Day 1 Melipeuco to Termas Rio Blanco
Heading west always makes us nervous because of the intense prevailing winds but luckily we had none from 8 to 10 when we reached Cunco. There was a bit of traffic and long stretches of road works but it was fine. The panaderias seemed disappointingly sparse here in Chile compared to the treats we had grown accustomed to in Argentinian bakeries thus far and here was no exception. The usual bleached white flour and commercial yeast white fluff produced in abundance, occasionally stuffed with cream or manjar just wasn't quite up to the european patisserie level we had been astonished to find in even the small villages of Argentina. Their sopapillas however can be a delicious exception. Similarly occassionally you can find a nice Pan Amasado (translated cryptically as kneaded bread, raising questions about other varieties). This is still a sweet, white, milk dough, but it can be delicious when piping hot fresh especially on the roadside.
One benefit of seemingly non-existent food hygiene licenses is the prevalence of diverse homemade foods along the roadsides. Most of the best and worst food we have found has been from the simple kitchens of rural homes.
The road out to Lake Collico was pleasant rolling countryside with a separated cycle path appearing oddly halfway along it. Unfortunately this was so congested with branches, rocks and general debris that it wasn't a great alternative.
Lake Collico itself was a beautiful forest fringed lake and particularly tranquil at this time of year. We had a nice lunch there next to what looks like would be a busy campground in summer. From here at the start of the lake the road becomes undulating gravel with surprisingly frequent hills and unfortunately a fair amount of traffic en route to the many holiday houses and termas. This traffic brought a dust that stayed airborne for longer than we were used to given the lack of wind in these Chilean valleys. The campground halfway down the lake was not yet open for the season but looked far more pleasant than the first one we had seen, with nice sheltered terraces down to the Lake and a small tienda.
We powered along past the turnoff to Trafampulli offering completely unjustifiable prices of 100,000 pesos (!!!!) (200NZD) per tentsite and up over to Lake Caburgua where prices were still around 40,000 pesos. These campsites are built not for lavish international tourists but for locals on summer holiday. This must speak volumes about the state of the rest of the countryside if locals pay this much money to stay in a quality of landscape that is so easily and (usually, but not always) cheaply available to camp at in New Zealand.
I would not like to be in this district in busy season as these pristine lakesides and charming country avenues would become very unpleasant when crowded.
At the head of Lake Caburgua, the middle of nowhere, there was still however a football pitch in true South American fashion.
From here the road climbs to the Termas San Sebastian in short steep bursts which all required pushing. We stayed at the relatively new Don Luis Termas and Camping. We seemed to be their first ever guests as they excitedly pulled tables and chairs together and dusted out fresh sawdust from the mostly-built toilet block. The termas were a pleasant maybe 37’c, lovely after a good day's cycling but they did get a little cool later on. They occurred naturally in this valley and had been guided into a nice stone/cement pool. It was not cheap but at least was 50% less than the other campsites with hot pools nearby. It was 10,000 pesos pp for camping and hot pools whenever you like, right next to the camping terrace. The peaceful beech forest valley setting also added to the charm.
Day 2 Termas Rio Blanco to Curarrahue
The road continued stepwise up the forest before settling out as a gentle climb from 900m. This section through to Reigolil was fantastic easy gravel riding with no traffic and dense forest either side. Whilst I was unfortunately up ahead lost in the climb, Hazel saw what looked like a type of tarantula or a close relative at least. This wee beastie scuttled back in that peculiar way they do, back into the forest. We stopped to make coffee by the idyllic Estero El Maiten because how could you not stop in such lovely countryside. Reigolil had a small shop with decent stock of dry pantry staples through cheeses, simple veges and some delicious fresh pan amasado.
The gravel road winds down slowly past numerous settlements but taking a surprising and exhausting number of short sharp hills on its way. We even passed by what appears to be a seasonal stockyard of sorts with a humorous number of wooden latrines dotting the hillside nearby like a festival portaloo fleet.
Due to all the hills, we took far longer than anticipated for this and reached the Buddha cafe and organic tienda by 5pm, at which point they seemed to have unfortunately closed. By the time we reached Curarrehue we were a bit bored of this particular valley and its relentless uphill descent. Here at least we found a decent panaderia on the main street and opposite a decent (but Chilean priced) supermarket El Nativo, although there were several others too. The cheapest camping was at Altitude 390, sporadically marked or not on maps, just 1km south-east down the ruta 199 from the bridge you entered town on the s965. The setting is a small plot of land under fruit trees extending out from the owners garden. It was 5000 pesos pp with hot showers not yet available and no wifi but good toilets, water, flat pleasant sheltered camping. It was all we needed but expensive for what that was. The horses, ducks and chickens also all wander about the tent sites which is a mixture of quaint, charming and sometimes alarming.
Day 3 Curarrahue to Communidad Mariano Millahual via Pucon
We set off at 7.30 to beat the wind and traffic and maximise our day in town. Hoping to escape back out to cheaper and quieter surroundings. The road flew by and we sped easily down the river valley past a repetitive stream of pleasant pastoral rural settlements with verdant forested slopes above.
