Valdivia - San Martin; trouble strikes.

We had rain most of that day. We had woken up not that early because we slept too well. After leaving Don Jose's place we started pushing pedals towards San Martin for a second day. We had a nice sun that morning but at midday things started to change. We had planned on reaching Puerto Fuy for the journey, a small spot right next to the Pirihueico lake and our last stop before reaching Argentinian soil. The road surprised us with several climbs and a rain that would join us for most of the day. At night, thing would go a bit dramatic.

Sun, Rain, Rain, Sun and Rain again.

People in the south is used to the rain. They say that when it's sunny, you have to seize the day and enjoy the outdoors. They also say that when it rains, well, you just have to accept it and be happy because that's the way the south is. Gladly with Camila, we are both happy under the rain, otherwise this second pedaling day would have been pretty bad.

After a nice morning at midday a light rain started, soon the light rain became thicker. We had arrived to the end of the pavement and a gravel laid ahead. It was time to eat and there was a small supplies store where we filled our stomachs with some sugary candies. We still had to pedal around 20 kilometres to reach Puerto Fuy so we asked if it was ok to cook outside the shop, a lady, probably owner of the shop, said she had no problems with us staying there so we improvised a roof to protect us from the rain. When we were ready to eat the rain hit harder, lucky for us, once we were done eating rain ceased a bit and we were able to continue under light rain.

It was a nice morning for pedaling.

The sky was threatening us with some drops though.

Finally thicker drops started to fall.

The road at this point changed drastically, it was really beautiful before too, amazing viewpoints where you could see the Panguipulli lake. Some shelters to cover yourself in case of rain and signs explaining what you were looking at, also some picnic tables to eat while looking at the lake. It reminded me a bit of Norway and the stops there are next to the roads where you enjoy the magnificent scenery.

Still, this gravel road had something. People say it's the south's magic. Maybe this magic hit us, or the scenery plus the pedaling made it all wonderful. Despite the fact it was raining, Camila also agreed the place was amazing. The gravel gave the road a touch of a more rural area. We started feeling we were finally on the countryside where not many people go.

Gravel all the way and the girl in orange.

The rain stopped, we had time to snap a pic.

A bridge with an amazing river. We felt like jumping into the water. The hybrid and the armored.

The rain continued and road got heavier for our legs. After around 2 hours of pedaling, light rain became heavy rain, it got darker and it got steeper. We were going uphill all the time now and we still had to go another 15 kilometres till Puerto Fuy. With nothing more to do but to pedal we kept pushing. Around 6 pm we arrived to Neltume, another small spot lost in the area. This place was 5 kilometres away from Puerto Fuy and it's THE place with a 24/7 shift polyclinic in the area. In case of emergency most of the people goes there seeking for medical help. If they can't help you there, then you have to go to Panguipulli somehow. If you can't reach Panguipulli, well , you are screwed.

After crossing the small town of Neltume, a huge climb was waiting for us. We were tired after pedaling under the rain and going uphill most of the time. We wanted to camp, but I was kind of skeptic about doing it under the rain and something was telling me to reach Puerto Fuy and find a hostel where to spend the night. Nonetheless, we asked for camping sites around the area just to get a negative response from all of them. Closed because it's not summer they said, who would camp under this weather?. Most of the camping work from late November, early December till March. Being October, we were out of luck finding a place where to camp. Wood would be a problem too, with that heavy rain, finding dry wood to make a fire would have been a bit troublesome. We decided we had to climb the hill and reach Puerto Fuy.

Puerto Fuy and the horror.

We made it to Puerto Fuy. Maybe it was around 8 pm. I can't really tell, it was still raining and it was almost night dark. It had been like these the past 3 hours though since the rain got heavier, so telling what time of the day it was wasn't really possible. After some looking around we found a homey place where to spend the night. We dismounted our things and got warm and cozy right next to the typical southern stove that people use for a different set of things like cooking, drying clothes, warming the house, boiling water, etc.

Talking with the landlords was cool, they were an mid elderly couple who had spent their whole life in the area. We had a nice 'once' with them and got ready to sleep. Camila mentioned that her stomach was kind of jumpy maybe because of what we have had for tea. I made my specialty before sleeping; scrambled eggs, melted cheese and some salami. This accompanied with mate weed sets me ready to sleep.

We hit the bed and Camila said her stomach was hurting more now. She didn't want to take anything for the pain though and said that with some sleep it would go away. Well, it didn't. After around 1 hour she started saying she couldn't sleep and wanted to throw up. She rushed it to the bathroom and around 20 minutes later came back looking as a ghost. "It hurts badly" she said, so she started looking in her medical supplies kit and took some stomachache pills, 15 minutes later, she would throw them up again. This going to the bathroom, puking, coming back to bed, went on for around 3 hours. She would throw up, feel a bit better, we would try to sleep, and once again the pain. Around 4 am the pain got uncontrollable. Camila started to roll around the bed claiming it hurted, and that it hurted a lot. We took some medicine it was supposed to be used in strong stomachache pain but as soon as she drank them she threw up. We made some herbal tea, but we got the same result. At this point I think she started hallucinating because what she was talking was all nonsense. "Leave me here, I will go back to Santiago somehow." "I will die, it hurts too much, leave me to die here and reach San Martin", "Baaaaawwwwww it hurts baaaaaaawwwwwww, have you seen the sheeps already?" Lol wut? "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" what? what?, ok, enough. I told her I would go wake up the landlords and ask them if they knew if the local polyclinic was open, she said no but the pain was too much that she agreed. I talked to the landlords and the man said it didn't open till 8 am, the only option was to go back to Neltume because that's the place they have night shifts. He said he could take us in the pick up truck if it was a serious emergency and so I said yes. I talked to Camila and in a lucid moment she agreed and said yes. "it hurts i'm gonna die!!". It was 5 am and we had to go back to Neltume. At this point I thought we would have to go back to Valdivia if shit got too serious, I even thought about an appendicitis but it didn't hurt where the appendix is. We blamed the 'once' we had. Those scrambled eggs with cheese and salami may have hurted her, a bomb for the liver, but the bomb didn't do a thing to  me, I was just sleepy. It could have also been the water. But I drank the same water all the time. We went back the steep hill and the 5 kilometres to Neltume in the pick up truck with the land lord. Camila was seated in the back sit trying not to throw up all over the pick up truck and trying to cope with the pain. We made it to the polyclinic and after some waiting (Camila; "why do we have to wait so much! where's the nurse! it hurts! baaaaaaaawwwww!") the nurse arrived with a clear sleepy face wondering who the heck were we and what the heck had happened.
What's going on? she asked, I told the story and she played a bad poker face and said "Who the heck eats that before going to sleep?". I do, I said, and here we are :). After some examinations she concluded the only way to stop the pain was to give her a direct shot to the vein. After 10 minutes laying there still in pain Camila blurted; "Give me something for the pain! Please!.". I can't give you nothing, the nurse said, woman up! the pain should go away soon. After around 20 minutes, finally, Camila started to feel better, or at least, the pain started to disappear. The nurse gave me some pills and instructions and said that she had to rest and eat lightly. Of course, I replied, and went our ways.

