We are now in Argentina for a couple of weeks. We left Pucon on a blue bird day and cycled to the last small village before steep climb to 1200m pass. We left the volcanic cone of Villareca and up a valley not dissimilar to Murchison.

We camped on the outskirts of town in an orchard with sheep and horse for company. On our walk into town for dinner we spotted a cortar de pelo and Alan came out looking much smarter than when he went in!

An early start for a great ride up the valley with (now) Fiordland hillscapes and our next volcano in behind. Definitaly a juxtaposition of NZ scapes. There was 17km of ripio (gravel road) to the pass and the border between Chile and Argentina. Challenging riding getting used to the gravel, the corners were too loose for me so I had to walk them. The day was warming up but we were in the forest.

At the Chile border checkout we found out that we had thrown out a most important document from the airport but kindly it was overlooked.

On the Argentine side of the pass we lost the cool forest and the steep landscapes. Hot and dry and soft loose fine gravel. Much concentration for the 13 km to the paviementado (seal). Then time to fly on our bikes on the ever so mostly downhill camino (road) to our destination of Junin de los Andes