Here some pictures of Argentina's capital.

This is crazy town at the end of the Careterra Austral, which was wiped out by a volcanic eruption. The government decided to abandon the town and rebuild it somewhere else, but there are still a number of hard-core dwellers that refuse to leave... The grey stuff in the pictures is all ash! My first impression was driving through Chernobyl or something like that. Very spooky.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaiten

Just south of B.A. are a number of towns which are the playing fields of the rich and famous. During summer months half the population of the capital (meaning the half that can afford it) is heading there to claim their patch for their beach towel. Very amusing to see, particular when New Zealanders consider a beach being "crowded" if there is anybody else there...

Came across some stone painting, which are apparently 1000s of years old. Who would have thought?

Went to Island Chiloe, but it was raining non-stop! So this was a real waste of time, but once I was back on the mainland the weather cleared and the border crossing rewarded me with sunshine and warmer temperatures.

Here some pictures taken along the Careterra Austral.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carretera_Austral
 
This road was built by Chile's dictator Pinochet to provide access to a region that mainly consist of fjords and rainforest - think Milford Sounds, just much much bigger and further away.
 
All gravel riding, and it was raining ALL THE TIME. It also resulted into another casualty - my beloved ipod, so from there on I was practising my singing skills.

Made my way safely to the big smoke. Would have posted earlier, but finding fast internet connections is like spotting poeltry with teeth (aye, Glenn?).
 
Really enjoyed riding by myself, which brings a broad range of advantages like going where you want to go, when and how... however, there is nobody to bother when you get bored or join you in pillaging a little village (just as an example). But then I also had much fun just reading a book and hit the sack early.
 
On the way I met Willie, an Argentinian also riding a F650, and we did a few 100 kms together. It turned out that his parents have a rental apartment in the city centre of B.A. where I currently stay. Its nice. Very nice.
 
Willie is a real dude. A corporate rebel usually only know by legends. He has taken some amazing footage of riding a motorcycle through B.A. and with his permission I will post it here shortly. Very enjoyable to watch.
 
As you can imaging, Traffic is absolute crazy (!¡!) and the most challenging I have faced to date. Berlin, for comparison, is a walk in the park since the good Germans all stick to the RULES! (Achtung!) But here, thes latinos make traffic a formula one race - they all must have Juan Manuel Fangio blood running in their veins, so its all about do or die. I figured the only way to survive was by doing the same speed and making all these risky manouvres as they did (when you in Rome and all that...). So I ended up following this dude on a small 125cc that he was riding if it was a Hayabuza on NOX, going in the same direction. Lane splitting, overtaking left, right and middle, running red lights, speeding - ahhm, have I missed anything? You get the idea... Even got stopped by police on a motorbike and got a warning... Always picking on the Gringos! But since he figured that my Spanish was as good as his English he just waved and said something mean (i am sure).
 
Anyway, the good news is that i am still alive and that is actually quite fun (if you dont mind the occational adrenaline rush) and the bike is now safe an securely parked in a guarded parking building. So there is actually a fair chance that she is still there for me to continue my journey in 2 weeks or so...
 
As I mentioned earlier, I will post pictures very shortly and fill in the gaps... Watch this space.

After more than 8000km there was not much left of my rear tyre. Under normal circumstances I would have changed it a long time ago, but unfortunately there is no tyre shop within 1000km. Ended up flying one in from Osorno (thanks to Sonia of Motoadventura). Postage to Cohaique was crazy, but it felt kinda weired on gravel - try to break with a slick on dirt... hmmm... every stepped on a banana skin? The plan is now to catch the ferry at Chaiten and then go to Island Chiloe. Unfortunately Andres was a bit in a hurry, so I will make my way from now on by myself.
 
Will let you know how it goes.
 
 
 

went into this amazing National Park Torres del Paine. Camped there at the foot of the mountain. Wish I could upload more pictures...
 
 

In Germany we got this saying "sending someone into the Pampa". Now I know why... There is NOTHING... well some funny Lamas maybe... But serious, you have to drive for many 100s km to see a house or any other sight of civilisation... Interesting, but not a good place to have a break down or running out of fuel. Lucky us, we had no trouble. Just heaps of wind! It even blew my bike over...