Torres del Paine to El Calafate

Took a rest day at Hosteria des Torres campsite which consisted of reading, eating and composing hillarious poems. Then built giant bonfire to cook my pasta with peas and salami and warm my weary body.

Yesterday I took to the road on my bike again and it feels good. There was a section of gravel road that was the worst yet but I had a tailwind so pressed on racking up a good 120kms or so. Then when I was packing up my tent this morning a guacho (kind of a cowboy) rode up to have a chinwag and stare into the distance looking menacing. I patted his horse which look round and stared at me as if to say, "Do I look like the kind of horse who gets patted. Do me a favour..."

Then I breakfasted on crackers and peanut butter and rode 100kms into a head wind. On the way I got back to the paved road, finished all the crackers and ran out of water. I then had to try out the "Dave Technique" taught to me by the guy I met cycling the other way.

Step 1: Stand by side of the road with an empty water bottle and point to it.
Step 2: Hope someone stops.
Step 3: Repeat Steps 1 and 2 as necessary.

It worked pretty well. I got 300ml the first car and then as I was cycling along later someone rolled down the window and threw a 1 litre bottle at me. I think they´d been phoned up by the first car. How cool is that. Now I have a "support team".

Things went steadily up hill (literally) with the headwind continuing, and then steadily downhill (in both respects). My back tyre has seen better days and gave me another puncture. I patched the puncture but then split the valve somehow and had to change the tube. I was just looking forward to hitting the headwind when a bus offered me a free ride to El Calafate. How could I refuse! It would have taken me another day I think as it was 66kms to go when he picked me up.

Here in El Calafate I have been on a spending spree buying a new camera, a new tyre and now spending a fortune in the internet cafe. Tomorrow I will go check out the Perito Moreno Glacier (probably by bus) and maybe have another rest day too as I have just spotted that there is a Folk Music concert on in town.