Esquel

5th November 2025

We had eaten and packed the bags by 9 am and were on the road again. Today we had 80 km north on route seven, again through incredible alpine pastures flanked by to Snow capped Mountains with the rivers running through the valleys and crossing Orange metal bridges that this part of southern Chile is famous for.

We then turned right onto the road to Puyuapi.This is a dirt road that winds its way through the Andrs and head back towards Argentina.. We skirted a fabulous lake and stopped to take photos and then carried on on the dirt road that seemed to have grown so much wider since my last visit. I remember this road being small and wonderful as it meandered its way through the mountains flanked by gorse bushes on every side with the most incredible spring smell.

We noticed the first signs of wild Lupin beginning to come to flower in amazing purple and pink colours. These plants are everywhere in this part of Argentina and grow completely wild and as we had North over the next few days and the temperature is slightly warmer and the days get slightly longer we expect to see fields and fields of purple or pink.

We arrived in Futulafu and stopped for a coffee and started talking to a couple from Texas who had rented a car and we’re driving south into Patagonia. We exchanged stories and places to go and they marvelled at our bikes and how big and heavy they looked. I promptly got on mine overbalanced and dropped it on the floor to confirm their stories. I didn’t want to let them down.

Within rode the 10 minutes to the Chilean Argentinian border and completed our paperwork and carried on into Argentina. This road now heads out of the mountains and in the smaller foothills the dirt road plan on both sides by amazing Course enabled us to get some fantastic photographs. We then carried on the final 60 km to Esquel. Our hotel tonight is our first major disappointment of the trip. We had been unable to find anything for days until this place popped its head and we jumped at the chance to find accommodation. It reminds me of a backpackers hotel when I was 18. and I’m back to sleeping in a lightweight cotton sleeping bag rather than risk touching the sheets.

We had a fabulous steak in town for dinner and a couple of beers and are taking an early night with the thought of getting out of here super early and making it to our next destination which we know is nicer and being able to enjoy bars and cleaning facilities.

All in all a fabulous day, let’s see how the night goes .