2020-06-01_Travel+Leisure

74 TRAVEL+LEISURE | JUNE 2020

HERE WERE SIX of them: two adults and four

kids, cycling up an unpaved mountain road on

three tandem bicycles. As my girlfriend, Charlie,

and I careered past, we looked at the family

and wondered momentarily whether our choice

of transport was the wimp’s way to get around. In

our sturdy, air-conditioned 4 x 4 we felt insulated

from the rigors of the road, from the extreme

geography and the sun reflecting off the glaciers

above us. But the higher we climbed, the more

confident we became about our decision. The

gravel became big boulders, and as we navigated

the switchbacks, gunning the engine up the steep

slopes and bouncing over the rocks, we knew

that this was going to be an adventure, whether

we were on two wheels or four.

It was the first morning of a two-week road

trip along the Carretera Austral, the highway

A footbridge en route to the Hanging Glacier at Queulat National Park. Opposite, from left: A wooden church in the

village of Villa Amengual, near the park; a gaucho near Patagonia National Park.

TAL0620_F_AysenChile.indd 74 FINAL 4/21/20 8:18 PM