ruta de los siete lagos

And there I was....la ruta de los siete lagos, the most cycled touristic road in Argentina....the unmissable ride for a two wheeled tourist coming to this part of South America !!!!

I started my ride from Lago Espejo, where I camped one night after crossing the border from Chile and continued along the wide unpaved road visiting the Lago Espejo Chico and stopping for lunch on a beach along the river.

I then pedalled to the next lake, Lago Correntoso and stopped there to camp, have a nice swim and meet another cyclist from Rosario, Tomas.

We had dinner and enjoyed the evening together, chatting and watching the sun set on the lake before continuing our rides in different directions.

I then visited the North-western side of Lago Traful where I met more cyclists from Chile and Argentina and then continued towards north along the Ruta de los Siete Lagos.

I met more cyclists on one day on this road than in three months cycling all over the country.....

I met Fernando, a cyclist from Mendoza whose nickname is El Petizo (the little one) and we cycled together towards Lago Escondido and then arrived in Lago Falkner, where the paved road starts and stopped there to camp for the night.

There we had a nice afternoon relaxing on the beach, swimming and drinking Mate with some other guys El Petizo met before on the route, Nicolas and his girlfriend Vanessa, his sister Carolina and their cousin Matias.

We talked a lot and about many things, before putting together the ingredients to have a lovely dinner and a great night together eating, drinking, singing and playing guitar and listening to El Pajaro Inflable.....

I had one of the best nights and felt like our group of friends had been together for a long time, even if we had just met a few hours earlier, and the amazing sight of the sky filled with many bright stars reflected on the lake made the night just special !!!!!

CHICOS, NOS VEMOS EN BS AS POR EL SUSHI Y EL ASADO.....

After having breakfast together on the beach, El Petizo and I left to do a few more kms together to see the last two lakes on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos, Lago Hermoso and Lago Machonico.

We had a fantastic ride on the paved road through the mountains, on a beatiful day, before going our own ways after lunch and a nice refreshing swim in the lake.

PETIZO, GRACIAS PARA SER UN MUY BUEN COMPAÑERO, MI UNICO VERDADERO COMPAÑERO DE VIAJE .......

I then continued my ride passing by Lago Meliquina on a very bad unpaved road, but with a fantastic surrounding.

I arrived on Lago Filo Hua Hum in the evening after a 60km ride, feeling very tired and ready for a quick dinner and a shower in the camping on the beach.

In the morning, on another sunny and beatiful day I cycled 40km through one of the most scenic roads I have seen so far, crossing the mountains at Paso Cordoba to arrive in Confluencia, a junction on the motorway with a gas station and a beach where I could camp.

This was a very hard ride, mostly uphill until Paso Cordoba, where I reached the top of a mountain after riding a curvy road and stop to watch the amazing view of the valley below (see picture in the italian post).....it felt good, very good !!!!!