Last August and October I posted three blogs about some of my adventures in the Andes last summer. These related to my ascents of Acotango, Parinacota and Sajama in Bolivia. Just after I returned home, my brother, Derek, started a longer and more adventurous journey to explore the Andes by bike.
The goal was to travel from La Paz in Bolivia to Ushuaia in Argentina, largely by pedal power. This is around 5,600km (3,500 miles) by road via Chile and this distance does not include the various side trips he made.
En route he would climb four 6000m peaks, including Acotango and Parinacota. He would also complete a cycling challenge, the Carretera Austral. This is a 1,240km (770 mile) route through the southern quarter of Chile from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins. Finally, he would undertake the O trek in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine (with his wife and son).
He has encapsulated this journey in a humorous video which he has posted on YouTube. Here is the link:
The video is just over 70 minutes long. So, I recommend that you settle down with a beverage of your choice, and enjoy the story and the photography (including drone footage). What does not fully come through is the steely determination required to climb Llullullaico and Pissis solo and without anyone else on those mountains at the same time.
If the photography does not inspire you to visit some of these locations, then I fear that nothing will. I am not suggesting that you too should explore the Andes by bike. But, rather, feed your sense of adventure in some other way. Whilst Derek mentions that some of the places he visits are touristy, none (other than Torres del Paine) are really that busy.
At the time, Derek also kept a blog about the trip, the link for which is here.
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