Gone with the wind …

Chile and Argentina share one of the longest borders in the world. The course of these measuring about 6700 km had to be agreed upon. It caused many conflicts in the past, even some wars. And then there was the Falkland War. The relatively recent history still casts a shadow over the current relationship between the neighboring states. War memorials are present in both countries and some border areas are still mined. One encounters locals who have never set foot in the neighbouring country - and would never do so for ideological reasons. On the other hand, there are many who have not only put these differences to one side politically, but have also set them aside in their minds as historical. Moreover, the geography in combination with the course of the border means that a journey in the south of the two countries is hardly possible without a change from one state to another. And so we also joined the general country hopping. We changed from the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego to the Chilean part to take the ferry between Porvenir and Punta Arenas and land at the Chilean mainland. After visiting the famous National Park Torre del Paine we wanted to ride back to Argentina, to cross the border again after exploring the Argentine glaciers and to visit the Carretera Austral in Chile. But before we devoted ourselves to the beauties of nature, we made a stop of several days in Punta Arenas to explore the former metropolis of the sheep farmer dynasties. The city at the southern end of the South American mainland surprises the visitors on the one hand because of its unexpected size and on the other hand because of its pleasant appearance. It is quiet, clean and in the centre conveys the charm of a small Paris of the Belle Époque. We stayed in the highly recommendable Hostal Indepedencia - many thanks to Eduardo for the homely atmosphere, the good breakfast, the many nice conversations and helpful tips - and explored the city as well as the history of sheep breeding. In the worth seeing museum Centro Cultural Braun-Menendez we got an impression of the lifestyle of the sheep barons and their employees as well as the strategies to maintain their social status. In terms of marriage policy, they were in no way inferior to the European aristocracy. At the cemetery Cementerio Sara Braun we visited impressive burial sites that testified to the wealth of the time, as well as in the Museum del Recuerdo interesting equipment from the time of the pioneers.

On the continuation of the journey, instead of a cultural programme, the programme again focused on the confrontation with the forces of nature, in particular the wind. Already in the last days on Tierra del Fuego we had got to know a new dimension of wind. On the way from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales the wind showed that it can do it just as well on the mainland. You don’t know what a strong wind is until you’ve cycled through Patagonia:

• kicked our bike with all our might at 5-7 km/h for hours against the wind
• were happy about daily distances of 50 km
• occasionally yelled at each other in order to communicate at least minimally
• pushed the bike against the wind, because it was impossible to pedal, mostly because you couldn’t keep the bike in balance.

A bicycle trip through Patagonia needs to be prepared. Simply riding fails not only because the landscape is rather grey-brownish, but above all because of the large distances and the difficult water supply. So it is 100 km from Punta Arenas to the nearest mini-village Tehuelche. In between there is a petrol station - if it is not closed because of reconstruction. Then there is nothing in between except a few flamingos at a swampy lake. On the further 150 kilometres to Puerto Natales there is a police station, an excursion restaurant and a luxury hotel. A very practical, Chilean invention are the bus stations and little houses that are located at the junctions of the cul-de-sacs. These often lead to farms many kilometers away (record over 300 kilometers). These are small houses where you can take a break sheltered from the wind. Sometimes, as in Tehuelche, they are so big that four cyclists can spend the night comfortably with their belongings. If there is no bus shelter, then the rickety woodshed of the police station has to serve as a campground.

