Cycling the Andes (2005): Introduction | photos : general info : route notes : narrative : reflections : stats In Portillo Argentino January and February 2005 we spent 3 weeks touring the Chilean and Argentinian Andes. We flew to Santiago and spent 3 days settling in at the ski resort of Farellones before travelling to Los Andes by taxi to make our first crossing of the cordillera using the international highway. We’d expected to be forced into the tunnel and were delighted to find that the old dirt road to the Bermejo pass and the Cristo Redentor statue had been repaired and reopened: this is a superb route. We spent several uneventful days in the Valle de Uco region of Argentina, dismayed to see unseasonably cold and wet weather and beginning to despair of our planned return. But the snow melted and we were able to make our second crossing, this time using the little-visited Portillo Argentino and Piuquenes pass. This was the highlight of our trip. We had organised mules from England and certainly needed them. There is a rough road as far as the Portillo Argentino, but from there to the Termas del Plomo in Chile there are only mule tracks, often hard to push let alone ride. Between the passes is a beautiful uninhabited valley surrounded by high peaks; the Río Tunuyán which runs through it cannot be crossed except on muleback. We left the mules at the Paso de los Piuquenes (they are not permitted to cross the frontier) and completed the journey on our own, pushing the bikes down to the Río Yeso and crossing it the next morning with rope for (questionable) protection. Finally we spent a couple more days in mountain scenery at Lo Valdés before returning to England. | photos : general info : route notes : narrative : reflections : stats