Erich’s Journal – Leg 17 –The Atacama – Arica, Arica, Chile to La Serena,
Coquimbo, Chile – February 20, to March 8, 2002 – 17
Days
Wednesday, February 20, 2002 – Day 251 – Hotel --
My life changed a little when I lost that ATM card. It was the only card that I had that would give me access to my checking account. I still have two visa cards, another Bank Card for a different checking account and an American express card. Unfortunately, I could not remember the PIN numbers for some of these. I would get them mixed up, also.
One visa card shut me out of the system, because I tried a few different PIN numbers. (Later I found out the credit card company had put a freeze on it after my third attempt to get money with it). I eventually got some money with a cash advance with my other visa card, so things worked out.
This should be the second to the last time I will need to exchange currency from one country to another. I am now using the Chilean Peso. Its value is about $668 (Pesos) = $1 (US). So now, I need to get used to another currency with large values. It was not too bad with the sol. It was about three and a half to 1, so it was easier to figure out. However, 668 to 1 is a little harder to work with. My routine will be to stick about $16,000 (Pesos) in my pocket at the beginning of each day and when it is gone, I am done spending for the day.
As you may have figured out, I am now in
A highway sign hit me when I got back on the highway. It said that it was 2090 km to
Services will be rare these next few weeks. I will need to pack 1 to 2 days worth of food and haul with me. I also had to buy a special adaptor for the laptop so that I could plug it into the outlets here.
The people here have a different look about them. They have more European features than do their Peruvian neighbors. They are tall, slender, and fairer skinned. I also noticed shopping centers, malls, bigger cars, more stop lights, and more money circulating. (See photo 1947)
Where as being able to locate change in
My next city will be
I checked out my pulse rate earlier. At rest when I get up in the morning, it is only 38 beats per minute. During my ride, it gets up to about 150.
I will need to begin to work in
a later schedule now. Due to the two
hour time change between
The day was a good one for the most part, although it was
uneventful. As I predicted it was
I liked
My day had two significant climbs and two significant
drops. Both of these consumed my riding
day. The first one was right out of
Again, at the top of the plateau, it was flat for about 10 miles. Then I had a 15-mile drop down into another valley. Knowing that I would not be able to climb out of this one before dark, I opted to look for camping at the bottom.
There was a police checkpoint at the bottom, where local law enforcement checks cars for fruits and vegetables. As they drilled me with questions, they offered a place for me to camp in their compound. It had some great shade trees and water. What a great find. There was also a little snack bar across the highway, where I had a sandwich, chips and pop.
Tomorrow morning, it looks like I have a 3000-foot climb out of here. (see photos 1948, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955)
Today was one of the toughest rides for me in some
time. I accomplished very little mileage
for the amount of day spent on the road.
It was mainly the climb out of that
About half way up, my derailleur went a little crazy and just about fell off the bike. I had to take the wheel off, tighten everything, and readjust the cable for proper shifting. This whole ordeal took close to an hour.
There were many geoglyphs along the way. Geoglyphs are huge carvings drawn into the earth by ancient civilizations. (see photos 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1963)
Water was the second issue today. In the 60 miles of desert that I traveled, there was only one little restaurant that had any services whatsoever. I ate a plain breakfast steak with rice and a couple of pops. They had no water to offer and no restroom.
There were towns on the map, but none when I arrived to where they were supposed to be. Some were just ruins. I had been conserving water for most of the day – partly due to lack of it and partly due to the strong sulfur taste of the last water fill up.
It was getting late in the afternoon about
Around
The last nice thing that happened to me today was shortly before I stopped for the night, there was a melon stand along the highway. Again, I remind you that there were no other services since that restaurant which was 40 miles back. This man had some honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon all diced up in big quart containers with toothpicks ready to go. I ate two of them so fast. I cannot remember appreciating eating melon like this ever before. It was fabulous.
Dinner was macaroni with tomato sauce, with the day old bread from the bakery (still very fresh tasting) along with the cookies from the bakery. Between that and all the fruit, I am going to bed with a full stomach tonight.
