110 kilometers of pine trees, rocky mountains and lakes: we are cycling the Ruta de 7 Lagos in Argentina. I feel like we are in Canada and the smell of pine trees.., that’s the best! My thoughts are wandering away…
A large Audi stops next to me and the electric window is silently opened, it’s Queen Maxima! She holds both thumbs up and asks me about our travels, when she finds out we are Dutch, she invites us for dinner! Her brother, living in La Angostura, has a restaurant here and we can have a private dinner at his place. I explain to here, we don’t have smart looking clothes. “Ah, don’t worry! I too love my jogging trousers and fleece sweater!” The raindrops shake me out of my daydream… darn… I guess we stick to camping and Elmar baking pancakes tonight!
Elmar baking pancakes
The 7 Lagos route lives up to the expectation: we love the lakes, the climbs are doable and there’s little traffic. And at the end of the ride, we end up in pictoresque San Martin de los Andes, where we meet Harry and Ivana, a Dutch – Argentinian couple. After a long distance bicycle adventure they decided to settle down here and we can see why.They are a loveloy couple, have a cute kid and another one is about to join any time now! They can tell us a lot about their travels and Harry takes beautiful pictures. He’s a modest man, but he’s the third Dutch ever to climb all 7 summits, including Mount Everest. Elmar just bought his book ‘3x Mount Everest’ which is an interesting read! Nothing but respect for him! We’ll just stick to cycling, though Elmar is dreaming away with Everest… but that’s as far as it goes!