Adios Argentina...Hola Chile!

It was cold, windy, exhausting...pretty much perfect! The ride over the hump from Mendoza was everything you would expect from a ride up and over the Andes – nothing short of spectacular. The 430-km mission took us from Mendoza, Argentina at 750 m elevation, up to the Cristo Redentor (“christ the redeemer”)Pass, and the Argentina-Chile border at 3200 m (a 4-km long tunnel actually), and then back down to sea level and the city of Valpariso, Chile.


Spread over 5 days and a fairly gradual ascent, the route itself isn’t that demanding. At this point, we are so used to going up that big climbs aren’t a huge deal. The biggest issue by far is weather, and specifically WIND! The first two days were blissfully non-windy, and in fact, included tail winds (for the first time since we can remember). Lulled into a premature sense of ease, we were thinking it was going to be a cake walk. But no, the headwinds of Argentina were not done with us yet. On day three, followed by day four and our final ascent to the pass, we were blasted by stinging-cold gail-force head winds. Come on, it just couldn’t be that easy! The good news is that our patience in waiting for good weather back in Mendoza paid off and we had blue-sky days with unlimited visibility. In spite of the winds, the scenery surrounding us was everything you would expect from the world’s second-highest mountain range and made for an incredible journey.


Once at the top, then through the border – a bit of a gong show, but within an hour we had all our stamps and were on our way again – it’s down down down right to sea level. Our target destination was Valpariso, a quintessentially Chilean port city – and yet another UNESCO world heritage site – along Chile’s ridiculously long Pacific coastline. The down was one of those “start with a down jacket, end with a tank-top” affairs. It was a fun roll down. The best part was immediately on the Chilean side where a series of about 30 huge switchbacks winds down the road (or up..depending on your direction obviously) about 1000 m vertical in 10 or so kms. It was like being on a ride at the carnival. Just hold on and roll! Amy looked like a little orange bullet.


Although it was 90% down, the final days were still long and exhausting. Yesterday, rolling into town and getting our first glimpse of the Pacific, we realized a few things. It’s the first time we have seen the ocean since leaving northern Peru back in early November. And, astonishing once realized, we had just crossed the entire width of Chile on bikes in a day and a half. We also broke our record for the most kms in a day and clocked in at 146 km for yesterday’s ride (previous record of 144 km set in Cuba). All in all, an incredible and memorable experience.


So adios Argentina. It was a good shift. Just a few days shy of 3 months, it was definitely feeling like home. Amy was still saying “I could live here!” right to the last minute. Indeed, the land of steak and malbec will go down as one of our favourite places on the planet. This, despite the worst summer of rain in a generation. How does that song go?...”don’t cry for me Argentina...”




Argentina trip stats:

kms on bikes: 1606 km

Number of riding days: 21

Avg. kms per day: 76

Number of flats: 4

Number of tire replacements: 1

Number of days cycling into insane headwinds: 21 +/-

Cheapest accom: $0 (wild camping)

Most expensive accom: $40

Avg. cost per night accom: $22 (cheapest so far)

Highlights: steak and 2 bottles of red wine daily

Highlights: Cordon del Plata mountains

Highlights: cheap everything

Highlights...it’s a long list...


Amy’s top pros/cons on Argentina:

         +                                                                  —

food and drink                                                inconvenient siesta

QT with parents in Mendoza/Potrerillos           headwinds

friendly Argentines                                         rains of Mendoza


Rob’s top pros/cons on Argentina:

         +                                                   —

steak                               HEADWINDS!

wine                               ridiculous daily schedule (siesta, etc)

bidets                              no street food


OK, onwards, Chile! Not much to report at this point. Just got into town yesterday. One thing has however been confirmed: Chile is WAY more expensive than Argentina! We are actually going to have to look at the price of things before buying them (not the case in Argentina, you just know it’s going to be cheap). Oh, actually, one rather large item. Valpo (as we gringos refer to Valpariso) is burning. Literally. Surrounding brush fires have encroached the city and have burned up about 1000 homes and killed a dozen people. The city has declared a state of emergency and smoke, ash, and sirens are the common theme at the moment. Kind of a surreal feeling for us since we are jubilant and celebrating our successful arrival, but obviously aware of the currently terrible situation the local residents are in. As always, more on that and the sights and sounds of Valpo soon. Chau.