Monday, November 8, 2010

Marker 1122Km on the M5 to Chañaral (142km)

We had a good night sleep. Our last experience of disturbed sleep would never happen again, we promised ourselves. We are planning to end the day in Chañaral . By 6h10 we are on the road. The morning is quite pleasant and cool and it  turns out to be a good day. Curt is on his way to Taltal. The road to the intersection for Taltal is all downhill and I cover a good distance before Curt eventually catches up with me around the 40km mark.   We have our staple for the morning, coffee with toasted cheese and ham rolls. The road condition is the worst I have encountered with potholes everywhere, both in the road and on the shoulder.
What we have come to discover is that the signage and distance boards are inconsistent. This does act in our favour but as a cyclist it is pretty off-putting. This is a long hard stretch and every mile counts. Eugene, however, seems to have nitrous oxide somewhere or maybe it is all the sardines he has been eating. We are well ahead of time. The truckers' advice has been spot on all the time. Good chaps, those. Just wish they would not spread their desert roses (urine bottles).
After breakfast the first of the hills appears and this continues for the next couple of kilometers. Once over the top one can see the landscape that lies ahead. It turns out to be a very long day in the saddle with more hills in sight and too much to mention. The dreaded wind also playing its part to make the journey just a little bit tougher
Luckily for us, we are closer than we think. Yippee! that means a cold beer and shower, yes in that order. I move on to Chañaral to secure our night. Eugene is convinced he will make the next 100km, and yes he does. You may wonder what I do to keep myself busy, but consider this - Eugene averages 20 km/h, the car 100km/h, right? So I go ahead about 40 km, and then return after an hour, he is 20 km closer. OK, so that is basic arithmetic or math for the TV junkies and Americanos, then I drive ahead to find a place to stay, check out various options by haggling, which takes another hour or two, so time goes by.
I still have 20km to go before I would get to Chañaral. The  road continues down through the valley and past some of the processing plants. The roads have been gouged out in some areas by heavy trucks whisking their way in and out of the port. I eventually arrive in the town just before 5pm. We find a good hostel and spoil ourselves by going upmarket. This is the best so far at the Agua Luna. We sleep well knowing we have a good breakfast waiting.

1 comment:

  1. Hi guys....sounds like a pretty hard but satisfying day. That beer must have gone down so well as would the sleep once you hit the sack.
    You have the drill pretty well wrapped up hey Curt...
    Thanks again for the amazing blog, We look forward to catching up on your trip Arlette & Patrick

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