Vallenar to Incahusi (93.2km)

There is nothing memorable about our stay at this hostel. Mario lives with his mom who is very much in control of things here.  I had a long day ahead and wanted to get out early knowing that there was a long climb ahead.  The town of Vallenar is lifeless and the street lights, murky and dim, made an attempt to light up the streets ahead. The climb starts once I cross the river with a slow ascent up the valley to the four way stop which joined the Pan American Highway. The construction which has accompanied my journey eventually stops here. However, it delivers its final farewell to me. An uphill deviation 2km long with bad corrugation almost makes me lose my balance and fall. The going is very slow. Once out of this mayhem the road improves but the incline does not. The road continues with a gradual incline and changes grade ever so often for the next 30km. A stiff wind adds to my misery (6km/h) as I lean into it. Once over the top the downhill is very short before the next climb waits for me. This continues until I reach the first town of Domeyko and 46km is behind me. I can see today is going to be hill day! 
The road flattens out for a short while and then it starts to pick up and begins a very steep climb which continues for the next 10km. Once over the short pass the road drops into a stunning  valley with the road meandering  through like a rollercoaster ride which continues all the way to the pueblo of Incahusi.  My destination continues past this little town and I stop at a posada along the road. This is where Curt and I plan to stay the night. 

Trucker with Mapuche Flag

Bags safely in the car we meander over to the posada. After finding out what’s to eat we decide on spaghetti y pollo and huge mugs of coffee. We tuck in and find the meal very tasty much to the delight of the truckers around. We spend another hour there as we are able to use the computer and charge the battery. We thank and greet our host and leave for the comfort of our little suzy. The link will explain the brief history about the Mapuche. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mapuche
http://www.cholchol.org/en_mapuche.php

Vallenar and Pisco valley

Running ahead of schedule sure has its advantages, so we decide to spend another day in Vallenar  to explore the Alto Carmen valley. What a treat after getting lost, but the Andean scenery sure makes up for the 50km we lost. We meander up a river valley which seems unending with vineyards growing either side-but where does all this water come from?

Then a surprise hits us as we swing round another bend, a dramatically big dam, with ice blue water sits dauntingly close behind a rock filled wall, looming over the town of Vallenar. With all the earthquakes and instability of the landmass one wonders how the Chileans sleep at night.

We push on, Eugene snapping away and cursing my driving (I don’t do cycling). The valley narrows even further extending the height of the mountains and you almost expect to see snow atop around the next corner. We hit the town of Alto Carmen and the road forks. We need to make a choice as to which valley to conquer. All I needed was the P in pisco distillery to make up my mind and” little Suzy” (our little car)grabs a second breath. Yet again the valley narrows and we come to a quaint little town called St Felix. We park on the square and take in the serenity of this peaceful bit of paradise where you can almost hear the vines growing. After lunch (ham and cheese-again) we head off to find the distillery. A rather innocuous looking farm down the road seems to be our target and yep a special treat awaits us. I knock at the door while Eugene snaps away and the owner emerges, a rather hefty fella with a guffor to match, felt a bit like Hansel and Gretel. Well he disappeared back into the building (rather disappointed) but hey PISCO, he emerges around the back invitingly. We get a personal tour in Spanish around the distillery with Eugene rather impressively translating. Wow, I am gobsmacked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco

We head back totally satisfied with our experience and not even the dive of a hostel (chileno five fingers) where we stayed could ruin our day. With coffee and a bed, the thought of the dusty desert is now behind us.

Along the M5 to Vallenar (102.8km)

Just settling in, Curt and I know exactly what to do. We are old hats at this. Sleeping bags come out and we chat as we begin to settle in for our sleep. Its just after midnight when all of a sudden we hear a truck pull behinds us with lights shining into our little car. Curt and I rise up out of rigor mortis as we are expecting the worst - it must be the carabineros (police). We try to make out what is happening around us. The truck in the mean time turns around and returns to the road and continues on its journey down the road. Curt and I look at each other, curse and go back to sleep.