We went back with the landlord. Camila was feeling better now but she felt really weak. We reached Puerto Fuy again, it was 7 am and we hand't slept at all. I told Camila about spending the next day there at the hostel and not taking the ferry to cross the lake. I considered it was much better to have a rest day to check how her stomach would react rather than keep on pushing. With a noticeable weak voice she said she wanted to continue, that she could but we would take it easy. We agreed on discussing it after some hours of sleep. The ferry would leave at 1 pm and it was the only chance to cross the lake that day.

Pirihueico Lake.

We woke up around 10.30. We slept almost nothing but Camila felt much better. We discussed about leaving or staying, I still wanted to stay, but Camila wanted to keep on. After some minutes talking we agreed, not to my like, that we would continue. Had it been me, I think I would have chicken out and had given up that day. Where the heck did Camila got strength again to keep on I have no idea, but she seemed convinced that we had to keep going and maintain the schedule to reach San Martin. After seeing her last night bawling nonsense and rolling in the bed asking for something to stop the pain I would have never imagined she would tell me "no, we have to keep on". When I told the landlords we would leave and take the ferry to cross the lake, their faces turned into an "are you nuts?". The lady warned us that there was nothing ahead and that if we had an emergency we would be on our own. The man told us that there was a police post a bit after the border and that we should seek for help there in case of need. The ferry would leave at 1 and it was 11.30. We had to rush it.

Camila was feeling much better, I guess the direct shot to the vein worked as intended because she even ate that morning. Not as much and as me, of course, but enough for a breakfast. We also had the problem with customs. We couldn't take much food with us because they get rid of it at the border and we didn't know if we could get some more food at the other side. We got ready, and with some doubts from my side, we departed.

The ferry left at 1 pm. Not much people was crossing that day. A couple of police vans a couple of cars and a huge truck. Not much for being such a wonderful place. The ferry crossing reminded me a lot of the time I spent in Norway, the landscape and the air were so fresh and pure it was wonderful to breath it. As the day before had rained most of the day, the upper part of the mountains had a bit of snow and it was a really beautiful and replenishing sight to be there. I think that also contributed to Camila's desire of keep pushing. Still I have no idea where she got energies from.

From the Ferry.

From the ferry.

After 2 hours we made it to the other side of the lake, we still had to go 11 kilometers in order to reach the border and make our leave of Chilean soil. After nearly 100 metres a pick up truck stopped and offered us a ride till the border. A friendly guy asked where we were going and if we wanted a ride. We said yes and mounted the bikes up the pick up truck. This guy, who never told us his name, was a Carabinero, police officer. He works at the police post in the border carrying out the duty of guarding the border with Argentina. He also drives a motorcycle around the area making sure all is in order. During summer he has to hike up the mountains for several days in order to check that nobody has crossed from Argentina to Chile without notice. One would think, what the heck could go wrong so far from the city with people leaving away from each other and enough space to be free, at the border high up in the mountains. Well, shit also happens here and he told us how couple of nights before one guy wanted to hit another with an axe because they had a minor fight. He also told us how people try to smuggle cocaine or other drugs through non authorize paths and how people usually get losts in this process. Shit's tough up there it seems.

The border and to Argentina we go!.

Camila was feeling much better. With the ride, we got to the border quite fast. Before going through the process of leaving the country we ate next to a huge dog guarding the border control. Sun was shinning above our heads and the beautiful landscape plus the weather lifted up our spirits. As the ferry crosses the lake only once a day, and being it the only way to get from Chile to Argentina, nobody was expecting us at the border. They usually wait for all the cars to pass and then nothing else really happens, so most of them leave to do whatever they feel like till the next ferry arrives or leaves. As we were riding, we arrived to the border way later than the rest of the cars, so it was a surprise for everyone to see a couple of bikers arrive. After eating and waiting for the people to get to the control office, we departed towards Argentina. With almost no food and me worried about Camila's health we kept pushing. It was 4 pm and we wanted to keep pushing as far as possible as we didn't even have flour to cook some 'chapatis' (replacement of bread). So we kept on towards Argentina and the customs.

Republic of Argentina.

Good bye Chile, at least for a couple of days, it was Wednesday and we would come back next Monday to Chile. We crossed into Argentinian soil quite fast, and again, nobody was expecting us at the border, so when we entered customs they didn't even bother to check if we had some forbidden things such as vegetables, seeds, or other organic things. We just went on into Argentinian soil, no checks, just a stamp and that was it. We asked the guys at the Argentinian border if they knew where we could get some bread, they told us to ask some 100 meters down the road, there they would know.

Ahead laid the gravel road that would lead us to San Martin, it was early, around 4.30 pm, so we still had some more sunlight to continue. We kept going and found a nice museum house resembling how colonists lived when they got here, we asked a girl who was in charge of the place where we could get some bread or flour. She said there was a restaurant around 100 meters away and if nobody was there we could ask in a house in front of the restaurant. Those were our only options till San Martin, which definitely we wouldn't reach that day.

