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WELL IT'S good morning from this very beautiful and random spot coming here in the middle of the Andes. There are spectacular towering mountains on either side. There's a beautiful rough river going past. Today we've actually got a day off here staying in some beautiful log cabins up a little bit above the river here. I might show you that later on today. In the meantime, I'm just relaxing here for the morning. It's a little bit cold but it's very pleasant here and very relaxing. I'll probably show you the cabins later, but otherwise today is a very quiet day relaxing and I may even see some white-water rafters come down the river.
I'm now following the Pan American Highway back to the chalet where I'm staying. As you can see there are spectacular mountains on either side. Hidden in the trees there is the river I was sitting beside before. It's hard to believe this is like the main drag up the Americas at this stage - here comes a car - and obviously this is a pretty quiet road this one with some vehicles. I've seen a few people cycling along here and quite a few hitch hikers as well so it's quite a popular area for cycling and hitch hiking. It' pretty amazing as I'm already about 1500 kilometres up from Ushuaia and a similar distance to go up to Santiago, which I'm hoping to reach in five or six days' time. This is the main road, quite a rough little gravel road. Obviously, it's not going to be like this the whole way up. As we approach some of the major cities, the Pan American Highway is going to be quite a major freeway system. But I think this is one of the remote parts of the whole thing. There certainly aren't any big towns anywhere. The cities of down south are long gone and I think Santiago is the next major city we are coming to (actually Bariloche). Anyway, it's back to the hostel I go.
I've found another spot upstream, about a kilometre above where I was earlier. The water here is absolutely crystal clear. You can see the mountains behind me. Here's everything in one view. What a beautiful place this is.
Okay it's a bit later in the day. Here's the chalet I'm staying in and some more just up here. They are really nice log cabin buildings and the front has this great big open plan area with windows with beautiful views out to the mountains over there. In the back of both levels there are bedrooms. It is a really beautiful place here and it's given me some inspiration for my next house actually, with its really big open plan with the living area covering both storeys giving a huge acoustic area which has given me a bit of inspiration because if we scale this up a few times, maybe three times it would fit a nice Steinway grand piano in it. Yeah, so getting a bit of inspiration from here. Let's go in and have a quick look before the weather turns which it looks like it's doing. It's been a beautifully fine day today but I think the weather's about to turn. So, I'm just coming through here into this little porchway here and I'll come in the door. This is the main living area with the little wood burner. This is a very interesting staircase with a tree being used in the middle here and another one beside the staircase. It's just a nice open area. There are bedrooms upstairs and a couple more downstairs. There's a few people up there at the moment I think sleeping. There's a bathroom in here as well. It's a really nice little spot and soon we will be getting the fireplace going to keep the place warm at night. Looking through these windows you can see the open view of the mountains as well. Very rustic and very interesting.
Okay I'm heading down the hill just in front of the chalet and here we've got a spa bath which is nearly ready. Ingenious little wood burners for heating the water up. Then we come out here and our view of the river. It is very spectacular. So, this is Patagonia at its best, I think. I should also mention almost every building we have stayed in has been like this. These log cabins are very common here so it must be part of the Patagonian architecture. The building standard doesn't seem to meet New Zealand and Australian standards but they are a lot more rustic and have a huge amount of character. They give a lot of inspiration if you are looking at buying or building any rustic buildings or houses. It's been a great day off today, not really going anywhere. Just exploring up and down the river a little bit. I think we're all charged up ready to go for another adventure tomorrow. See you then.
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