Herve Pura Vida

Fan Club (one of the most famous Argentinianean’s football teams). We are lucky to manage to cycle 20-30 kilometers the next day… and crash in a field. While cooking, we spot our first rabbit passing by without seeing the hangover’s hungover cyclists lying in the grass. The next day, I just avoid riding on another rabbit. I see rabbits everywhere, one after the other, thousands of them! Not only rabbits, I spot an aggressive adder on the road which I spend some times talking to (of course it didn’t answer but instead become calmer and left between my legs, gently). We meet a lot of tractors too. It’s a good country and climate for the agriculture and they can collect twice a year. The farmers mostly contract mostly people from Cordoba (a big city in the north). I call them the “Tractor road gypsies”, they travel with their caravan fixed to the tractor to work all around the country.

The back-rack of Thierry break down just before we reach Gral.la Madrid. But we get lucky and find a place able to seal aluminum and meet an original interesting character who travelled in Europe, enjoyed the hospitality and want to give it back. Lucky for us but honestly I wonder if an immigrant would become receive as much hospitality in Europe these days.... He fixes his back-rack and we both use the water and hot air to wash and dry out our bikes. He invites us for the lunch, telling his story, and I learn then, that he’s working for Alusuisse. The same company who fix my front-rack the first days of my travel in Valais, Switzerland. There too, they fixed it for free and gave me some food… This is a small world!

In Puan the local sheriff arrests us, with all the arrogance you can imagine while watching a cheap Hollywood movie. The first control - but in Argentina the police systematically control the traveler, for their “safety”. Honestly it’s more to track for illegal people, criminals or vagabonds. Instead of eating there, we decide to leave the place because of this bad welcoming. In general the people are very nice and welcoming, like in Darragueira where we seek a protection in the fireman station. They say that they can’t welcome us but ask us to ask the police. When we arrive, the police is waiting for us but this time, very nice. With a car and the lightning sirens they make us a way through the very calm city (almost no traffic but thanks the police we really don’t arrive incognito) and they bring us the gymnasium. We spend a better night than we would in a hotel, shower, kitchen, tv-room, etc.. The landscapes are not really amazing, it’s quiet populated and they are fields everywhere. All the nice moments we have are thanks to the people and the various meetings. Per For example we leave Darragueira and less than 50 kilometers away, I just want to jump in the swimming-pool of at Guatrache. Very quickly we become famous and the local animator offers to let us us to camp in the swimming-pool. Matthias, a lifeguard and scout already arranged a place for us in his house so we’ll sleep in a real bed. He’s very nice but almost don’t never talks. His mother misses company and talks all the time. And the last but not the least, her boy-friend, an old alcoholic, whispers obscene words in German in Thierry’s hears. The nice invitation turns out quickly as a crazy place- We learn that a factory apparently polluted the village’s fresh-water and this boss related to the mafia even kill his own brother. More crazy stories comes out while we talk to Mathias’s friends. We go out the night in a disco and the place is crowded with a lot of young ladies. - Aall the girls we met in the swimming-pool. The only problem is that they are all about 14 years old. It doesn’t look as it’s disturbing the local guys, who apparently go for it…. The next day, we are more than happy to escape this crazy place. But then, we arrives in the last village, called Peru, before we’ll go going forto the real wild Pampa and there we meet a great police guy. We recharge our batteries, fill-up our water bottles and the policeman play guitar and sing for us. This is why I love travelling so much I guess. You find yourself in a crazy situation or with crazy people and then, a few hours later, you meet a great person. Situations can turn out quickly from paradise to hell, but the opposite too!