We reached the restaurant but the girls in charge of it said they didn't have anything to sell, and they had barely something to eat, they were waiting for the 'Patron' who was supposed to bring supplies from San Martin, but they hadn't heard anything from him. The woman in the house in front hadn't baked bread for selling that day. We met also other bicycle tourers who were on their way to Chile. They warned us how hard the road had been for them that day and how it took them 7 hours from San Martin to reach that point and that at some points they had had to hop off the bike and walk. Geez, bad omens for the road ahead and no bread for us that night. We thought we were going to eat just soup when from the distance a gaucho appeared riding his horse. I asked him if he knew where we could get some bread or some flour for baking it and he said that he would gladly give us some. We followed him and on the way the rest of the group of Argentinians bikers showed up. The gaucho asked if anyone had some medication for muscle pain, he had had a back pain the whole day which was killing him. We had some, so we told him we would give him some pills. The gaucho invited us to his place and after finding a plastic bag he proceed to give me around 2 kilos of flour, he asked if we needed more, certainly 2 kilos was way more than what we needed. He also gave us some salt and wanted to give us yeast. He was really nice and was really thankful for the muscle pain pills we gave him. We were thankful for the flour, we would eat some soup with chapatis that night. Once again, the road provided us with what we needed. The gaucho also offered us a place where to put the tent, he said he liked to help people up there because he knew at some point he would need others help, so it was an exchange he was happy to make. It was too early to stay there though, so we kept moving.

We continued pushing pedals for a bit more of 25 kilometers, but the way was hard as the other bikers had said. Mostly going uphill but nothing so terrible to hop off the bike, otherwise we wouldn't have managed to pedal 25 kilometres uphill. The bends on the road were amazing. The road changed drastically from what we had had in Chile. Constantly in Chile we would find houses next to the road, cars passing, not that frequently but still cars passing next to us. People from there to here. Never really on our own. Here, there we no houses at all, just the lake to the right side and the mountain to the left side. This caused a small problem when it started to get dark because it was kind of difficult to find a nice place where to put the tent. Finally, at the side of the road, we found a flat area where to put the tent. We made chapatis with the flour we got from the gaucho and made a wonderful soup that kept us warm for the night. At the other day we were suppose to climb around 12 more kilometers and the continue in flat for others 6 or 7 more in order to reach San Martin. Camila made it for the day. We had few hours of sleep and a intense day of pedaling but her stomach didn't betrayed her during that journey. She used energy who knows from where, after all that throwing up and pain she had the night before, she was feeling quite ok. We had to rest though, we knew the next day would be difficult too, climbing with all that load on the bike isn't as fast as one would think.

A bend on the road towards San Martin, they are actually like the sign.

Valdivia - San Martín; The road shall provide.

And down the road we go again. This time the road would take us to cross from Valdivia, Chile to San Martin de los Andes, Argentina. Along the way we were expecting some beautiful lakes, wild country and a small mountain town that Camila had been in some years ago. I had put an eye over this route for some time already but mainly because of time, as usual, I never got the chance to do it. 

As I'm quitting Fraunhofer, the company I work for, they owed me some extra free days to “cash” before the end of the year. Enough days for taking the chance to ride some more before my trip. We planned the route with Camila and set for the adventure.

Valdivia, getting out of the city.

 

After reaching Valdivia by bus and spending the night at Kassandra's, we departed from Valdivia on Monday around 9 am. The goal for that day would be to get as close as possible to Panguipulli, a small town next to the lake of the same name. Panguipulli was around 100 kilometres away from our starting point, so we were expecting a long first day.

Leaving the city was a bit tricky because I had planned on following a dirt road that I knew wasn't used that much. While on the way out, we got kind of lost but managed to find our way till a neighborhood where the route starts . While on our way through this neighborhood Camila had a small problem with the load on her bike and her shoes fell from the rear rack. She stopped to fix the problem and while she was accommodating the shoes again, a drunk man started walking in our direction. The guy was yelling something to other guy lost in the distance who clearly didn't hear a thing. While he walked trying to catch the guy, he noticed me, looked at Camila and his eyes went wide open. He stopped the yelling and started walking towards me. I just looked at him trying to guess what his next move would be but I couldn't reckon as his balance got lost in the several bottles he may have drunk the past night. Once he reached me he extended his hand and politely said good morning and proceeded to congratulated me for traveling by bike. He asked where I was from and where I was heading to and went from being drunk and kind of angry to being drunk and happy. This guy claimed he also was a cyclist in his young times and that he had had a really good time riding back then. I asked him why he stopped and he told me he started pedaling in Valdivia with the intention to reach Arica, the northernmost point in Chile. Sadly, in Antofagasta, someone stole his bike and all his belongings. He had to start working his way back home but while coming back, his life changed and he couldn't ride anymore. Camila finished fixing the shoes and got closer to us. The guy also greeted her and congratulated her for travelling by bike. After some more talking we asked him how could we reach the road we were trying to find. He pointed the way and started blessing us and wishing us good luck waving his hand as we left. We said thanks and our farewells and kept on the move which hadn't been that much so far, we still hadn't left Valdivia.

The way the drunk man rode. From Valdivia to Antofagasta, he almost reached Arica!!! I wonder if I will end up like him.

Sea Lion in Valdivia.

Camila looking at how the earth rotates.

You are a Kitty!!! and you are there!!! Reference.

On the road again.

Finally we found the road and left the city. After around 100 meters of dirt and rocks, a good sign showed up. Pavement!. Quite a surprise, I was expecting dirt most of the way. They had been working during this year to improve the roads, and this one, was about to be finished. A really good welcome for the day having pavement instead of dust and rocks plus the beautiful landscapes and fantastic air to fill our lungs made it all awesome for the start!

The way towards Los Lagos. Paved and bicycle friendly!

Amazing landscape outside Valdivia.

After crossing Los Lagos, a small town 50 kilometres away from Valdivia, we started talking about lunch. Damn, you eat a lot while traveling by bike! I had been eating most of the way from Valdivia but still, I would be eating small shits like cookies or dry fruits. We like to joke with Camila how instead of going thinner while in my trip I'm going to go fat because I eat too much.

Panguipulli was 50 kilometres away and we needed a place to eat. We decided we would push forward till we could find a nice place where to eat when suddenly a small truck stopped and a voice yelled; “Where are you heading guys? Do you want a ride?”. After a fast look I said yes and the driver stepped out to help us put the bikes on the back side of the truck.

José was from Los Lagos and he was working on the road, literally. He is in charge of a crew of around 50 people who clean the roads from branches that fall from trees, rocks, bushes, and other things that may try to take over the way for cars. He told us about this spanish couple of bike tourers that he met at the fire station he is member of. He told us how when he saw us he just felt like helping us because we reminded him that couple. I give my thanks to that spanish couple, whoever they are, they earned us a ride and saved us near 50 kilometers of pedaling. When we were almost in Panguipulli, he pointed out the way he was supposed to go and then he said that he would ride us till the intrance of the town so we could cross it faster. Even closer than he said he would take us!! Once we reached Panguipulli, we thanked him for the ride and got our sight into the town.We had already ate some sandwiches while on the truck, so we weren't hungry anymore and kept on pushing forward.

