Planning to be on the road in time, is an every day resolution; today however, I managed to be on my way by 08:15. All ready to do the 600 km to the Atlantic coast, I fired up the XTZ and rode out of town. It was a lot colder than I anticipated and the strong winds were back, but I was too stubborn to stop and put the lining in my jacket. By 10:30 I stopped for the first time to fill up on fuel. Leaving the fuel station, I noticed some blue in the sky and less than half an hour later the sun was out and it was nice.

Also, the landscape changed from no more than scrubbery and rock to green trees, winding streams and impressive rock formations with the signs of ages. It had some resemblance with Grand Canyon in the U.S.  It looked quite amazing!!  I just had to stop to take a few pictures.

What I did not realise, was that there are emu’s in Argentina. Along the side of the road, I must have spotted ay least half a dozen.
The road from Esquel in the mountains to Rawson at the Atlantic coast is named RN25, where RN stands for Route Nacional. You’d expect a highway with a name like that, however it’s a 2 lane road which is at times rather narrow and of poor quality. Intentions to improve seem well on their way however. At 3 quarters of the route eastwards, they re-surfaced the road with smooth asphalt and made it wider. It was a real joy riding on what felt as smooth as a billiard table…….. (I imagine; I’ve never ridden on a billiard table) 😉

Puerto Madryn is a coastal town, not very impressive at first and I wondered why there are plenty of hostels. As it seems, whale watching and diving is a major attraction here.
The first hostel I tried, offered me a room for ARS 400, which comes down to € 60 !!!! Not a hotel but a hoStel !!  The next one I tried wasn’t cheap either, but I talked them down to ARS 200. At least a bed, a private bathroom, WiFi and breakfast the next day will be greatly appreciated. 3 Days behind on mail may not seem like a big deal and normally it isn’t, but I’m still negotiating the return shipping of the motorbike, so it is handy to stay in touch with the shipping co.

Destination for tomorrow is Rio Colorado.