Day 0 - Monday, January 26, 2026

The departure came, my Dad was nice enough to drop me off at the airport. I have had some trouble earlier with bike boxes in Vienna, the security wanting to open the box, not being able to reseal it – it was quite a stress. So I went there real early and was the first in line. To my pleasant surprise, the check‑in went really smooth. There was a very friendly lady at the counter; she helped me through the process, accompanied me even to security to make sure the box went through. To put the icing on the cake, she assigned me a window seat in the second row (2A), which otherwise would have cost €40. I thanked her with a box of chocolates.

From there on, my entire trip to Santiago was a really enjoyable – though rather long – trip.

I had to laugh when the Vueling flight was parked right next to the terminal – and I actually witnessed the loading of my bike box! That was rather funny and relaxing at the same time.

My bike box being loaded

While the flight was packed, only 5 people sat in the first three premium rows (18 seats!), so I could spread out. I am a frequent flyer, still, seldom have I had such a wonderful view as on this sunny day. There was an uninterrupted view of the Alps, then of Genoa, Marseille and of other aircraft – we had a long race with another flight flying parallel and just above us.

Marseille

Race along the Mediterranean coast

I had seven hours in Barcelona, but was a bit lazy to head into the city. At the huge airport, which was apparently built with future expansion in mind, I found an entire section where there was absolutely no one else. I could have organized a private rave party there.

Solitude

At midnight, it was time to board the Level flight. For sure, it is a low‑cost airline – however, this premium economy was actually a business class of an earlier era – here I also had seat 2A, with again no one sitting next to me. The flight attendants were really friendly, young people – and the food was outright excellent, quite a surprise. It was absolutely worth the extra few hundred euros for this cabin – especially given that the flight was 14.5 hours.

Before landing, we flew right over the Argentine city of Mendoza, which lies just east of the Andes. Then came the Andes range – it was simply amazing, the view of 6,000 to 7,000 meter‑high peaks. Everyone was glued to the windows. I even think I spotted the statue of Christ the Redeemer of the Andes, which is a statue at the pass between Argentina and Chile at 3,832 meters. I interpreted this as a sign – you see, I had a secret plan to make this crossing, visit Mendoza and then head north from there and cross back to Chile at another (even higher) pass.

Mendoza

Christ the Redeemer of the Andes in the middle

Andes range

Close to the airport, I was looking at the roads: long, straight sections headed towards the mountains, full of large trucks and lorries – and these roads would turn curvy within the mountain ranges.