The trip home and final thoughts
The trip back home was not without incident.
Most of the group were shuttled to Temuco and caught a flight to Santiago where we bade farewell with promises to share pictures and keep in touch. I had a late evening flight to Miami, then on to Dallas where I was to stay overnight with my sister Ann before heading back home to Iowa. I hung out at the airport with two members of the group, Dennis and Arizona Bob, who were on a late flight to Dallas. I ended up rebooking direct to Dallas, on the same flight as Dennis and Bob. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed, then cancelled - which required going back through immigration and customs, as well as spending another 24 hr in Santiago! The three of us were able to book rooms at the airport hotel, and we decided to spend the day visiting downtown Santiago. Amazingly, we ran into two others from our group at the pre-Columbian art museum!
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There was much additional craziness and confusion regarding our re-booking, but we eventually made it to Dallas and I said good-bye to my Phoenix friends. My sister met me for breakfast at DFW and I was soon back in Iowa - accompanied by frigid weather, blizzards, and an unwelcome parasite I picked up somewhere on my travels. The rest and recuperation gave me time needed to compete the journal and reflect on the trip.
Patagonia is a truly extraordinary place, and the month spent there was a trip beyond my expectations. It was a journey filled with physical and mental challenges, laughter and camaraderie, wonder and "pinch-me" moments of joy and gratitude.
Is Patagonia a place I would recommend for a self-supported bike tour? I saw only a handful or two of self-supported touring cyclists in Southern Patagonia, where roads are few, distances between towns are large, and winds are fierce. For me, the attractions in this remote area of the world are the mountain and the glaciers, which are best experienced by foot and/or boat. Northern Patagonia may not be as spectacular, but has its own beauty in the multitude of lakes and glaciers. There are also more people here, and I encountered many more self-supported cyclists, especially on Ruta 40 and, to a lesser extent, on the designated bike circuits such as Circuito Lago Llanquihue. The various circuits could be connected for an extended trip in this area, but it would require cycling on more highly trafficked roads, often the only paved roads across crossing the Andes. The alternative would be to include gravel roads, which I would be hesitant to recommend for a loaded touring bike. The region is more suited to bikepacking, and I did talk to a couple of bikepackers who had just completed a wonderful adventure in Tierra del Fuego.
For me, a guided bike trip turned out to be the best choice for biking in Patagonia. My fellow cyclists were a fantastic and supportive group, and we all had loads of fun. However, I did miss the independence, interactions, and chance encounters of self-supported touring. I am now in the planning stages for another trip to Europe this late summer/early fall – stay tuned!
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5 years ago