The cyclist duo from Rovaniemi has traveled through South America this year. Hear how the trip went and what kind of Christmas the couple spends in Chile.
Currently, the couple is in southern Chile in the Puerto Natales National Park.
Tuija Kauppinen says that they will enjoy the city’s amenities at least for a while.
– First of all, it feels good to be in the city, because it’s been a long time along the dirt roads. Of course, there have been beautiful mountain landscapes, but we were there for quite a long time and missed even that football match.
It is now midsummer in Chile, and the landscape is full of familiar wildflowers.
– There are daisies, dandelions, yarrow and clover, as well as a big rock that I don’t even recognize. It’s terribly green compared to when we were in northern Chile, which is extremely barren because it’s the driest region in the world, Tuija Kauppinen says.
There have even been so many flowers that their scent has been intoxicatingly strong.
– For example, I have never experienced the smell of clover like this, even though I have been familiar with clover in my grandmother’s yard since I was a little girl.
In Rovaniemi, Christmas is starting to creep in from every corner. The city is full of Christmas tourists, and people go crazy about Christmas. In Catholic Chile, Christmas excitement has still been minimal, because there Christmas is celebrated until Epiphany.
– When we came here yesterday, Christmas decorations were visible in the windows of the houses. There are some Santa Clauses and poinsettias in the shop windows, but in the grocery store, for example, I haven’t seen any stacks of pretzels, and I haven’t heard Christmas carols yet. But we will definitely go to that local bakery to get Christmas pastries, says Tuija Kauppinen.
Ilkka Kauppinen says that the journey has been difficult at times. In Peru and Chile, the drought has forced them to carry up to three days’ worth of drinking water, and the strong winds batter the cyclists so much that sometimes they have had to put up with the cost.
He emphasizes the importance of rest on a long bike ride.
– We have met many cyclists who have forgotten the importance of rest. They will then burn out. Several people have stopped their bike trips in the middle because of it. Sometimes it’s important to go to the city, eat well, sleep a lot and take care of your relationship, says Ilkka Kauppinen.
The couple’s journey was supposed to continue to the southernmost tip of South America in Patagonia, but they have decided to continue their journey back north.
– Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world, so we drive there, but this cycling is such a great thing that we can’t stop just yet. From there we will take a bus to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, and from there we will pedal through Uruguay and Paraguay to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Instead of the beginning of the year, the return home has moved to next summer, says Ilkka Kauppinen.
– It must be the beginning of next summer. Sometime in May-June we will come back to Finland and Lapland. At least for a while.