World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Chile
18° | sunny | km 464
Back at Puerto Natales
on 2018-02-11 in Chile
[Basti] On the Chilean side of Tierra del Fuego nothing but endless Pampa was waiting for me. It got dark already and because the road was entirely fenced in I opened two gates to find a camping spot in a small dip to get at least a little bit cover from the wind. The next morning while I was already packing up the land owner showed up and complained about me being on his private property. When you look at the size of the properties with nothing but grass land for a few farm animals I had difficulties to understand his complaining but anyway I was gone in half an hour and only a little bit later I was already on the ferry back to the mainland.
Because of strong winds the short ferry ride was quite bumpy. A few times the spray of the waves were blown over the ferry and covered me and my bike in salt. This is why it was suddenly very important to wash my bike!
On the way I noticed that my chain was giving up. It was no surprise that I would need to replace the chain one more time but the speed of which getting worse was frightening right now. I retightened it in Ushuaia but now it was again very loose. After visiting some nice ship wrecks on the beach just beside the road I tightened the chain once more. Some friendly Chileans gave me spontaneously a sandwich while I was working. I got worried that I wouldn't be able to reach Puerto Natales with this chain and therefor rode on very carefully.
Rattling but happy I reached Puerto Natales and checked in again at the hostel Zaltaxar. This was now surprisingly full but luckily I still was able to get a bed. I started looking for somebody who would be able to assist me with the chain change. Thanks to iOverlander I probably found the only man in town who knew a thing or two about motorcycles: Samuel !!!
He told me he would have time tomorrow and I should visit him at 11 o'clock. After that I went for dinner to the so called Base Camp. It was quite early but the restaurant was already quite full and the only seat available was at the counter. The woman next to me was fully concentrated writing a blog on her computer. I had a look at the menu and ordered a pizza.
At one point I looked a bit closer at my neighbor but I couldn't see her face from the side. It couldn't be Mia because she would be on a ferry from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt today.
But the laptop was also a Mac... Anyway: Mia?
She almost fell off her chair! Indeed it was Mia and we were sitting next to each other for at least 10 minutes without recognizing ourselves! She would board her ferry in Puerto Natales in about an hour where she would spend the first night still at the harbor. Super quickly we catched up one more time before finally saying goodbye.
The next morning after breakfast I went around the corner to wash my AT. The guy was extraordinary careful with my bike and very fascinated from my travels. After I explained to him the signature on my bike he spontaneously played Bruce Springsteen :)
Next stop was Samuel who also admired my bike and started immediately. The old chain was quickly cut in half with an angle grinder, the back sprocket was all right but the front one didn't look too good anymore. I didn't have a choice because I only brought a chain from Germany and no sprockets due to the weight restrictions on flights. It will work.
Actually I was looking for support only because I didn't have a riveter and now I was curious how Samuel would rivet the chain because he also didn't have a riveter. His solution: simply hit the bolts with a hammer until they get flat. It will work.
For easier checking he marked the chain link blue. Very comforting ;)
In the afternoon I went to Erratic Rock to listen to the "3 o'clock talk". In a little bit more than one hour you will get all the informations about the national park Torres del Paine. Thanks to a lot of funny remarks this is very entertaining and I can only recommend it. That way I could start planning my Torres del Paine trip...
Because of strong winds the short ferry ride was quite bumpy. A few times the spray of the waves were blown over the ferry and covered me and my bike in salt. This is why it was suddenly very important to wash my bike!
On the way I noticed that my chain was giving up. It was no surprise that I would need to replace the chain one more time but the speed of which getting worse was frightening right now. I retightened it in Ushuaia but now it was again very loose. After visiting some nice ship wrecks on the beach just beside the road I tightened the chain once more. Some friendly Chileans gave me spontaneously a sandwich while I was working. I got worried that I wouldn't be able to reach Puerto Natales with this chain and therefor rode on very carefully.
Rattling but happy I reached Puerto Natales and checked in again at the hostel Zaltaxar. This was now surprisingly full but luckily I still was able to get a bed. I started looking for somebody who would be able to assist me with the chain change. Thanks to iOverlander I probably found the only man in town who knew a thing or two about motorcycles: Samuel !!!