5h30 comes too soon and Curt and I have a good laugh about the previous night's experience. Its not long before I’m back on the road (ablutions all completed of course). Another day of tedious construction ahead of me today. 40km down the road and the comfort of breakfast breaks the boredom of my pedaling. My journey now continues in silence as the mist surrounds me. As I continue a thick mist descends further and visibility becomes a concern for me. Here the trucks don’t slow done and they continue hurtling down the freeway.
Hours later the mist burns off and not long after Curt arrives bringing along some guests. Curt: I met these two OZ natives deliberating about drawing money, an all too familiar scenario for me. As the English rolled off my tongue I could feel the welcoming embrace and sigh of relief, knowing that there was another English speaking person in close proximity. Laughter and giggles were spread around and they were excited to hear about our tour. They even offered to make a donation there and then, but I declined more out of shock than accounting formality. They followed me to where I was to meet Eugene for his lunch stop. I also meet Suesie and Dave who hail from Melbourne, Australia and there is an exchange of information about travel. We chat about almost everything under the sun. After a few pics we continued on our way inspired to have met such good people.  Another 25km to go and from the top of the valley there is a sharp drop into Vallenar and my immediate concern is what a huge valley to climb out. I cross the Huasco River flood plain and head to the main plaza of the town where Curt and I find accommodation. We plan to spend 2 nights here.

Calder to past Copiapo - a truck stop (107km)

Construction, construction, construction is what this day consists of.  The arduous journey to Copiapo is slow and road construction makes a huge impact here. The road runoff or shoulder is broken up and one has to compete for space on the road which in some places pose quite a danger. The road construction swings from right to left and back with heavy construction machinery kicking up dust, while road deviation is the order of the day. Trucks, carrying mainly double loads, are articulated and it was on this road that I witness my first accident. The accident is between one of these twelve wheeler types and a tractor which creates a huge deviation along the road. Just outside the town of Copiapo the road veers off and bypasses the town. It is a fairly new road and built to lessen the burden of heavy road traffic passing through the town of Copiapo. The bypass  is about 30km long before it joins the M5 one more time heading for the next destination of Villanar. 

It is along this stretch of road that I meet Israel and Tino who are from Mexico. They work in the field of mining. At first I’m a bit surprised as they stop their car along the side of the road to take a picture of me on my bicycle. I stop to chat with them: " What are you doing here?" Israel enquires. " Where do you come from? What country are you from?" I explain and both are in absolute astonishment. More pictures are taken and they supply all their details. It is always wonderful to meet and interact with people on the side of the road. This is not the first and it would not be the last. I continue my journey after saying my goodbyes to my new found friends. It’s not long before the road connects up with the Pan American highway, and another deviation to go through before I meet up with Curt. We continue down the road to find a place to rest for the night.

Chañaral to Caldera (89.7km)

Sleep is a wonderful experience appreciated after a hard day of cycling. By 7 a.m. I am ready to tackle the new day. Breakfast is small but ample and Agua Luna restores my faith in Chile. The service was prompt and by the time we sit down, breakfast is served.  As I head out of town the scenario is typical of what we have seen across this region. The port of Chañaral is just another of those where ore is ferried by boat to a bigger port or to some international destination. Fishing is small scale but provides ample resources to the village. There are lots of beaches along this coast. My journey continues all along the coast for the next 90km. The roads like many are in poor condition and badly in need of repair. Trucking of ore from the mines is still very important to this area. Buses connect all the cities together and there are quite a number of bus companies that ply their business along the route. The weather for the first time is overcast for the entire day and can you believe, it threatened to rain. One drop fell on Curt’s car and that was the total sum of rain (mm) for the year in Caldera.
I eventually arrive in Caldera. Just outside this town there is construction taking place on the Pan American Highway (M5). We stay at an overpriced dump.  The construction in this area provides the hostels with enough people and that determines the prices here. On another day they would have been desperate.

Caldera in its pass life was very prominent and boasted the first railway port town in South America where ore was transferred from the mines in this region. Today it is just a husk of the past. Bahia Iglesias is the bay where holidaymakers spend their time.

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.

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.