Diary: In the Footsteps of Che Guevara

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In the footsteps of Che Guevara

Bingo! The sun finally came out and, as the locals said, the border between Argentina and Chile would open at about 1pm. Which meant my wait was over.

Interestingly enough, sitting in the hotel in Uspagliata, I was eagerly waiting for the border to open. And after all, this place is almost holy! It is from here, from the province of Mendoza, in January 1952, when I was not yet alive, the famous Ernesto Guevara (then still without the prefix Che), together with his friend Alberto Granado went on a motorcycle across South America. However, they did not dare to go through the Andes to Chile and crossed the border much further south. Well, I've traveled that hellish stretch! And I can compare my deed with Suvorov's troops crossing the Alps…..

Crossing through the Andes at an altitude of 5 thousand meters.

It's hard to put it into words. The temperature is sub-zero, and there is ice almost all over the road, although sand is being poured down non-stop. It's just a matter of time before they drag you down the serpentine into the abyss…. And snowy mountains are very beautiful! I passed two ski resorts. I wanted to stop and go skiing, but not before: I had to get through this section before they gave me the go-ahead.

Tunnels. There were two of them. Both like refrigerated chambers. I also have a helmet cam and a camera on my chest. You've got to keep up. The last tunnel is the border between the two countries. It was only there that I realized how extreme it is to cross the Andes at this time. Sometimes it snows in summer, and in winter it snows all the time. So it turns out that the road turns into 90 km of nerves. It is not enough to have good equipment and passion. You also have to have patience and experience. And I have enough experience – winter Turkey, snowy Morocco, the foothills of Everest. All of this has come in very handy for me now.

Chile is behind Antarctica.

Andes, temperature – 18

All the way there, I thought of Che Guevara. It was much harder for him and his friend 60 years ago than for me…..

At 3500 meters above sea level, I was crossing the border into Chile. The dogs sniffed me and my motorcycle thoroughly. The main thing for the border guards was that I should not smuggle contraband, and they did not care about my condition. I thought: that's it, it will be easier after the border. But no! Everything is just beginning.

You have to get down from such a snowy height! And, as it turned out, this section of the road is the most dangerous. I've never driven on a road like this before. Now, when everything is behind me, I begin to realize that any mistake could have cost me my life. The 20km downhill took so much energy that my muscles were sore for a week. It felt like I'd been lifting weights for an hour without stopping. And it's almost the same: at low speed to keep balance and control almost half a ton motorcycle. Although the test was very hard, I'm glad I did it! Especially since I am doing it in memory of my son Denis. Probably, any traveler on a difficult journey is looking for relief and peace of mind.

I was incredibly happy to get out of this hell. The temperature was rising almost by the minute. Before Santiago it was plus 15. I'm still recovering. And the "mountain sickness" is behind me. I still feel oxygen deprivation at such heights… But truckers on their trailers daily conquer these mountains, these heights. True, they live here, and these are their mountains.

I made it to Santiago. Thank God! Thanks to my iron Tulpar!

Actually … traveling around the world, and even on a bike – a lot of EMOTIONS, Nerves, Passions, Experiences …. and of course Happiness!!! Happiness – because you see, feel, conquer and LIVE to realize your Dream. That's right. Incredible emotions overwhelmed me and my heart when I had already stepped with one foot on the territory of the middle of the Earth – ECUADOR. The whole biker's round-the-world life flashed in my head. Every country is a special history with its character and mentality.

I always compare my MOTOBO victories to China first and foremost. It was the conquest of the Chinese Wall when I rode my motorcycle up its steps in 2009 and then rode into their red Tiananmen Square right up to Mao Tse-tung's mausoleum. It was a real victory, especially since I was destined to be the first foreign biker to enter China on my motorcycle and ride all over the country.

I don't want to describe the customs and border procedures, but I will say that because Kazakhstan is not a member of the International TRIR-Cornet, it took a lot of time to clear, moreover, they demanded money as collateral so that I didn't sell my bike to the Ecuadorians. Actually, I'm used to it, but resentment gnaws at me because other foreigners skip the borders in 20-30 minutes and I have to stay for two or three days in neutral territory….

Yesss, I'm already in Ecuador! The first thing that I am tempted to do is to rush towards Quito (the capital of Ecuador) and find myself with my bike right on the site of the EQUATOR that separates the Northern and Southern hemispheres!

With the famous journalist Gaura.

But ahead of me will be Guayaquil, where my friend Grigory Evseev lives. And I can't miss such a meeting with you. Go to Guayaquil….

The distance is not great, but still had to spend the night on the highway as it was already evening.

The first thing that caught my eye in this very GREEN area of Latin America was the sheer number of banana plantations. I saw with my own eyes the inner life of this banana country and realized that the main article of their income is the export of bananas all over the world.

The people are very interesting and friendly. Of course, they are very accustomed to auto-motor travelers from across the ocean. With pleasure they communicate, treat and invite to a table, though it is obvious that inhabitants are not spoiled by luxury and live at the expense of their farm. I felt like I was in LAOS, it reminds me a lot of this country (if you replace Bananas with Pineapples).

