© Chris Murray
Six countries, 12,000 kilometres and over 100,000 metres of elevation gain - Chris Murray shares his third update from his mission to cycle across the South American continent.
6 March 2024 - 2nd leg complete
After my last update last month, I probably should have given several separate ones … because, since leaving Santiago, I feel that so much has happened. I have passed through so many varied landscapes, experienced such differing cultures, met so many inspirational people and feel like I have already collected stories to last me a lifetime. In the early stages of the 3,000km of tarmac (and some gravel!) that I rattled across since leaving Santiago, I had first set my sights on crossing over into Argentina one last time. This meant leaving Chile behind me for good, and what a send-off it gave me. On the way to the 'Los Libertadores' border crossing, 150km north-west of Santiago, I passed the famous 'Los Caracoles' mountain pass - a very memorable experience! It was also my first time cycling above 3,000m which I thought was high at the time.
Turning south momentarily to visit Mendoza and its surrounding vineyards, I continued up through northern Argentina. For a good couple of weeks, I found myself cycling in temperatures that peaked well above 30 degrees celcius. Not being certain of when I could get my hands on water, I carried up to 9 litres of water on my bike. And if I realised I had enough on me, quite a bit was used to dowse myself in an attempt to regulate my body temperature somewhat.
The environments were pretty dry and harsh too for the most part, although the winds were manageable (even if they often came in the form of headwinds!). There were some tediously long straights, and some impressive distances between towns, but the solitude was interspersed with good and reasonably priced food, lots of ice cream breaks, and energetic vibes in the villages and towns I passed through. I had been in and out of Argentina for over a month, and it was safe to say, I was going to miss it.
What I wasn't going to miss, though, was the heat. In the week or so before reaching the border with Bolivia, it became impossible to camp in my tent. On the few occasions I did try, it was a choice between boiling in my tent, or opening up the vents and getting eaten alive by mosquitos. There were a number of virtually sleepless nights, and I was looking forward to climbing up to higher altitudes where the temperature would thankfully drop.
Crossing into Bolivia, and exchanging with cyclists coming south, what I had thought might happen did indeed materialise: the salt flats around Uyuni were not passable by bike. So I decided to fast-track a section of road by taking a (very comfortable) bus between the border town of Villazon and Uyuni, which would then free me up to book a three-day tour of the salt flats, hot springs and the fringe of the Atacama desert. I'll never forget the views, and what a luxury to be able to see it all without a single pedal stroke!
Returning back to Uyuni, and checking back into the famous 'Casa del Ciclista', I set myself the challenge of getting 1,000km up the road within 7 days, across the Bolivian altiplano towards the country's capital La Paz and into Peru. After well over a month on the bike, I had my first rainy days and I was also challenged by regularly riding at 4,000m - not an easy task.
During my days in Bolivia, the majority of the time I didn't know what I was ordering, nor eating when the food arrived! But I managed to stay fuelled and into Peru I crossed. With climbs peaking at around 4,600m, I finished the second leg of my journey with 3,000m of descent in a single day as I arrived in Arequipa. Enjoying the vibrant and historically-rich city, it was the start of a two-week break off the bike. Time to reset and come back energised for the second half.
To date, in very brief figures, the trip looks something like this:
- 46 days on the bike
- 328 cycling hours
- 6,580.4km in total distance (the equivalent of Oslo to Istanbul and back!)
The third leg of the trip will take me the length of Peru and into Ecuador, where I will target being in the country's capital, Quito, in the 3rd week of April.
As ever, for more regular updates, feel free to follow me on Instagram under the handle 'chopsticknovice'. I am also more than happy to be contacted if you have any questions or feedback, and I will make sure to respond to any questions I get.
And if you would like to support my project - I have a 'Buy Me a Coffee' page set up for those that are interested!
'Nos vemos' as they say.
