In the first stretch of my journey I have to cross the border from Chile to Argentina. The border is mostly a natural border along the Andes. In other words, I start climbing today!

The real challenge today was the heat. Cycling for 6 hours at 30 degrees without any shade, felt like pedaling inside an oven. But 5 liters of water later, under the chance of being caught by a very heavy storm, I reached the end of my day in the city Los Andes

As cliche as it sounds, it’s not always all about the journey you make, it’s also about the people you meet. On my way, I noticed a group of cyclists going lighter and faster than me. They slowed down and started talking. They were training for a triathlon.

The coach gave me a pop quiz: do you have spare tubes? what about a water filter? anything waterproof? I proudly scored a 10/10 on this pop quiz and was officially declared by the external committee: well prepared. 

Exactly what I expected considering the heaviness of my bike, to be honest. After giving me some tips about the next stops where I can get water before starting today’s big climb we parted ways.

After finishing my climb I stoped at a restaurant for a lunch number 2. Believe me, I need second and third lunches when you do this kind of effort! Plus, Chilean food is amazing. It is so different compared to what I’m used to, but also delicious. Today I had a pastel de choclo which is a dish made with a sweet corn (choclo) topping baked over a savory filling, usually including round beef, onion, eggs, olives. (Honestly, it was like a South American version of a musaka.

Then came a monte con huesillo, a traditional summer-time drink consisting of a sweet clear nectar-like liquid made with dried peaches (huesillo) cooked in sugar, water and cinnamon and then once cooled, mixed with fresh cooked husked wheat berries (mote).

In the restaurant, there was a little girl who seemed really intrigued by my bike and presence. She kept studying my bike, tried asking me some questions but unfortunately I don’t speak Spanish. I could only understand when her parents were explaining her why do I need to wear a helmet.

Back on the road, as I was approaching the city of Los Altos, the sky became almost black, heavy cloud that promised a heavy rain. I decided to stop in the next city in 5km. Suddenly, a car starts to honk besides me and they made me a sign to pull over.  A bit hesitant I pulled over, but then I recognized: it was the family with the curious daughter from the restaurant. They pulled up google translate to make sure that I stop cycling for today soon and to warn me that the weather is approaching.

I reached my hotel just moments before the storm crashed into the city.

All in all, today was a more tiresome day than I expected because of the heat, but caring people made it feel lighter.

Distance: 50km

Elevation: 1000m

Mood: I need to use more suncream