Bulls ahead.

Soon it started to get dark and we decided to stop and camp. Sadly, our first attempt of stealth camping failed. We found a nice spot next to a river, thinking we weren't violating any private property we put the tent, collected branches, and were ready to cook when a man showed up with some dogs and asked who had we asked  in order to camp there. I told him no one because we hadn't crossed the fence he was behind and we thought that it was just public as there was no one around to ask to. He then said that we were in his property and that we had to leave immediately. Without waiting any reply from me he turned around and left to stop at some distance. From there he kept staring at us, not giving any chance to talk at all. With nothing really to do, and not wanting to cause any trouble, we left. 

It took us some time to mount the load on the bikes and now it wasn't that early. After pedaling some more, sunset started to approach and we still needed a place where to sleep. We decided to stop at the next house and ask if we could camp outside. We yelled hello at the next house. A young lad showed up and told us he would ask his father if we could camp there. Shortly he came back and said yes. After mounting the tent and when it was almost completely dark an older man appeared. José (another José!) told us he was just taking care of the place. The owners of the place and most of  the land around us was from some guy in Santiago who came only during summer for some weeks, the rest of the year he would be in charge of taking care of the land. He told us how one time another couple asked him if they could sleep there and how they arrived late in the evening and left early in the morning. He then asked if we needed anything which we didn't. We had everything but he kept offering something, and asked us to accept at least boiled water which we accepted. After some minutes he came back again with a huge 2 L. thermos and a couple of big home made bread. Still warm from the oven it seemed!. He said he didn't have bigger thermos but hoped that 2 L of water and the bread would be enough for the night. Way enough! I'm just carrying my 0.5 L thermos and that's it!. The bread was amazing too. We had bought some cheese in Valdivia so for that night we had some pasta with sauce and after that tea with bread and cheese. FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!. 

House next to the road.

Such a productive day for the first day! We had to idea to reach as close as possible to Panguipulli but we got around 30 k ahead of the town. The road provided with good things for that day, it was sunny most of the day, atypical for the south of Chile considering rains start at random. The road provided with transport, a place to spend the night and food and welcoming people who had things to say. Besides the angry lad that banned us from his land, all went way better than we were expecting it. And there we were surrounded by farm animals who were wondering who we were and why we were invading their land. With full bellies we were ready to let our legs rest for the night we head to sleep and get ready for the next day that would be way longer than the first one.

Dear employer, I quit.

A quick update post.

Today I handed my resignation letter. Time is flying at the speed of light! Damn, I still recall it as if it was yesterday when I told Jota; "it's like 6 months away but it looks like if I leave tomorrow!".
Time flew, and today I handed the official notice that I'm quitting. Not much to say though, almost everybody here at work knew I was leaving so it's not a big surprise. Still this makes it official and earns me a beer in December thanks to Lothar. We bet about me leaving, he said I wouldn't leave I said I would definetely do it. So the resignation letter is also a ticket for a pitcher of beer in the following weeks.

I'm still writting the last trip from Chile to Argentina, soon I shall post it. I need to start working in the last details of the trip too, as the departure date is approaching really fast. I have to work on the bike and buy the last supplies I will need. Busy times ahead, but fun time nontheless.

Days till departure?: around 37!

Resignation letter handed!

Hey, what are you running away from?

So far, most of my friends understand why I am leaving Santiago for the road and the unknown. But from time to time, new people, that doens't know me, start questioning what I am going to do. Most of them don't really understand how someone can leave like this all the comodities the city offers and what I have built in the time I've spent in this city. The idea of a lad in his mid 20's, leaving all behind doesn't seem to be sane at all. Some understand and agree, others share my points of view, others disagree completely, and I'm fine with all of them. This post is for those that wonder if I am running away from something in particular and are worried about that.

What am I leaving?

Currently I have a well paid job, I work as Bioinformatics Engineer for a well known german company now based in Chile. The salary is really good for what I spend monthly and I can pay all that I need with it. The working hours are ok and I still get time to do other things in my spare time. If I stayed, certainly good oportunities would come and I would go up in the ladder in my field because the work place I am leaving is really good and offers a lot of good things.

I live in nice big flat which I share with my friend Jota. I live in a secure neighborhood with a park right outside the flat. It's not that noisy at night and it's big enough to host people from time to time. It's not far from work, and I'm able to pedal everyday. My daily commutes take around 25 minutes at a steady pace. I don't have to go uphill so I don't sweat while going to work. Most of my friends here in Santiago live near there, so we can meet during weekends or do things during the week, not having to travel big distances to see each other.

I have a girlfriend with whom we've built an awesome relationship. She loves to do lots of things I love to do too, so we have a lot of things in common. We've been doing lots of things since we started our relationship and I really love to spend a lot of time with her. We are really similar in how we see many things of the world, but we are also quite different. It's fantastic to talk and talk non stop discussing different things we don't agree and agree with.

I have several friends here in Santiago, with whom we also share a lot of time. We party, we meet, we travel, we go to the mountains, we pedal. It's an awesome group of friends!

A picture from the last time we met with my friends here in Santiago. Don't ask what's going on. From left to right: Sara, Me, Jota, Tom.

I live three hours away from my hometown, so I'm able to leave during the weekends and visit friends in my hometown, visit my mother, and spend some time in the countryside too.

I'm leaving a city that has lots to offer, I'm leaving the capital of Chile in which I have been living since 2010. I'm leaving a city that offers thousands of different activities, and lots of different places where to go and visit. I'm leaving girlfriend, friends and work.

You are running away from something!

Most of the people that doens't know me like to theorize that I am running away from life, from work, that I am immature, and that this is just a way to escape from real life. The last and most funny of the theories I've heard lately is that I am running away from marriage (seriously? wtf people!). Others wonder if I went nuts to leave my comfort zone and face the unknown. Most of them tell me I shouldn't run away from things, and that I should think better what I am going to do, and so on. When I tell I want to do this, because it's my lifetime adventure, and because it's something I've been thinking from some time, they keep trying to make me change my mind.


So, Am I running away from something?. Of course I am, I am running away from Santiago de Chile.

Santiago de Chile.

I've been living in this city from around 2010. I came here to do my BsC thesis. After that I moved back to Talca, to find out the only place I could really find a job in Bioinformatics, by that time, was in Santiago. So I came back 6 months later. Since then, I've been working here.

