Chile’s land of ice-blue lakes
All you need is a sturdy bike, a knack for light packing and a sense of adventure to explore Patagonia before it changes forever

The Carretera Austral could be one of the most spectacular and challenging cycle tours in the world. It is made of endless stretches of empty dirt roads surrounded by forests, mountains, glaciers and lakes, with scenic villages, free campsites and hot springs along the way. The route is so remote that some days you might only see a jinete (horseman) trot by with his band of dogs. But the journey is not unachievable – all you need is a sturdy bike, a knack for light packing and a sense of adventure to make this the cycle tour of a lifetime.

Lie of the land
The Carretera Austral stretches for 1,240km through rural Chilean Patagonia, from the seaside town of Puerto Montt in the north to the village of Villa O’Higgins in the south. Started in 1976 but not completed until 2000 due to the dangerous and difficult terrain, the road was built by some 10,000 men from the Chilean Army’s Engineering Command, many of whom lost their lives; markers and shrines dot the road.

Before the carretera (highway), the only road access to this remote part of Patagonia involved travelling through neighbouring Argentina, meaning that the region retains a spectacularly rugged, unspoiled environment and a strong identity. Its people are tough, resourceful and proud of their regional identity: men often still wear traditional ponchos, sheepskin riding chaps and the Patagonian black beret.  

However, this may be about to change. Two major hydroelectric dam projects, HidroAysén and Energia Austral, together comprising seven dams, and a 2,300km-long transmission line to carry energy to Chile’s centre and north are on the cards. They may be completed as soon as 2025. There has been vociferous local and national debate against them, with the anti-dams campaign, Patagonia sin Represas (Patagonia without Dams) emphasising irreversible social and environmental damage. Whether the present dam projects go ahead or not, there is no doubt the area will see these kinds of developments in the future.

For riders on the Carretera Austral, this will mean years of major roadworks and heavy dam-building machinery on the route.. It will also mean clearing of forest and blasting of mountainsides to rig high tension power lines in once-picturesque environments. For one stretch, the cycling route will run alongside a stagnant hydroelectric dam instead of the spectacularly torrential ice-blue waters of the glacier-fed Rio Baker, Chile’s most strongly flowing river. The road will bear more traffic, the area more people (at least 6,000 workers will be needed for the dam building at its peak) and this part of Patagonia will certainly lose its remote, lost-in-time feel.

Nature all around
In its current northern incarnation, the carretera ploughs through deep-green native forests of alerce, tepú, Andean cypress, lengua and coigüe. Wildlife includes endangered deer species such as the elegant huemul and the diminutive pudu, the world’s smallest at only 35 to 45cm tall. In the forests, rarely seen pumas roam. Condors soar over the mountaintops, woodpecker tapping echoes among towering trees, and hummingbirds flit between fuchsias and the gigantic leaves of gunnera (Chilean rhubarb) which grow up to 2m tall.

The rawness of living with Patagonian nature is clear: the town of Chaiten, a few days cycling (and at least three ferry rides) out of Puerto Montt was all but buried by volcanic ash in 2008. It is now being rebuilt by a few determined returnees.

As the road heads south, the forest transitions from the Valdivian rainforests into the Magellanic forests, which are home to deciduous Antarctic beech. At the southern end of the carretera, patches of Patagonian tundra begin: wide, grassy valleys and shrubby plateaux, interspersed with marshlands and lakes.  

The Carretera Austral and its branch roads pass through two national parks, the volcano-dominated Hornopirén National Park and Parque Nacional Quelat, with its spectacular hanging glacier from which chunks of ice regularly thunder down into the baby-blue lake below. There are also hot springs along the route: at fjordside Puyuhuapi near Quelat, you can soak in the steaming pools, watching dolphins cruise by and hummingbirds sip nectar; while the spectacular, fjorded and thickly forested privately owned Pumalín Park allows access to several hot springs.

Then the road plunges into a land of ice-blue lakes, such as Lago General Carrera with its astounding marble caves and pale blue ribbons of rivers. The rivers here drain the Southern Patagonian Icefield, the largest in the southern hemisphere outside Antarctica. The astounding walls of ice that flow down as glaciers from the icefield can be visited as side trips from the cycling journey.

Journey’s end is the tiny town of Villa O’Higgins. From here a convoluted boat-and-walking journey (the track is mostly too rough for riding a loaded bike – you will often have to get off and push) takes cyclists across the border to Argentina.

Practicalities
The Carreterra Austral is best cycled north to south (due to prevailing westerly to northwesterly winds) during the brief Austral summer between November and March. This is when there is also less precipitation in this perennially wet part of the world.

