Cycling Patagonia - An Autumn Adventure // A Documentary

[Music] thank you [Music] hey everyone and Welcome to our Patagonia documentary we are Louisa and Toby And for the past almost two years now we have been cycling around the world with our guitar and the last week we spent cycling from via Rica to Puerto mon in Chile along some beautiful lakes and volcanoes and after taking a very last night to chaitan we are now about to start the famous karate so come along and join us on our adventure through patagon [Music] Patagonia encompassing an area of up to 1 million square kilometers this mythical region of South America is divided between both Chile and Argentina with hundreds of rivers lakes fjords and Glaciers it is often considered to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth almost 2 million people of varied ancestry currently inhabit the region generally defined as Patagonia from Spanish Creole and mizizzo Heritage to indigenous peoples and inhabitants of other European descent among cyclists the over 1 000 kilometer long karate through southern Chile is an absolute touring highlight and the battle against the elements in Tierra de Fuego a notorious challenge our two-month journey through Patagonia proved to be one of our greatest experiences yet and an incredible conclusion to almost a full year of cycling through South America foreign [Music] pretty late the typical season to cycle it goes from November December to um yeah February March that's kind of the the summer the high season here in Patagonia and it's now beginning of April and we're just starting the kagatera so yeah by the time we get for the South into Patagonia it's going to be end of April beginning mid of may we plan to arrive in Russia which is our goal on the around about the 20th of May um so yeah it's Autumn is already here and winter is well on its way so we'll see how the weather treats us the next weeks [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] that is so cool wow it's beautiful [Music] what a great way to end the first day on the character we found this free campground which is called parque Los Rios and yeah it's completely empty we have a nice spot for our tent here's a table for cooking and back there is a fire pit as well so maybe we're gonna have a fire lighter let's see yeah and also there are some very friendly dogs [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] we are cycling up a little pass about 600 meters and we have beautiful view on the glacier killer like after every corner we're like wow [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] met in the north of Chile in La Serena we stayed with him and his mom for two nights and now he's also cycling the character as well so today we met and now we're continuing together for right now we don't know how long really cool [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] so we are extremely lucky we just asked if we could camp like next to some of these like old buses and then the the lady here is super kind and just said no you have to you can sleep in the in the Cabanya and we're gonna start a fire for you so I put some wood on but we're in the wood oven then it's amazing it's really incredible and it's really cold today as well it didn't get above three degrees until like noon or 1pm and now it was up to like seven eight degrees Celsius but uh yeah still very cold and we are super lucky it's gonna be such a nice warm and cozy night and uh it's just incredible there's even a kitchen [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] because it was the first night with Anna zero degrees we had minus six degrees so very lucky that we could sleep in here [Music] today we have the biggest climb on The cartelas Today ahead of us it's going up to around 1 100 meters but also the last days definitely haven't been flat and we've had two clients to around 600 meters and then in general it's just been going up and down all the time so it's around 1 000 meters of positive elevation gain over 100 kilometers so yeah no easy rolling but it's also not too hard to cycle but also so far with a few exceptions the road has been perfectly paved and that's gonna change as well after the climb um because then it will be gravel as not all the karatea has been paved yet um yeah maybe 600 kilometers a paved in the rest not so yeah we have to see how the road will be [Music] it is so beautiful how the mountains are covered in flaming red trees [Music] like that [Music] foreign [Music] Castillo the mountain is right there and it's just so incredible it's so so so incredible wow [Music] so this is now the third day that is starting with blue sky and it's really incredible and we're really lucky but it also means it's really cold because obviously no clouds nothing to hold in the little bit of warmth that is still here at the moment and it's yeah especially at night it gets freezing so last night we made a little fire again to get warm at some point get the feet warm when they're cold all day and um yeah now at night we've been also starting to layer up not just a long sleeve sleep shirt which is under here here but then also this just thin Merino hoodie which we've been wearing pretty much day and night now both of us and then um now the down jackets for camping and so on and when recycling then take off the down jacket but replace it with a Windbreak or a rain jacket and just putting that on and off the whole time depending on if we're going up or down [Music] thank you [Music] so that's it the end of the paved road now the gravel begins construction on the 1 200 kilometer long karate from Puerto mon to Via Higgins first began in 1976 after several unsuccessful attempts to provide access by land to the remote settlements in the region in 1988 the southern Highway officially Chiles Route 7 then first opened to traffic with the final 100 kilometers only being completed in the year 2000. efforts to pave the road have been ongoing since the beginning and there are even future plans to extend the entire Highway South a further one thousand kilometers to Puerto natales a 70 kilometer section of the karateira follows the Western Shoreline of the glacial Lake General Carrera with an area of almost 1 900 square kilometers it is not only the largest lake in Chile but also forms a 20 kilometer segment of the border between Chile and Argentina as