We passed countless places offering what sounded like fascinating and delicious Mapuche cuisine and were very disappointed that not a single one was open the whole way to Pucon. In retrospect we were passing by quite early, but it was a shame to miss this. We had heard of a brilliant cooking class to be found with Anita Epulef in Curarrehue as well that others might wish to plan into their travels. We stopped first at the bakery on entering town proper. They weren't the cheapest in the country but sold absolutely exquisite sourdough and almond croissants, so we were very pleased to be tucking into a treat at 0930 having already ticked off a decent chunk of progress that morning. We found an open bikeshop eventually after the ones we had precontacted who had the requisite parts were unexpectedly closed (10am Saturday!). Thankfully what I thought was a disintegrating bottom bracket bearing was actually just a loose Crank/BB connection that was easily remedied with a BB tool by the mechanic (or so we thought...) We took the opportunity to replace Hazel's dying running shoes, get some reproofing spray and bike chain oil, from decent international brands for once as Argentina would charge a fortune of import tax on it all.
The supermarkets were mostly expensive but we found some gold nuggets within e.g. cheap bulk chia seeds, parmesan, pesto and the mythical mantequilla de mani (peanut butter). Unfortunately the enormous ferreteria on the outskirts of town only stocked bolts in imperial measurements and had no replacement bolts to have spare for the pannier racks. Similarly they had no threadlocker and the staff there seemed completely unfamiliar with it, perhaps it's more novel than I had expected.
We headed back out on the handy cycleway and onto the Carburgua road. Unfortunately, even on the outskirts camping was not to be found cheap. Kombi camping was still closed until Dec 15th but Camping El Coihue happily had us stay in a lovely peaceful wooded setting just back from the river. It was completely empty but looks like a popular spot in summer. It had good hot showers and plenty of space to spread out, cooking shelters and charging about the place. WIFI was available up nearer the house but it has good Entel coverage too. We paid 10,000 per person which again makes us extremely squeamish but seems to be the uniformly agreed minimum around here which is frankly ethically questionable. Merely an hours drive east, in identical landscapes with identical facilities are the Argentine campsites at literally 1/4 the price.
Day 4 (and 5 as a rest) Communidad Mariano Millahual to Palguin Alto
We needed to get some work done on wifi but couldn't bear the prices for such in Pucon and we had to wait out the usual Monday national park closure, so we headed off on a short ride to camp up in Palguin Alto. As before, the road was fast pack to Llafenco and then became a dusty gravel which made for difficult breathing given the busy Sunday traffic to the many hot pools and waterfall walks up here. We stopped for some pretty decent empanadas at one of the many on the roadside, deliciously hot and fresh due to the very few customers. The road had some short sharp sections but was pretty pleasant beech forest gravel riding otherwise.
At Camping Pucon, Palguin Alto, we spent a day washing and maintaining gear, but mostly getting more planning and logistics sorted for our upcoming wedding in April 2024.
The campsite hadn't opened yet for the season but had kindly been opened for us so we had it to ourselves. It looked like the scale of campground that usually was at capacity all summer but for now was a perfectly peaceful beech forest. The showers were not hot as the solar heater hadn't had much sun that day. The wifi was pretty good and the kitchen/indoor sheltered space was brilliant during the brief rain front we had. Overall it was a nice tranquil base for a few days rest.
Day 6 Palguin Alto to Rancho El Palito Camp (Villarica National Park)
The climb up was on a steadily deteriorating 4wd road which by the top was 80% rideable but it was all pretty lovely as there was now no possible traffic and the stunning mixed araucania/nothofagus stands of these parks.
There had been a closed up national park guard house part way up saying the road was in bad condition but no-one to pay fees or tell us otherwise. From just past the saddle (reached after about 2.5hrs) we wandered up a walking track and watched the abundant jewelled lizards darting about in the sun. The road descends in a brilliant fun moguly roller-coaster of deep ruts and occasional rubble before flattening out before the next guardaparque. It felt like a good wee bit of mountain biking again. It would be passable on a touring setup but with a fair amount of pushing and pulling at first. The friendly rangers there happily charged us the steep 10,000 pesos per person fee. To make the most of the steep fee we decided to camp as close to the park as we could for the night which allowed an afternoon to wander about spotting birds and insects in the bush.
The campsite we went to was set down a bank above a nice river with good hot showers and wifi. There is also an expensive restaurant. As such it attracts the usual price tag around here of 10,000 per person. We were getting sick of these steep painful prices and decided to make a quick dash these next few days back to the more sane (hopefully) lands of Argentina or at least to land where wild camping was allowed (not national park) or tolerated, without the awakward tensions we had heard of around territorial disputes over what land was publicly available and what was Mapuche territory. Naturally I wouldn't be well enough informed to comment on these disputes but it is relevant to acknowledge there was a public mood in the region that prevented wild camping.