Santiago, what you see if you google it.

Santiago has around 7.5 millions inhabitants right next to the Andes, and I'm sick of it. The public transport system is seriously fucked up. The subway is packed at every hour and it's incredible the amount of time and discomfort you have to face everyday if you use it. Have I mention the heat down there?. News use to say that you have around 5ºC more in the underground compared to the surface. Temperatures during summer in this city can easily reach 35ºC, so inside the metro you reach 40ºC. Add to that lots of people in suites, and all of them sweating. Add to this also no room to move, and people fighting in order to find a small spot to get inside the train. This everyday. Even Saturdays and Sundays. And the smell at the end of the day. Damn, we humans smell really bad.

Rush hour about to start in the Metro system. Picture from www.emol.com

So why not to take the bus?. Well, buses are pretty much the same, plus they get stuck in traffic jams. Traveling with the bus is damn slow too, so if I wanted to get to work from where I live now, it would take me around 50 minutes.

Wherever I go, it's packed of people, it's hard to find a place with no people and some silence.

Also pollution. Damn this city and its pollution, it's like smoking cigarretes everyday!. Since the public transport system is fucked up, lots of people opted for buying cars and motorcycles in order to get on time to where they go. This added lot of pollution to the city, and most of the days, the picture I posted is a fake picture because you don't even see the mountains thanks to the smog cloud above our heads. The only time you see a postal like that is after the rains. You can count with your hands the time it rains during a year. So most of the time, you only see pollution.

Hey dude! What are you doing to ameliorate things?

When I got here, I knew all these problems existed. Therefore I decided to buy a bike. Since then, I've been pedaling. I'm helping by not using the subway or the buses, not adding someone to the already congestion transport system. Most of my use of it involves moving to the bus terminal to leave the city to my hometown, Talca. I haven't bought a car, despite the questioning of some people and not even a motorcycle which seems to be useful to have in this city. More pollution? No thanks, It's way easier and faster to move by bicycle rather than using a car, getting stucked in traffic jams, and once on destination, try to find a spot where to park the car. Not to mention all the security measures you have to take so thieves don't steal your car.

Pollution, the most important thing to run away from.

Last Saturday I went on a morning bike ride with Camila, my girlfriend, we were going to a scout meeting. We had to pedal from downtown to the base of the Andes. One would think that living right next to the Andes is a good advantage. Well, not really in this city, most of the days you don't get a clear pciture of the Andes. Instead pollution a layer of smog would cover the mountains. The andes blocks the winds coming from the other side too, so there is no air flow to send the smog away. At the other side we have the coast mountain range, also a huge wall that stops the winds. Both this mountains trap the smog above the city.

Riding towards The Andes. Not really a clear sight, the layer of smog covers the mountains.

The next Sunday we decided to go for a hike. We hiked up the Manquehue hill. Its height?, around 1638 meters over the sea level. I got amazed by the picture you get to see up there. Seriously Santiago?. Really? Come on, that looks like a swamp!!! Well, yeah, the smog doesn't even allow you to see the coast mountain range which are 25 kilometers away from the city!. We should be able to see the mountains from this point. Instead, a wall of smog.

Santiago, from the top of the Manquehue. Down there, people, above the people, smog, and further above, some clean air. What you really see when you are here.

Seriously, am I living in this city? Is this real life? (irony) is this what I really want for the next 5, 10, 15 years of my life?. Certainly not, and that's what I'm running away from. I see this everyday from my office. I'm fully aware of the air I am breathing and the life style I'm having in this city, and if there is something I am running away from, is the smog I am breathing every day. Heck I can't even do sports properly without feeling the smog in my throat!

Window shot from my office right before luch. Back there, the smog covering the buildings in downtown. I see this everyday.

Compared to other places, at least for me, Santiago sucks, and I've been saying this since I came back here. I recently took a tour to the country side near my hometown. I loved it, so relaxing, so clear, so breathable, so free from people. Definitely a place I would like to stay for more time. I decided I didn't want to live anymore in Santiago, I decided I want to run away from the smog, the stressed people that fights to get into the subway and the collapsed transportation system. I decided to leave behind the angry drivers that fight every morning between themselves and with the cyclists because "you should be riding on the sidewalk!". If I have to say I am running away from something, I'm running away from Santiago and the pollution both of body and mind, and that's it. It's quite simply actually, I don't want to live in this city anymore and I have taken this as a starting point for a new cycle in my life. I am leaving for the adventure, or at least, 2 years of adventure. After that? I don't know, it's quite impossible to know what I will be doing after the trip. I could die during it, I could just continue pushing pedals further on, I could come back and work again (that's the plan so far) but planning that ahead it's pointless, what I can say for sure is, I will try as much as I can not to come back to live in this city again.

As for my friends, most of them already have plans to leave the city too, they are my friends and we share points of view, we all agree it's the way to go and that we have to do it if we care about ourselves. They all will do it at some point, I'm sure of it, so it was a matter of time who would leave first. It seems I'll be the first one and I hope others follow soon.

Country side near Talca. I'm leaving the smog for more of this.

Altos de Lircay, Talca's mountain range. It's all about attitude.

As September came, also did the holidays. The well known fiestas patrias, our national days, gave us all a whole week of holidays. My friend Maria from Germany also came to visit Chile for some days, so we teamed up and traveled a bit through the surroundings of my hometown. Among the plans we had a small tour to the Andes mountains but sadly for Maria, she picked some strong flu that made her weak and she decided it was wiser to stay in the valleys. I thought I was going to miss the mountains for the second time in this year, but Maria told me it was OK for her if I wanted to go, she would stay at my home and recover for the next week so we could continue doing things for the last days. I decided I would go because I didn't want to miss the chance of visiting The Andes and going back to my roots, hiking up the mountains. I was also feeling a strong urge that was telling me I had to go to this place. The mountains were calling and I had to go.

My friend Pablo, who would be part of the trip, doubted about going the night before because of the weather. The forecast was talking about a storm up in the mountains for our first night up there and also, that previous night in Talca, the rain would cover the city. Pablo would check the forecast for the last time and he would call me with his decision. At this point I  had decided I would go no matter what the forecast was saying. Pablo called and told me he couldn't check the forecast because his computer wasn't working properly. I told him I would go anyways and after a couple of seconds he told me; "yeah, fuck it, let's go". We talked about last details and started to get ready for the next day.

The way up. First day of Mountains.

