Patagonia in a nutshell..

After finishing the Carretera Austral in Chile and crossing the border into Argentina, I took two rest days in el Calafate where I visited the world renowned glacier Perito Moreno. Besides that I did not do much. What a delight, doing nothing after arduous labour! After those two necessary days I left for the road again, feeling all fresh and relaxed. The prevailing north-western winds helped me pedaling along through the pampas for 165 km to the small village of la Esperanza. I knew the next days were going to be tough, for it meant facing the same strong winds travelling west to Torres del Paine, Chilean\'s most famous national park. That week turned out to be the most intensive one of the whole trip: I cycled almost 500 km and hiked two days in the park, one day for 11 hours. Not the long days on the bike but the first day hiking resulted in a major muscle ache I felt for days to come! Near the park entrance I met Andrea and Corsin, a sympathetic Swiss couple who are traveling in a cool green Volkswagen van. Accidentally, I bumped into them again the next morning which for them was reason to invite me for breakfast, my second one that morning!

While cycling in the park I was literally pushed off the road by a ferocious wind. It was the first time I was actually a bit scared of the force of nature. An American tourist was spot on when she said that the wind was no joke here. But even in such conditions people do not loose their sense of wit. While I was holding on to my bike and myself on the road (I was already pushing) a car slowed down with a woman behind the steering wheel. She looked at me and waved her hands at me as if I were some kind of tourist attraction, as if I did not need all my strength to keep me and my bike from tumbling over. Somehow it made me feel like a monkey in the zoo..

From Torres del Paine to Puerto Natales and from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas, the biggest city in southern Chile. As opposed to Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas has more historical buildings due to the presence of European settlers in the 19th century. Some where evangelistas, others gold diggers but all had one thing in common: they were not afraid of the harsh weather. This is a part of the world where the weather can change in less than an hour. As the locals tend to say: aqui pasan las cuatro estaciones en un dia! Four seasons in one day. And then there was only one week left, and one stretch to finish with the destination in Ushuaia. The city is beautifully situated on the shores of the Beagle Channel, surrounded by mountains and is generally considered the world\'s southernmost city. That is the reason many expeditions, cyclists and bikers alike use Ushuaia as their start or finish point. There is actually a city south of Ushuaia, namely Chilean\'s Puerto Williams which is located on the other side of the Beagle Channel. But somehow, in the course of time, the Chileans have lost the battle for the title \'city at the end of the world\'.

Juan Jose Arauz

I had always wanted to take a picture of a real gaucho. But I did not have the guts so far to do so. Gauchos are not to be messed with. Pride is written all over them, and there can be something terrifying in their looks. Add to that the fact that the only time stuff of mine got stolen, was probably done so by gauchos (ok, I was camping illegally on private property in Patagonia but still..). And you understand I have mostly pictures of the landscape. But how could I go home without a photo of a gaucho?? Then, in a bar in el Calafate, holiday and adventure town on the foothills of the Argentinean Andes, my luck turned. A man walked in making such an appearance that everybody turned in his direction while voices were lowered. It was clear that he had been drinking and, by the look on his face, seemed quite pleased with his acquired state of happiness. He went straight to the bar and ordered a glass of wine, meanwhile looking around for some company to talk with. Apparently he decided it was going to me, because he walked over to my table and started talking to me, to my excitement but also a bit to my fear. He presented himself as Juan Jose Arauz and told me he worked on one of the estancias outside el Calafate. Apart from the usual chores like maintenance work and taking care of the cattle his job also involved guiding tourists around the estancia. Thus he was used to tourists and liked talking to them so he could learn about different cultures. On my question if he was married he laughed and replied that he had never been married and that he was never going to be so either. He liked his freedom and independence and was not going to give any of that up for one single woman. He was straightforward and clear about it, as he probably was with most matters in his life. He insisted I had a drink with him, which he paid for, thus showing true Patagonian hospitality. And who am I to refuse such a nice offer? Anyway, that is how, after the ice was broken, I dared to ask him for a picture. Nice man, Juan Jose Arauz. And proud people, these gauchos..

