Around The World in 370 days

Yeah! I can finally write about this wonderful country, after having landed here a bit more than a month ago. Sorry for the delay but maintaining a blog up-to-date is a lot of work...

On the 11^th of December then, I made my way to the airport in Santiago de Chile and was ready to check-in, but only to be told that in order for the Quantas Airways agents to check me in and allow me on the flight I had booked and pre-paid, I needed an exit flight from New-Zealand. Yes, the New-Zealanders are really welcoming and as a European you don't need to arrange a visa beforehand (a tourist visa lasts for 3 months), but they also want to make sure you won't stay longer...

So in a bit of a panic, I had to run in the airport and find an internet spot and book (and pay) an exit flight from New-Zealand to Asia for 2 months later... Fortunately I had thought in the previous days about how long exactly I wanted to stay in Kiwikand but maybe I could have saved a bit of money trying to compare different flights if I had had more time. Anyway 30 minutes later, I came back to the check-in desk and could board the the plane without issues.

Conclusion: ALWAYS plan enough time to check-in to avoid panic rush and last minute urgencies like that. I had arrived 1 hour and a half before my flight and I was lucky I did otherwise I might have lost a lot of money and have had to book another flight...

However the flight I had booked wasn't direct so after flying over the edge of Antarctica (see picture of the icebergs on the right) I landed in Sydney and immediately boarded another plane in direction of Christchurch where I would spend the night (in the airport) before boarding another flight in the morning to Auckland. Not sure why the flight comparison website I had used to book my flight wanted me to do a stop-over in Christchurch but it was probably the cheapest flight combination at that time. Of course with that many connections, there is always something going slightly wrong and my backpack didn't follow me to Christchurch but instead was sent directly to Auckland the next morning. Not a big deal but I had to explain the problem to the immigration officers, persuade them that I wasn't a drug lord trying to smuggle illegal things in their country from South America, and manage to trace my bag to be sure I could collect it (after a full bag search obviously) in Auckland the next day.

Finally, on the afternoon of Friday the 13^th of December, I arrived in my hostel completely exhausted, after having spent more than 2 days (technically you "lose" one day when flying from South America to New-Zealand) in the air and airports. But I was here and my luggage as well! Phew!

Plane ready to be boarded! Yeah!

First leg to Sydney, 13 hours... Hopefully the movies on-board selection is good...

The route the plane will take

On the edge of Antarctica...

Auckland, finally!

Oh I forgot it was almost Christmas!! It's definitely a weird feeling to think of spending Christmas when it's hot and sunny... Where is the cold and snow??

Le temps est maintenant venu de jeter un coup d’œil sur ces derniers 6 mois (et demi) car c'est maintenant la fin de mon voyage en Amérique Latine... Franchement, je n'arrive toujours pas à croire que cela fait déjà 6 mois que je quittais Paris en ce matin gris et pluvieux. Le temps passe si vite...

En 6 mois, j'ai donc parcouru plus de 14 000 kilomètres (sans compter l'avion) et visité 13 pays différents, parfois juste en les traversant très rapidement, mais parfois en y restant plus d'un mois. A l'exception du Bélize, tous sont des pays hispanophones mais malheureusement je dois avouer que je ne parle toujours pas l'espagnol couramment, même si je peux maintenant me targuer de pouvoir tenir une conversation basique (c'est déjà ça). Il est sûr en tout cas que le fait de maitriser le français me facilita les choses (surtout quand je compare avec mes amis anglophones), français et espagnol étant assez proches.

J'aurais sans-doute aussi dû l’écrire plus tôt mais par le biais de cet article je voulais remercier toutes les personnes rencontrées durant ces derniers mois, ami(e)s de quelques heures ou pour certain(e)s, ami(e)s pour la vie. Quelques amis en France me demandaient avant que je ne parte à l'aventure si je n’étais pas un peu effrayé de partir tout seul, et bien sûr que je l’étais quelque peu. Mais je dois dire que je ne me suis rarement senti seul durant ces derniers 6 mois. Voyager seul ne vous force pas seulement à vous ouvrir à toutes sortes de voyageurs rencontrés sur la route, mais aussi à interagir avec les habitants locaux et ce dernier point est sûrement la chose la plus importante pour un voyageur. Parler la langue locale rend votre voyage totalement différent et j'aurais aimé pouvoir communiquer encore plus en espagnol dès le début mais je suis sûr que je reviendrai un jour... J'ai n'ai seulement fait qu'effleurer la surface de l’Amérique Centrale et du Sud et il y a encore tant à découvrir!

Donc merci à tous!! Je suis tellement reconnaissant de toutes les expériences et moments partagés ensemble et espérons que nous puissions garder contact dans le futur.