It’s time to leave the civilization, rabbits, tattoos and vultures in the thick sand of this very bad dirt road. Vultures? I get closer and spot my first wild pig, dead. The people warned us about them, they can be very dangerous., not this one. We find a shelter under a beautiful acacia and enjoy the 31st December with a lot of wine. A few minutes after we start sleeping, I heard some noise coming closer to us. My African souvenirs memories come back to my mind but quickly I quickly realized than in here, there areis no lions, elephants or buffaloes so it must be something else and probably not as dangerous. I call for Thierry but he’s already in another world, sleeping. Suddenly 2 or maybe 3 young wild pigs run out from the bush and run directly for the food we left in the middle of the camp. I’m just sleeping under my mosquito net and don’t want to go out so I shout loudly and shake my arms. They run away as fast as they had camarruvede. It was They were probably the young of the dead mother we saw on the road a few hundred meters away. By now I’m laughing to the point of almost cyring and want share my joy with Thierry, but he’s still sleeping. You could probably have heared my shouts 2 kilometers away but he continues to sleep; you can imagine that we party really goodhad partied really hard. In the middle of nowhere, and under our own private acacia in the wild Pampa, Iit will remain as one of my best favourite New Year’s partiesty.

The next day is less funny. Firstly, because of the hangover, we leave very late and the sun is already very as high as the temperatures. Then Next, the sand is getting thicker and often we we often have to push the bicycle., Thierry will have 6 punctures this today and our water reserves go faster than as planned because we can’t progress. The only water we find is in a water tank for cows. Dead birds, algae reaching the surface, you can imagine how delicious it tastes. We use our “micropure” tablets and try to cover disguise the bad taste with tea, coffee, syrup powder, sugar and, lemon, but at in the end… the disgusting taste remains. Every times I try to drink, I want to vomit; what a wonderful 1st January. I try to avoid thinking aboutto my family and friends resting at home and having great food, nice wine or champagne at the menu… In life, you can’not always win, sometimes you loseose too but at the end, it’s just a matter of being patient and waiting for your turn to get luckierluck… I’m cycling ahead and suddently I find myself just in the

front of an enormous wild pig! Luckily for me, the wild pig is as surprised as I am and instead charging me, he runs away. The days was very hard and we’ll sleep on the next road. There is a bit more traffic on this one and we manage to collect 4 litreers of water with 2 cars on the from 2 of the 5 we manage to stop. It will be enough to help us to go forward, for a little while. We cycle along to a deserted farm where we draw some water from the ground, and a few hours later another farm turns out to be a real small paradise: fresh beer, then a giant meal, excellent red wine and enough fresh water to wash ourselves, what a relief... After the first kilometers, we crash and sleep a bit to enjoy it at the maximum, before taking the road again.The wind doesn’t stop and in this very sandy place, it’s a quiet hell on earth. We reach the Routa 237 and that for ca 600 km more. This is an good paved road but no food or water for the next 300 km. We reach a police check-point and they invite us to stay for the night. We end up having a great barbecue and, of course, nice Argentinean wine.

We get deeper and deeper into the Pampa,. Nothing else than but yellow and dry grass, absolutely no shade, the temperatures are still as high as before and the wind getting even stronger. Somehow I enjoy it more because the place is wild,. tThe first guanacos show themselves along the road and we stay 2 days in a free camping psite place to rest, in Lihuel Calel National Park. There isare very few villages along the road and usually always about 200 kilometers between them.