There is a beautiful sunset as I type this journal entry. The moon is close to half full and there is a bright planet just to the south east of it. What hard day with a great ending. (See photos 1961 and 1962)
I awoke early while it was still dark and the moon was setting. I heated up some water for coffee and just lay in the sleeping bag, sipping my Nescafe instant. The cold desert air was crisp and clear. I waited until sunup before I got on the road.
Whereas yesterday was one of the toughest rides, today was one of the quickest and easiest rides. It was a calm morning. I ran into a little road construction, in which 20 miles consisted of a gravel road, but it was flat and I still cruised at about 15 mph.
There were more services along the way at the towns on Huara and the junction town of
After the junction, I headed strait west into the afternoon
wind. There the going was a little tough
for about 15 miles, but the elevation dropped from 4000 feet to sea level. The wind then became insignificant. I averaged over 12 mph the whole day and
arrived in the port city of
I have just been cruising along. This coastline is quite spectacular. The Chilean People – you have to love them. They are so much like Americans, it is
scary. One big similarity is that these
people love to camp. I have seen more
tents in the past 2 days than I have since
The highway that I am traveling on has only been paved for a
few years. To the right is the
coastline. To the left are some
mountains (The Cordilleras) that reach up a few thousand feet to a plateau that
stretches from 50 to 100 miles all the way to the
The communities here are artificial, because there is no water or means to support themselves. All materials are brought in. Although water is scarce, I have had no problem getting it when I ask people for it. Services again have been rare, but I managed to find one restaurant yesterday and two today. The first one I hit today was rather expensive. I did not realize how much until I had left – a couple of meat sandwiches, some water, pop, chocolate and chips for $9.50. Ouch! That is about double what I would expect. Later I had a delicious fish and rice dish with pop for $3.50. Better Deal.
Last night I camped about 20 meters from the shoreline. I had about 4 hours of sun left by the time I got there so I had plenty of time to scout around, walk barefoot, etc. I worked on my bike chain and cleaned my stove as well. I attempted to patch a hole in my thermarest, but could not locate it. I need to wait until I can submerge it in a tub or something.
It was rather cold that night. I had to climb inside the bag. I woke up to a beautiful sunrise. I got the stove going for coffee without getting out of my bag. Sipped Nescafe watching the sun come up. It cannot get any better than this. (See photos 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981)
A dilemma I have had lately is trying to figure out when I
can make the leap over the
Currently I am in the city of Tocopilla,
about 240 km south of
I saw rest stops along the highway with trash barrels. It is a first in a long time. These barrels were not overflowing either
which would indicate that they are periodically emptied. I have noticed garbage along the roads in
The highway south of Tocopilla was empty most of the day. Maybe one car every 15 minutes or so.
One thing I cannot figure out about the culture here is the crappy service one gets when in an eating establishment or snack bar. It is almost as if they would rather not have your business. Today for example, I stopped at a little road side stand to buy a pop and some snacks. The counter had a flap pulled down over the window so it appeared to be closed. Although it was early, there was a family there whose members were obviously running the place. I asked if they were open. A woman answered that they were open. She obviously did not care to open the window to show me what they had to offer. She just stood there waiting for me to say what I wanted. I guess I was not sure what they had. I finally asked for a coke. She wanted to know what size. I said “medio litro”. She said they did not have that size. The whole time I am thinking, it would be nice not to play this guessing game as to what they had and did not have.
It just seems to be too much work to clean a table off, to show a menu with prices, to have a restroom to wash your hands, or to be able to sit down and not have to ask someone if you could eat.
I think a good clean restaurant would make a large profit on this highway. There seems to be enough tourist traffic. Maybe I am wrong, but I do not know. Maybe they just do not know how to give customers what they want.
Tonight I am right on the beach a few dozen yards from the
shoreline. Had an incredible sunset over
the water. (see photos 1990, 1991
and 1992) A full moon is rising over the Plateau. I see the city lights of Mejillones
to the south of here on a cove about 20 miles away. Tomorrow I plan to reach
This coastline has been quite beautiful during the past 3-day’s ride and I am enjoying it immensely. Today I took my time and rode slowly stopping often. I checked out a cemetery and an old mining town for a bit. (see photos 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989) I rode off the highway a ways to the shoreline to cook up a lunch with the stove. There was not a sole around.
I crossed the Tropic of Capricorn today. (see photo 1993) I have about 32 more degrees south to get to Ushuaia. It is just about due south of here and slightly east.
