World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Argentina

[Fabi & Denis] Casa Helsinki was a nice little hostel that we found in Cordoba and this is where we stayed for a couple of days before the Dakar rally was close enough for us to catch up with it. We had made plans to meet up Gail, our American friend with whom we had met in Russia and traveled together with through large parts of Asia. The last time we had spent together was already more than a year ago. We would also meet back up with Heather which we had met in Vegas.
After our arrival at Casa Helsinki we quickly decided to go to a nearby store to buy some beer for Gails arrival. Just in the moment where we walked across the street, Gail turned around the corner. He had not even taken his helmet off and we already started talking like in Asia. After we had said the most important things we decided to let Gail park his bike and take off his riding Gear before we would go back to talking. We spent the next three days catching up over some beers. We all had made so much experiences together and in the time in between that the nights never got boring. The days therefor flew by and soon Heather arrived as well, bringing Denis' fuel pump to fix his bike issues.

We had one day to get Denis' bike running before we were heading the 500 kilometers towards San Juan to see the Dakar finish there. Luckily changing the fuel pump was easy and after a short test ride we had high hopes that we had managed to fix the issue.
We started early the next day because a good day does not start after 9 a.m. for Gail. It was exactly 8 o'clock a.m. when we started the bikes up and headed into the rain. We had checked the weather and it was supposed to clear up once we got out of the main metropolitan area. After a while we realized that this was not going to happen, because the weather had not changed a bit and it even got a little colder instead. Gail had suggested to take a smaller more direct route and we thought that this would be a good idea as well. Under the weather conditions this turned out to be a slight lapse in judgment, but since the detour to any other main road was just too much we soldiered on through the rain and mud. After we had made it across the first mountain pass and through a landscape that reminded everyone of Ireland we slowly made it out of the rain. In the area between the mountains the road turned suddenly into deep mud. After all having tipped the bikes we worked our way slowly onwards. The Africa Twins front fender clogged up with all the mud and Denis had to unmount it after one or two spills. The weather luckily had cleared up completely at the end of the muddy straight and we were able to enjoy a nice mountain road towards another more sandy flat area. After about 400 kilometers of all different kind of offroad riding we were very glad to have made it back to the tarmac. Just a day before Gail had mentioned that he had not dropped his bike since the last time we rode together in Asia... we gladly helped him out with this issue :)
We arrived pretty tired and late in the hotel that we had booked in San Juan and after a quick dinner we fell into our beds to get some well deserved rest. We were not able to sleep in the next day though, because we had to head out early to see the end of the Dakar stage. We rode about 100 kilometers north of San Juan with roughly 30-40 kilometers of more difficult but fun gravel. At the end we arrived at the view point eager to catch the first glimpse at the drivers of the Dakar Rally. Luckily we had made it before the first cars arrived and so we waited until we heard the first engine roar in the distance. When the first car with the stage leader Nasser al Attiyah raced over the nearby mountain and then directly in front of us across a dried out lake bed we all got some goosebumps. We were excited like little kids waiting for each and every car to pass by. Some cars were followed closely by helicopters! What a spectacular event! But the day was not over yet, after a couple of hours we got back to our bikes and headed towards the finish line of today's stage. The finish line was a little more unspectacular than we had expected because we were not allowed close enough so all we could see was how they turned back onto the road. Still it was the first time for us that we saw the big trucks and they were nothing less than incredible! Especially the view of one with a completely destroyed front tire stunned us.
But the best part of the day was still ahead of us. We had talked to Floor a dutch girl who we had met in Mongolia at the time of Gail's accident and she was part of one of the competing racing teams. She had given us high hopes that she might be able to bring us into the drivers bivouac. On our way towards the bivouac we passed hundreds of interested Dakar viewers taking pictures of us and cheering us on. Since we were on the same road of the rally drivers we guess they felt we were part of the rally. We played our part and waved happily back at everyone with a big smile on our faces. At the entry to the camp we waited for Floor who soon showed up with a big smile on her face. She greeted us with a casual "hi guys!" and we were all very happy to meet again after all this time. She only had a little bit of time and so we packed all our stories into as little time as possible. After a bit she managed to get us some wrist bands to enter the bivouac. It was an incredible experience to walk through the camp and see everyone work on the different vehicles. Another highlight was that we got to talk to an Austrian rider on Floors team. He had been through some rough stuff but giving up was not an option. When Denis asked him if he would be competing on the next Dakar in 2019 he instantly answered "definitely not!" - until he said a couple of seconds later - "but maybe ask me again in a month or two". A big thanks that he has taken the time to talk to us and give us a closer insight into the rally. We left the camp with tons of new and good memories and after a short dinner we went straight to bed around 1 o'clock a.m.

