SOUTH AMERICA'S TRIPLE BEAUTY: PERU, CHILE AND ARGENTINA

It hasn’t been that long since I returned from a 10 weeks cycling trip to South America. In fact not even a month yet and I’m back in New York. I still haven’t opened the big cardboard box for my bicycle. I’m using my other city bicycles in the city. If I open this cardboard box to put my world touring mountain bicycle together again, I would be hurt. In fact I know It would really make me sad unpacking that box which is carrying some of my panniers half full, some of my bicycle tools and the muddy tires which  still has dirt from Patagonia. It still (my panniers) has some of the piece of papers which was written by such a nice people whom I became friends of Peru, Chile, and Argentina, carrying addresses, phone numbers and e-mails.

  Somewhere in Peru. Sechura Desert Begins. You can tell I turned very dark in Peru. Strong Sun!

Watch me speed with my bicycle on the mountains of Peru, reaching 70 km an hour at times.

           On the way to Palpa, Peru. November 14th 2014

               Early in the evening hours, to Tacna, Peru - Chile border.

   Unpacking this cardboard box indeed would bring me down. This bicycle has full of memories. No, I’m not as emotional as you think I am. It’s just a continent that I fell in love with. I’m scared to look at the map again. I’m afraid I would see the places I cycled in South America which still gives me the goose bumps. This bicycle carries some of the dents and scratches of the gravel roads in Patagonia which there were times I was cycling at 3:00 in the morning and falling down on to the ground at dark scraping my face, my legs and my arms. But still, road conditions as hard as it can be for bicyclists, I loved it and the harder it got the more I wanted to ride. Physical beauty of these three countries in South America, especially Patagonia in Chile, and its breath taking landscape was too much to handle that I didn’t mind the hard conditions of the roads to bicycle or the pain I was going through from this stiff hills and amazing bike climbs to the mountains from gravel roads.

 Peru, Sechura Desert, Pacific Ocean and my touring bicycle.

Peru: Pan American Sur Highway. Sechura and Pacific ocean.

No, it wasn’t easy to cycle in South America and I can guarantee anyone that it’s not a cake walk. Unless you’ve used some of the easier roads, ignoring gravel paths or roads and you choose to cycle on pavement or asphalt. Some people do ride and loves it on pavement. South America possesses such a secret and a hidden beauty with its intense landscape that I was ready to be injured or get hurt on some of these impossible roads. Entire my life, there were times I took risks and really didn’t care about the outcome. That was due to an amazing desire I had for certain things. Taking risks and exploring some of the dangerous zones was so appealing to me. And I believe what they say “least traveled road is the best traveled road” and I believe to this. It has always been most intriguing for me to see least touched roads and places.

Experience does not come easy.  It really takes time to learn and along the way there are things you sacrifice to achieve your dreams. Sacrificing is not easy for some as you completely give yourself to the cause. And for some, sacrificing may not be hard for a cause, for a place or for someone, but it would be very hard to find a special place or even a person who deserves your sacrifice. South America’s especially Chile’s Patagonia’s landscape certainly deserved my sacrifice. Over the decades as I traveled around the world, from an experience, It was very easy to tell, if I really should give myself completely to any region. And if it was worth to explore this region, or even spend longer time, then I would definitely do that sacrifice.

Atacama Desert region. Heading towards to Santiago. But first Antofagasta.

Atacama Desert from my headcam video. Looking for food and water.

     South America’s landscape has everything. It has high mountains, it has deserts, it has rivers, lakes, forests and just about everything you think of is possessed by this continent. In beautiful Peru, I cycled through cities, towns, villages, hot flaming Sechura Desert, amazing coastline of Pacific Ocean and the one of the stiffest hills to the mountains. I really thought that was one of the hardest places I’ve ever rode my bicycle. But entering into Chile, right into the arms of scorching Atacama Desert even made things harder. Atacama Desert and its canyons, mountains, hills on this desert which took me 14 days to complete back into the civilization. I continued on a beautiful coastline of Pacific Ocean to get to the Santiago, Chile. My skin on my arms, my face and my legs peeled twice from the heat. But before getting down to south to Patagonia, climate in South of Lima, Peru all the way down to Chilean border Tacna and Arica and then to La Serena, Chile, days were very hot, but nights were cold and windy. Of course this was during the months of November and December. Of course since we were talking about landscape, getting down to south of Chile after Santiago to Puerto Monnt changes very quickly. All of a sudden you begin to see trees, farms and landscape getting much greener. In Puerto Montt, entering into one of the most adventurous road around the world: Carretera Austral Route-7 (Ruta-7). Of course at the beginning of this route, since there are no access to road, you’ll have to take a ferry boat for three times for a few hours. But right after this ferry boat ride ends, the real adventure begins. Gravel road all the way down to south. Once you arrive Chaiten where Patagonia begins, you look around and laugh a bit “how many different landscape formation this continent possesses?”

Santiago, Chile, Plaza De Armas. Crowded place and this is spot where Santiago began.

Once I arrived to Chaiten, from what I saw so far, I knew I will be sacrificing a lot in Patagonia. I felt the happiness, joy and the excitement. I knew Chilean Patagonia had everything I was looking forward to. I knew Chilean Patagonia was worth taking risk without even thinking twice.

Next 15 blogs or so I will be covering my bicycle tour to South America happily with details. It’s important for me to note that I mostly spend time in Peru and Chile more than Argentina; however, I’m destined to return to Argentina next year after the tour of Asia. I’ll also post and share many photos and videos to make readers feel as if they were there to understand my feelings. I do not believe I can open the cardboard box which is carrying my world touring bicycle until my next tour. I’m really not ready to open this box to see those memories from this trip. Not yet!