BIKE THROUGH PATAGONIA

ERIK ŠTURM AND MANJA PEČKAJ – Bovec, Slovenia

I know we already wrote about this day, but something happened to us in the evening that I would really like to share with you. But in order for you to know how much it meant to us, I have to go back to the afternoon of that day.

It was a day off to a great start. Before two o'clock in the afternoon, we had already cycled 65 km and reached Cohayque. The plan was: a sports store, a quick snack, preparing lunch, visiting the Internet and buying food for a few days...

And then it started... Right outside the city, with bad internet, we spent half an hour looking for the address of a store that sells sports equipment (of course, in the end, we ended up right there by accident). After this task, we came to a snack - a hot dog  ... we took it with us, with the idea of ​​singing it in a nearby park. However, misfortune never rests! So Manji, on his way to the park, the trunk with all the bags fell directly on the tire  …

Of course, we tackled the problem right away! Lost a few screws in the tall grass and ended up solving the problem with shoelaces. We then ate lunch right on the way to the Internet, where we again picked too much!

We were especially surprised when we arrived at the store, because the latter was full because of the holiday, as if it were already Christmas! After waiting in line for an hour, we finally got on the bike at 8 o'clock, both hungry and tired. - It's amazing how city errands make you even more tired than cycling.

We headed 15 km from the town where we were supposed to spend the night. A strong and cold wind was blowing behind the snow. About a kilometer before the finish line, around 9 in the evening, we noticed a gentleman on the side of the road who was trying to get our attention. Thinking that he needed help, of course we stopped. To our surprise again, he was only interested in whether we needed a place to stay! Since we agreed, he unlocked his plot without saying a word and said, here you go! 

And that wasn't even all! There was a small house on the lot, which he kindly offered us! Even before we understood how someone is so good, the Lord showed us how to lock everything nicely in the morning and wished us good night! But when we offered him payment, he flatly refused it...

It made the long day more lively! We gladly accepted the gentleman's offer, rested and looked at our new supply of food.

Yes! I must say that there are still incredibly good people in the world!

Friday, 9.12.

Because of the beautiful event yesterday, we started the day very slowly, with coffee and the wind...

We headed towards the highest point of our trip, the pass to Cerro Castillo, at 1100nm. The road was asphalted and mostly rose slowly. But to make it not too easy for us, the wind was bothering us. It was supposed to blow up to 70 kilometers per hour. Increase, of course, against us. If before we thought we had experienced the Patagonian wind, now we KNOW we have! 

After a lot of hard work, we pushed through to the end and descended into a really beautiful valley under the mighty hills, into the village of Cerro Castillo. Even on the downhill slope, the wind was blowing against us and we were slowly descending lower.

In the evening, we celebrated Erik's birthday with delicious meat and potatoes from the grill (after days of macaroni and rice, it was heavenly!!).