About baboons, horses and a clergyman..

There I was, sitting at a small Chilean restaurant at a crossroads in Cerro Castillo which is the gateway to Torres del Paine. The other option you have is to bypass the park and go straight to the city of Puerto Natales. I had just finished the only choice on the menu (caldo, a chicken soup which had lots of slices of chicken skin in it, yagh! and rice with peas), when three other cyclists walked in the restaurant. I had met them the day before when I was taking the afternoon off in Tapi Aike, a crossroads somewhere in the Argentinean pampa with a small gas station, a small police station and a puesto de vialidad (road maintenance). The reason I wasn\'t cycling was that I was fixing a broken spoke (my second one). Of the three cyclists there was one big guy from Switzerland who had cycled all the way down from Alaska, a skinny guy from Germany and a third guy from France. The Swiss guy enquired about the problem with my bike and I answered him that it always took me a lot of time to get my spokes adjusted properly after replacing one. After a brief chat, they left for the road again. They seemed eager to continue instead of staying at the safe and dry hideout I was going to spend the night in Tapi Aike. They were heading west, against the strong winds and with dark, imminent skies at the horizon.

'Are your Rohloff gears working again?', the Swiss guy asked me with a loud voice in Spanish. At first I didn\'t understand what he was talking about, until I realized that he had not paid any attention to what I was doing or saying the day before. I decided not to make a fuzz about it, and told him everything was working well again. Since I realized that I had only been talking to the Swiss fellow so far, I turned to the German guy and asked him if they were planning to go into the park. 'I don\'t speak Spanish', he said in English with a grin on his face. So I asked him the same question in English. To my surprise, he did not answer but stared in the direction of the Swiss guy. To my even greater surprise, the Swiss guy replied with a theatrical voice: 'I was told we would only have wind pushing us, but so far there is only headwind!' And he continued: 'I don\'t care about Torres del paine, I just want a beer!' To stress his point he slammed his fist at the table. At those words the German laughed with a wide mouth, by doing so approving what his compañero just said. Then I asked them where they had spent the night since there had been lots of wind and rain the night before. This time I was not surprised when the Swiss answered that they had no option but to stay in a roadside hotel, which was quite expensive. When I said I had stayed at the puesto de vialidad for free where I could even use the kitchen and use the shower, the German smiled wryly with a pathetic look on his face. Then it struck me: the wide grin, the horselaugh. He resembled a horse! But if the German resembled a horse the Swiss resembled a baboon. The two of them seemed to form a perfect symbiotic relationship. And although the horse had travelled by himself before meeting the baboon, he did not seem capable of making any choices himself. He rather had the baboon make all the choices for him. The fact they had met up actually made sense. The same could not be said for the French guy. So far, he had not spoken a word, but just before I was leaving he said to no one in particular that he heard of a couple who, during their cycling holidays in Patagonia in the month of November, had only experienced headwinds. The other two did not pay much attention to what he was saying, as they started feasting on the food that was being served. As for me, I wanted to leave. I wished them goodluck and said goodbye, being actually glad I could leave them behind and go my own way. Although that meant indeed facing the strongest winds I had experienced so far. As for them, I hope they enjoyed their beers, although they would miss out on one of the most beautiful nature parks in the world..

Ps I do not have a picture of them. I would say, let your imagination do the work. They actually told me their names the first day, but my mind must have swapped them for their synonyms: I do not have a clue anymore!

Compañeros en el viaje

I am not the only one who came up with the idea of cycling for some time. In the States I had met many cyclists, most of them being on the road for \'only\' a couple of weeks. Contrary to Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina where I did not meet so many other cyclists, in Patagonia there were many. And of the many international cyclists the French outnumbered the rest. But also Germans, Swiss and some Dutch. To prove I am not so crazy as some think, I will give you two examples of cyclists I met who take cycling to another level. The first one is Henrik (who called himself Enrique) who came from Denmark and had already cycled for 2 years in which he covered 33.000 km. He was halfway: his goal was to cycle 80.000 km in 4 years! No girlfriend (obviously), riding a Dutch Koga Miyata and no broken spokes as of yet..

