We had another delicious breakfast- this time with coffee 😉 – with getting hit by bird poo twice from a bird of prey ( maybe a Chimango caracara? ) sitting in the branches above our table. We then packed up camp and headed for the border to Argentina. The road to the border was amazing with views of the snow capped volcanoe Lanin. We stopped along the side of the road in the shade to have lunch and finish all the fresh produce which you are not allowed to take across the border. We also stopped at lake Quillelhue were we saw the rare, impressive and endangered Araucaria araucana ( Chilean pine or monkey puzzle tree) for the first time. We got to the Chilean border station and got our stamped out in our passports and had to hand that tiny slip of paper we were given at Santiago airport in. Then they took our TIP ( temporary import permit) and sent us to the Argentinian border station. The road across the no-man’s land was gravel and when we arrived at the Argentinian side there was a booth with boom gate where you get a small slip of paper with your license plate recorded on it. Then we stopped at the border crossing building and got our passports stamped and we each got a new TIP for our bikes issued. We then rode to another booth where we handed the small piece of paper over and we were in Argentina 👍😉🙏

The next 12 km was dirt road through the National Park and our first longer stretch of dirt road to welcome us into Argentina. The scenery changed quickly to a more arid desert like country with strong winds. We arrived at our hotel in Junín de los Andes tired but very happy that we made it into Argentina without any issues ( we were never asked about food or about our insurance for the bikes) and survived the first short stretch of “ripio” = gravel road. The hotel was 2.4km out of town and we walked into town ( being overtaken by horses 😉) to get Argentinian pesos from an atm and then find food. The atm only allows a max of 30,000 pesos withdrawals (roughly Australian $30) and then charges you $15 fee – so we did not get any local currency and found a restaurant that accepted credit cards – at 9:45pm we had to wait 30 minutes for a table but the food was worth waiting for. After dinner we had to walk back to the hotel in the dark and there was a rock concert in town and we heard the music blast all the way and all night long 😂😉