Km800 to Km724: Getting out of Santiago
We all awoke excited for the days the ahead and to add to the excitement we had beautiful clear skies. After a good clean of Waldo's apartment, who was again away on work, we did relays loading the lift full of bags and bikes in order to get our stuff down into the lobby where we would load up the bikes for the cycle out of Santiago. After waving good-bye to the friendly man at reception we made our way outside for a few parting photos. It was quite sad standing outside the apartment that we were just a few weeks prior just too excited to have arrived at but were now leaving behind. We are incredibly lucky and grateful to Waldo for letting us use his apartment because no other place would we have been able to store all our stuff, get washed and organised and have stayed in such comfort.
After the harrowing cycling into Santiago along the highways we planned to take back roads out of Santiago. Firstly because we did not want to kill Nick on his first day on the bikes and secondly there was a rather conveniently placed vineyard along the planned route. The Concha y Toro wine estate which produces the most experted and famous Casilleron de Diablo (devils lair) wine range (look out or the little devils face next time you're shopping for wine). It was a Sunday so the roads were quite but of course we had managed to pick a closed road and a road under construction to head out of town on so we we wound our way out of town under the big blue beautiful skies.
Just outside of Santiago, in the south, we came to the Concha y Toro vineyard but it looked a little over commercialised so we figured we'd go on and visit a smaller vineyard somewhere along the way. It was lunch time though so we were fortunate to stumble upon a beautiful botanical garden like looking park (not too dissimilar to Walter Sisulu botanical gardens just outside of Johannesburg) where we sat and enjoyed our delicious avocado rolls while Nick unveiled his glaring English tan for the sun to with what it could.
The Panamerican highway which we were due to follow down south now ran almost completely without undulation along a valley with the Andes in the left and the Cordillera de la Costa (mountain range of the coast) on the right while heading south. We wanted to avoid cycling down the busy Panamerican for as long as possible and also wanted to avoid going through a tunnel on the Panamerican just south of Santiago but this meant we had to go either over or around some geographical feature. So, that afternoon as we cycled along the alternative route through and past rolling vineyards we eventually came to a sign saying 'cuesta' light vehicles only. At this point Mark and I grew a little concerned as the only time we had ever seen something referred to as a 'cuesta' we landed up cycling uphill for 2hrs and then to add to our concern the road suddenly turned to dirt without warning.
The 'cuesta' turned out not to be so bad after all and thankfully the dirt roads in the south resemble nothing of the soft desert sand dirt roads further up north. We slowly spun our way back and forth up the 'cuesta' leaving growing magnificent view of the valley behind us. Along the way we discovered that with all this vegetation and water down south comes animal life including amonsgt other things bugs, mosquitoes, spiders big enough for our English companion to mistaken for crag and long scary snakes so we will definitely be checking our shoes carefully first thing in the morning from here on out. When we finally came to the top as the evening was beginning to approach and we could now look back on the valley we had come down from and look forward down the valley which would eventually take us to Victoria where we would begin to head east of the Andes towards Argentina.
We free-wheeled down the 'cuesta' on the other side and soon came across a house selling home made empanadas (pies) which were busy being backing in a wood fire oven just in front of the house. We had also spotted that they had a lovely green field out the back of their house where it would be great for us to camp so after enjoying a good pie we popped the question. They said we were happy for us to stay there for a small fee and we could use the shower in the house. We spent a great night camping there and chatting to there friends who had clearly been enjoying some of the local produce in abundance which brought the perfect first day to a perfect end.
Km724 to Km650: Back to the Panamaerican
The next day we were forced to join the Panamaerican highway pretty early on in the day. The weather was still good and although we were on the highway the scenery was still awesome with the Andes towering over us on the left and the coastal mountain range on our right. We had a great lunch stop baking ourselves in the sun and interacting the locals who were promoting wine in the car park and were only too happy to have someone to keep them entertained.
That evening we headed off the Panamerican again to hopefully find a nice place to camp but we kept getting sent from pillar to post and eventually landed up at a sanctuary of sorts 4km in the wrong direction and were still denied a place to camp even though they had plenty of beautiful lush green crash to share. By that stage we had had enough so just went 100m up the road to where a farmer had left the gate to his orchard open and set about making our dinner on a pile of empty crates. We figured if someone doesn't come by the end of dinner which would be around 9pm we would just camp there and an the end we just wished that the farm owner had come to see what was happening so that we could ask their permission because every time a car came past we were convinced we were about to be booted. Eventually no one did query our self appointed camp-site but I'm pretty sure we did provide some great dinner conversation for the locals as every rather wealthy looking farmer that came cruising by in there new 4x4 just about came to stop so that they could stare at us as they drove by. We joked that the word must have spread through the small town that there were 3 gringos in the orchard because more and more cars seemed to just drive down this dead-end road only to return 5 minutes later.
