![]() ![]() Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the world’s largest religions all spawned out of desert civilizations. Most mornings, I managed another half hour or 100m up the first climb before stopping to smear a spoonful of peanut butter on one of Chile’s ever-disappointing budget granola bars.Įxcursions deep into deserts and other austere places are said to inspire philosophical contemplation and divine epiphanies. We were rolling before nine, and by half past I was ravenous. I somehow failed to plan breakfasts, so I’d sip on a mug of coffee – instant Nescafe with powdered milk, of course – and pack my things. Ritual Morning BonkingĮach morning we got up with the sun, around 7:30. It wouldn’t let us forget… consciousness exists on the brink of insanity. Then the noise rarely let up – in gusts it carried gravel to eye-height, in lulls just howled on in our ears, a deafening white noise. But even this pattern gave up as we moved higher, passing between salt-bottomed basins and lifeless passes. Our earliest nights were calmer, with the gale building by noon and lasting until nighttime. At its worst, it was a heavy pack, a swarm of wasps inside our heads, driving us insane, a draining sickness. From there on the wind was a nuisance at best. ![]() It was not until a day later that we turned off the known route, perpendicular to the gales that had pushed us up to 4300m on that lumpy narrow-gauge railway. He allowed us to sleep out of the wind in an empty building that reeked from a barrel of used motor oil. On the Argentine side, we were casually stamped in by a man in sweatpants and white Crocs. ![]() The Chilean sergeant insisted on having his photo taken with us, so he could remember the occasion.Įven though it’s remote and rarely used, this pass is relatively well known to cyclists and is rapidly gaining popularity as the confusion about it diffuses. Then the cargo could be leisurely transferred from one train to the next without any humans needing to cross. The outpost remains manned year round, so that a few times per month an empty train from the Chilean coast could meet an Argentine train full of raw lithium ore. They said that only three other people had crossed at that border before us this year, and only two in total the previous year. The Chilean border guards shuffled around in the small entry room, reminding themselves how to process a passport, while we leaned against the inside of the metal door, wind whistling at our backs. ![]()
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