muratonbike

Wind picked up after sunset but eased in a couple of hours. Not much road noise. Woke up before sunrise and lingered until 9. A biggish climb ahead to above 4000m, but not steep. Snaking road. Took my time. At the top around noon. Lots of trailer trucks. The descent is fun. Views of red hills covered in cacti. Met a Spanish and a couple from France going the other direction. Found a little bit of shade near a bush and had lunch with whatever left to eat. Have high hopes for the next town Purmamarca 15kms ahead.

Cool morning. On the road at 9am. A bit of climbing for an hour and stopped by the road to have breakfast. For lunch, planned to stop at “Vanessa’s Place”, but it was closed. Next stop, Santuario de Tres Pozos. Reached the small ghost town with one minimercado through a sandy access road. Took refuge at the shady plaza for lunch. There was a fresh water tap too. Salar Grande was busy with day trippers.

A lazy morning with 10am departure. The road ahead is all gentle downhill. Met a cyclist from Czechia travelling in the other direction. Arrived at a famous empanada place at 11:20, but they were so busy with the lunch orders from the quarry workers nearby, even after a 40min wait they weren't ready to take my order, so I left, feeling disappointed. After a boring stretch with headwinds, the road became hilly and passed through some interesting mountainous area. On the downhill section towards Susques another cyclist appeared, climbing towards me. I stopped and said hello. He said we met before. After a brief moment I recognized Tjon, who I met down in Ushuaia, months ago. What a nice surprise! He was aiming for Lima and heading to Paso Jama. Susques was a typical Argentinian village with a Bolivian looking indigenous population. Almost every shop was closed until after sunset. There was loud music coming from the community building: there was a wedding in progress. A small funeral procession passed quietly on the dusty street while I waited for the shops to reopen.

The Milky Way view was impressive at night, couldn't get a decent picture with my phone, of course. Woke up at 4am, my heart beating a bit faster than usual. Managed to sleep again and got up at 7am with the noise of the trucks climbing the switchback. The thermometer shows -7. My water bottles inside the tent seem ok though… I have plenty of water left, around 8lt. Should I spend another night? 9am on the road. 33km downhill until Laguna Quisquiro, and then 24km left to the border, with only a 12km ascent… Met an Italian/French young couple cycling the other way. They started very early that morning and were not happy with the cold. Reached the last mirador before the birder around 2pm and had lunch… The sky was full of bright white pillowy clouds. I was at the border control building after a couple of kms. The Chilean and Argentinian officers sit side by side to stamp my passport. The gas station didn't have anything to eat except a few croissants. I sat for a few minutes to drink coffee and use their wi-fi. No stores either, I'm glad I had enough food. With the help of the winds I reached a good camp spot near Laguna Ana 35kms away around 18:30 and set up my tent. No wind and the sun is quite strong. Waited until the sunset to make dinner.

Beautiful high desert. 5°C outside in the morning. Tent fly is like a drum skin due to dry air. 9am on the road. Walked most of the way to the Bolivian border control station. I topped up all of my bottles from the tap in their toilet building. I probably have 10lt now. Feels good. Today's first highest point 4830m after 12km. Not as steep as yesterday. Good progress with a tailwind and beautiful scenery. Was hoping to see the Atacama Millimeter Array but they were far away probably need a telescope to see them. You would think nothing lives around here but there were guanacos, small birds and even some ducks in small infrequent pockets of water. Unbelievable… Another stretch of climbs and by 6pm, the second highest point of the day, exact same altitude: 4830m. The temperature dropped to 7-8°C and got really windy. Found a nice calm spot down in the valley after about 4kms, just before Laguna Negra.

Felt good in the morning so I packed up and left before it got too warm. Packed 9lt of water. Wi-fi at Copec station was unresponsive but there was strong signal for about 10km on Ruta 27. The road was flat about 15km, then the struggle began. The 8% grade really hit above 3000m. Lunch at 1pm, 3500m. A car was parkef with front hood open, overheated... Walked most of the next 6km. Found some big rocks far from the road and went there to check out: no bueno… 3kms later found a better area surrounded with big rocks. Beautiful views of Volcán Licancabur. The traffic and the wind stopped after 8pm. Realized I left my wall charger in SPdA. I have to use my solar charger for the next couple of days anyways.

A bit cool in the morning inside the tent with a lingering headache and a higher than usual pulse rate. Might need another day to get used to this altitude. My alcohol stove resisting to ignite. Using a 70% liquid instead of the usual 95%, maybe that's why. Almost all downhill today, although a bit of tough climb towards the end just before the views of SPdA appears. Surprised to see a green valley down there with beautiful red tinted rocky surroundings. The town center is crisscrossed by dusty streets. Tourists everywhere. Ought to spend a few nights here to explore the desert.

Climbing to high desert. Felt still sleepy in the morning. The lady opened the garage door and let me have my bike back. Bought two 1.6lt bottles at the Copec station. I have about 7lt in total. The air feels crisp and enjoyable. I put on a white long sleeve and covered my head and face with two buffs. Better than sunscreen. The first 30km is almost flat. Some mining trucks are being transported with escort. The scenery is nothing but bare sand and some garbage. And then the climb begins but it's not terrible. About 1000m elevation gain in 30km, not bad at all. Wanted to spend a night at high altitude so I found a cozy spot behind a heap of rubble next to the road. I'm at 3425m, on the other side of the pass. A bit windy up here but it calmed down after sunset. Looks like I have spent half of my water. So far so good.

Final leg of the journey to Santiago. Another extremely hot day. Traffic is gridlocked right off the bat. I think there was an accident. Went into the toll road. Fast moving trucks but at least I couldnride on wide shoulders. Stopped at a junction to check for rest areas, one 30kms ahead. A loud pop and a car started to spin and left the road 10m behind before reaching me. So much for the toll road… The backup road parallel to the toll road was quiet and peaceful but it ended after maybe 5km. Even though I wasn't going to reenter the toll road, I couldn't help but notice the new “no pedestrians, no cyclists” signs on the access ramps. Weird… I now had to continue on the old road through the busy towns. Took a lunch break at a nice cafe in El Monte, the owner lady got very excited about my trip, wish my Spanish was better. After Talagante, at Peñaflor, the road suddenly became one way, in the opposite direction, and I had to continue facing the oncoming traffic on the shoulder until it turned to normal. At Maipu a ciclovia started and took me all the way to Santiago. Passed through some sketchy neighborhoods, a lot of homeless people, tents under the bridge, etc. North of Rio Mapocho was better but not that much. Hostel bed tonight.

Another hot day on the saddle. Besides being a Sunday, it turns out today is the last day of school holidays, so a lot of cars on the road. I stopped whenever I saw a shady spot. A few hilly sections but more downhills. Nice quiet campground at the end of the day.