Bike does Darcey Bussell impression

I thought i had to give the laptop the last rites after the bumpy journey yesterday but the local computer whizz sorted it but i suspect it may just be a matter of time!

My overnight stop was at a nice small town called Cipolleti (next to Neuquen). Had a "chop" in the town square watching the world go by. A chop is a measure of beer (a bit like our pint but smaller). Did you ever wonder what happened to Etam?

The drive was to San Martin de Los Andes which would take me in to the foothills of the Andes.

The ground began to rise, ridge by ridge, with no sight of the massive Andean mountains. The scenery changed with it, the vegetation gradually getting more and more sparse. Huge lakes took ages to pass (there is one in this picture but it doesnt really show up.

The roads became more sinuouso (the Spanish word on their signs not mine) but more worryingly the wind was getting stronger and stronger. The bike was dancing around all over the place, being pushed from one side of the road to the other. This was not much fun as you couldn't time the gusts and it was bloody scary when traffic was coming the other way. Sometimes it didnt feel like the front of the bike was connected to the back as each wheel skipped over the road. At times i was forced to slow down to about 45 mph despite being on a straight road.. To stay in a straight line meant leaning the bike over like Rossi or the italian cruise ship captain. This went of for 2-3 hours and I cant say i enjoyed it much!

I stopped for a coffee at a little village but i didn't make the same mistake twice with the jacket and put it on the bench this time. A long haul bus from Buenos Aires stopped there too. I had overtaken them sometime before and the drivers came over full of smiles and chatter about the bike (90% of which i didnt get), they then left with a wave & "suerte" (good luck). I passed them again later on and did so with a bit of showboating despite the kickback from the wind.

Just when it was becoming overwhelming i turned a bend and there in front of me was the El  Lanin - a perfect conical volcano topped with snow. I stopped to take a picture and a deep breath. The trouble was that the pictures were rubbish, look up a proper picture on Google as mine doesnt do it justice. Then a few more bends and a whole section of  high mountains make themselves known. What i took to be mist was in fact the ash cloud from another Volcano in Chile called Puehu, i will be seeing & experiencing more of this when i head down to Bariloche as that town is directly in the path of the ash cloud. i will need to check the air filters after that trip.

I was getting close and the hills began to give some protection from the wind, there were also some cameo performances from packs of Llamas, Condors and Gauchos all of which cheered me up. This is a sign you dont see every day. The Llamas are great but i couldnt face another stop for pictures and the Gauchos just look too mean to risk photographing!

Just when the end was in sight the paved road turened to gravel for the run in to San Martin. As much as I feel i am cheating riding on paved roads, i really didn't need this at the end of today. It was fine. I had been recommened the Wesley Hotel by the Fishing guide and it turned out to be a lovely place with nice people. San Martin  is a ski town in winter and a "out door pursuits" town in summer. It has a big lake and is a really nice place - as with much of Argentina every other shop is a restaurant & very good ones too! The temperature is noticably cooler at about 20 degrees but still very sunny. so that should make you all feel better about the snow!

Today has been the best day so far, it would have been magical without the wind.