December 1, 1999
Day 40 Chaiten by Ferry
We sleep in until 9 as the ferry doesn't go until 3 this afternoon, so we have plenty of time.
As a brief drizzle passes we quickly move all our gear into a sheltered area and dry it all out before we pack. In town we run some more errands. First mail a letter and make sure our tickets are valid.
At 2:30pm the ferry is in port and we are anxious to get our bikes on before the cars and trucks. We've been chatting with the 2 Australians we'd met in Esmeralda Hostel.
We ride our bikes on and there is a covered space the crew directs us to park our bikes., the cyclists we had seen the day before on the road to Quellon came on board, he is from Spain. Then the English cyclists, Alan.
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We find our assigned seats and soon the ferry starts toward Chaiten. This is a five hour ride, the sailing is smooth. We get glimpses of the mountains toward Chaiten. Soon we will begin the segment of journey on the Camino Austral Ruta 7 as Patrick says "where the asphalt ends."
It is 8pm when we cycle off the ferry. We find a small mercado for milk and juice. Alan is cycling with us. We navigate through town with some confusion as the roads are not well marked. But soon we find the sign post for Ruta 7.
At 8:30pm and about 7km we pass Cabanas. The man comes out, we ask if we can camp. The river is nearby and we see the mountains. We set up camp and fix dinner--Hot coffee and soup, sandwiches of sardines and avocado.
Today's ride: 10 km (6 miles)
Total: 1,615 km (1,003 miles)
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