The Carretera Austral in Chile is a story of beauty: after every bend (and there were lots) spectaculair landscapes are found with mountains, lakes, waterfalls and glaciers. Only few people live here and it can rain for days or even weeks without pause while hard winds are the rule rather than the exception. Due to its remoteness, harsh climate and the fact that most of the Carretera is unpaved, Chilean Patagonia has for a large part kept its traditional way of life. Gauchos are found in many parts, wearing their traditional clothing and drinking mate is a habit that is shared with their Argentinean neighbours. The Carretera Austral is 1247 km long (of which I skipped the first 200 km: I took a ferry and started in Chaiten), starting in Puerto Montt and finishing in Villa O\'Higgins (named after a famous Chilean independence leader).

When cycling, it is not only a story of beauty, but also of endurance, loneliness, lots of dust and sweat and (since they are attracted by it) keeping off tabanos (horse flies) and other flying creatures that go by the very cool name of culiwachos. In fact they are not cool at all since they buzz around you making lots of noise and eventually landing somewhere on your body to inflict a bite. Most annoyingly, they always seem to prefer the head as their focus of attention. As the tabanos, they are very persistent and oblivious to the biker\'s effort and suffering on the road. I did not know why I had two caps with me until then: while one was on my head protecting me against the sun, the other one was hanging from my bike\'s steering wheel so I could grab it at any moment to slap those evil creatures. You had to hit them really hard, otherwise they were just disoriented for some seconds before attacking you again. Being a self-conscious person for most of the time, I completely lost my self-awareness while under attack. To some cars driving past I must have looked like a madman, hitting myself with my cap on the head really hard (luckily I wore a helmet), fully concentrated on my job to obliterate as many of them as possible. A thought struck me how buddhists were possible to endure this and stick to the rule not to kill any living creatures. I figured this surely must be an exception..

One gets used to beauty (or do I mix it up with luxury?) but not easily to pain and feelings of loneliness. It had not happened to me before yet I felt homesick. The desolation provided the setting for some personal revelations, but only after feeling depressed for several days. Why was I not going home?! But I knew I wanted to finish this journey, and apparently it can not always be fun. In this way my journey has not only been a physical challenge but also a mental one.

Then, at Villa O\'Higgins the road stops. Any motorized transport cannot go beyond this point and has to return the same way and find a border crossing to Argentina to continue their journey southward on the famous Ruta 40. All, but hikers and cyclists. They have the option to take a ferry to the other side of Lago O\'Higgins and start a 22 km long traverse crossing the Chilean-Argentinean border. It is rather a path mostly suited for hikers: half of the time you have to push your bike and guide it through water streams and uneven stretches of tierra. A cool way however to cross the border! And only 37 km away from the village of el Chalten, hiker\'s heaven due to the presence of stunning Mount Fitz Roy. From el Chalten the landscape changes abruptly from green vegetation, mountains and an abundance of water to the arid, yellow pampas and the wind as your only true companion. You\'ve got to love Patagonia!

Short story this time, the pictures will speak for themselves (hopefully:-)). And with renewed high spirits I will be plunging into the last part of my journey through the Argentinean pampas, Chilean\'s Torres del Paine and finally Tierra del Fuego with the finish in Ushuaia.

Cheerio!

PS Cycling distance so far: 7600 km.