It was the morning of depature and time to leave Ushuaia. We were excited to hit the road but we kept worrying about the weight of our luggage. We tried to get rid of unnecessary stuff and the items we could spare found new owners. The strong winds and step uphills we are expecting felt for a moment a bit easier to handle.
We biked through the city of Usuhaia and stopped at the Ushuaia sign and took a photo which is a ”must do” when in Ushuaia and then.. we were on the road! We stopped after a few kilometres and looked back at the city. The Big Trip was no longer a dream it was reality!
The beautiful landscape of Tierra del Fuego went past us as we slowly put Ushuaia behind us. Snow-capped mountains, meandering rivers and verdant roadsides.
In many ways the landscape reminds us of back home although the mountains are higher here. Many of the flowers and plants in the region can also be found in Sweden and for a minute you forget that you are thousands and thousands of kilometre away from home.
A lot of motorbikers passed us during our first day. It seemed to us that they were heading for the same kind of journey as us with the only difference that they could race up the hills with a twist of their wrist. We were, on the other hand, slowly pedalling on our lowest gear to reach the tops and got our reward when the long downhills carried us through the valleys in 50 km/h.
At dusk we searched for a place to rest. We found the perfect spot next to a lake with breathtaking views of the mountains that we left behind us earlier that day. Unfortunatly we couldn’t keep our eyes open to enjoy the landscape surrounding us and our portable home and fell a sleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.
When we woke up the following morning Johanna was sick. We packed our camp together and managed to bike the last 17 km to the village Tolhuin. There we decided to rest for a few days before continuing our journey.
Lucky us the owner of the local “Panderia” (Bakery) loves bikers and bikers can stay in the cellar and use all his facilities. We soon realised that the bakery was like a free hotel for people on bikes as new people arrived every day.
At the bakery we met a fellow biker, Santiago, who told us about his trip from Buenos Aires to Alaska and back. We talked about the environment, consumption and modern society. When we asked him what he had learned during his time on the road. He simply answered:
“I haven’t learned anything really. I have forgotten. I have learned to forget the stupid things that society taught me when I grew up.”
With these words of wisdom and a long day of nice company Santiago got on his bike and started to bike towards the end of his three year long journey. Still weak from sickness we stayed at the bakery and thought about what we were hoping to learn during our journey that has just begun. We both felt reassured by Santiagos calmness and decided that our goal is to take it easy and letting time become irrelevant in our lives for the coming years.
2 comments
FAN vad fiiiint det är! Och så grymma ni är. Kul att se och läsa hur ni har det.
kram
Hallååååå 😀 Trogen följare som vanligt 🙂 Många kramar tillbaka!