Ruta 40 was a bit disappointing for some of today's drive. Work on paving it is well underway and what this meant for a lot of the time was that we were driving on a gravel 'diversion' alongside a gleaming new asphalt road. This felt like it was taunting us as we rattled along, but at the same time we didn't have the romance or sense of adventure of Ruta 40 as there was works traffic around. It was quite hard to work out which dirt track to follow and we went wro...

The section of ripio from the cabanas to the border was fairly wild, up mountain sides and round hairpin bends. We saw condors and wild horses. Then across the border and back into Argentina. We have loved Chile and it has been great to be driving through the Andes themselves rather than just having them as a backdrop, which they will be when we get back onto Ruta 40. The difference was noticeable straight away, because the lake is shared between the two nations....

Start of the road trip proper today. Ruta 40 in Argentina and then the Carretera Austral in Chile, both legendary routes. Big skies, big mountains and the biggest Welsh tea ever in Trevelin, Patagonia. How embarrassing to have to admit to living in Wales and speaking no Welsh, to people who fled here to keep their culture alive because it was under threat at home... And who continue to speak Welsh (as well as Spanish)! Then across the border to spend our first n...

Last day here. Still very hot and dry. Had a few jobs to do before heading out on the road trip but decided to do the trek up to Refugio Lopez first. This was seriously steep and we were worried on the way up about how steep the descent was going to be. We reached the refugio pretty shattered as it was tough, and the place itself was horrible despite the views. 'sending you to Lopez' will now be a threat between the two of us. Weather was on the turn up there so ...

Took a ride out to El Bolson which was a beautiful drive and because we wanted a day out of the sun. Found a picnic spot on River Foyel on the way. Went on to the craft Market and had one of the famous ice creams- it was a challenge ordering these but worth the struggle. They have more than 10 chocolate flavours alone. Stopped at a beach on Lago Gutierrez on the way back and shared una cerverza. Facts: ice cream count 1 each