Blog
Exploring the Andes by Bike – the Movie
I've now produced a film of my trip, including photos, video and drone footage. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/Hq7fZKuByDg For a slightly longer version with a few more drone shots: https://youtu.be/Kuk_spQsfZM
Puerto Natales to Ushuaia
It’s 675km from Puerto Natales to Ushuaia or, in old money, around 1.5 million cubits. This is a fair old chariot ride but, with fresh horses, doable in five or six days. Unfortunately, my horses are set for the knacker’s yard, and braying in protest as I load up the bike and head back to the main...
Torres del Paine
“Dr Livingstone, do I presume?” I quip, as two tired travelers with backpacks stroll down the hill towards me. It's been a 28-hour journey from London, via the jungles of Toronto and Santiago, but Cathy and Adam have overcome strikes, tight connection-times and airline food to get here in one piece,...
El Calafate to Puerto Natales
It’s quite possible there are days, in Patagonia, when the wind doesn't blow. It’s also possible the wind might decide one morning, just for a change, to blow from the north, east or south, rather than the west. But based on the last six weeks, glaciers could be rolling through Hades before this...
O’Higgins to El Calafate
The Carretera Austral officially ends at Puerto Bahamondes on Lago O’Higgins, a further 7km down the road. From there, it’s a one-to-two-day journey across lakes, gravel roads and a forest track to El Chalten in Argentina. We aim to do this in a day because we like a challenge and, over the last few...
Carretera Austral. Part 2: Coyhaique to Villa O’Higgins
…Plan A is to complete the Carretera Austral in 20-25 days. This will ensure I'm in Puerto Natales in good time for Cathy and Adam’s arrival on 17 December, while preserving my ageing legs with a modest 50-60kms of cycling a day. Plan B is to ignore Plan A altogether, as the roads from Puerto Montt...
Carretera Austral. Part 1: Puerto Montt to Coyhaique
It’s a 13-hour bus journey from Santiago to Puerto Montt, although the fare for the overnight journey is little more than the cost of a night’s accommodation at the Ibis in Santiago. The Chilean sitting in the next seat has his beady eye on me, as he wants to practise his English. An admirable goal...
Fiambala to Puerto Montt
If I push my stomach out, and arch my back a bit, I can just about make my feet disappear, which is gratifying. Such is the progress I have made over the past 10 days on Project “Fatten Up” ahead of the next phase of the trip, which starts from Puerto Montt on Friday. Ice-cream and empanadas, beer...
Belen to Monte Pissis
I've officially recovered from my previous efforts, thanks to a soothing balm of ice-cream and Stella Artois; it's time to get back on the road. The broken wire on my odometer has been fixed by a wizard at the motorbike shop, with a pair of pliers, electrical tape and a lighter. ‘No charge senor’ he...
Tolar Grande to Belen
Now I'm back in Tolar Grande and I fancy some creature comforts, such as ice-cream, beer and a hot shower (although not all at the same time). From glimpses of my waistline, I can see that the gentle folds of flesh are gone, and my ribcage is starting to look like a xylophone. Less to carry up those...
Salta to Llullaillaco
The bus from Salta to San Antonio de los Cobres is as beaten up and dusty as you'd expect a bus travelling along beaten-up and dusty roads to be. My bike's safely stowed underneath. The driver seems very obliging when I'm loading my gear, particularly after I pay him the "fee" he asks for when I tell...
San Pedro to Salta
The definition of an “itinerary” is “a planned route or journey that's hopelessly optimistic and will need changing almost immediately”. It's therefore most surprising that we've arrived in San Pedro de Atacama on time, five weeks after leaving La Paz. Less surprising is the fact that the wheels fall...
Laguna Colorada to San Pedro
At some point the previous day, we entered the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina de Eduardo Avaroa, named after one of the Bolivian “heroes” of the War of the Pacific in the 19th century (which Bolivia lost, along with its pacific coast). This national park includes lagunas full of borax, arsenic and...
San Juan to Arbol de Piedra
Although I'm tempted to fast-forward to Laguna Colorada (gorgeous, incredible, fantastic), the story would be incomplete without the bit after we leave the Salar de Uyuni (windy, exhausting, nightmare). For us, this part is a five-day journey bridging the gap between places people would pay to see,...
Salar de Uyuni
The Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat, covering 10,500 sq km of south-western Bolivia with salt to a depth of 120m in places. It contains 7% of the world’s lithium reserves (Elon Musk, listen up!) and is one of those must-see places on the must-see places list you read about in...
Sajama to Tahua
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend two 6,000m peaks in two days, but the forecast is set fair, and I'm carrying a lot of climbing gear, so why not? Acotango (around 40km to the south) beckons: not too difficult, and quite an attractive looking volcano of reds and yellows with a cheeky little...
La Paz to Sajama
Goodbye Hotel Rosario, our home for the past four days, and hello dust, sand and freezing nights. The hotel's been pretty empty (Covid, Bolivian unrest…?) and I'd like to think the staff are shedding tears of sorrow at our departure rather than laughter. But it's probably the latter, as we fill the...
They’re off!
It’s been a long time in the coming, but the starter’s-flag has dropped and the proverbial tortoise is making a dash for the gap in the fence at the bottom of the garden. Beyond the fence lies danger, and the shell on his back is heavy, but our intrepid hero is sure there’s an abundant supply of juicy...
The countdown begins…
...and a long one too, as we are about to head off to Scandinavia for 6 weeks - packing an unfeasible amount of food into the campervan to reduce pain in the wallet region when shopping in Norwegian supermarkets. This pre-holiday holiday gave me the incentive to do a pre-pack for South America, the...