Km650 to Km564: Ridding on a lawnmower
We continued south down the Panamerican highway stopping to make our lunch on the pristine lawns outside the San Pedro wine estate. No one seemed to be too bother by us sitting there except for the numerous people that would reverse up the on-ramp to the Panamerican in order to avoid paying the toll and got a bit of fright when they saw us sitting there in bright yellow jackets. After having made our lunch, cleaned the pots under the sprinkler and then relaxed under a tree for couple of hours and a grass cutting man eventually came along on him mower. We thought that he was going to chase us off immediately but he didn't he just apologised for bothering us then offered to let us take photos while riding on the lawn mower. Fortunately we were just getting ready to go so didn't keep him long but he was just such a friendly old man.
That night we stopped at trucker stop provided by the toll road which had all that we need but got a little overly confident and set-up our tents on the beautiful green grass. Just as we had all hopped into our tents and were just about to turn off our headlamps and go to sleep I heard someone outside my tent. It was the truck stop manager and he just wanted to ask us to move our tents off their newly planted grass which was fair enough but could he not have done this 5hrs earlier when we arrived! Needless to say we were not too happy to have to haul all our stuff out the tents and set them up all over again in the dark while wondering around in boxer shorts but we were just too glad that we hadn't been chased off altogether.
Km564 to Km444: Bike problems begin
The weather and scenery were still fantastic but my back wheel was going out of it's way to spoil our day. I had had my bike serviced by the Specialized dealership in Santiago and they had clearly done a shoddy job as I could almost immediately hear clicking coming from the back wheel when I left Santiago. Now all these shops say you can come back if there are problems but that doesn't help when you are half-way to Argentina and something goes wrong due to their shoddy work. Specialized had not been able to help me with finding placement touring tyres which is understandable so I went to the Collondale dealership and they provided me with some lightweight Maxxis tyres but they couldn't provide the smaller 26x1.5 tubes required so they had just replaced my tyres and used the old larger 26x2 tubes.
The first alarm bell should have sounded when I got back to Waldo's place in Santiago to find that one of my tyres already had a puncture but I was flying to Torres del Paine that night so I just left it for when I got back. When I got back from Torres del Paine I discovered that both now had punctures so I just put it down to an unlucky cycle through some thorns on the way back from the Collondale dealership and patched it up so we could set off first thing the next day. The tyres had held out ok to this point but then I got 3 punctures on this the 4th day of the cycle out of Santiago annoying me to no end.
That night we set-up camp in a field just behind a Copec petrol station next to a field of horses. Later that evening I went over to the Copec to have a shower and discovered only now for the first time that all the Copecs we had passed or stayed near all the way down Chile offered free wifi! When chatting to the lady at the Copec about our trip she asked where we were camping and so I told her where and her face dropped saying 'no no its too dangerous there come camp closer here' but it was too late to move the tents now so needless to say I just about slept with one eye open that night.
Km444 to Km380: Repairs and chill'n in Chillán
We got up early that morning so that we could get to Chillán early and have the evening off . It wasn't a long cycle down to Chillán but the noises coming from my back wheel were beginning to get worse so I had hoped to have it looked at in Chillán as it was the first biggish town we would be passing along the way. The joystick on my mobile phone had also packed up so was also going to be looking for mobile repair shop.
We arrived in Chillán early and quickly found a very nice and homely hostel with beautiful wooden floors and even a teddy stuck to our room door. The hostel keeper was just so sweet that she alone gave us a great feeling about Chillán. Once we had checked in we set about getting things done so we could relax that evening and to my surprise within an hour my bike was in having its axle replaced and my mobile phone having its joystick replaced leaving me 2 hours to roam the central markets. Chillán is quite developed with a mall etc but still had a huge market area selling fruits, meats and just about every other things you could be looking which is always nice because I find it a bit of a shame when commercialised malls kill the local markets. Unbelievably my mobile and bike were fixed within the 2hrs they had promised leaving me to enjoy a couple of beers with the boys at the market and then later down at the local pub where we were enjoyed the locals selection of classic English 90's songs like Thunder Struck by AC/DC. Not sure if this selection was just to appease the visiting gringos or if they generally listened to this kind of music but we had noticed in general Chileans enjoyed a bit of hard rock.