He told me he would have time tomorrow and I should visit him at 11 o'clock. After that I went for dinner to the so called Base Camp. It was quite early but the restaurant was already quite full and the only seat available was at the counter. The woman next to me was fully concentrated writing a blog on her computer. I had a look at the menu and ordered a pizza.
At one point I looked a bit closer at my neighbor but I couldn't see her face from the side. It couldn't be Mia because she would be on a ferry from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt today.
But the laptop was also a Mac... Anyway: Mia?
She almost fell off her chair! Indeed it was Mia and we were sitting next to each other for at least 10 minutes without recognizing ourselves! She would board her ferry in Puerto Natales in about an hour where she would spend the first night still at the harbor. Super quickly we catched up one more time before finally saying goodbye.
The next morning after breakfast I went around the corner to wash my AT. The guy was extraordinary careful with my bike and very fascinated from my travels. After I explained to him the signature on my bike he spontaneously played Bruce Springsteen :)
Next stop was Samuel who also admired my bike and started immediately. The old chain was quickly cut in half with an angle grinder, the back sprocket was all right but the front one didn't look too good anymore. I didn't have a choice because I only brought a chain from Germany and no sprockets due to the weight restrictions on flights. It will work.
Actually I was looking for support only because I didn't have a riveter and now I was curious how Samuel would rivet the chain because he also didn't have a riveter. His solution: simply hit the bolts with a hammer until they get flat. It will work.
For easier checking he marked the chain link blue. Very comforting ;)
In the afternoon I went to Erratic Rock to listen to the "3 o'clock talk". In a little bit more than one hour you will get all the informations about the national park Torres del Paine. Thanks to a lot of funny remarks this is very entertaining and I can only recommend it. That way I could start planning my Torres del Paine trip...
15° | sunny / rainy | km 341
Glacier kayaking
on 2018-02-15 in Chile
[Basti] Without decent equipment I was of course not able to hike the W or the O. So I was trying to find the best way to explore Chiles most famous national park.
I came up with the plan to go kayaking at the Gray Lake and to hike up to the main viewing point of Torres del Paine. My problem was that there are only two options to reach the starting point of the kayaks, either you take an insanely expensive ferry or you hike and spend a night at one of the fully booked camp grounds.
Against long odds I drove to the booking center of the two camp grounds in question. Because the camp grounds have different owners there is not only one booking office. Are missing a single reservation the whole Torres del Paine trip is put in jeopardy because for a lot of hikes you need to show your reservation.
This is why there are always some alternations and cancellations. In any case the friendly employee checked the reservations and miraculously got me the last free camp spot at Lago Gray! I would be extremely lucky he said, this is the last spot for this month.
I quickly booked the kayak tour after that and went back to the hostel to pack my things. The incredible friendly hostel owner borrowed me his back pack free of charge so I would be able to carry my camping gear.
I wanted to catch the catamaran at 9 a.m. to reach the starting point of the three and a half hour hike to the Lago Gray campground. Despite the fact that it was raining I set off at 7 a.m. because the catamaran was more than a hundred kilometers away and the roads inside the national park are not paved. About half an hour before departure I got to the parking space and jumped out of my motorcycle clothes. The rain was the reason why I decided spontaneously to hike with my motorcycle boots. I talked to two French guys who parked right next to me and we ended up spending the whole day together. We hiked together to the campground in light rain. But after putting up the tent and having home made pasta for lunch the sun started to come out! Together we followed a tip I got at the three o'clock talk and walked further up the mountain for about an hour. We reached a breathtaking overlook of the Gray glacier. With the sun breaking through the view with that special light was stunning and we couldn't get enough.
Back at the camp we shared our dinner and went to bed. The next morning I went kayaking while the others went ice climbing. The extraordinary thing about the kayak trip was that we would paddle through sheets of ice in front of a giant glacier. Once more an unique experience!
In much better weather I hiked back to the catamaran where I met the two French guys again.
I still hadn't enough so I went to another great lookout in front of the Torres del Paine towers. After that I had trouble to find a camp spot because the campground in the valley where you don't need reservations was full.
