San Sebastian (Chile)

January 29, 2023

Only two vehicles past by last night and we slept well but awoke to a chilly morning. So it was after nine o'clock by the time we got going. A climb out out of the valley was followed by a nice downhill run to the intersection with the Y-71 just inland from the coast.

Not a single vehicle past us on the way to the junction with the Y-71.

The refugio at the junction. We camped here with Martin and Elspeth Jarman three years ago. The refugio was in good condition then but stank due to the attached pit toilet. Now it is is rather poor condition.

From there we turned westwards and had the wind behind us for the entire ride to San Sebastian. The ripio was mostly OK with a few corrugated sections but with little traffic to bother us.

Typical tree shape on the open plains of Tierra del Fuego.

At the turnoff to the King Penguin colony we stopped to have lunch in the old refugio, the new one being rather battered and full of flies. Within a few minutes Tim and Jo arrived and joined us. They had spent the night at the refugio just south of the penguins and had visited the colony this morning. According to them the refugio there was still in good condition with the wood stove still intact. We had a good natter over lunch, discussing each others plans on making our ways to Ushuaia. We are still set on avoiding the section from San Sebastian to Rio Grande but it seemed like they were keen on getting it over and done with. They left a while before us heading for the Argentinian side of San Sebastian where they planned to spend the night in the waiting room at the border post..

Jo and Tim about to head towards San Sebastian after lunch.

The road eastwards wound its way to San Sebastian but the wind was still helpful. We pulled into the restaurant at the Hosteria de la Frontera to find Tim and Jo spending the last of their Chilean money on coffee and quiche. We joined them although I was happy to have a beer given that our riding was now over for the day.

We are going to spend the night here as part of our efforts to stretch a two day journey into three days. It is expensive for what one pays for but it has been upgraded a lot since we stayed here three years ago.

Today's ride: 95 km (59 miles)
Total: 6,290 km (3,906 miles)

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