In Casa de Piedra, I will experience one of the hardest times of my travelling. There is another free campsiteing and myp iIpPod gets stolen while recharging. In Africa, I gave my money to another tour guide, my friend Cedric. He was supposed to give the money to another friend who was flying to Europe. His friend was supposed to transfer the money on to my bank account. In Namibia, it’s very hard to take the money out of the country. After 3 months waiting, I come to the conclusion that the money will never arrive... My bank account is close to zero. That’s not all., I realize that one of my carry’bottles broke my frame, my 2 rims are crackled and when I’m ready to leave, I’ve a flat tyre. (with the heat, the punctures are now impossible to fix). I swallow my misery and start cycling, but the wind is stronger and stronger, as is the sun. No music to recover psychologically which makes it even harder. I start having punctures after punctures, it start to be hard really hard. Nothing to compare to the Sahara and the wild African bush, but this is another challenge, a psychological one. My friend Thierry will not help me and just talks about his perfect friends, who especially never get in trouble financially. He don’t stop saying I’m arrogant which is probably a kind of true, nobody is perfect and I’m probably the last one to be, but I keep thinking he could have choosen another times to say it. It’s quiet hard to take it at this stage. and for one timeIf I’m cycling with someone, I was expecting more support in difficult times. The worse for me is that at no point he will he offer me his financial help. I try to focus on cycling and work on myself, in silence. Somehow, I’m a sado-masochist; I’m a lazy person and I will work on myselfe just at the moment I when I reach extreme situation. Then I will try to go forward. Deep inside myselfme, I need to be in real trouble to make any efforts. The all world around me fall apart, I’m cycling in the middle of nowhere, against the wind and under a terrible heat. My bicycle has fallen apart and I don’t even have the money to make the basic reparation repairs and if the rest of my money should hold at least until Bariloche. I’m thinking about all the solutions; working in Argentina, flying back to Africa as tour guide or maybe even flying back to Switzerland. Maybe this is the end of the trip. I don’t have the any control anymore, I will have to seek for look for money and take any job. For the first time after more than 3 years, I realize that it could be the end for me and my dear bicycle Lucie. But the more I cycle, more I realize that this is another opportunity to fight for my dreams, another challenge on the road. The Mmore I cycle, more I become positive, the more I believe that there is a solution anyway. I don’t know it yet but with trust and confidence I’m sure to get out of my situationthat. I always sayid “nothing is impossible”;, this is the time to practice! Now I feel as stronger as ever and feel good.

We had to stop in a gaucho’s farm because the wind is too strong. He will share with us his peaches, eggs and lemonade. All what that he’s got. We rest with him the afternoon because it’s way too hot, and start cycling at around 5 p.m. Impossible to cycle, after 3 hours and a few kilometers forward we decide to rest a bit and cycle the night, when the wind is less strong. The night, the wind is less strong, but don’t completely stop. We cycle 40 kilometers in the dark and then crash, dead tired, along the road. I open the eyes and see 2 big lights, sirens and a guy with a big riffle getting out of the car. Thierry is still sleeping while I start talking to the police, explaining that we are just travellers, tired and exhausted by the front wind. They quickly soon believe me, but just ask us to take the bicycle further away from the road. , wWhat a day…and what a wind!

We fight and fight more against this wind, it would have been easier without the heat but somehow when we reach Neuquen, it’s a nice feeling to have been through it. We rest 2 days before taking -off again and of course, as soon as we start again, the wind starts too… Murphy’s law…

In la Piedra del Aguilla, we start to change eco-system. This is another world, the beginning of the Andes, and slowly we’ll see more trees and rivers. The famous National Park of the 7 lakes areis not far away. But while crossing this “natural” border we experience another crazy contact with the have another crazy encounter with local police. The sheriff enters the small shop that we were waiting in for so long. He wants to check our passport, wguke keeping his hand on his gun and having the hand of his gun and will wait outside for us. He’s nervous, but the salesman told me that it’s normal: 4 guys escaped the from prison yesterday. Of course, it’s completely normal that the sheriff wants to check my passports because some criminals escape the jail! 2 guys with overloaded bicycles are probably the guys he’s looking for! But he quickly releases us and we start cycling in mountain areas. Soon Finally, we reach finally the first lake! It’s green, - birds, ducks, pink flamingo, guanacos, cows, paradise! From now on, it starts to be a dream ride. We reach Junin de los Andes, then San Martin de los Andes where we meet Ruben. The next day, where when we are supposed to have a day off, we cycle, the area without luggage with him and Mathias, a guy from Buenos Aires, the area without luggage. The next day, Matthias join us for the nenext 3 days. The National Park of the 7 lLakes (there is actually effectively 8 lakes but who cares?), is full of tourists and cyclists. We sleep along the lake shores, meet a lot of people and even eat dust for 40 kilometers on a part of the road who is not asphalted (thank to the hundreds of tourist’s cars passing by).

