..the legendary Ruta 40..

oh my god.. for so long I want to write stuff down and I didn`t find time to do it. finally!

So I rode back to the Andes.. through some not very stunning landscape, but then turning more and more pretty when getting closer to San Martin. I found an acceptable priced place to stay, but had to take a dorm, because the place is really touristy and expensive.. probably more things going on in Wintertime, but met some nice people and we played a cardgame that Karen taught me :) was good fun! :) ..then because Karen wrote me, I realized that my birthday would be on Sunday and not on Monday (sorry, I have no track of the current date or weekday while traveling :P ..so don`t blame me for forgetting birthdays :)
so the plan was riding from San Martin to Copahue, where there are hotsprings.. didn`t feel like "celebrating" my birthday in a special way.. was a great ride (lot`s of dirtroad and lots of shaking, but the bike runs fine!! :D
beautiful scenery and I stopped plenty of times to relax and enjoy! :)
I needed my goggles lately quite some times when 1.lots of mosquitos in the air 2.setting sun directly shining in my face 3.pollums in the air :/ glad to have them (after I lost my sunglasses :P
then I got an expensive room (but didn`t want a dorm on my birthday ;) and eat a piece of meat that was tasty, but not compearable to the first bife-chorizo I had (hasn`t been beaten yet..). There is a medical complex where the only free thing is the hot pool.. so I get registered the night before, but then figured out the next day, that there is a free and in the nature suited pool with mud-bath :D
and I saw a not about hiking a volcano.. so the dude from the Hostel explained me really, really good how to get there and drew a Map of it.. on the way there I checked an abandonned hotel and power-house.. love abandonned things!! :D haha! :) took some pictures.. then riding up half the way, while having twice problems to keep my bike on the wheels going up and down a very steep slope.. but made it after all and saved quite some hiking (having an Enduro is great!!! my favorite type of bike I figured out :)
so I hiked this volcano.. met a guy who was also born on a 27.2. ;) and enjoyed a gorgeous view over surrounding volcanos and mountains! on top you can see down in a crator lake, where sulfur-vapors are araising (if you breath it, you think it has to be toxic, but it`s not really). Also tasted pure volcano-water (dipping my tounge in it) and it`s really acidic.. but people drink it less concentrated. Contains a lot of minerals..
then I ran down the soft slope of the volcano (it`s always fun! :D and went to that nature pool.. lying in hot water and rubbing my body in mud :) ..met also the other guy from the hike again (he told me about the place) and another funny Argentinien guy who asked a lot, but a lot of questions ;) hehe ;) but we had a nice discussion round out there :)

made it then the same day to Chos Malal.. was further than I thought, but also very scenic and nice to ride!!
there are really helpful tourist informacions at smaller places (where there are hotels and restaurants) and within 3 minutes I knew which is the cheapest place that offers what I need and where to find it with a map of the city! :) who needs lonely planet?! :)
this night I wanted also to eat in a Grill-Restaurant, but the one I found was all-you-can-eat and was a bit confusing and while I just wanted and ordered a little bit, I got to pay the whole price (well.. 15 dollars ;). Was a bit unhappy, but they had a good salad bar.. so I was filled up anyway :)
great to watch the Simpsons after a long riding day and drink a beer! ;D

the next day was from Chos Malas to San Rafael.. also longer than I expected, but pretty nice to ride (exept the last part)
on the way I`ve seen a Coyote! (at least I think it was one ;) too big for a fox and not really looking like a dog ;) and a group of very stubborn wild donkeys who were blocking the road :) ..for I didn`t eat during the day and had just two coffees for breakfast, I was starving to death and no bigger place with food about to come.. but then checking closed places, I ended up in a school (very rural) and the teacher said: "I still got something left" :) and it took me 3 minutes to realize that I should take that offer (already drove away to check another place he told me might be open). So I got home-made bread and some tasty plate of meet, cooked with tomatoes and other stuff.. yummi!! :D and he didn`t even charge me for it.. we were just talking about the trip and bikes and riding horses and I was so happy to meet this helpful person!!
then yesterday (damn.. I feel, I`m leaving out a lot, but it`s killing me.. was doing so many things over the last days and need to write that down ;)
so yesterday I ended up in the tourist info of San Rafael and would have found a 22-USD place with all I need (cheapest option in town as alway ;) but then a guy outside was advertising the apartments of his uncle just three blocks donw.. I got it for 25-USD and even had a kitchen (just used it for breakfast as the people invited me coffee and bread and jam :) ..these guys were also awesome!! :) an older couple offering all the help they could give!! ..scared of their grandson from his computer, so I could do my internet stuff (I really felt bad when I realized that) and this morning, the lady gave me a jar of home-made jam on the way!!! :D isn`t that truely awesome!! ..that`s why I always say: the human nature is good!!

