I have only biked through the mountains one other time and it was when I rented a moped in Switzerland during my study abroad in Europe(junior year). My experience riding a moped through the glorious mountains of Switzerland didn't turn out as 'delicate and romantic' as it should have. My friend Jess and I ended up crashing into the side of the mountain and both getting stitches at a local clinic by a doctor who didn't speak English. My knee had a deep cut to the bone, whereas poor Jess's entire knee cap was torn off (blood everywhere). It was the most tragic and gruesome accident I've ever been in and I still can't get that vision of Jess holding her knee together with her hands out of my mind. There was a LOT of blood, panic and fear involved with that accident, but we both survived as did the moped. Nevertheless, I have a fear of bikes, mopeds, motorcycles and all the like, especially in the mountains, in the cold, in the dark...in a foreign country. So for our third day, we rented bikes for a five hour mountain biking adventure. I was pumped! (I really was, it's impossible that the same accident would happen twice right?)
No matter how many times I try and speak in Spanish with the locals of Argentina, they always speak back to me in English. For example, we arrived at the bike rental shop and there were two young Argentine workers there. I said "hola" they said "Hello, how can we help you?" I continued... "Me gustaria una bicicleta para el dia" and in response, as if it were a language competition they said "okay, for an all day ride?". I gave in and said, "YES". I know they speak to me in English because they want to practice as much as I want to practice Spanish, but it is annoying at times.
We were assigned to our bikes and were then handed safety 'reflection straps' to wear so that passing cars could see us. I wore mine directly on my body whereas Tash and Byron were too cool for school and put it on their backpacks.
The reflection strap:
It took Tash and I a few tries to change the gears on the mountain bikes. It was confusing going from down hill, to up hill, to level ground etc. Byron, the pro at biking and almost every physical activity we did, was of great assistance to us on this adventure. Tash and I moved a little slower than we would have liked, but mostly because the path we were on was up MASSIVE mountain hills. I was huffing and puffing and sweating like crazy for most of the five hour ride, even though it was chilly outside. Again, thank God Byron was with us because at one point Tasha's bike gave out and the chain came right off causing her to almost wipe out. We walked our bikes about two miles up hill until we found Byron. He had biked a few miles ahead of us(I don't blame him)and was glad to help fix Tash's bike. We were well on our way moments later.
Tash biking through the mountain...in the middle of paradise!
Luckily, we had packed some trailmix and other snacks with us. We used so much energy biking and needed all the energy we could get. The total path from start to finish took the average person about 6 hours(with stops included). We were moving pretty slow, stopping to take pictures, to eat, and fix our bikes, and we even made it to the ADORABLE small town (it was a little bit off the beaten path, but we thought it would be worth it). The town was called Colonia Suiza (Swiss Colonia). This town was stunning and yes, very Swiss inspired. We took a long cobbled road to get there and past horses, cows, Estancia's, refugios, and bridges to get there. The town was plopped right in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by glorious mountains. As we arrived we were overcome by all the precious carved wooden huts, cabins, homes and cafe's. The town seemed untouched and peaceful.
The town:
A tiny home/hut:
Happy!
The wooden huts were beautiful and delicate. We felt as though Colonia Suiza was our secret town. It was here in all the tranquility, silence and mysteriousness that I started to wonder if the hobbits and fairies truly existed. The weather was chilly, we were tired and the wooden huts looked so inviting. We decided to stop in one for some tea and coffee. We found the hut with the most decorative door and enjoyed cake, cafe con leche and Byron had himself a delicious beer and venison panini.
mmm!
The cafe we rested in:
A few hours had passed when I realized we needed to get a move on. Over half of our 5/6 hour bike ride remained and it was getting late. We gathered our things, put our helmets and safety straps on and mounted our bikes. It was already getting dark and much cooler in the high mountains. I began to have some flashbacks of Switzerland and tried to convince the other Natasha and Byron we should bike back the way we came because it seemed shorter than following the way on the map. Both insisted we continue to follow the map because there appeared to be less hills. With hesitation and anxiety I followed what they said and biked my hardest and fastest up hills, down hills, through mountains, around lakes, over bends, UP hills, UP hills again...and again and again and again etc etc etc. There were SO many points in those 3.5 hours where I didn't think I would EVER make it back to the bike shop. We were racing against the light of day and I felt I was going to collapse. Thankfully Natasha was right there with me...stopping ever so often to walk our bikes up the hills. It was getting colder and darker and more difficult to ride because we had NO more energy left to use.
We continued to bike VERY fast so that we wouldn't have to pay extra at the bike rental if we were late. The thing that really kept us going were the breathtaking views we saw every time we reached the top of another mountain. No pictures could even do the scenery justice...so I didn't bother taking any. Besides my heavy breathing and the sound of the wind pushing past my ears, the ride back was silent. The sky was turning pink and orange as the lakes grew to a darker and deeper blue.
Byron's attempt to capture the beauty...
There is a quote in my favorite movie, "Forest Gump", that describes what the earth looked like on my bike ride. It is in the part when Forest "just kept on running". He is describing his year-long run to Jenny as she lay on her death bed. He says to her "there were times when I couldn't tell where heaven ended and the earth began...". That is the exact thought that came to my mind as I stopped to watch the setting sun behind the mountains reflect a shadow of deep pink on the lakes. It was truly not of this world...miraculous!
After a LONG, COLD, EXHAUSTING, yet AMAZING bike adventure through the mountains and back, we made it to the bike rental with ONE minute to spare. We were exhausted, hungry, thirsty and every other feeling a person could have. The adventure was 8 hours in total. 8 hours that I will always remember! It was on this bike ride that I thought to myself, 'Bariloche, or Patagonia in general, is a place that everyone in the world deserves to experience at least once in their lifetime'. I felt so lucky to be there. It truly is a hidden gem in our world...so grandiose and natural. I hope after reading this SOMEONE decides to make Patagonia a life destination. Believe me, you have never seen anything so stunning in your life. It's almost too much for the human eye...
And that is the end of Bariloche: Day 3.
No comments:
Post a Comment