Category Archives: camping

Posts about where we stayed the night.

Glaciers, plains, and finally entering the mountains.

The Perito Moreno Glacier.

Another impressive view of the glacier.

When last we updated, we had just completed our first week of riding in Patagonia. There had been wonderful mountain scenery, open vistas, and strong winds. We stopped for a day in the small town of Calafate, which is mostly new construction and infested with crowds of tourists. Because of this almost overwhelming tide of trendy tourists in outdoor gear, we didn’t spend much time in town. We did, however, go to the area’s main attraction: the Perito Moreno glacier. It was well worth it!

This glacier is one of only two in all of South America that is actually advancing. Every day it advances up to 2 meters, and chunks of ice are constantly breaking off its face to crash into the lake below. We took a 90 minute bus ride to the viewing area, which was actually 5 km of metal boardwalks that criss-cross the hill overlooking the glacier. It was incredibly well-done, and despite the large volume of tourists we never felt like it was a zoo, and we always had a great view.

The blue of a glacial lake never ceases to impress.

We even got to play with this piece of iceberg that some kids had retrieved from the lake.

It was fun to just relax in the sun and watch chunks of ice calve off the glacier. The glacier is as tall as a 24 story building. For you folks back in Bellingham – that’s 9 stories higher than the tallest building in Bellingham! The sound of the ice chunks falling all the way to the water below was a deep rumble that we could feel even from our relatively far off vantage point. We couldn’t get close because it is dangerous. Before they restricted access, 32 people had died at this glacier after being struck by ice spears. Scary stuff indeed.

Our first glimpse of the ice sheet as we approached the national park.

Exterior of the famous ‘Pink House’

After we left Calafate we headed back out into the Argentine plains for another couple days. The wind was yet again a major factor, but we were lucky to shelter in an abandoned house for a night. This house is somewhat of a legend among touring cyclists, and over time it has been cleaned up a bit with many cyclists having left their mark.

Interior of the house. We shared with Benjamin, a very friendly Austrian cyclist.

Our last day of riding through the flat, windy expanse was a bit of a tease. We could see the iconic peaks of the Patagonian Andes slowly growing closer over the course of five hours of riding. The wind got stronger and stronger, until we were crawling along at 6 miles an hour. Eventually, however, we reached the base of those incredible peaks and entered the small town of Chalten.

The ‘beware of wind’ sign really describes this area well.

Far off mountains in the morning.

After lunch, getting closer!

Almost there!

Holy mountains!

Casa de ciclistas – jam-packed.

Outside of the Casa de Ciclistas.

This town was like a theme park for hikers and backpackers. It is known as the ‘National Trekking Capital’, since for some reason here folks always ‘trek’ and never ‘hike’. Perhaps hiking sounds too mundane. In any case, the town was incredibly scenic and we enjoyed a free night of camping at our first ‘Casa de Ciclistas’. It was a private home run by a local woman who loved to host touring cyclists. Her backyard was jam-packed with tents.

When we finally left Chalten it was to ride 22 miles on a gravel road to a secluded lake where we would catch a pair of ferries separated by a hiking trail where we would need to push the bikes. More on that in the next post. For now, here are some photos from that phenomenal gravel road and the first boat ride.

Heading into the mountains!

Maybe we’ll use this photo for a calendar in the future.

A view of the water from the south side of Lago Desierto.

These four British guys were pretty excited to get their bikes on the ferry.

Argentine customs, with Patagonia geese.

We camped on the far side next to Argentine customs, and I’m not sure I’ve ever slept in so scenic a location.

The view from our campsite. No kidding!

Our first week of riding in the far South

A couple of Rheas – essentially a Patagonian ostrich.

We are currently in the tourist town of Calafate in Argentina, after spending six days riding the 325 miles from Punta Arenas. It has been quite a journey. To us, it feels like we’re living inside a National Geographic magazine. Around every corner there are exotic animals on windswept plains, or twisted Juniper trees that have been deformed by the gusts. We see far off mountains and glaciers, and we’ve slept everywhere from rodeo stalls to lake shores to portable construction housing. In short, it’s like a whole new adventure down here.

Grey goodbye to the Strait of Magellan.

Apparently there are a few minefields near the border regions. We didn’t venture any closer.