it spans both countries therefore the lake is known by a different name in Argentina Lago Buenos Aires wave action over the past 6 000 years has created unique geological formations in the marble monoliths on the western shore of the lake the marble caves chapel and Cathedral as they're known describes several Caverns columns and tunnels eroded into the marble forming incredibly beautiful structures after a great week of cycling together with Tomas we said our farewells and continued on alone again along the Wilder Southern stretch of the karatea Astra [Music] foreign [Music] now and I just went shopping because this is basically the last town before reaching oh Higgins the last town on the karate and in ohigan's it basically ends and between here and there there there are no towns so we don't know if we will be able to buy some food on the road and it's about 230 kilometers still so yeah still a few days we'll see yeah yeah and generally the even though the charactera Australia for the past well pretty much a thousand kilometers now has gone through pretty remote areas and connected very remote towns the infrastructure has always been because it's so touristy has been really good and even now in the off-season in Autumn where a lot has been closed already we've still had no problem whatsoever to get groceries or water or whatever yeah um yeah so but now it's Gonna Change probably it will be no problem still but we don't better have some more food than less all right let's practice [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] thank you foreign [Music] and we are about 50 kilometers away from vo Higgins the end of the road and the last days we've been really taking it slow enjoying the nature and wild camping and as we said there's not a lot here so it's really peaceful and quiet and nothing going on either at this time of year and yesterday morning something kind of funny happened a dog adopted us we she was lying on the road when we cycled past and she just started running with us and I think yeah the first 10 kilometers we just completely ignored her we didn't want to encourage her and I don't know didn't want her to to leave a home and away from somewhere or something and um but then yeah she just kept coming with us and I think after 20 kilometers we thought okay maybe we should give her some food she looks a bit if it's uh hungry and then after 30 kilometers we started petting her and yeah she almost ended up walking 40 kilometers with us yesterday and I think climbing almost 900 meters [Music] [Music] it is so cozy in this little shelter that we decided to just spend a second night here so a full day just sitting by the fire chilling making some bread yesterday we already made some bread but it didn't turn out so well so today we're gonna try some flatbread and see how that turns out and Yeah roast the marshmallows read make music just enjoy the day and then tomorrow it's only 30 kilometers left to Via Higgins and then we're done with the kind of data [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] water but I'm breathing just like I always told you I was gonna be all right we did it we psyched it to the end of the characters and to be honest we are so happy that we only did this in April so an Autumn here and the beginning of the low season because it was really empty um we often had the road completely to ourselves and also all the camp spots and we did have luck with the weather I guess because it was surprisingly warm not too rainy not too windy it's great yeah just just really enjoyed the cycling and the wild camping especially now the last few hundred kilometers just the wild yep but now the big question is where do we go from here the classical route so to say um to go to El Char 10 in Argentina which is a little bit that way across the Lago ohigans and Lago de desiato isn't possible anymore because the ferry is running over these Lakes yeah don't run anymore going over these Lakes don't run anymore um it's just too late in the season um it's not worth it for them anymore um then the other only real other option to get away from uh via oh Higgins here is to take the Paso Maya which is more of a kind of a hiking trail with River Crossings and so on to Argentina so yeah it would be a lot of pushing our bikes and yeah we don't really not an option for us it doesn't sound so fun yeah um so we're only really left with one option which is you know also the option we are going to take to get out of here is a cycle 100 kilometers North again on the karatera um to Puerto young guy from where we are going through in about a week less than a week um catch a ferry a three night ferry from Puerto yongai to Puerto natales which is going to be pretty cool through all the fjords and yeah we're really looking forward to that yeah and this is actually also the reason why we've had so much time the last weeks and just especially since Cochran just really enjoyed spending whole rest days in the in in a refuge in the middle of nowhere is because yeah we've known for several weeks now that that this Ferry which only runs every two weeks um yeah that comes at a certain date and we've booked it and we yeah we really had no drive to go any faster and especially with our doggy now and it's been really good as well sleeping over there a bit tired yeah so it's just been a really great experience here on the charactera [Music] having followed us all the way to Via ohigan's we were finally able to get our dog some proper food after feeding her rice the past four days from a conversation with the local we then learned that she apparently has a home close to where we met her 90 kilometers to the north so after spending One Night in Via oh Higgins we took her back up with us towards young guy to drop her off with her owner and catch our Ferry unfortunately despite our best efforts we couldn't find the right person and had to leave her with other people not far from where she had started following us seven days ago [Music] by ourselves again we took the ferry from Puerto jungai via totel and Puerto Eden to Puerto natales passing through the spectacular Patagonian fjords which you can only fully appreciate from the sea [Music] the dozens of fairies connecting the various ports and cities of Patagonia are crucial to the logistical infrastructure of the region often being the only source of supplies for