Km380 to Km320: The Kind Farmer
Due to an earthquake in 1835 the then 250 year old Chillán Viejo (old Chillán) was destroyed prompting the new location of Chillán just further north where we were staying. Chillán Viejo is the birthplace of the Chilean liberator Bernardo O’Higgins and thus the main street in just about every Chilean town we have been to had been in had been name after him. We were going to be taking a back route again heading for Los Angeles further south and would thus be heading out of town through the Chillán Viejo area. We had hoped given its name I would show its age but due to the earthquake most of it had been rebuilt so didn't live up to expectations.
It was a another great weather day and being back on the back roads the views were awesome with the occasional car and even horse and carriage passing by every now and then. We had stopped at a bus shelter on a corner by a lake baring our chests on order to catch some sun over lunch. We thought that besides the horse roaming around the field next to us we would be pretty much left alone but of course it was lunch time so the school down the road had just closed for the day so we provided much entertainment for the passing school buses. News spread quickly about these strange topless gringos cooking up a storm in their local bus shelter so by the time the buses got anywhere near us the kids were already hanging half out the window in order to catch a gimps and shout 'hola amigos' out the window as they passed by.
As evening began to fall we passed through a small town called Yungay (not to be confused with the Yungay of Peru where 30000 people were killed by a landslide) and just on the other side was a sign indicating that there was a camp site just off the road. We headed off down the dirt road eventually coming to a house on the side of the road where we were told to continue on to find the camp site. Further down the road we came to river but still no sight of a formal camp site so we just went about 200m into the scrub land and set-up camp. Just as we had gotten the tents set-up a man came along on his horse and we all thought oh boy looks like we're going to be booted but no instead he just asked how long we would like to stay and why we had not wanted to camp right by the river.
It was quite a relief having permission to camp there meaning we could then set about making dinner with piece of mind. We also gathered up some dry wood and made a little camp fire, as the evenings still grew cold, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the fields marking the end to another perfect day.
Km320 to Km270: Time Trial
We enjoyed another great day cycling down the back roads but slowly the fields around us turned into huge pine and wattle plantations blocking the view of the mountains on our left. As we reached the intersection where we would now be heading directly west towards Los Ángeles the road continued on the opposite direction east towards Argentina opening up an amazing view between the trees of the Antuco volcano where we enjoyed a good lunch.
Isabel, our friend from Viña del Mar, had arranged for us to stay with her boyfriend's brother's friend on plot just outside of Los Ángeles. We arrange to meet her boyfriend's brother, Ricardo, at a supermarket in Los Ángeles so when we arrived there we were asked to follow him out of town to the plot. What we didn't know was that the plot was 10km out of town and that we would be down some kind of time trial to get there, now this in a car is a quick 10 minute potter down the road. However, on a bicycle weighing over 110kg including my body weight and with tired legs from having already cycled 50km, this is no quick cycle down the road.
We began to follow Rodrigo down the road, thus commencing our impromptu time trial, almost immediately struggling to keep up with his pace loosing him at every corner. Not knowing where we were heading we began to joke saying he was taking us back to the plot just outside of Yungay where we had camped the night before. Soon we had crossed the highway and were heading almost directly north up on a different back road from the one we had just come into town on but pretty much back in direction we had just come from. There was a lovely cycle track all along this road which had kilometre markings so as were progressed up this road we could see how far we were going in the opposite direction to where we were ultimate heading. Slowly the numbers began to climb 1km, 3km, 5km at which stage I had just about collapsed from exhaustion desperate for him to turn on his indicator thus indicating that we had arrived bring to an end our impromptu time trial. However, from my position about 1km behind him my eyes kept playing tricks on me mistaken his back lights for an indicator giving me false hope every few hundred metres.
Eventually at about the 8km marking he did turn off the road onto a dirt road heading up to the plot. The plot was beautiful with a white horse just wondering around making it all worth the sweat which was now pouring from every pore on my body. I felt quite sorry for his the ladies that came in for a welcoming kiss on our arrival as firstly I stank and secondly the fuzz on my face was again getting bit out of hand again. Mark's beard is beginning to retain so much food that I am sure they could have even had a bite to eat on the way in for a kiss.