Je voulais aussi revenir sur quelques paroles que j'ai entendu plusieurs fois durant cette première partie de voyage. En effet certains voyageurs se plaignaient du fait que beaucoup de leurs "interactions" qu'ils avaient avec d'autres durant leur périple étaient pour la plupart "superficielles", car étant des rencontres de quelques heures ou de quelques jours, avant que chacun ne continue vers un endroit différent. Bien que cela ne soit en partie vrai, je ne qualifierais pas ces amitiés de "superficielles". Bien sûr qu'il est impossible de garder contact avec la centaine de personnes que vous allez rencontrer durant un long voyage. Même aujourd'hui avec l'aide des réseaux sociaux, il est impossible d'envoyer un message régulièrement à tous ses contacts, mais personne n'attend aussi de vous que vous le fassiez. Qualifier ces relations de superficielles c'est aussi nier un point important je pense. Le fait que tout le monde puisse vous enseigner quelque chose (directement ou indirectement) et que vous ne saurez jamais exactement quoi avant de faire ces rencontres.

Tout au long de mon parcours j'ai rencontré tant de personnes qui ont partagé leurs histoires avec moi, que j'ai en fait plus appris en 6 mois à propos des différentes cultures du monde que durant mes dernières 29 années. Et en voyageant il n'y a aussi plus cette "pression sociale" qui vous fait vous comporter de la manière dont tout le monde (famille, amis, collègues, etc...) attend de vous, ce qui fait que vous pouvez vraiment être vous même sans avoir à plaire à tout le monde autour de vous. Par ceci je ne veux pas dire que chez vous, tout le monde est un peu "faux" mais vous voyez ce que je veux dire, il y a des conventions sociales qui vous font parfois agir d'une façon que vous ne voudriez pas, qui pourraient vous empêcher de dire tout ce que vous voudriez (au boulot, dans vos cercles d'amis, etc..). Et en se libérant de ce carcan social vous réalisez en fait qui vous êtes vraiment, ce que vous aimez vraiment, ce que vous n'aimez pas, et plus encore... En d'autres termes vous vous découvrez vraiment (ce qui est aussi pour moi une des raisons de voyager).

D'un coté vous êtes plus égoïste mais d'une bonne manière si je peux m'exprimer ainsi. D'un autre coté vous devez aussi garder à l'esprit qu'il est possible d'apprendre de tout le monde, et même de certaines personnes dont vous ne vous attendriez pas (c'est d'ailleurs probablement de ces personnes-là que vous pourriez être le plus surpris). Et inversement, il est aussi plus que probable que beaucoup de monde apprendra de vous et de vos expériences, aucun doute sur ce point-là.

Tout cela pour dire que voyager est avant tout partager, s'ouvrir au monde et aux autres. De ne pas juger les apparences. Et comme souvent dans la vie, les meilleures choses et expériences arrivent quand on s'y attend le moins...

Pour finir cet article, voici quelques statistiques à propos de ces 6 mois passés sur la route:

Time has now come to look back on the last 6 months (and a half) as this is now the end of my trip in Latin America. I honestly cannot believe that it has been more than 6 months since I left Paris on that grey and rainy morning. The time flew so quickly...

In 6 months, I have covered more than 14,000 kilometres on the road (without counting the flights) and visited 13 different countries, sometimes just crossing them, sometimes staying more than a month. At the exception of Belize, all were spanish speaking countries, but unfortunately I have to report that I am still not a fluent speaker, though I can now manage a basic conversation. Certainly being a native French speaker helped a lot as the two languages have a lot in common.

I should have probably wrote it sooner as well but by this post I want to thank all the people I met during that time, friends of a few hours or for some, now friends for life. Some of my friends back home were asking before I started travelling if I was not actually scared to travel alone, and of course I was a bit, this being the first time I was going to travel by myself. But I have to say that I hardly felt alone during the last 6 months. Travelling alone not only forces you to open up with all kind of travellers you meet along the way, but also to interact with locals and the latter is probably invaluable as a traveller. Speaking the local language makes your whole trip totally different and I wished I could have been fluent in spanish from the start, but I know I will come back one day. I have only scratched the surface of Central and South America and there is still so much to discover!

So thank you all, I am so grateful of all the experiences and moments we have shared together and let's hope that we can keep in touch in the future.

I also wanted to come back on some words I heard several times during this trip. Some people I met were indeed complaining that a lot of the interactions they were having during their travels were superficial because most of the time when they met other people, it was only for a couple of hours or a few days, before each moved on to a different place. Whilst this is partly true, I still wouldn't call these interactions or short friendships "superficial". Of course it is impossible to keep in touch with the hundreds of people you meet during a long travel. Even with the help of the social networks, you cannot send a message regularly to every contact you have, but no one expects you to do so as well. Calling these relationships superficial are denying one important fact I think. The fact that everyone can teach you something and that you will never know beforehand what it is.

Along the way I met so many people who shared their stories with me, that I have also learnt more about the different world cultures in 6 months than in my previous 29 years. And while travelling there is also no "social pressure" of having to behave like everyone (family, friends back home) expects you to, so you can really be yourself without constantly trying to please everyone around you. By this I am not saying that back home, everyone acts "fake" but you see what I mean, there are social conventions which make you sometimes not behave like you would like to or to not say everything you would like (at work, in your friend's circles, etc...). And by freeing yourself from these social chains, you actually realise who you really are, what you really like, what you really don't like, and many more other things. In other words you really discover yourself.

