After those 2 days of doing nothing, it was time to move on. Everything in the NP is very expensive and there’s not a lot for sale, so it was time to hit the road again. Gijs and Karen had arrived the previous afternoon and they also were going to leave the next day. They had taken the bus from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales and cycled to the NP. There they went hiking for a few days.

We had about 200 miles of emptiness lying ahead of us. The first day was okay, we managed to cycle about 75 miles and spent the night next to a policestation. Gijs en Karen also made it to that place, so we spent the evening cooking and talking. We could use the shower and the kitchen, so we had some luxury.

The second day was terrible; first 40 miles of (not-so-good) unpaved road with a stormy wind from the side. Then another 30 miles with a full headwind. Fortunately it was a paved road, but that didn’t make the hills less steep or frequent.

We met a Brazilian guy who tol dus that about 14 miles up the road we would have a 6-mile descent and about halfway that descent there was an estancia where we could ask if we could spend the night there. We were very tired already, but we didn’t feel like pitching our tent alongside the road in a storm. So, the 4 of us decided to try and reach the estancia even though it meant another 2 hours of battling the wind. Halfway those 14 miles, we stopped and rested for a while before the last difficult miles to the descent. The information of the Brazilian guy was very accurate, the descent started after 14 miles and halfway down there was an estancia.

Fortunately, we could put up our tent there and we had a very nice evening. We could take a wonderful hot shower and cook in the kitchen of the gaucho’s (cowboys). They kept us company . We have never before eaten so much spaghetti as that day. We were so ‘hungry’! Those men thought we were cooking for the 4 of us, but it was just for the 2 of us. Gijs and Karen had their own big pan of pasta.

Because we had done about 70 miles that day after all, we didn’t have to go far to El Calafate the next day. Still about 37 miles to go and there was almost no wind anymore. We left very early in the morning, after we said goodbye to the gaucho’s. Left early to beat the wind. In the morning the wind usually isn’t too bad, but in the afternoon it gets stronger. And, indeed, it did get stronger but by far not as hard as the day before.

So we arrived in El Calafate nice and early, where Patrick and Janneke (our friends from home, who cycle from Lima to Ushuaia and then from Mexico back to Lima) were already waiting for us at the campground. We heard from the Brazilian guy that they would wait for us in El Calafate, dus that was really great! We had a lot to tell eachother and a lot of information to share. When we went on the campground we also saw Mel and Chris again! They had arrived 2 days earlier and had stayed in a hostal, but now moved to the campground. Gijs and Karen went looking for a hostal. We all had a great day and evening together. We cooked good and healthy food together; finally some vegetables and other healthy stuff again! And wine of course…! We deserved that!

Unfortunatly, Patrick and Janneke had to leave the next day. They had already waited for us a day longer than expected, so they had to leave. But Mel and Chris stayed another day. They left for El Chalten day before yesterday in spite of the storm that’s blowing again. About 120 miles of full headwind ahead of them in an area where there’s nothing except emptiness. Only 1 estancia and that’s it. We got a message today; they came halfway and took the bus from there. We will take the bus the whole way tomorrow so we will be there in 3 hours instead of 3 days… Then we’ve had a nice few days of rest and we should be ready for the next part. We’ll meet everybody over there again. Gijs and Karen have left yesterday and also 2 Swiss guys we met here. We’re going to do the most complicated part of the route all together.

We have to cross a lake by boat and then walk 4 miles uphill on a steep and narrow path. We might have to take the bags off of our bikes and carry them separately from the bikes. If so, we have to do the same thing twice. Mel and Chris felt better if we could do it all together and also the Swiss guys joined the group. It’s probably going to be a fun time again. But first another day of rest in El Calafate, where the sun is shining, the temperature pretty okay is and where we can eat good and healthy food.