Puerto Natales is known as the starting point of tours to the national park Torres del Paine. It is a small town with all kinds of accommodation and supply. We also prepared ourselves there for our round trip of several days. In Punta Arenas, a Slovenian hostel companion had explained to us how one could possibly get the necessary reservations for the camping sites approximately two weeks in advance in order to be able to do the circular walk. In fact, we had the necessary bit of luck and found reservations around the Christmas holidays. Thus, we started on December 19th to spend Christmas in a completely different way - without much consumption, Christmas music and Christmas tree glitter, but with a lot of nature and silence. The way into the national park had to be biked. The first 30 kilometres had already been concreted, but a bit before the cave of Mildon (contemporary of the dinosaurs) a long section of the construction site gravel roads began. The road was straightened, partly concreted, partly asphalted. The pavement is still bumpy and rough on many sections. In addition, there were several crisp ascents. We noticed in addition to our already well packed bags the weight of ten daily rations for two persons and a bottle of Christmas wine. Such a long-term food planning was a new experience for us. The warning of exorbitant prices in Torres del Paine Park from other travellers had motivated us to take everything we needed with us from Puerto Natales. On our way to Puerto Natales we took revenge on our thriftiness. Motivating was the behavior of the drivers. When we stopped the oncoming traffic in a construction site area because we could only slowly crawl up the hill, we were not received with impatient horns or frustrated looks, but with encouraging shouts, thumbs-ups and flashing mobile phone cameras. We were even more happy when the next day we were already cycling through the national park to the starting point of the circular hiking trail (Central) and struggled on a gravel, steep gradient when a car stopped, the French driver got out and helped us to push Düsi up the gradient. He also transported our heavy yellow pannier Dicke Berta to the next café. From there a bus driver took it along so that we cycled a few kilos easier to Central. There we noticed that we had been faster than the Dicke Berta. Concerned, we inquired at the Welcome Center, but no yellow pannier had been spotted. The park ranger helped us finally to locate the bag. Based on the car description she knew to which tourist accommodation the vehicle belonged and was able to contact the driver by radio. After he had delivered his passengers, he brought us the cargo we were looking for. Meanwhile it had become late. We had to repack in no time, so that the Dicke Berta turned from a pannier into a hiking backpack. Düsi and the remaining panniers were stowed away in the Welcome-Center camp for a reasonable overnight fee. Then Matthias shouldered a 35 kilogram Dicke Berta, Nina a medium sized pack bag converted using a backpack adapter. At eight o’clock in the evening we made our way to our first camping site. The ranger had no objections to our night hiking l. She warned us that we would have to wade through brooks a few times, but we could go. Soon we realized that hiking requires different muscles than cycling. Panting under the unusual backpacks, we trudged slower than we thought. Around eleven o’clock it became dark, we mounted our headlamps. We had mastered the ascent and descent over a ridge and had only flat terrain in front of us. But the night hike still had some pitfalls ahead of us. Thus the crossing of two brooks of 3 to 5 meters width was difficult at night. Matthias decided for wet shoes, Katharina for barefoot wading. We had to anticipate the continuation on the other side, in order to take a meaningful way through the water. Once we had reached a swampy area and had to reorient ourselves. On a muddy place sat a mouse and looked at us curiously. We would probably have sunk there. We followed well reflecting signs and arrived to good last at one o’clock at night at the camping site. Nobody was up anymore, so we simply looked for a place for our tent. The place had already been paid in advance with the reservation. After the long, exhausting day we cooked ourselves dinner in order not to go to sleep starved. In the following six days we hiked the “O” of the Torres del Paine. Here we experienced two sides. The first three days on the back side, where only those are allowed to pass by park rangers who can show reservations in front of and behind the John Gardener pass, and the second three days on the front side, where many tourists walk the so-called “W”. We felt the front was overcrowded, although the Valle Britanico was still very beautiful. The back side was quiet and more like our hiking experience. We soon knew the two hiking groups as well as some loners who were on their way with us at the same time. As the two crazy cyclists with the thick yellow backpack we were warmly welcomed every evening. The hiking group leaders provided us with information, Pisco (Chilean Peruvian schnapps) and drinking salts. In addition, they plastered Nina’s toes, which did not quite withstand the strains of a hike of several days with many brook crossings. The further away we got from the hustle and bustle, the nicer the people were and the cheaper the prices, although everything has to be transported to the remote campsites on foot or on horseback.

This time we celebrated Christmas very special: with the crossing of the pass. During the night it had snowed until just above our campsite. The next morning we had some fresh snow and at short notice it even snowed - Christmas with snow in summer. Crossing the moraine and the pass we were lucky with the weather: It was relatively calm and sunny. After we had already been blown over two days before at the Paso del Viento (pass of the wind) and could watch a pair of water wind pants being driven up the slope from the lake to us, we appreciated that very much. The view from the John Gardener Pass to the enormous glacier field of the Grey Glacier is incredible, the subsequent descent steep with breathtaking views over the glacier field. In narrow curves and steep descends we approached more and more the ice tongue. Afterwards we went over three suspension bridges towards the glacier lake. After more than twelve hours of hiking we arrived tired but happy at the Grey accommodation, where we had a bed to celebrate the day. The expected 8-bed dorm turned out to be a 4-bed room. We shared this room with a lovely couple from Stuttgart. They spoiled us with Christmas cookies and new plasters. Thank you very much! Two days later another couple gave us the reservation for the free campsite Italiano. While hiking we also met old friends again: Camila from Brazil, Vicente from Spain and Frank from Germany - all cyclists we had already met in Tierra del Fuego. In the Welcome Centre Matthias was then greeted joyfully by one of the ladies with a cold beer during the Düsi pick-up. She had been one of our fellow hikers over the pass. The farewell from the beautiful Torres del Paine National Park was not easy for us with so many nice encounters, even if the prices in Central drove us not to add any more night. The last piece of Chile led us surprisingly on asphalt to Cerro Castillo. The hoped-for meal was unfortunately cancelled there, as the two restaurants of the village were closed. But we camped undisturbed behind one of them. We were sheltered from the wind and even had automatic light. The next morning the owners greeted us friendly and showed us where we could dispose our garbage before we crossed the border to Argentina.