remote outposts and settlements [Music] after two days two days Ferry we arrived in Puerto natales in the evening and the next day began the final stretch of our ride through South America [Music] we are now officially on the router Fin de Mundo so on the route to the end of the world we yeah just left question at Alice where we arrived by ferry yesterday evening and then spent one night there and in less than two weeks we want to be in Australia and there conclude our almost one year travel through only South America really exciting we can definitely tell that we are now in the region of Patagonia which is known for its strong winds it's mostly a northwesterly wind which is great for us because we are going Southeast greater [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] not only does the Sun not really get high above the Horizon anymore it also only Rises at 9 00 am making it pretty hard to get up in the mornings now last night we slept at this bus stop which is basically a completely covered nice shelter where we were protected from the strong winds and also some rain we had yesterday so so we had a quiet nice night Tierra de Fuego Spanish for land of the fire is an archipelago at the southern tip of the South American continent separated from the mainland by the Strait of Magellan shared between Chile and Argentina it has a combined area of around 70 000 square kilometers roughly the size of Ireland the name Tierra de Fuego stems from the sightings of indigenous built bonfires by the first European explorers in the early 1500s only in the late 19th century did the mass settlement of European descendants begin in the region resulting in the displacement of the Native populations like in the rest of Patagonia the economy of Tierra de Fuego mainly revolves around oil and gas extraction sheep farming fishing and tourism [Music] foreign Strait um taking a little Ferry for about 20 minutes that connects the road onto both sides and at today the the wind is exceptionally strong it's coming also more from the north than the last days and it's very warm it's 16 degrees right now not in the sun this is really as you can see it's overcast super warm and the wind is so strong on the flat now I'm doing uh 50 kmh Without Really pedaling right now now I'm slowing down to 46 so it's pedal a bit again crazy [Music] so this is now the flip side when that strong wind isn't coming from behind but when it's coming a little bit from the front thank you [Music] so it is now already 4 P.M only done this under 80 kilometers [Music] and yeah our goal is like 130 something for today across the border China but in Industrial Crosswinds and sometimes even the headwinds the last eight kilometers because we've been going south and sometimes a bit South uh Southwest so the west wind has been in our face even dead East and we should have should have 50 55 owners [Music] all right here we go here comes the Tailwind as you can hear it's getting really quiet [Music] oh yeah that is a lot better [Music] our last kilometers in Chile and it's getting late as you can maybe see that's already 5 30 P.M and and still have about 25 kilometers to go I think [Music] foreign [Music] there is this waiting room at the Argentinian border where Travelers can spend the night and it's really great it's toasty warm in here because there's a nice Heating And Then There are bathrooms next door and even a small kitchen that we can use that's really great and already last night we spent at Cerro sombrero and we camped next to the municipalidad building but there were public bathrooms next door and we could have a shower a really hot really nice shower and the bathrooms were clean and everything and open every day until 9 pm really great and in general down here in the far south the infrastructure for travelers is really good there are lots of small refuges where you can get out of the wind spend the night if you want or just take a small break and then continue so yeah it's it's really good yeah really important also because there's like nothing it's just flat and really windy so [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow we are getting really close to ushwara now the last two days we covered a lot of distance one day we cycled 135 kilometers and yesterday 185 but the last two days we are going to take it a bit easier now um to then arrive tomorrow early so we can properly celebrate our arrival um and now today we have one last pass we have to climb up to 500 meters and even though that's not that high as we're so far south now we could reach the Snow Line we'll see [Music] um [Music] so we are almost at the top of our last pass in South America we're now at 450 meters it's only like 50 meters to go and we're just below the Slow line but I don't think we're going to see any snow unfortunately next to us at least on the road and it's so nice that the landscape has gotten a bit more interesting here again now with some mountains and forests and not just grasslands so nice reward [Music] on the morning of our last day riding in South America we were surprised by a little bit of snow it briefly seemed like the weather had finally caught up with us just as we peddled our last kilometers into ashwaia the end of the world oh my God past 11 months and almost 13 000 kilometers cycling on this vast continent had at times being truly difficult from camping at -14 degrees Celsius in Peru to reaching 5 800 meters above sea level by bicycle in Bolivia cycling South America was the greatest challenge we had yet faced on our journey around the world it was no wonder then that reaching the end of the road was an overwhelming and emotional moment for the both of us [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] foreign

Channel: Louisa & Tobi

Views: 547,522

Keywords: Cycling the World, Adventure, Bicycle, fahrradweltreise, travel, fahrradtour, bikecamping, bikewander, bikenomad, world by cycling, radreise, bike touring, travel by bike, bike life, velo, around the world, Drone, mountain biking, wildlife, patagonia, cycling patagonia, australia, cycling australia, desert, cinematography, outdoor film, outdoor documentary, gravel, gravel bike, terra x, abenteuer freiheit, luisa tobias, zdf, wild camping, bikepacking, bike packing, bikepacking documentary, chile

Id: vXVKUByo5f0

Length: 42min 0sec (2520 seconds)

Published: Sun May 28 2023