We met at mid day and bought a small bottle of rum for the coldness. It amazing the cheap alcohol you can buy around. The small bottle had 250 ml of Jamaican kind Rum. For CLP$690 you could get this gorgeous beverage and if lucky a ticket for a new liver. (CLP$690 is around €1 and around USD$1.4) As we thought about mixing with mate weed, we bought it.

Rum for around €1. Getting blind for cheap. When we smelled this thing it smelled like cheap perfume and I would keep the smell in my nose for a while.

After 2 hours in a bus from the 80's we reached our starting point. Backpacks ready and we start walking uphill to reach the entrance of the national park Altos de Lircay. A hidden gem of our nationals parks. After 2 kilometers uphill we announced our visit to the park guard, where we were going, and the days we would spend up there. He told us about the current state of the trail and the snow levels. He also told us about the weather coming for the night and asked us if we had enough clothes. We said yes, our farewells and left.

Pablo next to the sign that marks the beginning of the trail.

The weather was pretty nice for what the forecast had said it would be. We had a normal winter day, cloudy, kind of cold, but not noticeable when you are walking with a huge backpack. Perfect conditions for a hike up there. It was kind of tricky though. I was discussing something with Pablo while walking and we didn't notice that some clouds were right at our level. Suddenly out of nowhere a mist appeared and covered the woods. Not a thick mist, but it was noticeable and the forest took a really nice aspect. After some minutes this mist would leave us, and everything would go clear again. I couldn't help but recall the movie "The Mist" and other horror movies where a mist appears out of nowhere.

The mist.

Part of the trail going up. 

Our walking pace was pretty good. I though Pablo would be way slower, but he was walking at a good pace. He has long legs too, he is around 193 centimeters height, so his legs can cover way more than my legs. We started seeing more and more snow spots in the forest around us, and when we got to some viewpoints we would see the top of the hills covered in snow. Behind us, black clouds, slowly coming up from the valley to the mountains.

After around 2 hours, we finally reached our camping site. A floor, a roof, but no walls. Good for the tent I had bought for my South American trip next year. The place had already two tents and the owners of the tents were there. When they saw us and we greeted, they looked kind of worried/concerned by our presence. Later we would know why. One of the guys asked us for how many days we were going to spend there and if we had enough to cover us for the night. He said it was going to be really cold. We agreed. We mounted the tent and got ready to continue walking some more. 

Camping site. Floor and roof for the night. Pablo to the left trying to fix something maybe (?).

The snow spots got bigger. The temperature went down a little bit, but the walking kept us warm. After one hour more of walking we reached the final point for that day; Mirador del Valle del Venado. A really nice spot on the way to the Descabezado Grande volcano. 

The view there makes you spend more time than you should, it's quite amazing to look at the shapes and colors of the rocks in the mountains. The wind at that point is really cold too, it's not possible to spend that much time  without moving because soon you start to freeze. After a while we started to see more and more clouds, a storm seemed to be coming, but we decided to stay a little bit longer, the view was too cool to leave so soon. 

Viewpoint Valle del Venado. You can't see the volcano because of the clouds. To the far right the Valle del Venado.

The way back was faster with the walking, but we would stop to look at the amazing views we would face for minute, even when down from the valleys we could see clouds coming up the mountain. After around 30 minutes, something changed dramatically. The sun appeared on the horizon and surprised us with a small portion of the sky clear enough to see the sun go down. This was a pretty nice and weird view. Nice, of course, the sun going down, and the change of color from greys to reds was appreciated. But when we would look to the trees, without leaves, and the clouds behind them plus the red sun going down, we would see clouds of smoke filling the sky and trees on fire. When we looked at a mountain it looked as if a volcano had made eruption right behind it and the smoke column was going up filling the sky with a huge fire up there. In one word; amazing.

End of the day, walking towards sunset.

Weird illusion of fire and smoke. 

We thought the clouds would go away as we got the chance to see the sunset, but soon we realized we were wrong. As son as we got to the camping site temperature dropped. More tents were being mounted beside ours and more people would spend that night with us in the shelter.

First night and the use of guerrilla techniques.

People started freezing, I never thought about making a fire but they looked concerned and started trying to make a fire. Around half an hour later they managed to start the fire. Pablo had his socks and shoes wet so we took advantage of the fire and dried his things. Suddenly one of the guys puked everything his stomach had, he complained, and puked some more. Complained again, and puked again. This time he didn't complained anymore. Soon the temperature dropped dramatically and a storm started. It was time for us to hit the tent and try to cope with the cold and the night ahead.

Pablo had his summer/beach sleeping bag and claimed his feet were freezing. I told him how we would use our backpacks to create a feet sleeping bag when I was a kid, and how warm my feet would be almost instantly after using the backpack. We both used our backpacks as feet sleeping bags and called it a good day. My feet warmed up instantly, it was 9 pm and we had our feet warm and were ready to sleep.

We tried to sleep but it was impossible. People wouldn't stop talking inside their tents, and we were able to hear everything. When finally a silence came and everybody started to fall asleep a fast zip opened and someone rushing it out made us all alert again. The puking guy again. After a couple of hours people got finally silent but Murphy's law is always present. At 1.30 am, sharp, I looked at the time because I woke up, a girl started yelling at our tents pleading for help. Everybody woke up again, and the girl told us they were 5 in 2 tents, but there had been snowing so much that one of their tents collapsed because of the snow and got destroyed. Everything inside that tent, wet and covered with snow. The other tent, about to collapse too so they needed to move. There was still some space where we were so they moved all their things under the roof. Around one hour later the 5 of them managed to fit inside the 2 persons tent, or at least, I imagined that as I didn't get out my sleeping bag because it was way too cold to be outside.

At this point I realized I couldn't have my face outside the sleeping bag, otherwise it would freeze. It was so cold that my face couldn't resist too much not being covered. Pablo was awake too and said he was freezing so he decided to use another jacket and also covered his face completely. Our feet, still warm, the backpack technique is a real good technique against the cold. Having the feet warm, at least for me, it's the only must I need in order to sleep. The rest of my body can be cold and I still will manage to sleep, but if my feet are cold, I can not sleep at all. We managed to fall asleep again.

Little before 5 am, I woke up again, this time, my whole body was cold. My feet?, still inside the backpack, but now, freezing cold, I couldn't feel them so I had to touch them with my hands to check they were still there. Shit, it was really cold!!. Still in darkness I couldn't do much really. Pablo noticed I was moving and told me he was freezing and awake. Some minutes later we would hear whispers from the other tents about how damn cold it was. Everybody was awake, it was too cold to sleep and we still had 3 hours to get some sun.