In one hand you are a bit more selfish but in a good way if I can say so. On the other hand you need to keep in mind that you can actually learn from everyone, even from the people you wouldn't expect to (it's probably those ones who will surprise you the most). And it is also likely that some people will probably learn from you and your experiences, no doubt about it.

All that to say that travelling is all about sharing, about opening up to the world and to the others. About not judging on the appearances. And as usual in life, the best things and experiences happen when you least expect them...

To finish this post here are a few stats about these 6 months spent on the road:

A few days later, after a short stop in Punta Arenas in the south of Chile, I decided for once to throw my principles out of the window and to take a plane to Santiago, to avoid spending again hours and hours in buses and also avoid having to cross again the border between Chile and Argentina (the whole Chilean region in the south being full of fjords, there is no direct road that links Punta Arenas to the cities north of Puerto Natales). One option would have been to take a cruise boat and admire the magnificent fjords of Patagonia but alas there was not enough time for me to do so and this would have been quite pricey as well.

So once arrived in Santiago, I decided to spend the next few days to relax whilst waiting for my flight to New Zealand. In 6 months and a half I had seen countless museums, taken 10,000 pictures, hiked I don't know how many trails, so it was enough and I really felt the need to not to anything. Funny fact, when I had first arrived in Mexico city, I had met two guys from Chile in my first hostel. We had exchanged our contact details when I had told them that I should be finishing my trip in Latin America 6 months later in their capital and they had offered for me to contact them at that time. So instead of spending a few more nights in a hostel, I therefore stayed with my friends Walter (and Max), which also offered me the possibility to test my new spanish skills... Well, hum... I still have some progress to make but at least I can have now a (very basic) conversation!

The feeling I got from Santiago was actually quite good. The city is surrounded by high mountains offering a nice sight (according to Walter, the views are also more amazing in winter time when snows cover them all) and even though it is a big city, there are lots of local bars and restaurants which give you a true feeling of the Chilean culture. Apparently the Chilean capital is also economically booming so I will definitely keep an eye on it in the future. The weather was also a lot warmer than the previous weeks spent in Patagonia so definitely a good place to spend my last days on that continent.

The last few beers in South America with Walter

Punta Arenas

Cormorants colony in Punta Arenas

That's it, the journey in South America was almost over when I finally reached Ushuaia, dubbed the End of the World city, in Argentina. After travelling thousands of kilometres from Mexico, I had finally set foot on the most southern city in the world, the closest from Antarctica. I could have carried on a little bit as there is also this village called Puerto Williams, in the Chilean part, at only a 15 minutes boat ride from Ushuaia, but technically this is only a village hosting no more than 2500 inhabitants and besides that this 15 minutes boat ride costs 125$, one-way! So let's say Ushuaia is the most southern point in America.

The first impression when you arrive in Ushuaia is that this town seems to only benefit from tourism. There are tons of souvenirs shops, hostels, restaurants but always at a higher price than the rest of Argentina. Everything here is dedicated to "El Fin del Mundo" and after a while your wallet starts to feel it...

I have made it!

Mexico, 8771 km... 6 months ago...

Ushuaia by night

Unfortunately when we were there the weather wasn't at its best and it prevented us to visit and hike in the national park Tierra del Fuego which is supposed to offer some very nice views. However I managed to realised one of my childhood's dream, to see penguins in their real habitat! There are lots of marine wildlife around Ushuaia and it is common to spot whales, dolphins, seals, orcas, penguins, it just depends of the time of the year as most of these species are only passing by to migrate between different oceans.

But one common attraction here is as I said, to visit one of the several penguin colonies around Ushuaia. Magellanic and Gentoo penguins can be seen almost all year round, with the odd King penguin making an appearance as well. But to see Emperor penguins, one would have to hop on onto one of the cruise boats to Antarctica and spend around 15 days navigating the glacial waters, for a "small" cost of minimum 3000 US$... I guess this must also be the experience of a lifetime but that is not really an option when travelling on a budget... Well whatever, it will be for a next trip!

Ships waiting to set off for Antarctica

And after a few days spent in Ushuaia, I felt that it was now time to go back up to Chile as my flight to New Zealand was only a week away. I would then hop off on a bus, through snow and strong winds in direction of Punta Arenas (Chile), only to find out that all the ferries which make the crossing in the Magellan Strait were not running because of the strong winds blowing off that day. Fortunately after a 6 hours wait, the wind decreased and we could finish our journey to Punta Arenas.

Magellanic penguins

More rare though, the Gentoo penguin

And even more uncommon, the King penguin, it was the only one we could spot that day. It felt like that lovely penguin had taken the wrong turn and was like: "WTF am I doing here!

The King penguin keeping an eye on the Gentoos brooding their chicks

Be careful...

Penguin attack!

Trying to communicate with the penguins... Not that easy!

Tree shaped by the wind on the J Road

Lots of snow on the way back, not even sure how the bus managed to go through