It was a great day.
Great ride. My fears of traveling
alone without Brian have definitely gone away.
The mugging fears that I had in
I did not realize how fatigued I was until this
morning. I woke at about
During the past 2 weeks, I have ridden 800 miles. This is similar to the riding that I have
done back in the first part of
I took the bike into a bike shop here to get a tune up. I wanted them to replace the chain and
cassette, but the bike shop did not have either that would work for my
bike. It is definitely due for a change
since the last new chain and cassette were put on in
I finally found a lavanderia that was reasonably priced and I was able to get my clothes back within a few hours. After having my clothes dry-cleaned in Moquegua a few weeks ago, I was relieved to find one so cheap.
I am convinced that the only people that go to McDonalds
located in other countries are rich fat people.
It is just an observation.
McDonalds has similar prices to that of the
The Far North of Chile was once a part of
Tonight I am in a ghost town. My tent is the only structure standing in
this
I had a long ride today.
It was a day that I was going to play by ear. There is a 250-mile ride between
After oversleeping a bit, I was on the road by
It was
I stopped at two other restaurants, eating at one and just
getting a gaseosa at the other. I stopped a pretty cool road side attraction
called “El Mano
As I lay in my abandoned town, the southern wind is still
blowing. Now that the sun has dropped so
has the temperature. With the wind, it
is quite chilly here in
The summer season is still here
in
I woke early. I was
not sure at first what woke me up but I thought I had heard some
footsteps. I had camped about a half a
mile away from the highway out in the desert.
There was no one around. I looked
outside and could see the half moon still high in the sky.
I decided to get up and make some coffee. I have gotten the act down -- the one where I can get the stove going and the coffee made without having to get out of the sleeping bag. With the cool desert air, it is a necessary trick to perform. I have a headlamp that has a low light LED bulb in it. It is enough to read with but does not shine more than about 3 feet in front of you. When I pointed it out in to the desert in front of me, I could see the reflection of two eyes about 20 feet away.
At first, I thought it was a dog, but I was not sure. It was small. I yelled at it, to get away. It would not scamper far and would return.
I found myself out of the bag, checking my panniers for open food. The animal was circling camp. I would scan the perimeter with my weak flashlight. The reflection off the eyes would always give the creature’s position away. It would approach then retreat, often over the next hour. Occasionally I would chase it away getting within about 3 feet of it. It was grey, with a dark tip on its bushy tail. It was about all that I could make out.
There was no way I could get back to sleep now. I ate breakfast, broke camp, and was on the road about 30 minutes before the sun came up over the mountaintops.
The past two days prior, I had cycled 90 miles each
day. Today I figured to do about 75 to
make it to the city of
The morning was cool and damp with a light fog. There were four mountain passes that I had to
climb and drop today. Each had about a
500 to 1000 foot climb. It was not too
bad, but enough to make you work a little.
I remember in the early days in
During the past three days, I have been lucky to find one or
two restaurants per day so that I could get a filling meal and full water
containers. Crossing the
The final stretch really hurt today. I dropped into a canyon, with the hopes of a light gradual downhill to the coast, but the headwind was so strong, it stopped short. I had to stand and cycle to go downhill. I was lucky to go 6 miles per hour. My 2000 foot drop over 15 miles, took nearly 2 hours.
I checked into the most expensive hotel, since Brian left, in Chañaral. I guess the 253 miles peddled in 3 days and the two nights prior in the tent made the decision for me. The bed is very comfortable.
I ate two dinners, not to mention a few packages of cookies
and chips before going to bed. There was
a bathtub too. It was the first bath
that I had since
I am going to sleep in a little and get on the road around
It was a relatively short ride today. I left later and arrived earlier. It did seem to drag though. Winds did pick up in the late afternoon, but were tame compared to the day before.
There are few things worth mentioning of the day’s
ride. I met a French cyclist who was
heading North. His name was Michel. He had been traveling since 1998. He had cycled from
Another thing worth mentioning was that I was looking at a
tourist brochure of the
The last thing I will mention is that I am beginning to see vegetation in the surrounding desert. Most of it is low-laying brush. There are also small cacti. I also see some small creatures such as ants and lizards. There is life in this desert.