One day before to arrivinge in Bariloche; I receive an email. Stéphane, a French guy living in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, is offering me to make a foto exhibition with my pictures and Marianna will pay for my flight ticket! I’m saved; this is the opportunity I was waiting for! 2 days after I’m I get in to Brazil, I receive an email from Cedric, my African’s friend. It was There was some problem with the money’s transfer transfer (with my name) but the money should be since long long since beon in my bank account. Effectively In fact, my mother mum checked my credit card statement and not my bank account statement. The money is has been here since for almost a month, I’m completely saved! It’s amazing how a situation can turn out quicklyproblem can be resolved quickly -, like I said before, you can be go from in paradise and then be like onto hell very quickly. Fortunately it can happen the opposite go the other way around, too!

After a month, I’m back in Bariloche, having sealed my broken frame, bought new rims and fixed my gears (include my tent changed the tent, too, who which slowly feels had started to feel old). It’s time to hit the road again. I’m happy like a kid waiting to open his Christmas’s gifts; I’m free again, on the road, alone with my dear Lucie. In my head I was prepareingd to have a long stop, or even to finish my traveltravelling, but finally I ’m finding myself on a dirt road, climbing to 2,’500 meters, having with an infinitely beautiful view. Camping in the all whole area is just fabulous. There is are a lot of trees for shade or to make start fires. It’s green, a lot of water everywhere and the temperatures are now perfect. On a different road, I cycle back to San Martin de Los Andes until Zapala, the so-called wind capital. The police force me to turn back and I don’t really try to argue: I can hardly stand on my bike, the wind is so strong. It takes me 2 hours to ride 1,5 kilometer. I fall down every 5 minutes, punched by the wind. It’s absolute pure madness. I turn back into a free municipal campground and try again the next day early morning, before the wind start to blow again.

I’m cycling the famous Routa 40, probably the equivalent to the Route 66 in USA. I’m going back to a very arid area, where the distances between the villages are huge. Less and less water but I meet more gauchos, travelling byon horses. The shade starts to be rare but at the night, I’m the happiest man on earth. I sleep in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by rocks, wild and desert landscapes under the open sky and thousand stars. It does remain as These remain unforgettable nights, close to the nature and the a feeling of absolute freedom. On a riverside, I meet a gaucho with his horse and we have one of those surrealistic conversations about the snow coming soon or and the prices of the meat in the different areas I travelled. I especially like it when I meet people and they don’t even ask me where I come from, where I’m going to, why I’m doing this. I like those simple and basic conversations, human to human having basic needs or worries.

There is some road-blocks along the way where I meet some police officers, the carabinerosl, but none of them is able to tell me which road I can take to go to Chile. I’m looking for a nice small dirt road. When I reach the Mendoza’s district, the carabineros tell me that the only possible road for me by bicycle is…150 km backward… I’m at 600 meters high and the border is at 3’400 meters. On the way I meet a lot of gauchos, the time has arrived for them to change campsiteground. They leave the mountain before the snow comes to lower lands to escape the winter. I feel connected to those people; even if i think they deserve ten times more respect than me. They live in complete autonomy with their cows, goats and horses. Day and night they live outside and they almost never go to town. If they do, it’s to sell some meat to buy basic products as like salt, oil or, medicine., etc…

My last days in Argentina are fantastic. I hardly meet people anyone and it will take me 3 days to join the Argentinean’s to the Chilean’s cross the border between Argentina and Chila. I ’m have to reach the summit and cross the Andes. The semi-wild horses I meet run with me. It’s such a wonderful sensation to cycle in wild place and see horses running with you. Of course, they always win “the race” - but I’m not here for the performance, I’m just passing by, I’m a traveller. I observe, taste and enjoy. Argentina will remain for me a land of immense and pure landscape, great culture with a lot of Italian and Spanish influence. I love the food, the meat is the best I ever tasted and their wine is good (and cheap). The people I met are for a great part of the good memories I keep of the country; somehow I really feel connected to them, on the same level, probably because of its strong European influence.