We veered off Ruta 40 just past Epuyen and took Ruta 71 through Loa Alerces National Park, a gravel road that twists past lakes and mountains.
We were hoping to wild camp but when we paid our entrance fees into the camp we were told in no uncertain terms that wild camping was forbidden and fine were high so if we wanted to camp we had to pay to stay in the parks camps and it was EXPENSIVE!
We were tired and at this point already arguing (unfortunately after 7+ months on the road and living in each others pockets 24/7 the odd falling out is inevitable!) so we made the decision to keep on ridding to Trevelin.
Hahaha! In all honesty I don't think we actually made a decision, we just kept on riding while not talking to each other until we reached Trevelin and it was starting to get very cold and dark.
A quick look on booking.com and we found a hotel that had a photo showing bikes parked in the grounds and we were like... "that'll do".
It turned out to be perfect with central heating, secure parking and a comfy bed.
We acknowledged we were arguing because we were tired and made the decision to stay there for two nights and rest and explore the town.
We realised that we were starting to suffer what is referred to as "traveller fatigue" where the process of travelling day in day out for months on end starts to affect you. We had seen it in others while we were on the road but had thought it couldn't happen to us ...but it did!
Some get fixated on a target place and race to get there. Other start travelling slower and become more and more tired. Others just want to quit and go home. And all start to loose a little bit of that "Joy de Vie" where you see new sights with eyes of wonder. You just get weary and tired ...and sometimes a little bit irritable!
If winter wasn't coming and our time window to get to Ushuaia wasn't closing in then we would have been very wise to slow the whole thing down around now. Unfortunately we only had a few weeks. We had forced target fixation!
Trevelin was a real surprise. It was incredibly proud of its Welsh Heritage and there were two museums in a relatively small town as well as numerous Welsh Dragon statues; and all the shops were selling souvenirs. There were even Welsh Collies all around town ...we even saw one chasing an elderly guy down the street!
We had a genuine Welsh Tea one afternoon. The tea shop was PACKED with Argentine tourists all wanting to sample genuine Welsh food. Unfortunately a little had been lost in translation over the years and our scones were served with jam and cheese ...as in cheddar cheese!