My mantra: "Ride the world"

Those of you, following my blog, might have asked themselves “Why he is not posting anything at all?”. And here is my apology for not blogging anything for a whole week: other things had a higher priority!
On Monday and Tuesday, I met some colleagues from the local pig industry and they treated me extremely well: we first had a good virtual meeting with a whole team of the company that is very successful in the pig industry. Thereafter, I had the pleasure to meet three colleagues in person, having an excellent dinner with marvelous meat & vine.

Finally, on Tuesday, I was allowed to see some of their production plants. All in all a fascinating time, and I am very grateful to all of them; including Pablo, who picked me up on Tuesday and drove me back to my hotel in Rancagua.

From Wednesday to Sunday, I was driving, talking to Vivi, eating and sleeping; nothing less than this, and nothing more. I started in Rancagua towards the South, thereby crossing the mountains in order to reach the Pacific coast. Then I followed the Ruta del Mar until Conception, before going back to the Andes and riding in the mountains close to the boarder to Argentina. Finally, I circled through the Red Interlagio and ended up in Puerta Varas. You can get some impressions by watching the pictures and videos.

So, after all these impressions, you might become jealous. However, I can tell you that it remains a mixture of emotional ups and downs (next to physical effort when riding a motorbike in standing for hours)! The landscape is beautiful, I very much enjoy the scenery that you have here in South America. The people are very friendly and once you’ve convinced them being only a foreigner and neither a thieve nor a murder, they offer you a great hospitality and show their true kindness; so warm, so welcome!
HOWEVER, this ride comes along with the greatest challenge I ever perceived. This does not regard to long days, long rides, difficult terrain, crossing rivers, rocks on the road, no place to rest; it comes along with the feeling of “being there and not being there at the same time”. You can do an interpretation in both directions … whatever you prefer. My approach? I know exactly what is most important during this trip, and I take care of things that are of greatest importance!