Our first day out of Punta Arenas was grey. It rained for most of the morning, but the wind was blessedly calm. Since I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, I thought this situation was perfect. We waved goodbye to the cyclists who had decided to wait out the weather in the city, and we rode off into the wide open. The riding was good, and we saw some of our first South American wildlife: guanacos, rheas, flamingos, and sheep. Ok, so the sheep aren’t so wild, but the rest are! Guanacos are wild llama-like creatures, and rheas are huge flightless birds that look a lot like ostriches (or chocobos). That night, we got permission to camp in a sheltered stall at the rodeo grounds of a small town. Good thing, too, since the wind picked up and blew all night long.

Finally, some of the lovely flowers!

It was so windy that are tarp just stuck on the wall.

Our sheltered spot in a rodeo stall.

Nearly perfect conditions here.

It took two more days for us to get the next town of Puerto Natales, and the scenery continued to be lovely. One morning we had a raging tailwind that pushed us uphill at 15 miles an hour! Each day we met other cyclists on the road, some of whom made us feel like short-term tourists. There was a Mexican fellow who had ridden from Cancun and was about to start riding back on the other coast of South America, and a young guy who had ridden all the way from San Francisco. Our second night out, we camped on the shores of a lovely lake and watched the birds all evening.

You can tell which way the wind blows here…

Can’t get enough of this!

Patagonia Ranches.

Our lovely wild camp on the lake.

Sunrise – worth the sleep interruption

Campground in Puerto Natales.

The town of Puerto Natales is a hopping destination for backpackers who are on trekking trips in Patagonia. It is right on the water and surrounding by beautiful mountains. Folks in fancy outdoor clothes were everywhere. Jason and I stayed in a no-frill hostel that allows camping in the backyard. We were pleased to find a spot for our tent near the back of the yard against a fence. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a walk around the back to see what was behind the fence. It was the bonfire / party area, and we heard folks having a good time all night long!

Puerto Natales

Looking back towards Chile. Goodbye mountains!

Puerto Natales was also funny because we expected it to have a limited grocery supply. Because of this expectation we were happy when we found a funky little store with only somewhat limited selection and inflated prices. Sure, we had to run to other stores about town to find all our supplies, but we were happy. Then… we turned a corner and found the big, complete, and lovely supermarket. At this point, it was far too late, and we walked back to the hostel laughing at our unnecessary scavenger hunt.

Lovely fields of flowers, too.

Leaving Puerto Natales we had a wonderful morning with views of the mountains, lakes, and a pleasantly gentle wind. All too soon we were at the Chilean-Argentinean border, and the pavement ended. We needed to get an exit stamp to leave the country, and Jason had somehow managed to throw his ‘tourist card’ away. There was a moment of panic when he realized it was necessary to leave the country, and another moment of panic when the border agent said that he would have to go to jail. After a pause, the agent smiled and gave him a new bit of paperwork to fill out. Less than a minute later, we were on our way.

Looking back at the Chilean side. Goodbye Mountains!

The road to Argentina.

Entering country number 5!

Right after crossing the border the scenery changed to a stark, flat land of pale yellow grass. This scenery remained for the next two days. The first night we slept in a construction trailer, protected from the wind. The next night we slept in an old house next to a police stop on the highway. In between we spent 40 miles on a rough dirt road, practically getting our teeth shook out of our head.

Our lodging for the night: construction trailer.

Now we are in El Calafate, our last full-service town before setting out on the remote and beautiful Carretera Austral. We are very excited! This town is quite touristy, and packed with people from everywhere. We’ll write about our rest day here in the next post!

We like Patagonia.

The rush (north) to Merida.

9000 miles! We reached this latest milestone near Merida, Yucatan.

You may have noticed that we aren’t pedaling exactly South these days, since we turned the corner in Chiapas and headed almost due north into the Yucatan Peninsula. The Yucatan is a big chunk of land in the Southeast corner of Mexico that is geographically and culturally distinct from the rest of Mexico, so of course we had to ride it.

Even better, my (Daisy) parents came down from Bellingham, WA to meet us for a week of rest in the capital city of Merida. The logistics of meeting someone on bike tour can be daunting, but somehow we managed to arrive in Merida on exactly the same day. In order to pull this off we had to put in some really big days on the Yucatan. Luckily, this place is flat as a pancake.