The alarm rang at 5.30 a.m. the next morning! We wanted to watch the start of the bikes stage the next morning and since the bikes always left a little ahead of the cars we had to be there at 6.45. We left the apartment in the dark and rode towards the starting point, about 80 kilometers east of San Juan. The sun had not even risen completely and our eyes were still pretty much closed until we saw another bike with unusual brake lights. We quickly realized that it was one of the race bikes whose drivers had taken the same route as us to the start. We were immediately awake! We were riding directly next to the Dakar riders! At the same time the sun started to rise with the race bikes directly ahead of us... More goosebumps commenced!
The start itself was not as spectacular as we had hoped so we decided to head towards the last viewpoint of todays stage near Cordoba. Gail had decided not to ride back to Cordoba and so we said after a little over a week good bye, but we know that we will see him again somewhere in the world soon! For the 450 kilometers to the next checkpoint we mainly stuck to tarmac which is why we arrived a good two hours before the first bikes. Luckily we were rewarded with the best views of the Dakar so far! The bikes, quads and cars flew by with extreme speeds into a nearby corner just an arm length away from us. We were soon covered completely in dust but we couldn't leave this spectacular sight. We kept waiting for one more vehicle! At some point we had to tear us away from the incredible view, full of adrenaline we started our journey back to Cordoba.
But before we got to Casa Helsinki we had one more adventure ahead of us. We had missed an exit on our Navigators and decided instead of turning around to simply take the next road across the mountains. In the end our decision led us to roughly 50 kilometers offroad in complete darkness, which would have been fine if it were not for the endless amount of horseback riders along this route. Horses have really bad lights and so we were quite surprised when they showed up in our headlights just a couple of meters in front of us. In the end we arrived at Casa Helsinki quite late but all in one piece. We missed most of the award ceremony the next day due to the fact that we did not have tickets to enter they main area. But that was ok for us we had seen enough of the Dakar to be hooked! The remaining days of Heathers stay we enjoyed together in Cordoba recovering from the incredible experiences we had made during the Dakar 2018!

