El Foyel

November 23, 2022

We had the campsite mostly to ourselves last night. The only other occupant, as far as we could tell, was a young German hiker

The road was a bit quieter today when compared to yesterday and it was a few degrees cooler. The route included two longish but mostly gentle climbs and the cooler weather and lighter traffic made them pass quite easily. In between the two climbs we dropped from one thousand and seventy meters above sea level to five hundred and fifty meters over a distance of thirteen kilometers - an enjoyable downhill but for an icy headwind that had sprung up. At the bottom, at Rio Villegas, the wind changed and we had it on our backs again as it had been for much of the ride.

Looking back towards the mountains south of Bariloche.

These bright yellow leguminous flowers have been a riot for the past few days but they now seem to be being replaced by the lupins that are starting to flower.

What colour goes best with lakes and snow capped mountains? Yellow?

The welcome sign to El Foyel is a couple of kilometers before the village itself.

We passed through El Foyel, named after the Mapuche leader Cacique Foyel, and stopped at El Viejo Almacén on the southern end of the village. Here we checked into the cabaña that is part of this well known roadside restaurant. The cabaña, in line with all of our accommodation in this area apart from our digs in Bariloche, is priced at close on double to what we would expect to pay but options here are limited. The restaurant has lots of displays relating to the history of the area and Cacique Foyel himself so it is worth a visit. The best thing about our cabaña is that it has a great fireplace and an large supply of chopped wood so we are nice and warm while it is cold and windy outside.

Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 3,818 km (2,371 miles)

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