Along the route, there is free, safe camping at innumerable spectacular locations right by the road. In small villages and towns along the route, cyclists may stay in local hostales, or even in people’s homes. There’s always a warm welcome, a meaty meal and conversations shared around the ubiquitous wood-burning kitchen stove.

Take your warmest waterproof gear (down jacket, four season sleeping bag), a swimsuit for icy plunges and hot spring dips, tent and camping stove. Above all, pack light – you will be thankful on the hills. Take it slow (give yourself six weeks to take in some side trips) and revel in this quiet stretch of Patagonia before it changes forever.

Chile’s land of ice-blue lakes

Chile’s land of ice-blue lakes

Italy’s capital of fashion and finance is one of the country’s most multicultural and diverse cities, with a stimulating rhythm that never gets too stressful.

Italy’s capital of fashion and finance, Milan is the place where business gets done – and everyone looks incredibly good while doing it. The city’s rich history and classical architecture are a counterpoint to the modern pace of life and the rising towers designed by 21st-century starchitects. It is also one of the most multicultural and diverse cities in Italy, with banking, industrial and design sectors that draw employees from around the world.

What is it known for?
From the twice-annual Fashion Week to April’s annual Salone del Mobile (Furniture Fair), Milan is where you will find cutting-edge fashion, furniture and industrial design. Prada, Valentino, Gucci: all the great Italian couture houses have multiple shops lining the elegant streets of the Quadrilatero d’Oro (Golden Quad) and in the Neo-Classical, glass-domed Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. “Even though Milan isn’t the most beautiful of Italian cities, there’s a lot to love.” said Sara Schifano, a native Milanese arts writer. “You get to live and work at a stimulating rhythm, although it never becomes too stressful. And the city transforms itself during fashion and design weeks, but quickly goes back to its pace when they’re over.”

That pace might already be considered faster than the rest of the country, since Milan is home to the Borsa Italiana, Italy’s stock market, its banking and publishing sectors, and two of international football’s top teams: AC Milan and Inter. The city will host the sustainability- and food-themed Expo 2015 in Rho Pero, a former industrial area northwest of the city, adjacent to a high-speed rail link.

Even with towers designed by architects Zaha Hadid and Cesar Pelli, the white Gothic spires of the Duomo still dominate the heart of the city, and landmarks like the Teatro alla Scala and Leonardo da Vinci’s fresco masterpiece, The Last Supper, are the foundation of the city’s deep cultural heritage.

Where do you want to live?
Milan’s neighbourhoods are arranged in a circle around the Duomo, and a number formerly industrial districts have been transformed by development projects. The wealthy Brera district, just north of the Duomo within the old medieval walls, has many stores, restaurants and luxury apartments. Further north, diverse Porta Venezia is a mixed district popular with old Milanese, young professionals, students and families. The rapidly growing Fiera neighbourhood northwest of the city centre is the home of CityLife, a new mixed-use project built on the former city fairgrounds with residences designed by Zara Hadid and Daniel Libeskind. “Fiera in general is a residential area popular for its schools, metro, shopping and parks,” explained Roberto Magaglio, managing director of Engel & Völkers Milano.

To the north of the Duomo, the new business district and high rises of Porta Nuova, a former industrial district, have bolstered residential areas like Isola, which attracts young families and creative types for its strong sense of community.

To the southwest of the Duomo, the Navigli district is known for its buzzy nightlife and its canals, some of which were improved by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 1400s. “I grew up in the southwest area of the city, so I’m particularly in love with the Navigli area,” Schifano said. “It’s very close to the city centre and new bars, restaurants and shops are always opening here.”

Side trips
The Italian Lake District is just 45 minutes north of Milan by train, so strolling around Lake Como or Lake Garda is an easy day trip for the Milanese. In the summer, many residents head to holiday homes and resorts along the Ligurian coast about 125km to the south, while in winter, locals flock to ski resorts in Valle d’Aosta, about 175km northwest of the city.

High-speed rail links Milan to other major Italian cities; it takes one hour and 40 minutes to reach Florence and just under three hours to get to Rome. The largest of Milan’s three airports, Malpensa Airport, has flights to European and international destinations. A flight to London is less than two hours, as is Catania in Sicily; New York is more than eight hours away. “Milan is in a great location, it’s as easy to go for a weekend in Sicily as it is to London or Paris,” Schifano said.