Rainy day on flat roads made it easy to ride many many miles.

We left Palenque early on Christmas morning. This meant that the traffic was light, as most Mexicans are Catholic and stay home to celebrate with their families. It was also dumping rain for most of the day, so we had little option but to ride ride ride all day. The roads were flat, and would have been uninteresting if it hadn’t been for the incredible birdlife. We saw many types of large birds from herons and egrets to hawks. For lunch we stopped in a giant roadside palapa (palm-roof building) and had Mexican-style eggs with tortillas while the rain poured down outside.

A great place to get Christmas breakfast. The Gator Boys (Discovery Channel show about Crocodiles) was playing in Spanish!

So many birds here!

Lower left corner: super cool pink water bird.

It cleared by evening, but we were in a pretty isolated area and there were no settlements or hotels to be found. We kept riding and riding, hoping to find something, but nothing appeared. Finally, after a whopping 97 miles we found a gas station. They informed us that the next town / hotel was another 10 miles up the road, but they also gave us permission to camp at the gas station. So we spent the night camped at the gas station: another first for the trip.

Yes, that really is our tent at the gas station.

We hoped to have the next day be a little more relaxed, but again we rode over 90 miles. This time there were small towns to stay in, but I insisted on a hotel. My stomach is still nowhere near 100% and the idea of camping in some town square without a bathroom was just too much. Unfortunately there were no hotels for the last 50 miles of road! We ended up in the super-budget rooms in a busy Mexican town on the Gulf of Mexico. Can you believe that, we made it to the Gulf of Mexico!

That’s the gulf of Mexico behind me! WOW!

These discarded cement circles were havens for the pelicans.

Lots of sugar cane production in the area. Kudos to Jason for getting his camera out fast enough to get this shot!

Jason found some street art.

We slept very well and even allowed ourselves to sleep in, since the next day was only about 50 miles to the capital city of Campeche. The road wove along the coast through tiny towns and along water that was lovely and calm. The city of Campeche was also lovely: the historical center had been completely restored in pastel shades and pretty buildings. We spent a long afternoon wandering the streets and climbing around the old walls that used to protect the colonial city. That night Jason ventured out into the square around 10pm to find the whole place hopping with Christmas cheer and enough flashing lights to make just about anyone sick.

Campeche wanderings.

The painstakingly restored pastel streets of Campeche.

From Campeche it was just two more reasonable (50-55 mile) days into Merida. We rode through the flat and seemingly endless roads of the Yucatan, mainly listening to books on tape and dreaming about cooking in a kitchen. There was more rain, too.

This is the kind of road we’ve been on lately. For real.

A highlight was meeting two more touring cyclists in a turn lane on the highway. We stopped for a nice chat and learned they were two Australians on their very first bicycle tour. It was great to chat with them, and we invited them to come visit with us in Merida.

Laura and Damon, our new friends from Australia. It was great to meet you two!

When we finally reached Merida we found a big spread-out city quite unlike the other Mexican cities we’ve visited. It seemed to sprawl on forever, and there were opulent mansions with security guards neighboring abandoned mansions whose glory was clearly lost decades ago. With very little trouble we located the house my parents had rented and happily settled in. My parents didn’t arrive until very late that night, but arrive they did. It was so great to see their faces again! We’ll post parental photos in the next update, for now, a few pics of Merida mansions!

Impeccable mansion complete with security guards.

Right next door: abandoned mansion with jungle slowly taking over.

Next up: highlights from our time in Merida, and the ‘unveiling’ of a big development in our journey. Spoiler alert: no one’s pregnant.

San Cristobal and on to Palenque: from mountain pines to low-land jungle

The language classes in San Cristobal were a success! After spending most of a week there, we headed “downhill” to Ocosingo and onward to Palenque. The trek took five days, although we could have easily done it in half the time. We saw two different Mayan ruin sites and made it past a road-block protest. However, Daisy took her turn at being sick.

San Cristobal de las casas to Palenque

Jason with instructor Laura and fellow student Carmen

The Spanish lessons were well worth the time and cost. In case you’re wondering, it is relatively inexpensive – for US standards. I signed up for 15 hours of group class over 5 days, and the total was M$1320, or US$90. I had a class size of 1 or 2, and had two very different but both knowledgeable instructors. I enjoyed the opportunity to practice speaking — and I’m sure Daisy enjoyed the break from giving the lessons herself!

