BACK TO THE BIG BANG

The Andes time line

We’re standing on a gravel road. Right in the middle of the Argentine Andes. Behind us lies the Uspallata valley. Ahead lie mountains in shades of colours that any paint specialist could learn something from. Different shapes and structures are just as numerous and exceed anyone’s imagination. If you were to paint it, you wouldn’t believe it. As far as I can see, there are limitless walls of decor. In the far distance the snow covered tops of the Andes stand proud of the rest. It's hot. The sun is low. It's quiet. Sometimes the wind blows and suddenly it’s dusty and the air is hazy..

Grrrrrk. Robbert Dijkgraaf draws a line with his foot. Not the starting line of a race, I hope. The line represents for Today.

Grrrrrk. Another line in the sand. About half an inch from today. That's 10,000 years ago declares Robbert, grinning. About the time when humans first arrived in the Andes. About the time of the rock-paintings. On this scale 1 step is equivalent to 1 million years. Robbert beams, he makes a second step. "The origin of man".

Then he takes great strides with his long legs and he counts out loud: 3, 4, 5 ... at 60 he calls out laughing: I’m now passing the extinction of the dinosaurs! 61, 62, 63, with 7-league boots he goes back in time. I run along and look back at the fossil forest, the ocean floor, 200 million years, 400 million years. Robbert’s enjoying it. Another 14 kilometers and we are at the Big Bang!