Blog: “Is this the end of the beginning?”

Buenos Aries -135Km (Total 2119km cycled)

Highlights: Warmshowers, America Embassy, Masa Criteria.

Day 111-127 – April 28 – May 14 : Changing plans
The last few weeks in southern Chile and Argentina have shown us that winter is fast approaching: lots of rain and often very frosty, humid nights.

We managed to temporarily paper over the cracks of the problem by adding a fleecy blanket to our sleeping bags, and jumping on a bus to Argentina where it rains less than in Chile.

But, we have to face it: we’re not fast enough to keep ahead of the seasons and where we’re planning to go, Bolivia-bound, it will be extremely cold at night for the next four to five months. Even during the height of summer, the high passes (over 3000 metres) can get snow.

We don’t want to give the impression that we’re bailing out on South America because we dislike anything about it other than the weather. We have loved our time here and have met some great people while on the road. We’ll definitely miss meeting them in random places along the route.

Given the havoc that the cold damp night air was playing with Peli’s asthma, we’ve decided to head to the USA where the climate will be more forgiving. It’s best to avoid the asthma triggers when in the remotest parts of South America.

In the USA, spring and summer are on the way, so our plan is to fly into Portland, OR, the self-proclaimed cycling capital of the States, to cycle south along on the Pacific Coast. We’ll then see how we go. We’d like to spend up to six months cycling in the US, and our rough destination is still Boston/New York.

Did you notice something?

Yes, the wind we’ll be cycling with will be in our favour, for a change.

This all depends, however, on whether the United States will let ius in. We can enter on a Visa Vaiver, ESTA, since we are Danish and British. But, the ESTA is only valid for three months and our planned tour may be up to six months. Therefore, we have to apply for a Nonimmigrant Temp Visa (B2) to get six months stay in the USA. This has meant having to fill in a form online, pay a fee, apply for two joint interviews (each on different days) and then wait for our passport to be returned. This process can take up to 15 days and is also done with the help of DHL – do I need to say anything about how our hearts felt when we read that?

So, we are staying in Buenos Aires at a combination of our very good warmshowers.org hosts for a few days, and Dakar Motos where our friend Mick is staying. We’re hoping to see a bit of the city while waiting for our passport to be returned.

One thing is reasonably sure, however: we hope to return to this beautiful part of the world some day and finish what we have started. But for now, expect more and prettier photos from us touring in summer weather, rather than seeing us suffering in the grey, cold and wet. And please wish us more luck than we’ve had so far!