January 9, 2026
Las Horquetas to Bajo Caracoles
Slept not too badly. Have light breakfast of grandiola and feel weak starting to cycle. A few kilometres on is the old Hotel Las Horquetas and a chance to pause with something to eat maybe. Built of stone with a corrugated iron roof; on shelves inside are old obsolete items such as a kerosine lamp and a black and white photo from the 1950s with two period cars and guests out front.
Order coffee and slice of traybake jammy cake. The coffee when it comes is strong instant which is nice. Can only eat half the cake and rap the remainder in a serviette then pocket it. Paying takes 5 minutes as the woman behind the counter had to wait to connect to the wifi before the machine could read my card. Also bought 2 litre bottle of Sprite and outside sitdown on a bench, open and drink a mouthful which suddenly causes feeling of nausea. Standing up and leaning over the Kona seems to relieve it, but then I cannot hold back any longer and spew up. Luckily on the dirt so its easily covered.
Continuing and still feeling weak with 110 kms to the next place is a daunting task. However the long 50 km west orientated section soon ends with a long curve right changing the direction of the road to north-northeast, with a southeasterly breeze the Kona begins gaining momentum. There are two turnoffs on the left at this point, route 35 running off southwest and a kilometre on 37 going 90 kms west to the national park Perito Moreno.
Stop and drink more Sprite. A little further stop again and drink more and stop a few more times until the bottle of Sprite is drank. By then I am regaining strength. Its a long straight road ahead with big sky full of cotton wool clouds.
Around noon the road has reached a high plateau and passes a turnoff on the right: provencial route 79, then come a swing left and downhill accompanied by crosswind; leveling out and climbing up the other side of a hollow, the road turns sharp right at the top of the hill continuing north-northeast. The following section goes on and on, its hot and I'm feeling drowsy from an early start. Eventually, push the Kona down to one of many big culverts, lay out the sleeping mat then stretch-out listening to a podcast, sleeping through most of it. Waking drink mate and eat the remainder of the cake from the hotel before setting off again.
At last there's a steep downhill, past a house and continuing into a wide dry valley with a small river in the middle: Rio Olne, the other side of which begins a long long climb through a gap in the barrancas; every turn revealing yet another lengthy uphill section.
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Eventually the long hoped for decent to Bajo Caracoles begins, but I'm pedalling hard downhill into a headwind until the road curves right and runs east for the last 5 kms to a clutter of houses and trees in a sparse landscape.
Stop at Hotel Bajo Caracoles and after a day of eating nothing order a hamburger with a glass of beer while waiting for it. Later, having checked the hostel in the village and finding nobody there, return to hotel and inquire about the availability and price of a room. There is a room for 40,000 or 22 pounds, so I take it.
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