Tonight I am in the small town of
Chileans have a tendency to cut off the last syllable of many words when they speak. It can be very confusing at times, especially when quoting prices or stating menu items. I could not quite figure out why I could not understand what was going on when one would attempt to make conversation with me. I am more confused here than any other Latin American country. I guess I need to stand out somewhere. Since there are so many fair-skinned people here, I do not stand out physically as I once did.
Two very perceptive young women seemed to know though. Today, these women, who spoke English well, approached me. They were quite blunt, stating that they wanted money. They were gypsies and they needed to support their babies. They wanted the money now. I, however, have gotten good at saying no.
I played tonight. I saw a double feature at a movie theatre. Apparently, it is acceptable here to pay for one ticket and stay inside as long as you want. The movies shown were Don’t Say a Word (I think) with Michael Douglas and Planet of the Apes (which I had seen before) with Mark Wahlberg. Both were pretty awful. I realize I hadn’t missed much in the cinema world. Movies in Latin American countries I noticed are shown in English with Spanish Subtitles. I think it would suck to have to read the dialog all the time. I guess I am spoiled.
Short ride today, it was. I arrived early in the afternoon and had a lot of free time to roam the streets, do internet, see the movies and eat out. I also exchanged some money and realized the US dollar had dropped in value in the past few weeks (or I got a bad exchange rate). I am staying in cheap accommodations a few blocks from the center park. There are many German backpackers here.
Tomorrow I have a long ride if I want to make it to the next city.
Thursday, March 07, 2002 – Day 266 – Primitive Camping --
near Incaguasi,
I did make it to the next city of
I found a nice residencial near
the town plaza, with a little old woman running the place. For $6000 (pesos), I got a very clean room
with cable T.V. The water was cold even
though it was supposed to be hot. I
guess I can’t get everything perfect.
This town is less touristy than Copiapo. It appears to be more of an agricultural town
than other cities that I’ve come across in
I’ve been on a sweets binge lately. Ice Cream is a favorite. I sometimes get a double scoop, twice a day. Chocolate bars have increased in my diet as well. My teeth don’t care for this change too much though. Last night I also had two dinners spaced about 2 hours apart. The appetite has been there throughout the trip.
Today was a little harder getting up. I guess the 92-mile day caught up with me. The sixty miles I did today, was a hard one. I stopped often. (Maybe HBO in the room last night didn’t help)
The past few mornings have been very cool and foggy. I have been riding with a jacket on for the first 10 miles or so.
I was offered a ride today from a semi-truck driver. I declined, but thanked him. It’s been the third time since I was in
As usual, I found a little place 1 mile away from the
highway, this time near the
From out of nowhere, I noticed a little old man with a
bundle of sticks on his back slowly work his way up the hill. I thought he was just going to converse,
since it had seemed to be the norm in other places in
He started screaming at me in Chilean Spanish. About 90% of it was absorbed, untranslated, but the human emotion was translated perfectly. He was pissed because I was there.
At first, I tried to be nice and friendly. He told me to go camp down by the road, or go stay in the village, but not here. I kept asking him if this was private property, but he ignored most everything I had to say. There was no fence, no sign. It did not appear to be an area that was someone’s property. Perhaps he was having trouble understanding my Spanish. He appeared to be in his mid 70s and was very weathered. I told him to lower his voice, that yelling was not necessary. This of course, angered him even more.
He carried a big walking stick with a metal end on it and kept it in front of him at all times. As I thought of the amount of work to break down my camp, I asked again if I could stay and that I would be gone by early morning. The look in his eyes seemed of rage. Finally I took the offensive and told him loudly and sternly to back off. I told him that I was leaving. I threw in a few English swear words for emphasis. He responded to this by backing off and shutting up. When I stood up, he could see my size also. The tables have turned.
He walked back down to the bottom of the hill and gathered his sticks. He waited a while until he saw my tent go down, and then disappeared behind another hill, out of sight.
I spent the next hour finding a new spot to camp down the highway a mile or so. I had to cook in the dark.
In my new camping spot, I discovered another fox. This one was a pup, for it was very tiny. Much smaller than one that I saw cross the highway the other day. I took a picture of this one, for it was in daylight this time.
Tomorrow I should make it to the
coastal town of
