Tag: Chile

I’m back in Chile, and have just completed my first week on the Carretera Austral, riding to Coyhaique. It’s been an interesting week, covering all the main bases of riding here – rain, shocking roads, spectacular scenery, plenty of cyclists, and the odd mechanical failure.

From Trevelin I went back across the border to Chile, via Futaleufu. Right at the border it began to rain. I kid you not. I went into the border control building, went through processing, came out and I had to put the jacket on. It’s stayed on for most of the next week.

I could have stayed in Futaleufu, but it was full of stereotypical loud Americans, and it was a crappy place if you weren’t rafting or kayaking. The road from Futaleufu to the main road is not good, especially when it has been raining, and it becomes soft and sticky. Little traffic, but the roads soon took their toll – a bolt on my rack has sheared off, and I can’t get it out. So I stuck a bunch of cable ties on there, and hoped for the best. It lasted a week, and the bike is now at the shop getting fixed. I’ll go there soon, hopefully it will be sorted.

Joining the main road at Villa Santa Lucia, I ran into Marko, a German who has just started his trip, also headed south. We’ve stuck together for the last week. It’s been quite different having some company, especially when you are so used to riding by yourself.

We had a couple of good days heading to Puyuhuapi. Not much rain, just overcast. Long clear sunny spells is too much to hope for in this part. We met a young Englishman who had left Ushuaia 3 weeks ago, and was riding long distances every day. We thought he was mad, and you could see the toll it was taking – he was confused, forgetful, and clearly in need of a rest. What’s the point in trying to go so far every day? If you don’t have a lot of time, then just aim to do a shorter trip. There’s no prize for going fast.

From Puyuhuapi we had a tough time of it. We knew we had a pass to cover, and around 90km to the next town. We were happy to camp, but then it started raining, and there wasn’t really much in the way of camping opportunities. The road was shocking, narrow, loose surfaces, with something like 15 switchbacks heading up the pass. At this stage it was pouring down, and we just wanted to get over the pass, and down. There would have been fabulous views, and great photos, but it was too wet, with the clouds too low to see much.

Our timing was not so good, and it was about 6pm we were coming down the pass. We met a Canadian pushing his narrow-tyred bike up the pass. There’s a certain schadenfreude when you meet someone having an even worse day than you. He still had to get over the pass, it was a long way to the next town, and he had a only a couple of camping places – oh and his tent was leaking.

Reaching the bottom of the pass, we still had 24km to go, and it was getting late. Two things though: Sunset is late at this time of year (about 9:30pm), and they had extended the pavement to the intersection with the Puerto Cisnes road! So we had smooth smooth tarmac, and we thought we could make it. Still tough though, and we didn’t reach Villa Amengual until about 9pm. Everything was wet – my panniers have too many holes in them, so they tend to get water in them, which then can’t drain out. The Goretex shoes were full of water – but the Sealskinz socks worked perfectly, keeping my feet dry. The jacket/overtrousers had a bit of dampness inside them, but that is at least in part from sweat. We were so grateful to be warm and dry, and not camping, as we listened to the rain pour down overnight. A French couple arrived after us – they were having a tough day. Disturbingly, he reminded me strongly of Mr Bean with a French accent.

We started again in the rain the next day, but along the way the rain stopped, and later there was even a little sun. Things started to try out, we had downhill and tailwinds through gorgeous valleys…things started looking up. Pity the woman running Residencial Manihuales was such a cow. Luckily we weren’t cold, and didn’t need a hot shower anyway.

The fine weather continued for the leg to Coyhaique. Longer than previous legs, but smooth roads and favourable winds. It was a shock to reach a large city, to wander around in amazement at the shelves and shelves of goods at the supermarket, to see such an array of places to eat. Such a change. So strange too, a large city with seemingly nothing around it for miles.

Two final thoughts: If this is such an isolated area, with so few people, why is it that everywhere is fenced off? Wild camping is not as easy here as I thought it would have been. And secondly, why is it that Chilenos have such a lack of attention to detail? Nothing is finished off properly, doors don’t quite line up, windows don’t work right. It’s not like they’re too busy doing other stuff, and lack of money is only an excuse for poor materials, not poor workmanship.

After four days on the road, and my body trying to tell me that it is no longer in the condition it used to be in, I am having a rest. Villaricca seems as good a place as any to stop, especially when it is at a hostel run by a pair of RTW cyclists who decided that here was where they would stop.

From Santiago I got a bus with Linea Azul to Chillan, to avoid the crap riding on the motorway south of Santiago. Since then I’ve had 3.5 days on the dual carriageway Ruta 5, and half a day on the (good) road to Villaricca. After here, the dirt roads will start.

From Chillan, I rode to Salta del Lajos, a waterfall, where I was the first camping tourist of the season. Apparently the others are still 3-4 weeks away. I was all alone in the campsite. Still a ripoff at $10USD for cold water. Prices are per site, rather than per person, making it expensive for one.

Next stop was a very dodgy town, Chollipulli. There’s something odd about seeing Chilean kids trying so hard to look like an American skater, right down to the pants down low showing their boxers. Especially when you’re in the middle of a town that is very much NOT the USA.

There is quite obvious disparity here in people’s incomes. It’s odd stopping at a services area that could be in Europe, then next stopping at a little shack on the edge of a field, to grab an empanada. I don’t think it’s coruption (like say China or Central Asia), more it’s that some people have adapted faster to the changes since Pinochet’s time. There is some serious money behind the agricultural procesing plants, and huge houses in the Lake District here.

