“An Estonian man traveled alone from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina – one must dream big!”
Traveler Mati Palu has been going on a motorbike trip every summer for 25 consecutive years, but this time, he fulfilled his dream of traversing the Pan-American Highway across the Americas before settling into a rocking chair to reflect on life.
Photos from personal collection
Last July, Estonian Mati Palu landed in Canada to begin his 30,000-kilometer motorcycle journey on the Pan-American Highway from North America to the tip of South America, from Alaska to Patagonia. Having previously traveled to 82 different countries, he wanted to take on something big at the age of 65 before settling into a rocking chair. And he did it entirely alone!
His greatest inspiration and motivator was a Dutch woman who travels the world solo and is known on social media as Itchy Boots. “I watched her rides and thought, come on, are you a man or not?” laughs Mati. “Look, a woman is traveling alone, and you’re still pondering whether to go or not!”
Life forced him to return for a while
The most significant experience for him was the nature and the vastness. “When you are alone in the middle of that vastness, you look around and think, wow… where am I now! How did I get here?” He felt this in Alaska. However, he was not entirely alone – along the roads in Alaska, more than ten bears were grazing, but they showed no interest in him. Or when a herd of dozens of bison walked in the middle of the highway. Then, the traveler felt like he had landed in a movie rather than adventuring in reality.
Memorable for him was also the town of Dawson on the Yukon River from the gold rush days, which seemed straight out of a cowboy film with all its architecture. Not to mention El Salvador or Machu Picchu, places many dream of traveling to! And Mati traveled there from Estonia on his motorcycle! “When you’ve spent your days looking at pictures of Machu Picchu on the internet and thinking, one day I’ll go there, it’s impressive to arrive finally!” admits the traveler.
When he crossed the Peruvian border, bought a local SIM card for his phone, and turned it on, he found a message. “Come home quickly. Things are very bad,” the message said. Life changed from color to black and white in an instant. It was 1,200 kilometers to the nearest airport in Lima. Despite rushing, unfortunately, the motorcyclist did not make it back to Estonia before his athlete father passed away. After burying his father, he flew back to Peru. “What you start must be finished – I have to reach the end of the world in Ushuaia,” he decided.
Although being on the road is the most enjoyable part of Mati’s journey, reaching the end brought tears to his eyes this time, and he realized he was finally here! If you ask the traveler after the trip what his most vivid memory from the entire journey is, he replies that it’s the moment when the ordeal was over! And this is followed, of course, by laughter. “Every country gave something! The mountains of Patagonia with their sharp peaks are memorable; they were cool, for example,” he tried to recall.
The most nerve-wracking part was reaching the tip of Argentina in Ushuaia, where there was an ocean on both sides, and the winds were so strong that he had to ride at a 45-degree angle, constantly holding firmly against the wind. “The last stretch turned into completely open land, and the wind was such that you had to hold on tight! Before me, a group of ten motorcyclists went ahead, and I followed them – it was a surreal sight to see everyone riding their motorcycles at a 45-degree angle,” laughs Mati.
He notes that it was a severe battle with those winds, not an enjoyable ride to reach the tip of South America. “At the end, there was an unpaved section, loose gravel, 10-15 centimeters deep car tire ruts, and trying to ride through that was a complete mess! I’m not a motocross rider, so whenever I hit a bump, I immediately fell over,” he recounts. Fortunately, the speed was low, about 15-20 kilometers per hour. “And then there were others stumbling around, just like me. Some local guy stopped with a trailer beside him – do you want me to take you to the end for 300 dollars? Are you crazy? Seriously? Goodbye, amigo!” the traveler recounts.
On the final stretch, the asphalt began again, and Mati saw the same guy unloading a motorcycle from his trailer! “Someone had indeed put their bike on the trailer and didn’t battle through that section themselves,” smirks Mati.
