Patagonia

At World’s End: Ushuaia

I celebrated the completion of my tour with steak – what else – and then had some beers in the local Irish pub, since that’s where tourists everywhere are supposed to go for a drink or two. Or more. Thursday 4 January Thursday morning I took a bus tour of the city. The tour might… Continue reading At World’s End: Ushuaia

Running out of Road: Río Grande – Ushuaia

A short stop with a view of the city center.

New Year’s Eve was a massive anticlimax. Río Grande isn’t a very touristy city, so there aren’t many places to go out to begin with. When William and I went out to find a restaurant that evening, everything turned out to be closed. Back to our rooms we went to have some bread for dinner.… Continue reading Running out of Road: Río Grande – Ushuaia

Tierra del Viento: Punta Arenas – Río Grande

I'm glad my bike and flag are pointing the same way as the tree.

Thursday 28 December The ferry leaves at 9:00 and I planned to leave the hostel well before 8:00 to make sure I would certainly be on time. By about 7:00 I had all my bags packed and went downstairs. The manager was preparing breakfast and said it would be available at 7:30. He also said… Continue reading Tierra del Viento: Punta Arenas – Río Grande

A Crazy Christmas: Puerto Natales – Punta Arenas

All trees here appear to have some kind of disease, causing them to grow more to the east.

Monday 25 December On Christmas day I got started a bit later than usual, but so did my host. At breakfast I got a large piece of cake in addition to the usual bread. As I walked out the sun was shining and I got quite warm, so I was thinking about removing a… Continue reading A Crazy Christmas: Puerto Natales – Punta Arenas

An Aeolian Adventure: El Calafate – Puerto Natales

Some boats had seen better times.

William spent Tuesday evening and most of Wednesday in bed being ill. Thursday, the first day of summer, was our planned departure date and that morning he said he felt fit enough to ride. We left just before 10:00 the same way we had entered Calafate, heading east. We were somewhat disappointed about the absence of a strong wind this morning, which should normally help us along for the first part. There was still a little bit of a northwesterly wind, which is good.

William was having trouble riding and after 16 kilometers decided to stop for today. He would try to hitch a ride, though he didn’t know yet where to. Thus I continued alone. The first 45 km are more or less flat and I was easily averaging 20+ km/h. Then started the largest climb still left and also one of the higher ones on the whole trip. It was however a very pleasant grade and the wind was also getting a bit stronger now, pushing me uphill. On the hill I saw two bikes parked by the side of the road and two people eating down below. Since I was doing so well on the climb I decided not to stop to talk to them.

Learn to Fly: El Chaltén – El Calafate

Glaciar Perito Moreno from above.

Thursday 14 December Thursday we had bad weather all day, so we spent most of it in the Casa del Ciclista. I had some things that needed repairs or replacement, so I looked around town for these. I succeeded with my bags, but did not find anyone to repair my phone. El Chaltén is one… Continue reading Learn to Fly: El Chaltén – El Calafate

The Real Line: Villa O’Higgins – El Chaltén

My bike doesn't float on this stuff either.

The Carretera Austral is sometimes called the road at the end of the road, because it starts more or less at the end of the Pan-American Highway (depending how exactly you define that one) and continues south from there. But now we’ve reached its end too and there’s no more road to continue on. So… Continue reading The Real Line: Villa O’Higgins – El Chaltén

Patagonia Is Hard: S.C. de Bariloche – Futaleufú

Interesting meadow full of cattle on the way to the park.

Seriously, how am I ever going to write a blog post without dumping hundreds of photos on you, each showing a landscape that is even more stunning than the last? This place is like riding through a postcard or a chocolate box, as others have called it. I can confirm this: The box of chocolate… Continue reading Patagonia Is Hard: S.C. de Bariloche – Futaleufú

Waterfalls and Weather Fails: S.M. de los Andes – S.C. de Bariloche

The view to the north from Cerro Campanario.

The more you walk around San Martín, the more ridiculous it gets. Just when you think you’ve seen it all they come up with a new fake German-style building and a corresponding name that just doesn’t make sense. I saw bars called “Bierhaus” or “Das Gute bier”. Yes, that’s the capitalisation they use. There are… Continue reading Waterfalls and Weather Fails: S.M. de los Andes – S.C. de Bariloche

I’ve been through the desert… Zapala – S.M. de los Andes

Yet another new colour on the side of the road.

… on a horse made of steel. As far as horses go it’s a rather bad one: it won’t do anything unless I put all the energy in. Maybe the problem is having a steel horse called Gaucho. It might think that the roles are reversed. The advantage is of course that it doesn’t consume… Continue reading I’ve been through the desert… Zapala – S.M. de los Andes