metres had to be done in a week. It
was a memorable long stretch of road
especially the Serra do Rio do Rastro.
Considered as the best road in Bra-
zil it goes up the mountains in a way
that would make any spaghetti lover
jealous.
I later visited the Iguaza water-
falls, on the border with Argentina.
There’s little doubt that I can claim
they are the most stunning cascades
anywhere in the world.
After entering Argentina and
before reaching the wine region of
Mendoza I experienced two of the
most special moments in an other-
wise unremarkable area.
The first was my arrival in the
capital Buenos Aires. After riding
650 kilometres, and at around 5pm,
I reached the largest avenue in the
world; the “Avenida 9 de Julio”. Peak
hour and every “Bonaerenses” is on
the way home from work. Slaloming
between cars when suddenly, my
clutch cable became stuck, there was
no way to turn. Impossible to turn
left, I fell in the middle of the road,
luckily without being hit by any cars.
It took me almost two hours to fig-
ure out what happened and to push
Baloo all the way to the garage of the
hotel I’d booked. Everyone one was
looking at me like an astronaut lost in
a tea party.
The second moment was when I
first saw the Andes. After more than
1000km of straight road through the
Pampas from east to west I finally
glimpsed the first sights of the im-
pressive mountain range. I had been
waiting for this exact moment from
the first day of planning the journey.
I felt overcome by a mix of happiness
and pride. A few minutes that I will
remember all my life. Aboard my
bike I was screaming with joy, jump-
ing around and thrusting my hands in
the air like I had just won the Super-
bowl. I must confess that a few tears
rolled down my cheeks under my
helmet. It took me more than three
TRAVERSE 23
months and over 13,000 kilometres to
reach the entrance of the Andes.
I spent a couple of days camping,
‘lost in the mountains’, discovering
back roads aboard my bike. It soon
became time to discover new adven-
ture.
My goal was to reach “El fin del
Mundo” Ushuaia. Ruta 40 was my
best option to achieve this. The
famous road crosses Argentina from
north to south, along the Andes and
provides plenty of entertainment. It
is also the main gateway to the Argen-
tinian Patagonia, and I could not wait
to see what kind of quests would be
presented to me and Baloo.
Right after leaving Mendoza, I was
thrust deep into the unknown right
in the middle of the nature. Day after
day was spent discovering dirt tracks
through the mountains, washing my
clothes (and eventually myself) in
fresh water streams and rivers, find-
ing astonishing wild camping spots.
After sunset, I’d watch the sky getting