When finally some light appeared we noticed half of the tent was covered in snow and that the roof of the shelter worked only partially. I took a water bottle I had for the night and surprise, frozen. Still no sun rays to get up though, so leaving the tent wasn't a priority. Camping behind a mountain to get protection from the wind has its drawbacks too. The sun rays don't hit you right after dawn because of the shadow of the mountain. People was awake but wouldn't move, just whisper. Too much cold, I needed some warm sun rays, so I decided to get up and move.

I recalled this guy from Oslo who lived a whole year in the woods. He told me how in order to get warm during winter, he forced himself to go out the tent and run to get warm. I manned up and got out the sleeping bag and the tent and started moving.

Right before going to the tent, first night.

Damn it, that was cold!

Surprise!. Everything in the landscape changed through the night. It didn't snow that much, but still everything was white and covered with snow. Everything changed and we would be in the same place but looking at a completely different landscape. It snowed around 40 centimeters. Enough to destroy a tent I suppose. I was amazed by the landscape but still needed some sun so I took a small hike to reach some warm rays.

Our camping site after the first night.

I reached a nice spot with sunlight and a girl was coming back from a walk. I found out she was the girl asking for help last night. She told me it was the first time she was there for the winter and that it was the first time ever for her 4 friends. They wanted to go to the beach but she convinced them to go to the mountains. They were so mad at her because they wanted to have a great time but had it awful and were going to leave that morning. I guess the mountains are not for everyone.

I headed back to camp and found Pablo getting warm under the sun too, we started making breakfast and soon the rest of the people would get up too. The guys who had the collapsed tent soon got up with a noticeable "I hate this place" face and soon left. After they left I would understand why the guys who were there in the first place looked concerned about us too.

One of the guys came out with a device and he claimed inside their tent they had -11,4ºC around 4.30 am. So after some talking and discussion they agreed that under open sky there could have been around -15ºC. After this claim, one of the guys complained and laughed about people not using the right equipment and just going there to drink alcohol, they had a name for that kind of people; the Melvins. Melvin is the name of a popular summer drink made of melon and wine (therefore the name), sugar and ice. You drink it directly from the melon with a straw so it's refreshing for summer days.He said it was really necessary to have the right boots and pants, first layer, good jacket, etc. With Pablo we weren't really wearing things for the snow and didn't share that much the opinion, so we decided it was time to leave and go hike up a mountain.

Leaving camp. Back there the hill we wanted to hike.

Leaving camp for the day.

No food, no water.

Damn it it was cold last night, we were discussing with Pablo as we were walking to climb the Fraile hill. -15ºC and a bit of snow, yeah, but maybe more than -15ºC, I have no way to prove it though.

I was quite amazed of the tent, never thought it would resist such temperatures and the snow. Also our sleeping bags did a nice job, mine is -2ºC to 8ºC and Pablo's in a beach sleeping bag, probably 5ºC to 15ºC. Really cool we managed the coldness. Suddenly after a bit more of half an hour we noticed we had forgotten food and water. Still, the hill was right in front of us and didn't think it would take us too long. We had decided not to go to another higher place mainly because Pablo didn't have good shoes for the snow, as I had been up there several times I decided it was much better to climb a closer hill than going to the planned place for the trip, the Enladrillado. Therefore, the Fraile looked a nice option. We thought about going back for food and water, but that would be too long to then go back again and start the climb. We decided we would reach the summit anyways.

The Fraile hill near us.

Soon I realized the reflection of the sun in the snow was tanning our skin and if we didn't use anything we would got bad sun burns. As we forgot to bring food and water, we also forgot to use sun cream. We had nothing else so I thought about the guys in the desert covering their whole body to protect themselves from the sun rays. We did the same. After all, this was a white desert.

Ready for the hike up.

I had never done summit in this hill but I kind of knew the way. The guys back at camp warned us about crossing one creek. From the distance I could see two creeks. As there was no trail to follow because of the snow and the storm last night I decided it would be much easier just to guide myself by the summit and a bit of instinct, like in my old times.

In order to reach the summit we had to cross two small creeks, as the snow covered everything it wasn't easy to spot a good place to cross them, so guided by instinct I decided to follow some foxes tracks we had seen in the way. I was right, the foxes tracks lead us well. The first time to an easier crossing spot, the second time, also to an easy crossing, but for someone the size and weight of the fox, not Pablo's size. It was a tree covered in snow that worked as a bridge over the creek. Somehow I managed to cross with no major issues. Pablo had it harder, his size would be a problem fighting with the branches trying not to break any main branch and maintaining balance. After some minutes, he managed anyways.

Follow the fox!

Using trees to cross the creek. 

After 1 1/2 of slow walking through the snow, thirst hit. We had forgotten our water, and Pablo was really needing some water, the only option we had was to eat snow. Pablo was dubious because the people last night had been talking how bad it is to eat snow and how, probably, the reason of the puke for this guy was that he ate snow. To be honest, I always eat snow when I can and I know that if I eat too much or drink too much water from the snow I will get sick, but I don't think small amounts will do any damage. I told Pablo to melt small amounts of snow in his mouth, and once melted, drink it, I told him not to do it too often and with big amounts, but just what he needed. We both did so.

We kept walking and the mountain started giving us our prize. The views got awesome. We still had around 40 minutes to reach the summit, so we had a small rest and kept moving.

Resting point.

We were both hungrier and thirstier than before and were already talking about what would be good to eat right in that moment. The more we talked about food the more hungrier we would go, but at least the talk made the walk easier thinking about the food we would eat once back in the tent.

Summit.

Reaching summits will never get old, the realization that you are able to get all the way up is amazing. The view at those points makes me want to climb the hill in front, and the mountains back there, and that other one, and so on. From the summit of this hill it is possible to see the Descabezado Grande volcano and the Quizapu volcano. This made me remember the last time I went to the Descabezado. That time I went with some friends but we couldn't reach summit because a cloud covered us and we started freezing, literally. After 2 minutes being covered by the cloud I recall the drop in temperature was dramatic. I tried to talk but I couldn't because my muscles wouldn't react. We decided we had to go back or pay the price.