[Basti] El Chaltén is the place to be for hikers in Argentina. From there you can hike countless routes. If you hike for several days after taking a ferry you can even reach this small town from O'Higgins in Chile. But for things like that my bike is a handicap.
This is why I decided to only do the most famous hike up to the Laguna de los Tres located directly at the foot of Fitz Roy. On the way I was able to look into untouched beautiful sceneries and the weather presented itself from its best side. For the last km you have to hike up a strong incline through a gravel field and you will definitely get sweaty. But you will be rewarded with an extraordinary view of the Fitz Roy in front of a small lagoon. Despite my totally inappropriate shoes the comedown was also easy to do and I reached my hostal after 8 hours very satisfied.
Now just quickly to the ATM that should have been restocked today. Because almost every tourist was in need of cash I found myself at the end of a long queue full of like minded people. Immediately I found myself in the middle of various conversations which made the waiting time bearable.
And as a matter of fact I really got my first Argentinian money that I could spend right after at a nice little Parilla. The tiny restaurant fitted only with bar stools reminded me more of a fast food restaurant then a steak house. And I even received my steak after an inappropriate short time but the steak was delicious and would easily beat most of the steak houses at home!
On this evening we also made the final decision that I wouldn't meet up with Fabi and Denis again. Our ideas on how the trip should be on the last months turned out to be quite different and they would have had to wait for me for at least 2 weeks.
Somehow all of us were quite relieved to have finally made a decision. That way Fabi and Denis could head home soon and I decided to extend my stay in el Chaltén. I had my shared room with 4 beds just for myself anyway and the price was good. The next day I was processing my photos and writing some blog entries until I got a text from Mia.
She was also on her way to el Chaltén and would arrive this evening. Even though we had been traveling alone only for a few days we of course had a lot to talk about. Among other stories she had the same problem with insurance at the border and my warning didn't reach her in time. To make things worse the border official told her that a German guy was able to get an insurance online just 2 days ago, but because she couldn't find one she drove all the way back!
In the evening we ate a huge Argentinian meat plate together, however not everything was for us.
The next day Mia wanted to hike up to the Laguna de los Tres and I had still enough to do at the hostel. Sadly the weather was worse and the last kilometer was closed due to strong winds. She didn't want to try it again and already went her way the next day despite rain. I decided to wait for good weather and followed her the next day to el Calafate.

[Basti] It wasn't far to el Calafate and I reached it quite early. I had still some spare parts for Fabi with me and I wanted to send them back to Munich. The DHL shop I was hoping for was nowhere to find so I went to the local Correo Argentino. Of course nobody was able to speak English and I wasn't sure what the employee was trying to tell me.
He gave me a box and packed all the things inside. But he sent me away to an ice cream parlor, because it would be an international shipping and he is only able to send it within Argentina. At least that was what I understood ;)
Pretty irritated I walked along the street searching for the ice cream parlor. I thought it could be that the ice cream parlor also handles packages.
I actually found an ice cream parlor but no indication of any package service. Only after I asked at a different counter at Correo Argentino a very friendly lady I finally understood. I had to wrap the box with neutral paper so that the Correo Argentino labels would disappear. And now also the ice cream parlor made sense because right next to it was a stationery shop!
They knew what I needed right away and I was able to "neutralize" the package. That way it was only expensive to send it to Germany.
I didn't want to waste money for the night so I pitched up my tent close to the entrance of the Perito Moreno national park. The entrance fee for the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares is quite expensive. Strangely the area around el Chaltén and Fitz Roy is also part of it, but for free.
The morning after was a bit rainy but luckily I was able to pack up the tent more or less dry before I set out for the glacier.
The temperature dropped significantly the closer I got to the glacier and with the rain picking up again I put on my warm clothes after all despite being only a few kilometers away.
When I got a first cloudy glimpse of the glacier I was blown away. The dimension is unimaginable!
With my arrival the rain stopped and after about one more hour the sun came out and it got a lot warmer. With that the frequent ice break offs increased and I was able to witness how huge ice blocks felt into the lake accompanied by loud rumbling.
I walked all available paths and just couldn't get enough. The glacier is one of the very few remaining glaciers who are still considered stable. His mass of ice regularly separates the both lakes from one another causing the southern lake (Brazo Rico) to impound. Every two to four years the ice gives in to the pressure of the water and releases the water in spectacular way into Lago Argentino.
At the moment the glacier is again a natural dam, the last break through was in March 2016.
It was already late afternoon when I left for el Calafate. I found a nice hostel, used the opportunity for a self cooked meal and felt very impressed asleep.
The next morning I stocked up my groceries because I wanted to reach Torres del Paine national park the same day. On my way through unspectacular pampa I stopped next the a broken down car. I wasn't able to replace the broken car-jack but another rented car with German tourists was already helping. After a lot of disbelieving questions the finally believed that I was actually riding from Germany to here ;)