Typical day on our Chilean tour

We generally start at 5am to take advantage of the cool weather as it becomes progressively hotter as one moves through the day. At times, especially when we awake in the desert, Eugene has to contend with mist and biting cold. It is here where one is desperate for coffee, speaking of which, here it is served straight-up with no milk. A dash to a Posada (truck-stop) normally entails grabbing coffee and toasted bun, then back to Eugene, usually takes 30 km to find. Worst case so far has been 75km. Yes, coffee half cold but still welcomed. We are down to 2 meals per day, normally water biscuits and tuna or avocado, spreads and near rancid cheese. I have come to realize, that to make Eugene happy, give him CHEESE!

Ablutions - the finer details I will leave to your imagination, but I have left a geoglyph or two of my own. Washing with limited water in a cup is not unusual and we brought along wipes rolled up in tablet form to which you add a little water and eureka! Believe me it does give you some relief. Sleeping in the car is the norm now and when we go into a town that offers us less than reasonable accommodation at hiked prices, it comes as a realistic option. To erect the tents -  firstly  is difficult on this rocky surface, most nights are windy and it also attracts the attention of the carabeneiros (police) who have already searched our car for contraband and to see if it is stolen.
 Other than that we try to keep our meals very simple. Sometimes we might decide to stop at a Posada and have lunch(comer). At one such place we had sopa marisco (a soup of seafood and veggies) and brisket with lettuce tomatoes and cucumber  quite tasty and yes our  stomach stood up to it. We have also encountered a bit of the gippo guts which by now is a standard. Most of these Posada are frequented mainly by truckers as they crisscross Chile with every kind of conceivable goods and equipment.