I had to leave the park to find an empty camp ground and it got already dark when I set up my tent. Sadly it was raining the next morning and I had to pack up the tent completely soaked. Because of the bad weather I was prepared to ride back to Puerto Natales and skip the Torres del Paine summit. I had to ride through the park anyway and on my way the weather got better. I went to the parking space and decided to give it a try. The ascent was also at least a three and a half hour hike and at the top the towers stayed mostly hidden behind clouds.
Pretty exhausted and at nightfall I rode the 100 km back to Puerto Natales where my already booked bed was waiting.
I immediately checked in for two days to have a chance to get all my stuff dry.
While I was checking Facebook the next morning I noticed a post in the group "Horizons Unlimited". An Australian named Paul was sharing some recent posts of the Torres del Paine national park. To my surprise Paul was also a friend of Gail! I wrote him and we agreed to meet in the evening at the Basecamp.
Over there I also met his wife Janet, their fellow traveler Paul from England and one more couple. We had a great night with lots of fun stories and even more beer!
The next morning it really was time for me to leave Chile for good and start the very very long ride up north.
I came up with the plan to go kayaking at the Gray Lake and to hike up to the main viewing point of Torres del Paine. My problem was that there are only two options to reach the starting point of the kayaks, either you take an insanely expensive ferry or you hike and spend a night at one of the fully booked camp grounds.
Against long odds I drove to the booking center of the two camp grounds in question. Because the camp grounds have different owners there is not only one booking office. Are missing a single reservation the whole Torres del Paine trip is put in jeopardy because for a lot of hikes you need to show your reservation.
This is why there are always some alternations and cancellations. In any case the friendly employee checked the reservations and miraculously got me the last free camp spot at Lago Gray! I would be extremely lucky he said, this is the last spot for this month.
I quickly booked the kayak tour after that and went back to the hostel to pack my things. The incredible friendly hostel owner borrowed me his back pack free of charge so I would be able to carry my camping gear.
I wanted to catch the catamaran at 9 a.m. to reach the starting point of the three and a half hour hike to the Lago Gray campground. Despite the fact that it was raining I set off at 7 a.m. because the catamaran was more than a hundred kilometers away and the roads inside the national park are not paved. About half an hour before departure I got to the parking space and jumped out of my motorcycle clothes. The rain was the reason why I decided spontaneously to hike with my motorcycle boots. I talked to two French guys who parked right next to me and we ended up spending the whole day together. We hiked together to the campground in light rain. But after putting up the tent and having home made pasta for lunch the sun started to come out! Together we followed a tip I got at the three o'clock talk and walked further up the mountain for about an hour. We reached a breathtaking overlook of the Gray glacier. With the sun breaking through the view with that special light was stunning and we couldn't get enough.
Back at the camp we shared our dinner and went to bed. The next morning I went kayaking while the others went ice climbing. The extraordinary thing about the kayak trip was that we would paddle through sheets of ice in front of a giant glacier. Once more an unique experience!
In much better weather I hiked back to the catamaran where I met the two French guys again.
I still hadn't enough so I went to another great lookout in front of the Torres del Paine towers. After that I had trouble to find a camp spot because the campground in the valley where you don't need reservations was full.
I had to leave the park to find an empty camp ground and it got already dark when I set up my tent. Sadly it was raining the next morning and I had to pack up the tent completely soaked. Because of the bad weather I was prepared to ride back to Puerto Natales and skip the Torres del Paine summit. I had to ride through the park anyway and on my way the weather got better. I went to the parking space and decided to give it a try. The ascent was also at least a three and a half hour hike and at the top the towers stayed mostly hidden behind clouds.
Pretty exhausted and at nightfall I rode the 100 km back to Puerto Natales where my already booked bed was waiting.
I immediately checked in for two days to have a chance to get all my stuff dry.
While I was checking Facebook the next morning I noticed a post in the group "Horizons Unlimited". An Australian named Paul was sharing some recent posts of the Torres del Paine national park. To my surprise Paul was also a friend of Gail! I wrote him and we agreed to meet in the evening at the Basecamp.
Over there I also met his wife Janet, their fellow traveler Paul from England and one more couple. We had a great night with lots of fun stories and even more beer!
The next morning it really was time for me to leave Chile for good and start the very very long ride up north.