We are really getting north now. Today's 550 km took us up into the more populated part of Patagonia. It is hard to describe just how remote the south is. If you look on the map (see earlier post) you see settlements marked but these are often little more than a petrol station and a handful of houses. We passed through Rio Mayo today. It is capital of Chubut Province, one of Argentina's 10 or so adminsitrative regions. The town was a little bigger than Watlington with a similar range of facilities. Between the settlements there are the Estancias. Widely spread and each a handful of houses and farm buildings. Apart from that there is nothing. No truck stops, no little houses by the road, no electricity cables, no phone lines. Just the construction camps for the new road, the odd tour bus and us. For miles and miles. The first sign of any human habitation is a stand of poplars appearing in the distance.
The sky is huge and blue with bands of white cloud. You can see where General Belgrano found the inspiration when he designed the Argentinian flag. (One for all the Velixologists out there).
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