MEXICO ...
Hola amigo´s,
Here is part one of I hope some interesting stories about my bicycle ride from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Patagonia, then up north all the way to Lima,Peru, crossingthe Andes into Chili several times.
So, adventure has started, a little sooner as hoped ...
What happened ?
Checking me, my luggage and my bicycle in at schiphol airport the not so good lady behind the Iberia desk gave me a wrong sticker to put on my bicycle box, destination Mexico.
I saw it only 30 minutes before checking in. Just grabbed suddenly my passport and looked at the receipts for my luggage. Suddenly I saw the letters MEX on one of my receipts. My brains were a little slow ... MEX ? As for Mexico???
No ... NO !!!!
I ran to a lady behind the counter and asked if I saw it right, MEX .
She looked, looked again and said, yes, the lady who checked you in made a mistake.
Checking with her colleges, making some phonecalls to hold my bike.
They made a new sticker for it and promissed me to put it on my white carton bicycle box.
I didn´t have to worry ...
2 1/2 hour flight to Madrid.
2 hours to change planes.
Arriving at the boarding gate I decided to check, dubbelcheck to make sure they didn´t forget my bicycle box. A nice and helpful man promissed me to check and act.
Looking out of the window I saw a car with trailer, and on top of the trailer a white carton box, my bicycle !!!
But ...
The car passed my plane,and went around the corner ...
Panic ...
I ran to another counter and asked the lady where the boarding gate for the plane to Mexico was, she looked it up in the computer and said, gate 29.
I was at gate 7, gate 29 was around the corner ...
F...k
I ran back to my gate and waited for the nice helpful man.
When I saw him I told him I saw my bicycle, going around the corner !
He said, yes, I am on to it.
I asked if my bike was at the plane to Mexico and he said yes again but that I should not worry. He was after it.
Scary minutes ticked away and suddenly I saw my bicycle box again and this time, yes ! , it was going to the right plane !
I was so happy and it was just minutes before checking in !
In the slurf to the plane I saw the helpful man outside, he saw me to and raised his thumb, I raised two !
Pffff
Arrived at BA in a thunderstorm, cycling out in the rain at 21:00 hours to find a place to camp. The rain didn´t bother me, happy as I was with all my luggage and my bike.
Riding on the highway it was very wet, the street full of water. At a particular place it was like 10 cm deep, I rode on the side ofthe road and 3 cars splassed me so bad, soken wet I was. But still happy.
I made a mistake in navigating, I looked back home on google earth for a place to pitch my tent and found someting next to something like a dirt road, behind some trees. But the road where I was on now was a highway, I was kinda lost.
But with this heavy rain I started to look for a campsite anyway and found one. 40 meters from the highway, behind a deserted house and some trees. Not the best spot but I was tired and just wanted to sleep. So I did.
Next morning it was almost dry as I cycled away, again on the ( forbidden ) highway.
Only for 7 km, then there was a turn off which would sent me through the outskirts of BA.
Asking for a street people warned me not to go there, dangerous. They pointed at my earrings and rings and told me to get them of. One of my rings is impossible to get of so I told them I would be extra carefull, also showed them my wooden stick and ammonia .
( Some americans told me once you could knock a bear down with that ... )
So I cycled through this really very bad neighbourhoud, dirt roads full of mud and poor people .. I cycled in the middle of the road, extra alert and fast too.
Thanks to google maps it was easy to find the streets I wanted to ride. Also checked with a young woman if it was dangerous here, she was walking alone too and she said, mas o menos, more or less.
But it soon became better and better, bringing me closer to town and to Victoria Diaz and her husband, where I could stay a couple of days. A wonderful thing called couch surfing
Their house was in the cities centre and the welcome was very good, she is a wonderful person. Cooked me a delicious lunch while I was showering. Bottle of wine with it, yeah, it finally became good
We went to a place where her husband, Thomas, was selling his photographs and she showed me around. But a little tired as I was I took the bus back to their house, their key in my pocket. That´s what trust is all about. Making me feel good. Even better after finishing one of their beers, only 970 ml big ...
In the evening had a great dinner and went early to bed.
Next day I explored BA on my own, cycling through this amazing city with it´s great architecture and o so nice plaza´s. That´s what makes south america so great, not only the great nature and people but also the cities, I love them all !
And BA is something special, with it´s widest avenue of the world and all other great signs, the harbour side, parks and so on.
Having a great time !
Tomorrow I will cycle out of BA, going west, to the pampa´s.
Looking forward to it !
Hasta pronto
Lars
)