Formerly Hostile Countries Turned Out to Be Biker Paradises
Mati is an honest man and speaks directly. Before the trip, he had heard myths about how Nicaragua, Colombia, and El Salvador were very suspicious and ominous countries, but the reality turned out to be the opposite. “It’s complete bullshit that you shouldn’t go! All these countries were absolutely superb, and the people were so friendly! Yes, there was once hostile activity there, but now people are even more friendly because travelers are coming there. There was no trouble at all. Colombia is an absolute biker paradise!” the man explains.
A year ago, Mati told us that his only means of communication in South America would likely be Google Translate. How was it in reality? “That’s exactly how it was! Very few people speak English. Some clever ones on the other side of the counter would already take out Google Translate themselves to let you know if they had a free room– that’s how communication went,” he recalls. He couldn’t have more extended conversations because it was very cumbersome with a phone. “Pantomime, a smile, a friendly attitude, and that was it. Sorry, I don’t speak Español!”
The only times Mati felt tired and bored during the long journey were the difficult gravel roads. “I accidentally ended up on those roads and then thought, oh boy, how will I get through this?” he recalls.
These areas were in Chile and Argentina. “One border crossing involved a ferry, but it was more than six hours to the ferry. There was also a goat trail across the mountains and through valleys. I thought, alright, I’ll tinker my way through it. And I got my money’s worth!” laughs Mati. This goat trail was a real challenge for Mati, and he didn’t encounter anyone on it! He mainly was utterly alone there! The road was tough, and once he managed to topple his bike. “And then, on cue, one car appeared on the journey. It stopped, and the driver asked, well, amigo, do you need help? I replied, since you’re here, come help me lift the bike,” smirks the traveler.
When asked if he ever felt threatened by people or nature during this journey, Mati doesn’t even let the question finish before he responds with a firm no. Even the bears in Alaska grazing by the roadside didn’t bother with humans. “Well, I didn’t go pet them,” laughs Mati.
However, he recalls one heartwarming encounter with a local. “From a village in Ollantaytambo, I headed towards Machu Picchu. You can take a train up from there, and I needed to organize a train ticket for the next morning. I took a random accommodation, and the hostess and her little daughter walked with me for two kilometers to the train station to help me arrange everything. I could have managed independently, but it would have been not easy. Later, I bought some candy for the child, and everyone was happy. When I left after two nights, it felt like I was part of the family. It was a warm feeling,” Mati recounts, saying the experience was great.
The Next Big Dream Awaits
According to Mati, the most memorable stretch of the journey was in Colombia, Trampolin del Diablo, or the Death Road. “It was over the mountains, with mountains on one side and an abyss on the other. The road was in terrible condition. Rocks were sticking out, and you tinkered along 60-70 kilometers over the mountains. It was awesome! No one else came along, so it was really fun to ride,” he recalls.
At one point, he noticed all the cars lined up for a couple of kilometers. “I rode past them, wondering why they were just standing there; what kind of traffic jam did we have here? I got to the front, where there were about a dozen motorcycles, and saw two crane trucks pulling up a truck from the abyss, the driver of which had died. Before, I thought, what, this road is a piece of cake to tinker through. That day was such that in the evening, you opened a beer – psst, opened it and thought, wow,” describes the traveler.
All kinds of border crossings were quite a hassle: getting the motorcycle out of one country into another, and the same with himself. “All sorts of booths and queues. I tried to be smart and latched onto some Spanish-speaking motorcyclist. Sorry, do you speak English? Yes, a little bit. May I tag along?” Mati revealed one trick for better border crossings. Mati even became such good friends with one Mexican couple that they traveled through several countries together and still keep in touch to this day.
Mati will probably have many years before he reaches the rocking chair, as he has already bought plane tickets to Nepal for the winter. He plans to explore the Himalayas on a rented, locally-made motorcycle like a Royal Enfield.
Such traveling makes the man happy. “Doing it yourself, curiosity, a moderate amount of adrenaline,” he explains that a motorcycle trip is the best way to discover the world. If you meet him on the road, give him a handshake! Dream big, and it will come true!
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