Ruta 3 in Argentina is boring!

Before we started this trip we read a number of reports from overlanders who had followed a similar route. Most of them were enthusiastic about Patagonia. All of them failed to mention the mind bogglingly boring nature of much of Ruta 3 in Argentina. No mention of the long stretches of mundane, tedious, hum-drum, utterly forgettable, miserable, uninteresting, unattractive scenery. No complaints about the dreary, desolate, endless, monotonous, repetitive, dull, flat road.

The photographs below show the highlights of a 200km section of Ruta 3 north of Comodoro Rivadavia .

The one item of real interest (see red arrow) was Heinz Stücke. In 2006 Heinz:

• is 66 years old.
• has cycled 545,000 km.
• has visited 193 countries and
• 63 territories and regions.
• has been 44 years on the road.
• cycles 80 to 120km/day.
• now rides a folding BikeFriday.
• carries 40 to 50 kg of luggage.
• has filled 18 passports.
• has had 4 car accidents.
• has had 16 bike frame breakdowns.
• has sold 80,000 booklets.
• is the Guinness Book of Records: "Most Travelled Man in History".

Although Ruta 3 is boring there are number of interesting diversions. One 50km detour down a dirt road takes you to the remains of a forest of large trees. The trees are well preserved with branches and growth rings clearly visible.

However the trees are no longer wood, they were turned to stone around 150,000,000 years ago!

The site warden searches each visitor as they leave to make sure no "wood" samples are removed.