to mention, it`s really hot here! :) but riding evens it out.. so it becomes really nice while riding! :) then blue sky and sun all day long! just a few drops today, but they dried on the visor right away (still, have to close the visor if it rains and you drive at 80km/h .. was making some calculation about the impact-forces and seems very small, but hurts actually very much ;)
then the safety-breaker of the kick-stand of the bike got loose, what made turn it off, as soon I put a gear.. for the fault-pattern was very clear, I found in in no-time and fixed it with some wire (should hold for a while ;) never really looked for that part, but now know how it works ;)

the ride today was not really enjoyable.. lot`s of dust and dirt, lot`s of traffic.. didn`t check the map and drove into Mendoza instead of crossing further down.. so not a lot of scenic stuff! the mountains just in the very, very far.. and I could have taken the Rute 40 earlier, but I would have delayed more and bumps and shaking again.. but would have been a bit nicer I guess!
yes.. I really like driving on asphalt! it`s SOOO smooth! and you have more time to watch the surroundings.. because if there`s loose gravel and you hit a little wall of it with 60km/h you might fall (or feel the adrenaline kicking in, while you slide with the bike from one side to the other, balancing it out and back to normal). ..but yes, a lot of beautiful stuff demands driving on such roads, because roads tend to be built where it`s flat and you can build straight.. especially in countries as big as Argentina.
So maybe it`s the fact that I rode already 50 000km, that going to Cordoba kinda frightens me of being bored during many hours of flat Pampa.. I really want beautiful stuff to drive through! :D in the mountains, after every curve you get to see something new and you never know what`s coming next (that`s also why you drive carefully! ;) ..on the highway today, people drive very fast and overtake dangerously.. well.. I still can drive more right if it has to be, but a car should not approuch me on my lane, because taking too long to pass a truck :P

hey.. and then I`ve seen.. no spotted! :) one of this walking-sticks-insects, that look like a small branche.. amongst thousands of grasshoppers (a dead one dragged by lots of small ants to their hive, where it got stock in the entry ;) hehe ;)

tonight I sleep next to Chilean cops.. they rented out the apartment next to me and have a car with black windows in the back that says: Policia de Investigacion (sounds like the CIA to me ;) hehe ;) just make sure they don`t bust me! HAHA ;D
then I`m leaving my two metal panniers here in this little town (I will come back the same way from Chile) and pick them up later.. but not taking them twice along the boarder and having 25kg less luggage attached to the bike will help a lot! :)
still have to go 120km to the boarder, but will start early tomorrow.. having a good piece of meat this night again I guess ;) too bad I don`t have company while eating :( really enjoyed this in Bolivia and in Santiago! totally get`s lost by traveling on your own...

oh.. almost forgot.. the bike is running so much better now! :D probably was the airfilter that dude from the lubricant-shop that borrowed me some tools and cleaned it for me did a great job! :) was probably all sticky and full of dust.. so now I actually reach 160km/h! ;) hehe ;) but that was just a test on a straight and flat road with no traffic at all! ..got pretty scary with 160km/h and all the bags attached ;) even 110km/h is fast to me here.. lot`s of wind in my face.. so driving between 80-100km/h is just fine! makes it a bit more relaxed (even if it takes a bit more time.. )

and I found after 3 years of being out of Argentina, my beloved "vino patero".. artesanal wine, that`s a bit sweeter than normal and you just find it around Mendoza.. so drank some when I was riding in Argentina 3 years ago and now enjoying full this speciality again!! :) (wine is too heavy to send it around the world)

..hmm.. still feel I missed some things out.. but my back is hurting and I need a break from the Internet.. still want to write my 30-year-special-blog.. probably in an hour or so..

hear from me soon! :)