Another day down the Ruta 5 from Chollipulli to Temuco, then a nice easy ride out here to Villaricca. Didn’t expect Villaricca to have as many flash places as it does, but I guess it’s a rich person’s playground.

Met my first touring cyclists yesterday, and had a chat about where to go from here. The current thinking is that I may be better off going to Argentina in the next day or two, moving south, then crossing back to Chile around Futaleafu. Seems as good a plan as any.

That’s right folks, you better watch me closely now.

Yesterday I was on the road, cycling down the dual carriageway that runs down the middle of Chile, the Ruta 5, aka the PanAmerican highway. Here it’s a relatively recently constructed road, perhaps a bit dull to ride on, but safe for the cyclist, since there’s a wide paved shoulder, so you don’t have to worry about making room for vehicles. The on/off ramps every 5km or so are well constructed too, making them quite easy to negotiate, with plenty of room to move, and work out when it’s safe to cross the off ramp. Regular bus stops also provide shade. Still, a couple more days of it and I’ll be getting pretty sick of it.

Anyway, this section had a concrete ditch running alongside it. Like most of the countryside until the last day or so, it’s hot and dry. I’m riding along, and I see something in the gutter – I then realise it’s moving, and making noise. Other times I might have just left it alone, not wanting to get involved, but 10 metres down the road, I realise what it is, and what I need to do.

I put down the bike, and go back. There’s a small black puppy lying there, paws akimbo, attracting flies. It seems to be dead. But near it is a white puppy, struggling, mewling pathetically, turning its head in my direction, even though it’s eyes aren’t open. I pretty quickly summed it up – someone has thrown a couple of unwanted puppies off a moving car, and the fall has killed one of them. The other was severely dehydrated, lonely, confused, and probably internally injured from the fall.

Dogs are not treated well here. Towns have strays running around, and clearly they are beaten by the locals, as they are timid. Patting one the other day, it was clearly grateful for a simple touch (although it would probably have preferred food…). There is no SPCA. The next town, 10km away, would not have facilities for an animal like this.

Before going back, I had picked up a rock. I use it. Hmmm, not sure that rock was big enough. A second time. It is done for certain.

Not the easiest of things to do, but better than the alternative of leaving it.

Now those dogs here better continue to leave me alone, so there doesn’t have to be any more casualties…

I’ve been in Santiago a few days now, and I’m starting to get the hang of it, so here’s a bit more on what’s happening. Yesterday got off to a slow start, as I didn’t even wake up until noon. Usually I can tell the time to within about 10 minutes, without a watch, but my body clock is a bit messed up right now. It’s coming right, and should be sorted soon. Hope so, because waking up hungry at 4am, way too hot to go back to sleep, is not fun.

Haven’t done too much in the way of typical tourist stuff, other than going up the cable car, to the top of the hill overlooking the city. It was quite weird walking through the markets selling tourist tat, and be completely ignored by the hawkers. They were focussing on the Spanish-speaking touristas. Other than that there’s been a lot of walking around, and getting a few things sorted out. Ordering food/drink is easy, but when you need to carry out slightly more complicated transactions, such as getting a new SIM card setup, things get a bit more interesting when you don’t share much language. I’d forgotten how much fun that can be.

People think that travel to exotic locations is glamorous, and maybe it can be, but if they saw me yesterday, sitting in a bright orange restaurant, eating fried chicken that was more skin than meat, off a bright orange plastic tray, watching an Adam Sandler movie dubbed into very loud Spanish, well, they might just think again.

Today I went for a bike ride around Santiago, covering about 35km. Surprisingly, the city has some useful bike facilities, with many bike paths through the parks, and along the riverbank. Many Chilenos were out and about on their bikes too. With it being a Sunday, and an election day, most shops were closed, so there was not much traffic. As an aside though, can you imagine a Western service station closing the shop part (but still selling petrol) just because it’s an election day? Hasn’t anyone told them that most of their sales margin is made in the store, not at the pump?

The vague outline of the ride I did was to follow the river through the city, from east to west. This corresponded with a significant decline in the money in each area. In the east was a huge shopping mall, full of rich Western brands, but closed. Very odd seeing a carpark listing spaces available: 1415. It was all Gucci and Prada out there, but sterile. As I went west, the money dropped, but once I passed the city center, things got much more interesting. Far more drunken bums passed out on the grass. Many shops were still closed, but there were still markets and things going on in the west. I guess when you’re poor, you can’t always just take a day off.

Tomorrow I’m going to get a bus to Chillan, and ride from there. This will save me some time, and avoid some dull riding through industrial areas, and busy roads.

Just a quick post, to say that I’ve arrived in Santiago. Bike seems to have made it through the flight OK too – first thing I did was to put it together. Nothing seems damaged. I took the easy option of getting a minibus taxi to get me and my bike from the airport to the hostel. Purists would of course assemble the bike at the airport, and ride from there, but I couldn’t be bothered. It’s not the easiest to find the non-motorway route in from the airport either.

I arrived around noon, and although I could have probably done with a nap, I decided to get out and about in the sunshine, to help reset my body clock. Plenty of sunshine there was too, with no clouds and temperatures around 30°. Lots of walking around the city centre, dodging the crowds in the shopping areas. I’m getting sorted out with provisions now, and working out how I’m going to get out of town. Current plan is to get a bus to Chillan, to save some time, and avoid riding through busy industrial areas.