500 kilometers flew by quickly. The roads are 50/50. But you can see that road construction and repair is taking place all over the southern part of Ecuador.

Guayaquil is the second city in the country. At the very entrance to the city I was already met by my old friend Grigory, with whom we once realized a round-the-world regatta on the yacht "Chokan Valikhanov". He was the organizer and inspirer of this circumnavigation and the country will long remember his super project "TERRAVITA". And now I am visiting him. His experience and ideas the Ecuadorian leadership is gladly implementing in life for the benefit of their country, having appointed him one of the leaders of the Geographical Society of Ecuador. Lucky them….

After hugging and talking, we went to see the city and its sights… I, of course, on my iron horse. The first thing I saw was their Pride – the Statue of the Sacred Heart of Christ, which was made in Italy and was installed on the hill of CARMEN in 1970.

On one of the streets, when I was following Grigory's car, I was pushed off the highway by a huge jeep and quietly asked to make a right and stop. I took the right, two big young men with elements of biker clothes came out of the jeep and started to look at my bike and me with astonishment, using only Spanish speech and shaking their heads… like where did this "wonder of the world" come from in Ecuador?

Grigory moved on and I was left alone with these guys. Of course, I immediately realized that they were my colleagues and quickly found a common (broken) language…. As it turned out Fredy Fernandez is the president of the Guayaquil bike club and was very eager to organize a meeting with him and his bikers…. He quickly gave me his business card and we agreed to call… I caught up with Gregory and said that the local bikers want to score a "shot" with me in the next few days.

Great!!! Not a meeting, a bomb. It was a working day, but gathered about 10 bikers on different motorcycles…. Everything was and the meeting, and the parade, and the dinner, and gifts… and of course INTERVIEW with TV and radio channels. Specially drove through the whole city (without police escort) along Melecon Boulevard and stopped at the main square Simon Bolivar, where a large public and press were waiting. This was all organized by Fredy Fernandez. We became very good friends with him and correspond constantly. By the way, he gave me a fake helmet, which I never part with and put it on the trunk of my bike.

Interesting bikers on his crew, mostly older guys…. professors, doctors, businessmen. But when they get on a bike they turn into ordinary extreme guys with their good jokes and biker humor…. They promised to come to Kazakhstan. I'll be waiting for them.

Another meeting was organized by Grigory Evseev with our compatriot Anna Samokhina. It was she who came to Ecuador eight years ago and organized the Flower Business. She built greenhouses and started growing roses of the highest grade, sending them to Kazakhstan.

Now I understand how "Dutch roses" get to us in Kazakhstan. Good for you, what can you say? Proud of Anna. Prosperity to her…

Let's move on! To my Dream of getting to the EQUATOR…..

I stopped in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Without hesitation, I immediately went in the direction of the monument Ciudad Midat del Mundo, which in Spanish means Middle of the World, "Equator Line", which separates the two hemispheres…. Just 15 minutes from Quito. To be honest, it felt like an eternity.

Iguana in a biker's captivity. business cards and calendars, taking pictures with everyone. But intuitively I was looking for a board of stickers of travelers who leave their stickers on special stands thus confirming their presence in this place. … . Jess, I found it. with great pleasure I put my sticker among the travelers…

The main thing, of course, is to take a good photo, record a video, and perform all the rituals associated with visiting the Equator. I certainly adventurous (as always), drove right into the heart of the monument "Center of the World", hit the Equator line – the guards first tried to tell me what to say, but then they realized that I am a Super Foreigner, and even on a big motorcycle with an unknown flag… and quietly gave me a photo-video session…, many foreigners took advantage of this and took pictures on my bike on the line of the EQUATOR. I managed to put an egg on a nail head the first time – this is an unusual phenomenon that can be observed only on the EQUATOR line….

Yay, I did it. Now the road takes me to Colombia… and when I get back on the Panamamerican Highway, I'm back on the equator and there's a STELLA and the equator line. Super. That makes me a two-time equator conqueror. This monument is much more modest at 16 meters high and is a giant sundial. I was lucky enough to meet the monument's caretaker, Mr. Hoswe Koyagido. He practically lives not far from the monument and knows all travelers from all countries. He says he only heard about Kazakhstan from me. The whole day we spent together, in his museum EQUATOR, in the evening the president of this project Cristobal Cobo came to us, who told us a lot about the anomalies that occur at the equator and about the movement of magnetic energy on the planet EARTH….. ugh how interesting…

I ended up dropping off some Kazakh souvenirs at their museum.

I would like to note that the country is very fond of erecting various monuments and busts of its ancestors and great people. The language is Spanish only, but English is also understood. The cuisine is also extreme at times. They have edible rats – calling them affectionately guinea pigs (they do not look like pigs at all. purest water Rats…). So …- the look is terrible, but the taste is ABALDEN.

I used to eat cockroaches and frogs in special sauces… I survived… but this is real meat with squirrel or chipmunk flavor… I recommend it… have a good appetite…. Columbia on the horizon…

All books by Dmitry Petrukhin