Practical info
The number of property transactions in 2013 were still nearly half of what they were in 2007 before the global recession. Recently, property prices have fallen slightly and are predicted to continue to fall in 2014. Italy’s economic outlook and fiscal austerity is affecting the overall housing market in Milan. However, foreign investors are beginning to put money into commercial and residential developments before the upcoming Expo 2015.

“Most of the properties available in Milan are flats,” Magaglio said. “Some villas and townhouses are available in areas like Fiera.” In many of the  city districts, a two-bedroom flat sells for around 500,000 euros, while in Brera, a similar property can cost more than one million euros. Two-bedroom flats rent for between 2,000 and 2,500 euros a month across the city.

Underwater gardening in the Maldives
Below the Indian Ocean’s cyan waters are iridescent, rainbow-coloured coral reefs in desperate need of saving.

Eyes fixed ahead, the gardener delicately held the spiky-sharp thorn in her gloved hands. It was capable of giving her a deep cut, so she had to be careful. Occasionally, she paused to take a deep breath, but otherwise she didn’t talk and was focussed on tending to the Eden-like garden in front of her. Bowed on her knees, she zip-tied the thorn to another plant, before showing her two companions how to tie and transplant another fractured branch. If it weren’t for the tropical fish darting around their cumbersome scuba gear, you’d swear they were tending a shrubbery.

This is how they do the gardening, Maldives-style. While most travellers visit the Indian Ocean’s string of coral-fringed islands and coconut palm-topped atolls for their pearl-white sandbanks, cyan waters and promise of never-ending romance, it is the iridescent, rainbow-coloured coral reefs below the surface that are the real stunner.

Back in 1998, the Maldives’ corals were hit by El Niño, a periodic weather phenomenon that marine biologists believe killed 90% of the country’s reefs. With just a 1C rise in temperature, corals turn white, exposing their inner skeletons and making them increasingly vulnerable – but Maldivian waters increased by a catastrophic 4C. Recovery was then hampered by the devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that smashed into the chain of coral reefs, leaving hundreds almost beyond repair.

In the 75-strong island cluster of the Baa Atoll, a 35-minute seaplane flight from the capital Malé, you will find a greater diversity of fish than in most marine parks. Kihavah Huravalhi, home to the luxurious Anantara Kihavah resort, is one of the atoll’s few inhabited islands, and coral adoption and reforestation is flourishing here. On a morning dive or snorkel, it is possible to see a number of upside-down nursery frames, made from up-cycled flower baskets and metal rods, which house fractured pieces of coral.

The coral adoption and reforestation initiative has great ecological value as it involves replanting reef fragments to accelerate the regeneration of coral growth in the Maldives’ reef-fringed atolls. Within a year of planting, faster growing acropora corals, such as stag horn and table corals, completely cover the structures, while slower growing species such as sun corals are introduced once the colonies are well established. At this point, fragments are then either painstakingly transplanted onto new structures – similar to piecing together a gigantic organic jigsaw – or relocated back onto the natural reef where they can thrive.

So how effective can underwater gardening be? “It’s definitely progress, and that’s all we can ask for,” said Evelyn Chavent, Anantara’s resident underwater expert and one of only six marine biologists permanently based in the Baa Atoll. “You’d be surprised by how quickly some of the corals grow – up to 2.5cm per year – so it’s a fast learner.”

There are some 450 different species of coral here, and not every species has a fighting chance, but coral reforestation and adoption programmes help educate local fishermen, school children and tourists, who can adopt their own coral frames  and monitor the coral’s growth online. To underline the country’s eco credentials, the Maldives is also on track to become the world’s first carbon neutral country by 2019 – something sceptics believe is overly ambitious. But scientists say action is essential because rising sea levels could engulf the country.

Kihavah may be one of the Maldives most popular places for underwater gardening, but it’s far from the only option for lessons in the marine world. Located in the same atoll, Dusit Thani resortoffers underwater education with a marine biologist, and guests can adopt a spotted eagle ray to help long-term conservation of the vulnerable species. At the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru, the coral propagation project has to date transplanted more than 120,000 fragments of coral – one of the most successful reforestation projects in the world. The islands of Dhigu, Veli and Naladhu in the South Male Atoll, also run by the Anantara hotel group, are home to a number of coral adoption projects. Naladhu, in particular, sits on a crisp clear azure lagoon sheltered by a house reef that attracts black-tipped reef sharks and a huge variety of smaller species, including parrot and clown fish.

So what does it feel like to go gardening underwater? According to Chavent, it is something that will stay with you for life. “In years to come, some guests will come back to find that the small piece of coral that they planted has flourished and created a whole miniature eco-system around it,” she said. “That kind of sustainable tourism is priceless.”

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