Today we discovered the land where "Man" is defined - a land where the scenery is rugged, the weather is harsh and the home of the $19 AUD All-You-Can Eat BBQ (Lamb, Beef, Chicken, Pork and Goat). Welcome to Patagonia!
The day started very well - the absence of yesterday's hangover was the best imaginable start! We arose to a very Argentinian breakfast - strong black coffee with meat and cheese on croissants.
Following breakfast and a hast pack of all pour gear we rushed to reception for check out at 9am only to be met with an extended wait as our driver arrived on South American time a full 40 minutes late.
Following a manic drive through the slums of Buenos Aires we arrived just in time to check in. At this time we were told for the first time that the luggage allowance per person was 15KG each. Slight problem....8 people preparing to ride motorbikes only 400 km from the Artic circle for 3-5 weeks....not close to 120KG luggage. After realising that we were a combined total of at least 300KG we managed to do some hasty repacking, bargaining, readjusting their scales and beggging our potential excess luggage bill went from $180 AUD to $2oo pesos ($60 AUD). Nice work!
Once through customs we managed to get on a plane that Jeff and Dad informed us was designed in the early 1960's and built in the 1980's....Scary was a understatement....
Our landing approach into Ushia was the most amazing landing I have ever been in and made me realise what we were in for - 8000 feet snow capped peaks and coastal barren lands - spectacular but scary!
Finally we arrived at the hotel to meet our tour guides we managed to spend 40 minutes of an orientation speach scaring us all to death with the following statements:
* The last tour group all crashed their bikes on the tour
* The recent wet weather was the worst they had evere seen
* This upcoming tour was likely to be as hard as the last which was the toughest they had seen so far
Needless to say we needed a good stiff drink!
After an hour of rest time (tuning in helmet mikes / cams etc) we headed of for a dinner of Argentinian BBQ - a national treasure. This might me un-Australian but these guys have us covered many times over when it comes to BBQ. We all chose the all you can eat option and ate ourselves silly with Roasted Lamb Rack, Pork Sausages, BBQ Chicken and BBQ Beef Fillet, plenty of strong local beer and no vegtables - I will definitely need a diet at the end of this trip!
Finally we ended the night out as all good Aussies do by finding the most Southern Irish Bar in the WORLD! There we had a few local beers (read moonshine) before retiring to bed! What a day! Tomorrow sees the start of the riding and promises many more adventures!
Thanks for following our adventures!
Also check out Steve's blog @ http://shortwayup.omega-prime.co.uk
and,
Mauricio and Dani's blog @ http://ushuaia2cusco.blogspot.com/
I hope you boys have heaps of warm clothes. I would hate for you to turn into brass monkeys and your personals drop off!
ReplyDeletetake care
Hmmm.... this is probably one of those times where you feel safer being ignorant - I wouldn't want to be on that plane! What are you doing in an Irish bar in Patagonia you losers?! Go to a Patagonian bar and visit an Irish bar in Ireland!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're having fun though :-)