Somebody who really impressed me and attracted attention was Anne-Sophie, a French girl living and working in Vancouver since 5 years. She was modest about her endeavour: she had started from Ushuaia for a journey of 5 months on a unicycle! She once joined a unicycle group because she liked the people. After she had gone on a guided and supervised unicycle holiday, she decided she wanted to go by herself. Problem with the unicycle is, it doesn\'t go very fast. Also, you can only bring limited supplies (she had a backpack which weighed about 8 kg, a sleeping bag and another small bag on her \'frame\'). Not to mention you have to keep your balance which is not always easy, especially with lots of wind. So far she had been treated very nicely by the Chilean carabineros who had offered her water, food and a place to sleep. The morning I met her on the road in Villa Tehuelches between Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas, she had just spent the night at a Chilean family\'s house, having been invited by the man of the house. But in the morning, after his wife had left for work, this man had asked her for a \'regalo\' (present). No wonder she was eager to leave!

The end

To everything there is a beginning and an end (probably a middle section too). And for me the end of this trip has come. Am I sad? De hecho que no, ha sido suficiente. I feel grateful for all the experiences I had and people I have met. And I bring my memories and photos back home, so when I get old I can think and look back at them with a smile on my face:-).

A couple of weeks ago, somebody asked me if this trip was as I had expected. At first his question annoyed me: you don\'t ask a 3 year old toddler if the first years of his life had gone according to his expectations.Even if he (or she) understood the question he (or she) would probaby think you are mad and continue playing. He (or she) might even slap you in the face.. Nevertheless, there is definitely some legitimacy in the question. There must have been something that triggered me to do this. The difficulty is to catch into words what exactly. Isn\'t it strange that for the important things in life you don\'t always have a rational explanation? What I do know is that there was a little voice in my head that kept nagging at me. I finally listened to it, and I am glad I did! Getting on your bike in the morning gives you a feeling of exhiliration, a sensation of feeling alive. Like a happy nomad enjoying nature and people along the way. And by carrying all necessary equipment and supplies you feel independent. Of course, many times it was also difficult. Usually, after half an hour, the wind turns against you and your bum starts aching while a car tries to push you off the road. And it is quite a solitary business, cycling by yourself. Symptoms include talking to yourself out loud or (in worse cases) to a beloved one..

Looking back, I was positively surprised by the openness and hospitality of the Americans, while in Peru and Bolivia I was more on myself again. The Carretera Austral proved to be mentally tough while the landscapes in Patagonia were incredible. Physically it was always tough, leaving you tired yet satisfied at the end of the day.

So with my dream accomplished, what will I do when I get home? Basically what most people are doing: going back to work, pick up ordinary life again. But \'ordinary\' life can be quite pleasant. And at home I have Margit waiting for me. She has supported me during the last 7 months and endured her own moments of difficulty and loneliness. I know not everybody would have done so. So respect and thank you for all your support my love! Beso grande y hasta muy pronto:-)

Y gracias a todos aquellos que por suerte se cruzaron en mi camino, ofreciendome comida, alojamiento o una charla! Thanks to everybody I have met along the way, offering me information, food and sometimes even a place to stay!

In a way this journey has been like life itself. You set yourself a goal for something you really want to do. Then inevitably, te encuentras piedras en el camino. But even when the going gets tough, you know it is worth it. I loved it!

Final statistics

Total distance on the bike: 9000 km

Of which dirt road/ripio: 1300 km

Distance covered with bus and train in South America: 2000 - 2500 km

Longest day on the bike: 10h40min

Longest distance: 172 km

Punchers: 1

Spokes broken: 4

Rims broken: 1