And then the walking part; 4 miles of very, very hard work… We left around 9 a.m. the following morning. It had rained very hard the night before, so the track was wet and slippery. The first part went very steep up through a very narrow ‘gorge’. We had to take the front panniers off right away. It didn’t take long before we also had to take the back panniers off. Which meant that we had to do every stretch a couple of times; first the panniers in 2 or 3 times and then the bikes. After that narrow stretch, it became a bit less steep. From there on steep hills and flatter terrain in between. But a lot of high tree roots. Had to take the front panniers off again and again to make the bikes lighter and then push the bikes up the hills together, so first the one bike and then the other. We couldn’t get the bikes up the steep hills otherwise. Sometimes we had to cross a river for which we had to take all the panniers off again and there was a sort of swamp which we had to cross. Mudd and dirt everywhere. And it went on like that for 4 miles. We were so glad when we saw a sign with welcome in Chile! From there on there was a gravel road which meant that we were finally able to cycle again. But by that time it had taken us 8 hours, while the riding time of the bikes wasn’t even 2 hours. It had taken us so much time to walk, take panniers off and put them back on.

The cycling part on the gravel road went well for a couple of miles, but then the road got very bad. Very large and loose rocks on very steep (down)hills. So we had to walk again while we tested the brakes in order to try and stop the bikes from breaking out on us. It was not possible to cycle because the bikes kept sliding away from us.

And then, finally and after 14 miles and 11 hours, we reached the Chilean customs. The men were already waiting for us and sticking their thumbs up. Got our passports stamped and had to go about half a mile further to reach a campingplace. Had to work hard and walk that part also; steep downhill and very loose rocks again. And when we thought we were there, there were another 2 steep hills to push the bikes on… But then we were finally there and had a magnificent view on Lago O’Higgins which was a nice reward. And we could take a shower there also…

The ferry left the next day at 5 pm, so we had the whole day to get ready and were able to take it easy. Fortunately, because our whole bodies hurt and we had a long night sleep. The weather was beautiful, so we spent the day in the sunshine. It’s a very beautiful place over there with a stunning view, so it wasn’t a punishment to have to stay there.

We arrived late on the other side of the lake. It was 8:30 already and we had to cycle another 2,5 miles to the town Villa O’Higgins. Fortunately the road was fairly flat. Looked for and found the campground/hostal that was recommended to us by other cyclists, pitched the tent, had dinner, took a shower and then went to bed.

Because we had to do some grocery shopping for the next 3-4 days (no other town or store along the road), we decided to stay here for the day. No punishment! It’s a weird and rugged little town, but the campground/hostal is very relaxed and the weather is great. Lots of sunshine and warmth, such luxury! Tomorrow we really start the famous Carretera Austral which is supposed to be beautiful; forests, lakes, waterfalls, fjords, mountains, volcanos and who knows what else. We shall see!