[Click on the pictures to make them bigger/better quality]Day 1
Marieke (friend from the Netherlands) and I arrived at the gym bright and early (7:15) to get on the two buses going to Tierra del Fuego. We were scheduled to depart at 8:00 AM but left early at 8:50 AM (I'm sure I have already talked about the sense of time in Argentina). The bus ride was interesting. We had to enter Chile to get there which is a four step process. 1) Exit Argentina (2) Enter Chile (3) Exit Chile (4) Enter Argentina (5) repeat steps 1-4 on the way back. I have 8 new passport stamps. We also crossed the Magellan Straight in a ferry, very tipsy.
After many hours of drinking mate we arrived in Rio Grande, which is actually a pretty nice little city (think Rio Gallegos minus the littering/plus hills). We had dinner at the rowing club building where I met some of the other cyclists from Gallegos. The bus ride back was hilarious. Have I mentioned how loud Argentines are? The driver put on techno music and the 50+ men started dancing in the bus.
We stayed at some overnight camp and I was put in a room with a father and son from Ushuaia. The father runs a fly fishing tour company and started english classes last week so that he could speak with his American clients. He wanted to practice his--and this is what I have dubbed it because some people just say this in one sentence to me--"hellohowareyouIamgoodhowareyoufinethankyou." TIP: Don't pick a dorm next to the bathroom, you won't be able to sleep.
Day 2
We went to where we were supposed to start the bike ride from in downtown Rio Grande but the bikes hadn't arrived so we just watched everyone else start. Things like this are BIG news in the various provinces of Argentina. There were a number of cameramen there as well as journalists.
We then got on the bus to drive the route that we were supposed to be riding. It was actually this really cool dirt road that runs through the countryside. Besides the two buses, the support vehicles, and the bikers we were the only people for many kilometers. It was really nice to just watch the scenery from the bus while conversing with the other people from Gallegos while sipping mate and eating pastries.
About 4 kilometers to the end we all got of the bus and walked. We arrived at a hostel/motel (the only thing out there) at Lake Yehuen which was beautiful. The only thing was the hostel/motel had been completely destroyed. All the windows were smashed in, graffiti on the walls. Some people slept inside what remained of the hostel while others (including me) slept in tents.
I met two really cool exchange students from Belgium (Kevin) and Denmark (Mathias) who are living in Rio Grande.
Day 3
When I woke up it was freezing cold. We ate food that was cooked by the Argentine Army in this thing.
I actually developed a new slogan for the Argentine Armed Forces considering the amount of hot water they give out: "Protecting Our Borders, Filling Our Thermos"
We finally all got on our bikes and headed for Tulhuin. We crossed 3 rivers on our bikes which was a little exhilarating but very fun. The last 4 Km or so were on pavement. As we were finishing up it started pouring down rain. Sometimes little things remind me of Oregon. This was definitely one of them.
In Tulhuin we went to this famous bakery and had really good pastries with dulce de leche. That night we ate paella and went to bed early. We slept in the community center. 75 people in the same room sharing 2 bathrooms. There was a lot of snoring.
Day 4
What's the difference between 75 Americans waking up in one room versus 75 Argentines in the same situation? A whole lot of noise. I was talking to Kevin about how so typical it is of Argentines to wake up and start shouting and how in America we would just be talking in hushed voices and asking "did you sleep well?" He also added that there would be someone walking around with a pot of coffee. How very true.
We hit the [paved] road for the ride to Ushuaia. I rode at 5-6 Km/hour in really strong winds. I was so discouraged by the time I arrived at the lunch spot. The views were amazing though and the route followed Lake Fagnano which is a beautiful blue/green color.
I finally arrived at the lunch spot, exhausted and frustrated. We ate sausage and drank soda. One big difference between supported cycling in the United States and in Argentina; the food. In the U.S. we would have all kinds of high carb snacks and water to rehydrate. In Argentina there is soda, wine, bananas, and sausage. I few of the riders strapped bottles of whiskey on their bike racks.
After lunch we put our bikes in a truck and rode on the bus through Garibaldi pass (also amazing views). We rode the rest of the way to Ushuaia by bike, arriving in the late afternoon. We were then shuttled to a overnight camp. We ate a delicious dinner that was kind of like a clam bake. Apparently it is a traditional indigenous meal of Chile: muscles, cabbage, sausage all baked underground). At 1 AM we decided to catch a ride with the Argentines to the Irish Pub in downtown Ushuaia. You have to be really careful here because drunk driving is highly prevalent (automobile accidents are the number one cause of death in Argentina) and no one thinks anything of it. Luckily we found a car with a completely sober driver. We hung out in the bar for a couple hours and finally took the taxi back to the camp at 3:30 AM.
Ok I will tell you about days 5 and 6 in the next post...
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