December 28, 1999
Day 67 Hotel Fuentes del Coyle
We get up really really early and are on the road by 5:15. There is no wind.
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In the east an orange glow precedes the sunrise. We get going trying to clock as many miles as possible before the wind hits. The road leads through empty rolling grass lands that sometimes remind us of the Nyika Plateau in Malawi. But all wildlife we see here are guanacos and maricos and sheep.
We make it to about 40 km before the westerly wind kicks in. Our pace slows to a crawl, but we can ride it, thanks to a reasonably good road. We can see our goal from a long distance away, an estancia and gas station at the junction of Ruta 40 and Ruta 5, but it seems to take forever to get there.
We arrive just ahead of a large bus, and we sit down in the small kiosk and drink coffee with our cookies. After the bus leaves and we are rested a bit we ride to the Estancia Topi Aike, recommended in our guidebook, to see if we can camp there. The place is deserted except for a caretaker who informs us that it won't open until January and there is no camping.
Bummer!
We head back to the gas station and weigh our options. It's 13kms to a hotel in Fuentes del Coyle. It's straight into the wind, but we decide to take a ride if we cannot do it. It takes a while, but we get there. A sheet metal clad box in the windswept pampas. On the horizon we see mountains that must be Torres del Paine. The rooms are expensive at $15 per person but they look clean there are hot showers and there is nothing next door. The bikes go in a shed behind the building, we install ourselves in the room.
It is about 2pm but seems much later since our early start and struggle against the wind. We are simply happy to be out of the wind, even if the electricity is questionable.
Neither of us wants to go outside to cook so we eat bread with cheese.
Today's ride: 58 km (36 miles)
Total: 2,745 km (1,705 miles)
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