Rodrigo kindly then drove us back into town so we could shop for the next day and get some meat and beers so we could enjoy a braai with them that evening. Back at the plot as we began to discuss our trip with them they seemed surprised that we were not going further south of Victoria to an area near the town of Pucón which is the heart of the lake district. This area offers lots of excellent hikes, cycle routes and thermal baths to enjoy so we soon realised that this was a worth while region to visit and that it was only a 4hr bus ride to Pucón from Los Ángeles. Rodrigo did some calling around for us and found that there would be a bus leaving the next day at around noon so we asked if we could leave all our stuff there and go off with the bikes.
Lake District
We had planned to do a 2 or 3 day return trip to Pucón by bus because timing would not allow us to cycle all the way down there but we did want to take the bikes with so that we could cycle around and then just camp wherever we landed up. Getting bikes on a bus was a little more of a mission than anticipated but eventually we got them on a bus later then planned. The lakes and surrounding volcanoes provided for breath views as we pulled into Pucón so given it was getting late we decided just to camp by the lake that night and enjoy a dinner and few beers in town while watching the sun go down.
Unfortunately the lakes don't just create themselves and require water to keep them full. The weather was not great for the following 2 days meaning that we spent 2 days cycling around looking at waterfalls and sitting in thermals baths in the pouring chilly rain. We were not super keen on camping the 2nd night that we were there as it was very wet and cold so we decided we would just spend the night in the bus shelter just outside of one of the thermal baths thus avoiding putting up a tent in the pouring rain. The night in the bus shelter was hilarious and quite freezing. This was no ordinary bus shelter as it was wooden and 3mx2m in size so was perfectly comfortable and quite luxurious as bus stops go. This bus stop even had a window but unfortunately one of the panes was missing making it a little breezy. I decided to put up my tenet in the shelter so we had somewhere to put our valuables while we slept but Nick and Mark just slept on the floor next to it with Nick in his paper thin summer sleeping bag much to his peril.
It was pitch dark around the bus shelter and quite late so we didn't expect to be bothered but then the dog across the road kept barking eventually arousing the his owners attention. We suddenly heard and saw someone heading our way so we all just closed out eyes and pretending to be sleeping. First he shone the torch straight in Mark's face but Mark just kept his calm and didn't flinch. Slowly we herd him chuckle and then walk on. Once we knew he was out of earshot we all burst into laughter wondering where had gone to suggesting this might make for a great news story with the headline 'bus shelter axe murderer'. Needless to say he never did return with an axe but he did return the next day to collect his horse so we don't think he was bothered by us at all and had probably just passed by us on his way to feed his horse. We were quite relieved to see the sun come up the next day though because we were up in the mountains and it had grown quite freezing over night. At one point I woke-up in my duck-down sleeping bag inside the tent thinking wow if I'm cold Nick must be frozen solid. As expected when I whispered over to Nick he was wide awake and freezing so I made some space in the tent for him so he could hopefully survive the night. The next day was overcast but not raining so we made a beeline for Pucón to catth the first bus back to Los Ángeles.
Once back in Los Ángeles we had to make our way back to the plot from the bus station in town, the other guys were on-line so I decided to head back by myself which turned out to be a disaster. During the time trial getting the the plot when we first arrived I had not noticed we had turned left just as we headed out of town so when I tried to get back to the plot I took the wrong road. 5km down the road, which too had a cycle track, things didn't look too familiar but then I recognised the name of a river we had gone over on the other road so I continued on. Only when the cycle track disappeared way before where the plot should have been did I realise I was cycling east and not north so I then had to turn around and head all the way back town and take the right road thus turning my 10km cycle into a 25km cycle arriving back at the plot just as it became dark with everyone wondering what on earth had happened to me.
It had been an interesting couple of days but all I wanted to do was get back on the road and continue progressing towards Argentina. The thought of passing over the Andes in the next few days crossing into a whole new country is quite exciting!
To see all the pics click here.
It has taken a bit of time getting this blog out as I had to write it out twice. After having in Argentina I soon discovered that somehow Entel in Chile had locked my phone to their network so in trying to get it unlocked I managed to format my phone along with everything I had stored to publish when I arrived in Argentina. I am hoping I can find someone to unblock it soon so that I can keep the blog up-to-date but let this be a warning to anyone using a prepaid Entel SIM when visiting Chile! The awesome trip over the Andes will be published soon.