This tarantula is out of the cage at the bug and insect museum!

So what did Daisy do during the week? Yes, she was busy too. The first couple days she took care of our hostel choice and related things while I was still sick. Then, she finished a final(?) draft of a paper. Impressive, no? All this while sipping coffee along the pedestrian streets and people-watching! It was strange to see the many, many tourists wandering around in hippy-style clothing. We called them the ‘raggedy-baggedies’ since they reminded us of the alternative-living-surfer-dudes that we saw in Tofino, British Columbia. The mornings were for studying and work, and the afternoons for recovering and wandering the streets or going to museums.

Raggedy-baggedy pants in this one!

We love the festive streamers on the pedestrian streets

When it came time, we were very excited to get back on the bikes and out of town. However, it was then Daisy’s turn for gastrointestinal distress. On day 1 out of San Cristobal we made it about half way to our intended destination – through a lot of up hill, menacing dogs, and way way too many speed bumps! We stopped in a town of 40 thousand-plus people, which was (of course!) in the middle of a large fiesta. After a bit of asking around (and difficult navigation) we arrived at the other side of the fiesta and finally found the two small hotels. Unfortunately, there was only one room available. It had dirty sheets, no electricity, and no hot water in the shared bathroom. There wasn’t even space for the bikes! After an unintentional detour on a dirt track to get back to the highway, we collapsed at the local medical center and they allowed us to camp there. It was a night filled with typical fiesta sounds, but we were tucked away safely.

This dirt track got really steep before we found the highway again. Needless to say, it didn’t end up being a shortcut!

Our resting place for the night – boxed in by tables, benches, and vehicles!

On day 2 we made it to Ocosingo (no uphill actually…) and got Daisy parked in a hotel to help her feel better. I spent a few hours in the afternoon taking a collective bus out to the ruins of Toniná. They were great – 7 terraces of buildings and pyramids built up and into a hillside. You were allowed to wander wherever you wanted. I even made a few Mexican friends!

Model of the ruins at Toniná

Looking up at the hill and 7 terraces

Looking down from the very top

I really was up there!

Jason chillin’ with two new friends. Apparently my blue eyes were attractive…

On day 3 we thought we were going to leave Ocosingo, but soon found out we weren’t going to make it anywhere. We left our hotel and biked about a mile to a large grocery store. From there we went up a couple steep hills on our way to the edge of town. Daisy was really feeling the stomach pain, so we decided to stop. I checked out the nearby hotels, which were all more expensive than the one from the previous night. We limped back to our hotel and were happy to move back in before they got the chance to clean our room! The internet was functional there — until the power went out for the whole town. We spent all afternoon and evening reading our kindles in the dark.

On day 4 we successfully exited town. Part-way through the day’s ride we ran into a looong line of parked cars. Immediately we wondered if there was a road-block ahead, as there was when we left Oaxaca. Sure enough, there was! The reason for the protest was that the Mexican government has taken Agua Azul out of the hands of the locals, so they are no longer getting the tourist revenue. In any case, we were able to barely sneak through. As we walked through the barricade, one guy was stopping us but a few others told him to let us through. Whew. The good news was that the traffic was really light afterwards! We decided to skip Agua Azul, and head on to Misol-Ha, another waterfall in the area.

Back-up from the road block

Jungle and farms. The blue river down in the valley is the one that agua azul gets it’s name from. It is blue.

Daisy enjoys a coconut water “to go”

Jungle converted to corn fields

Misol-Ha waterfall

On Christmas Eve (day 5) we arrived in the tourist town of Palenque. It was bustling! We did our food shopping, and then went to the hippie-ish enclave of hotel/hostels called El Panchan on the road to the ruins. We got the last room at the Jungle Palace. Although we didn’t see any monkeys, we sure got our share of jungle rain! We spent that afternoon at Palenque viewing many, many pyramids and other structures. The tourist load was a bit lighter than usual, but the stone staircases were definitely a bit more treacherous! The sheer number of ruins (and Mexicans hawking their wares) was very impressive.