Left San Martín de los Andes on time – a cold, wet morning as I took the Siete Lagos road towards the Puyehue Pass into Chile.

Stopped for a pee at one of my favourite peeing places. An explanation may be necessary here. Lake Lacar, the lake on which San Martín de los Andes is located, is unusual in that it drains not into the Atlantic as one would expect but into the Pacific. This has been the cause of much discussion from Chile about ownership, which need not detain us here.

Anyway, at this particular spot on the Seven Lakes road the stream splits into two. One of these flows into Lake Lacar and thence to the Pacific, while the other drains into the Atlantic. So by peeing into the stream just before the bifurcation you can pee simultaneously into two oceans. Way to go.

Puyehue is the name of the pass, but also of a volcano which erupted a few years ago causing general inconvenience to the locals and also to international aviation. The sides of the road still bear evidence in the form of piles of volcanic ash.

There are many miles of neutral land between the Argentine and Chilean border posts, and at the top of the pass is the actual border, where the mist generously cleared long enough for me to take a photo.

I was the only traveller going westward and got through the two migration and customs posts in record time but coming the other way it was another story: a national holiday in Chile on a Friday meant huge numbers of Chileans coming over to Argentina, probably to Bariloche. The cars were backed up a good eight kilometres from the border.

Once in Chile it was time for a bite to eat and I stopped in Entre Lagos. I couldn’t find any particularly appetising places to stop at, but chose well with a tasty and nourishing stew of beans, spaghetti and sausages. Cheap and filling.

For some reason all the service stations on the Ruta 5 seem to have disappeared so I didn’t get my coffee until Puerto Varas, where I caught the last half hour of the Argentina-England World Cup rugby playoff for third place. Close game, with England scraping a win.

I got to my destination on time, a friendly family guest house with good wifi, lockup parking and a comfy bed. Good enough for a first day. `Didn’t feel like eating much after my huge lunch so bought some bread and cheese at a despensa and retired early. Tomorrow, Hornopirén.