingsummerp.031
Chasing Summer p.031
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March 25 - Osorno to Quemchi - 260 km
Interactive maps: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1942
I've the feeling to be yet in a new stage of my trip now with a group of 4 riders!
But first we need to get a bike for the latest addition and I go with Dirk at MotoAventura where he rented his bike. FYI, the price was about $110/day for 2 weeks with everything (insurance, taxes...) included. There are other options available but the main advantage of this one is that it's allowing Dirk to pick up the bike in Osorno and leave it in Punta Arenas. MotoAventura is a small operation but they were very professional and their float of BMW 650 GS Dakar seems well maintained. But of course there are always surprises and the first one is that the bags capacity is a bit smaller than announced. That, added to having to carry the spare chain and sprockets they provide 'just in case' makes the packing difficult. But Dirk is a pro and we're soon ready to go.
I have a packing issue to deal with myself with the 3 tires (especially the 2 rear D908) I need now to carry
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Our first stop is Puerto Montt where we need to deal with the ferry issue. We just hop on the boring freeway for the 1-hour ride to get there. So what is Andy so excited about?
The reason is that, at this minute, the odometer of his 950 indicates precisely 100,000 km
Like when we were in Alaska there is this feeling of ‘end of the season’. I like it very much and not having any tourist or any need to make reservations is great. It has some drawback too though. The weather might be one of course but it also that many things are closing, including some ferry lines. Our plan was to visit the Chiloe Island from north to south and take a ferry from there to Chaiten.
Unfortunately the only ferry line remaining has nothing available soon enough for us so we have to visit the Chiloe Island and then backtrack to the north to embark on a ferry leaving from Puerto Montt.
It's OK though, the most important is to have enough time to visit the Chiloe island that seems promising with its specific culture and the lively legends. Much of it's distinctive character is derived from 200 years of near isolation from the mainland throughout the colonial period.
From Puerto Montt it's about 90km to Pargua where we get on a ferry just in time.
Ah, it has been a while since Teryk last striptease
From the north the island looks very flat but true to its reputation the weather is gray with a typical light rain. It's amongst the places with the highest precipitation: Humidity is extremely high here and fog is everywhere. As soon as we arrive in the Chacao harbor, it's seems obvious that the main activity (with logging) of the island comes from the sea...
This island is some 50 km wide and 250 km long, and the main road is the 5, so basically the continuation of the Panamerican. Of course it's now a much narrower road but it's still not the most interesting so at the first opportunity we take a dirt alternative that follows the east coast.
The wet gravel road is a bit tricky with the poor visibility. After a while though everyone gets more comfortable on it. This more remote dirt road added to the fog makes the surroundings look more mysterious and interesting. Of course we don't see any of the Goblins, trolls, ghost ships, gnomes, and other creatures who fill the Chilotes stories but who know if they are not looking us from there?
In only a very few spots, the road offers views on the ocean.
We have no specific plan for a place to stay tonight but we are thinking about a central location, close to Castro. But when we reach the small town of Quemchi, it’s already late and staying in this small village by the ocean seems like a better idea.
And who could resist to such a sign: a beautiful rainbow is here to welcome us!
We get a small ‘house’ for ourselves with the kitchen in the first floor and one room for 2 in the 2nd and 3rd floor. And despite a view on the ocean it’s really cheap.
When settled we go out for a walk and again the rainbow shows up for us!
The restaurant we pick (not much choice) is great! The owner joins us at the end of the dinner and he is incredibly welcoming: he brings us plenty of local things to taste like jam he made or honey, hand made cookies and of course some digestive! I believe it's some blackberry alcohol...
We're definitely happy about this first afternoon in Chiloe.
March 26 - Quemchi to visit of the Islands - 420 km
Interactive maps: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1943
This is such a superb day! We feel even luckier about it because it’s already fall and this island is famous for its rainy climate. The tide is exceptionally high here (I think I read something like 7m!) and shows many 'boats on the ground'.
