The colours of the country, Chile

Just after crossing into Chile, my senses were assaulted by colour.  I was climbing from the lower desert up into the desert hills and plateau.  Rolling hills, steep canyons, crags, mountains - everywhere.  An astounding pallete of colours, flowing through the arroyos and canyons, and over the mountains, changing as the shadows hit, lightening into beautiful shades as the sun struck.  The whole range of pinks, mauves, purples, blues, beiges, fawns, browns, greys, and black, topped by a hazy sky, reflecting the colours below.

It was an incredible experience riding through here, difficult to concentrate and keep my eyes on the twisting, climbing road and the traffic, for the stunning beauty of the landscape. But once again, it was almost impossible to park and take photos.  I didn't fancy stopping in the narrow gravel verges, and possibly slipping as I dismounted.  It was a LONG way down those hills. So I just kept riding, and gazing in awe and wonder at the landscape.

I did actually stop and take a photo of the

When riding in Peru, I'd guessed that Peru would take the prize for the best roads.  Nothing could possibly be better than the roads in Peru.  Uh, uh - Chile gets the nod, by a decent stretch.  Good road surfaces, even out in the never-never, miles from anywhere in the deserts.  Fast roads, which really helped me cover the miles quickly.  I was making good time at last.  Ushuaia seemed achievable, finally.  From Antofagasta, about 500km north of Santiago, south to Victoria, where I turned east to cross into Argentina, it was autopiste (freeway), very fast with little or no access, except from service roads.  I finally got the hang of getting through capital cities with no problems - hang out in the extreme left hand fast lane, keep a lookout for the "A Sur" (to the south) signs overhead, and don't deviate!  It's fast and straight through. Santiago appeared, then rapidly disappeared, as I flashed through the city at 90-100km all the way, nonstop.  Way to go!

I'd done a few long days of 10-12 hours, and had done a couple of 850-900km days, but this day, including negotiating through Santiago, was my first 1000+km day of the trip, and I felt good at the end of it, walking around the town of San Carlos checking out all the quaint buildings, and visiting the evening market in the tree shaded town square. Sampling the food on offer at places like this is good fun, and a great way to learn what those funny words on menus mean, as I ask the vendor to SLOWLY pronounce the name of the food for me!  I finally bought something for "me", a cheesecloth shirt decorated with Chilean embroidery, mainly because I'd somehow lost two of my shirts along the way, at one of the many overnight stops apparently, and was a bit short on for shirts, what with not having had a rest day in which to do my laundry.

At the Peru/Chile border, I'd chatted with an Israeli guy who'd been travelling Sth America with his father on a hiking trip for 12 months in a Suzuki Vitara 4x4, and was about to return to Israel. Having no further use for it, he offered me his map booklet of Chile and Argentina, which turned out to be a great help.

The first night in Chile, I arrived in Antofagasta in the dark, as there'd been no towns of sufficient size to have hotels through all the miles of desert.  It's not fun, tootling around large busy towns, with one way streets, in the dark, looking for hotels, believe me!  Not just any hotel, but one with secure parking for the bike, and preferably with internet access as well.  But I found one eventually that fit the bill.  I'd ridden for about 2 hours in the dark, but it wasn't too bad, being open country with lots of traffic, and the weather was very pleasant. There is little or no problem with animals on the roads in  Chile.

I turned off the PanAm highway at Victoria, and headed east on a major road to the Andes and the border crossing with Argentina at Paso de Pino Hachado.  It became very cold for a while on this morning around the town of Curacautin, and I had to resort to my Lectric vest, altho unplugged, to keep the chill at bay.  It was that bleak, bone-chilling cold that is most unpleasant.  But it soon cleared, and the snow capped peaks of the Andes started to appear through breaks in the forests, shining brightly white in the glorious sunshine that followed the overcast skies and coldness. The little township of Lonquimay was a fuel stop, both for the bike and I, as I was still a little cold and needed a hot coffee to warm my belly.  The people in the countryside are delightful, and most hospitable.  In the only (tiny) restaurant I could find, I asked for coffee, and was promptly served with coffee, fresh baked bread (like pita) butter and jam - and payment was refused for all except the coffee.  In instances like this, I usually manage to "not have change", and offer a larger note sufficient to cover the whole cost, then walk away.  Food and drinks are ridiculously cheap here, particularly in the country, so I don't mind tipping in these smaller establishments.

Onwards to Argentina, stopping briefly at the Chilean border post to check out, where I came across some of the first travellers I'd seen - 3 Chilean guys on sport bikes heading back to Chile from Argentina.  Up and up the twisting mountain roads for about 20kms to the peak, where I stopped to take a photo of the border sign, then on through the ripio (gravel) across the plateau for a few km to the Argentinian border post.

I was into my last country of this part of the journey - to Ushuaia .