a self-supported bicycle tour through South America

Well anyway, first off, our apologies for the very belated blog. Yes, we’ve finished the cycling, all 5574km of it on the 2nd January! We’re now in Buenos Aires the capital of Argentina catching up with the journal having rested here (deservedly so) for almost two weeks now ,and my how time flies!

Our last entry saw us make Rio Gallegos having cycled  320km in two days from El Calafate in time for Christmas eve and a descent couple of nights sleep. Although the stop was short and sweet we were back on the road and heading south again towards the border with Chile. It’s a strange feeling we have when we think about Chile,  it’s just so archaic compared to Argentina, and we get really frustrated with how backward everything seems to be. So with a little cloud over us we made our way all on paved roads to a little café where we camped near Punta Delgada not far from the ferry to Tierra del Fuego.

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After our extra rest day with Tomoko and Fred we knew that we wouldn’t make Villa O’Higgins in time for the Saturday ferry that would take us through to Argentina, but didn’t really mind as we were looking forward to a few days of sleep-ins, Internet and good eating. Ha! What dream world WERE we living in?

Villa O’Higgins is certainly at the end of the line. We knew this, but didn’t really appreciate just how remote and isolated it really was. The Carretera Austral ends here, and the only way out is to return in the same direction (this was never an option) or cross a lake, then walk for 22km to Argentina to cross another lake before reaching the road and 37km that takes you into El Chalten (located at the base of Mount Fitzroy) in the Los Glaciares National Park.

Sounds incredibly adventurous don’t you think? Adventurous is putting it mildly. We think (and seriously so) that we have been on one of those stupid survival reality shows where the participants don’t know that they are being filmed and scrutinized by psychologists as they endure a series of tests that calculate levels of patience, mental and physical strength, and for the length of their short fuse! You guys have probably been watching it for the last 5 months and no doubt it is on par for the final Friends episode in ratings? We are probably page three reality television stars and don’t even know it! Perhaps now the coffers of the SIJEN Adventure Fund will start to fill up.

As we have mentioned before, southern Chile is ridiculously expensive, and banks are (as the Mountain Goat would put it) “rare as rocking horse shit”. If you are lucky enough to find an ATM, it usually only takes Mastercard, and not Visa. Guess what card we are traveling with? Yep, Visa. Test number one. In Cochrane, the last major town on the Carretera, the ATM only accepted Mastercard, so we pushed on hopeful that our cash would see the distance. We managed, just.

After two nights in a cabana, funds were depleting so we opted for the cheaper option of a hostel. Test number two. Most hostels these days offer rooms for couples, but the options in Villa O’Higgins are very limiting. We found a nice looking place that was warm, small but comfortable and with a toasted sandwich make. What more could we ask for really? We were set. We were showed a room with 4 bunk beds thinking that we would have the room to ourselves but to our dismay at 2200hrs, with us already tucked into our sleeping bags, two more people were showed in, and that was where the fun began! Read the rest of this entry »

So we’re nearly ending our amazing journey down the Carretera Austral a 1000km road that leads to nowhere but a place called Villa O’Higgins. Villa O’Higgins was only recently connected to Chile back in 2000 when engineers completed the final 100km section from Puerto Yungay. I can only describe this place as the arse end of nowhere, which is far more accurate than the travel guides we have; there is absolutely nothing here apart from a weird sleepy town comprising of government built social housing, random shanty town style dwellings, the odd store with limited groceries and a mish mash of inbred dogs and chickens.

The journey to O’Higgins started when we left Coyhaique the only major town on the Carretera. We had stocked up with supplies and left with little trepidation of what the road may bring, being so very remote. Luckily we had one of the few paved sections to cycle on for about 100km which was very welcome to the incessant pounding of the infamous Carretera we have been subjected to over the past few weeks. The views were again tremendous, although the going was tough as we had some big height gains over the first few days. On the first day out we found ourselves winding up a valley climbing all the time and it wasn’t before long that all our steam ran out! Perfectly positioned was a national park camping site in “ Reserva National Cerro Castillo”. It turned out to be the best campsite of the trip so far and a welcome surprise with a wood fired hot water shower for DIY enthusiasts!

The following day saw us make the decision following lots of unclear advice, to go south via Puerto Ibanez and the ferry crossing to Chile Chico rather than the Carretera option round Lago General Carrera. It would hopefully mean 40km less distance but more importantly hopefully better roads; this was not to be! The road outside of Chile Chico turned out to be hell, up-hill, into wind and rough. By the time it had abated we had found a perfect spot on the side of the road that was sheltered and somewhat warmer than everywhere else. We were by this stage completely knackered and ready to drop and pretty down hearted about the decision, feeling that those who had advised us had never in their lives ever cycled a bike on these roads. Read the rest of this entry »

Since leaving Trevelin the roads have turned Bolivian and the weather decidedly Chilean (readers, that means wet, wet and wetter).  There has been blood, sweat and tears; blood from the wrist (no I haven’t slashed them yet) caused by a fall on gravel roads, twice; sweat - think Gortex and boil in the bag rice; tears caused partly by the blood and partly by the Hound Dog [formerly known as the Mountain Goat and affectionately known as Simonsky, his Polish name, but no affection deserved in the Hound Dog instance] due to him riding on my tail and hounding me to cycle faster up the hill in the rain on gravel.  Needless to say "words" were exchanged, lunch was thrown, and "discussions" were had.  Oh the joy of the journey!

So, you now find us in Chile.  Crossing the border was interesting to say the least.  The Argentine border guards, filling in time and attempting to curtail their boredom (pun intended) took great interest in Simonsky’s black bag full of kit.  I think they suspected we were more than just your average cycle tourist and have put our names on some red alert list - I mean who in their right mind carries a sat phone, laptop, GPS and hypodermic needles and isn’t on an undercover mission?  We had three guards pull bits and pieces out of the bags, inspect them, ask what they were used for and leave on the table for us to pack back into the bags.  We have no idea what they were looking for, but they didn’t find it, and thankfully we didn’t have to empty all the bags.  I am so over packing!

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