The village itself is not that attractive but the location is awesome. Just one pic of that house, so small and also representative of what we've seen on the island: the houses are either wood shingles or corrugated steel...
We decide to stay her another night which allows everyone to make his own schedule and also to ride without our bags. While Andy stays to take some local pictures the 3 of us are very excited to visit the island. Every island represents something special to me and this one more than others with its specific culture and legends, very different from the sometimes tame Chile mainland.
We don’t have a specific plan for the day so we just opt to stay as close of possible to the east coast. So we end up on a small coastal dirt road and then take most of the sideways that usually dead end to a small village/harbor.
It's still early morning and with a bright light it’s very scenic. Our efforts to stay by the coast are not always successful though...
I know that it looks like nothing but the steep climb, slippery mud and tortuous ruts made us backtrack especially since we didn't know if the road was going through.
The sea and islands background make everything look better
The small villages are rather simple and look-alike but the main man-made attraction in the island are the many churches, amongst the oldest in Chile. During 200 years the Spanish were barred from the close by mainland by the strong resistance of the Mapuche and so started instead to evangelize the Huilliches in the Chiloe Island. They also built wooden churches, about 150 of which have survived, and UNESCO named 16 of them World Heritage sites. The oldest ones are entirely in wood without even using nails...
Some others like this recently restored one are covered with brightly painted corrugated steel...
It might be hard to see but the waters are filled with pisciculture basins
In the small town of Tenuan we have the surprise to discover a ship building place!
The Chilotes have always been famous for their wood work, including still building boats the traditional way. They tell us that it takes about 8 months and 4 guys to build one of those big fishermen boats.
It’s quite fascinating to see them work so traditionally like this man forcing what seems to be shredded wood bark into the gaps...
Wandering far far from the beaten tracks offers encounters with strange 'vehicles' like this fork lifter hauling a semi on a slippery and steep hill coming from one of those villages
At the other end of the spectrum we see several carts with wooden wheels hauled by oxes. Or, like in this case, oxes pulling huge trunks on trails.
We then take a ferry to visit the Quinchao Island. There is something intriguing about leaving an island to get to a smaller one but it doesn’t really offer the feeling of remoteness we were kind of hoping for. It's still beautiful though and we push to the very end of the island on a nice crest dirt road from we can often sea both the ocean on both sides of the island. Somewhere on the way we also enjoy a fresh seafood meal in a restaurant with a view on the ocean. We feel spoiled
!
We then head to one of the very few towns on the West coast: Cucao. The main interest was the road to get there along 2 deep and beautiful lakes. Not much in the town itself...
But there is a National Park (we didn't get in) and plenty of dunes fun to explore...
Pic by Teryk
To get the sunlight on the coast we had passed Castro, one of the 2 main cities (20,000 p) in the island. It's getting late but on way back we spend more time visiting this lively city and its beautiful (but due for a refreshment) old church...
After such a great day we feel like stopping and having a drink 'in town' but like in most of Chile bars (not restaurants) are really hard to find so we just give up an head towards Quemchi that we reach at sunset...
March 27 - Quemchi to Puerto Montt - 160 km
Interactive maps: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1944
It’s still bright and sunny today but the wind is very strong and cold. The tide is far from the highest but it's still a sharp contrast compared to yesterday morning...
It’s mechanic time for almost everyone this morning ...
The biggest current problem is that Andy steering bearings turned bad which is to be expected after so many miles, a good share of them off-road. Putting a generous amount of grease and tightening them a bit seems to solve the issue, at least for now.
We then head back towards Puerto Montt. Parking space is expensive on the Plaza de Armas so we make the best of it
I spend the rest of the afternoon working on the RR, waiting to embark on the ferry for Chaiten. Chile has undeniably a strange configuration! So long and narrow and no other way to go further south than taking a ferry. And we're still 1,500 km (as the crows fly) to Puenta Arenas!
Most travelers cross to Argentina from Osorno to San Carlos de Bariloche but we want to see the Carratera Austral and so cross the border as far south as possible in Chile.
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