Chile

POST-CYCLING LUXURY

What would one expect after 7 weeks of cycling? A luxury hotel? Partying? A massage?

Well, yes! I did dream of some luxury life after almost 2 months of tough weather conditions and cycling but the definition of it is actually quite open. For us it meant  to keep it simple and budget friendly but above all it meant to stay in a warm, water and wind proof place where we could work for our living. Of course we were as organised as usual and once in Puerto Natales we simply turned up at the doorstep of the “El Campesino”; a hostel / couchsurfing family / tourist information / outdoor rental / every now and then restaurant. Gloria opened the door and after a fair bit of confusion she asked us in with open arms. Thanks to the thousands of couchsurfers who have passed by since quite a couple of years, Gloria spoke such a foreigner friendly version of the Chilean Spanish that we almost felt fluent with our poor language skills.

And this place proofed to be more than only a voluntary work environment where we worked for our living. We also found a lovely home where we were integrated into the family life, international exchange and where we enjoyed great cooking sessions with Gloria and some couchsurfers who passed by. The industry style kitchen of the unused restaurant was an awesome place and after so much time of cooking on a camping stove this was like in heaven. We perfected our bread making techniques and tried to introduce some vegetarian cuisine to the so meaty oriented household. And no, we could not convince Gloria’s husband and her 2 children with our veggie culture.

I think I gained all my weight back which I lost during cycling, maybe even more. We cleaned up the garden, built a compost and helped in the house. We had a couple of beers with some people we had met somewhere on the Carretera Austral and who also happened to be in town at the same time.

A great time and a lovely experience which we were grateful to make. Thank you very much Gloria and family.

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