“El mundo es como un libro abierto, quien no viaja sólo ha leído la primera pagina”

We’ve moved along quite a bit the last few weeks. We found out that we are quite spoiled after months of mountains and the curviest roads. Last few thousand kilometers we had straight flat roads. So that’s one reason why we´ve driven quite some miles. No beautiful landscapes to shoot, so the only stops we made were at gasstations filling her up….

Monday october 25th, we crossed the Brasil/Urugayuan border and drove to Punta del Diablo. Supposed to be a highlight, but for sure we were in the wrong season. Along the coast there was this very chilly oceanbreeze, making us wear all our layers on the bike. So instead of a sunny touristy beachvillage, we found a desolate ghosttown.

Next day we continued along the coast. But first we needed a welder. After almost nine months of not travelling light, Roels pannier rack got cracked and needed a professional.

After that we drove to Punta del Este. A Monaco like city, with only villas and luxurious apartments. The greatest wealth….we didn’t expect that. The day before, we were thinking of staying in Punta del Este, but somehow our dirty old bikes didn’t really fit in. We decided to continue and drove to Montevideo, the capital.

A pretty modern city, laid-back and just a stone throw away from Buenos Aires. A good place to find some new rear tyres and drink a beer in the local “Weber”. Unfortunately the hostel we stayed in was booked after two nights, so we had to leave.

Thursday (28th) we drove to Colonia del Sacramento, a colonial town. Very touristy, because it is close to Argentine and because of its nice sunsets.

We stayed 4 nights, but didn’t really do anything, except for watching three seasons Californication, some top rated movies like the Simpsons and did a lot of sleeping. All three of us got a little sick there…..and we were just really tired. We think the nine months of travelling made us tired, …..or maybe we just really miss the mountainroads.

November first, we crossed the border to Argentine. At the border there was a sign with the (political) statement that the Falklands belong to Argentine. It still hurts apparently… We found a campsite in Gualeguaychu and had our first Argentinean style BBQ…

Next day we drove to Rosario, a lovely city. Away from the oceanbreeze, temperatures were rising as well and before we knew it, we were enjoying fresh coffee on a sunny terrace wearing shorts, flip-flops and our glasses again.

Life is good here. But again….they wanted to remind us that the Falklands (islas malvinas) belong to Argentine. Yeah…we know by now.

On our way to pick up the Andes roads to go to Patagonia and Ushuaia, we will visit Cordoba, Mendoza and Santiago. All supposed to be very nice cities. Yesterday we arrived in Cordoba and are now recovering from a proper Argentinean allnighter…. Thank god, we still feel like 18. Argentinean lifestyle is a bit different than we are used to…. They start their diner, by the time we normally would hit a bar and they go to a club, by the time we usually crawl back to our beds.

We’ll stay here for the weekend, do an oilchange on the bikes and just enjoy Argentina…..and its meat.

Saludos!!

Raul, Sebastian y Esteban

PS: aboves translation:

“The world is like an open book, he who doesn’t travel only read the first page…”

Amen.

PS2: Thijs & Els GEFELICITEERD!!!