Day 7 Rancho El Palito to Neltume
Riding out the valley was a nice fast gravel descent but with a dozen or so small hills thrown in amongst it. The riding was pretty special down alongside the stunning clear Rio Llancahue amongst bold green mosses and beech. We encountered a small amount of traffic which made the air a bit dusty.
Conaripe was an odd little village with a surprising amount of locals out on the main street with their wares or produce displayed out for sale in front of equally bountiful grocers and supermakets but selling to noone it seemed. The prices were high and the quality of products in the bakeries and grocers generally pretty poor. Unfortunately I fell for the usual trap of asking for an espresso as a treat on the way out of town at the nicest seeming bakery about and being dismayed to see a Nescafe machine produce a questionable brew. We faffed about looking for specifics in the supermarkets we never would find,( i.e. peanut butter and parmesan) so we left the town around noon. The ride toward Liquine was pleasant asphalt through the now familiar pastoral countryside but edged with extremely steep, remarkably-forested slopes rising up in fierce walls either side. It felt rather like rural South Westland of NZ except for the smoking Villarica in the middle of it all. The road climbed a little and then swooped down a fantastic hairpin zigzag. We turned onto the gravel before Liquine to travel past Lale Neltume to Neltume for the night. The goal being to get an early ferry tomorrow to cross the border to Argentina early in the day. Unfortunately we were now planning on travelling on the final day of the low season with only two sailings per day on the Thursday before on Friday the 5 sailing per day schedule should start. Neltume was a small settlement with little more than a few supplies for passing tourists and a string of cabanas to rent. Most campgrounds were still closed for winter but we found the cheapest, unmarked online but just east of Los Alamos and just before the small supermarket. Here a rough hand painted camping sign caught our eye and we had the cheap (for Chile, it was 6000pp) and dirty (toilets and ‘kitchen’ area genuinely filthy and covered in chicken poo) grass section by the river. But it was all we needed so it was great.
Day 8 Neltume to Nonthue
We started with an easy but slightly hilly ride on tarmac to Puerto Fuy past the spectacular Nothofagus and Magic Mountain luxury hotels. We caught the first ferry at 10am (timetable changed for the summer the next day) and had bunuelos waiting at the dock in the sun. We stowed our bikes on the side of the car deck, they seemed quite used to cyclists. The views down the lake were quite stunning and felt like a scenic trip which was an absolute bargain for only 1000 pesos from memory. The tiny settlement of Puerto Pirihuieco seems to exist solely for the ferry and offered a small sparse tienda with mostly biscuits and the usual packaged foods, a few small hostels, a few places serving snacks and a very tenuous 3g connection. We had a lamb empanada which was quite delicious but with a bizarrely tough pastry unlike any we had had before.
With the intermittent connection we received emails from a travel agent we had asked to explore all the million options of flights home given how our searches had yielded only expensive or extremely complex combinations. She had managed to find us decent direct flights for a marginal but just acceptable price home so we desperately tried along the roadside with numerous sim card swaps to get the payments and NZ bank authorisation codes for such a big payment) to work. It was a long morning. At Villa La Frontera the tienda was closed and the other one marked now only did Caja Vecina and sold chocolate bars.
The border crossing was straightforward and fast (always seems to be into Argentina with no food checks to worry about). We pulled into Nonthue campsite which seemed to be just opening for the season. The lakeside spots, particularly along the more eastern side over the small bridge, were absolutely stunning and quiet. It was a great spot to watch the Chimango Caracaras and Southern Lapwings hunting about on the shore. It was 2500 pp but without showers. After the very expensive camps in Chile it felt like an absolute bargain, particularly for the peace, quiet and stunning lakeside views almost all to ourselves.
Day 9 Nonthue to San Martin De Los Andes
This stretch was the usual ripio, but as it was quite busy there was lots of dust. It also felt surprisingly hilly so it took us longer than expected. Reached town after 4hrs we found an amazing delicatessen just off the main plaza (North side) with all sorts of cheeses, dried fruits, dried local mushrooms, cured hams, spreads. Shortly after we found the excellent bakery Pascuals panes with incredible sourdough in various varieties and brilliant French style croissants (as opposed to the dense style dough used for medialunas found elsewhere). The staff there were also very friendly, well travelled and interested in our travels.
We stayed at the very central camping listed on IOverlander as La Casa de Patricia. Patricia was very kind and motherly, making sure we were comfortable and felt welcomed. The garden to camp in was quite exposed to the street but seemed to be a quiet and safe neighbourhood. All was serene and delightful until I put a tent peg through the water pipe under their lawn. This tragically runs right through the tent spot and apparently this has happened before! We made attempts to help repair it but her husband seemed quite used to it and promptly set about the task with much more skill than we could have offered.
San Martin de Los Andes could be compared to Wanaka in New Zealand, the quieter, prettier, homelier sibling to the big brash tourist city San Carlos de Bariloche/Queenstown not far away. It was still however very much on the touristy end of the spectrum and we felt the call of the mountains just south.
We only stayed in in San Martin the one day before heading up onto the well-known Ruta de los Seite Lagos written up on the next post!