From the summit of the Fraile I could see the Descabezado. It was like the volcano was tempting me to go to its side and climb it. Peaceful, with clear skies, reminding me about the last time I couldn't reach the summit. It tempted me, so much, that I took a decision right there. I will go earlier from Santiago with my bike in order to climb it. I will depart before January towards Talca, will summon the same friends I was with last time we tried to do summit, and this time, will reach the summit with them, or at least with the ones that have the time to do it and manage to get to the top.

Pablo to the left and me to the right. Back there Descabezado grande and Quizapu.

The way down from the summit of the Fraile was easier and faster, the snow made it really easy to go down and sometimes we could even run. In around 1 1/2 hour we were already back at camp, thirsty, hungry, tired, but happy for the summit and ready to eat all the food and drink all the water we could.

Are you just wearing jeans guys?

We ate, we drank and we dried our cloths with the help of the nuclear and the fire it provided us. Soon the rest of the people arrived to camp from their days and started doing the same. After some talking finally what we were expecting with Pablo arrived. The guy who looked worried/concerned when we got to the place in the first day asked us a question: "Are you just wearing jeans guys? Don't you have thermal trousers? What about the over-boots and snow jacket?" Pablo looked at him and I replied "this is the way we roll over here mate" and continue with the drying of my jeans next to the nuclear, nothing else was said about it. From what we could reckon afterwards the guy couldn't understand how we were still there with no "proper" equipment for the situation. He couldn't understand how Pablo was wearing his city sport shoes and still be able to do a summit in the snow. How the first layer was simple sleeping clothes and tons of more cloths over the body. Well, actually, this is the way we roll and how I started walking in the Andes range when I was kid. No proper gear, just some bunch of things I could find at home and to the mountains we go. That's how I got to the Volcano several times and have been doing summits around the area.

Third night and back to the city.

The third night wasn't as cold as the first one, still I woke up at 4 am and couldn't sleep anymore because of the cold. Pablo woke up a bit later and we started talking till dawn. At 7.30 I stepped out of the tent and waited for the sun rays to hit the camping spot. We had to leave latest at 11 am in order to catch the midday bus towards the city.

Drying our clothes and sleeping bag.

The morning went away fast, packing and drying took most of our time that morning. Once ready we said our farewells to our camping neighbors and left. I don't know why but every time I go up this national park, the way back seems to be way longer than the way up. Pablo also noticed this.  He didn't realize it was such a long distance but now, on the way back, knowing we were supposed to take the bus, he found out we had walked quite a bit into the Andes. He wondered also how much we had walked the previous day and how far the summit of the hill we did was.

The way back.

Soon after some more walking we reached the checkpoint with the park guard and finally the bus. Usually the bus driver just checks if someone is walking down the mountain, if nobody is coming or if he can not see anyone, he just leaves, even if it is not the time to leave yet. Lucky for us, this time, wasn't like those times in which I had to hitch hike my way back to Talca.

It's all about attitude.

On the way back we had time to talk a bit about the gear topic. I think gear can be helpful, and a lot, but this doesn't mean that if we don't have the proper gear then we can not do anything at all and have a cool adventure. It  relies a lot on the attitude. Pablo didn't have anything proper at all, normal clothes, normal shoes, a totally not proper sleeping bag, the tent wasn't meant to be used in such temperatures, still, everything worked as a charm. We felt cold, yes, but the rest of the people also felt the cold. They had first layers, we also had them, pajamas.They had second and third layers, we did too, our cotton t-shirts, wool sweater and jeans. They had fourth layer, we did too! Our wind stoppers. For sleeping? all of the previous plus scarf and wool hat and our sleeping bags.

I think the right gear will save you and help you in harsh conditions, but with no proper attitude you won't even get to the place. After all, from my point of view, the attitude it's the most important thing when going for an adventure. Pablo proved it. For him, this was his first time camping in the snow. His second time in this national park but first time during winter/spring. He was dubious about going because of the weather, but at last time he said, "fuck it, let's go there". The right attitude made us have a blast of a time up there. I got what I wanted, inspiration for another adventure and a decision of when to depart from Santiago. He got more than he thought he would get and at some point while we were walking towards the bus he told me; "you know what? this was a fucking awesome experience, I will invest in a better sleeping bag". For me this means he wants to continue doing these things, which is pretty awesome. Another man who will convert to the mountains and the adventure, because after all, it's all about the attitude rather than the gear. Maybe I'll invite him to climb up the volcano, although those are major words, it's not 3 days but 5. Way harder than this, but with the right attitude, hell it is possible. I just hope this time no cloud cover us and stop us from doing summit.

For more pictures of this trip check this link.

Descabezado Grande, I'm going for you in January!

Trip for a weekend. Finally a bit of road.

It was  really necessary to get out. I have been inside the office and in the city for too long and I started to really notice it. Finally the time window appeared and I was able to take a 4 days tour mainly to test some of the gear and get some fresh and clean air.

The Route.

So we had 4 days free because of a holiday and Daniel (one of my coworkers) made me know we could easily do a small tour for the weekend. I instantly recalled this warmhowers member who is the only one 90 kilometres south of Santiago. So I looked around the area for some good mountain range where to go. That's how we chose Coya as destination and the Andes range up in the Copper highway.

From Santiago to Cajon Las Leñas.

Mining industry around the area is pretty active whole year round. Heavy trucks and bus traffic would be waiting for us both going up and going down the road.

Finally out of the city.

It took us around 2 hours just to leave the city. After asking a weird man in a wheel chair sitting next to a small stream we crossed some private road and made our way out. Everything went from buildings and pavement to countryside and a dirt road. It was funny how Daniel joked about how a bear would came out and eat us and we didn't have sticks to protect ourselves. Yeah, right, suddenly out of a countryside house huge dogs running towards us. Murphy always present.

Finally out of Santiago.

After crossing this small countryside dirt road everything went pavement again and we entered the road that would lead us to Rancagua. From here everything went really smooth. After crossing a river and a really small climb the road started going down. We rode around 50 kilometres in 1 1/2 hour. Really damn fast considering our weight. As we were riding really fast to what we thought, we slowed a bit our pace. Suddenly, the horror. First climb.

Going uphill.

Moving uphill was really slow. The pace I got while climbing was in average 5 kms/h. I think this is almost like walking fast. Going at this pace and with this weight made me go into thinking mode. I started thinking about a lot of different things. Heck my mind was working at full speed. I wouldn't feel neither tired nor without breathe, I would just continue pedaling and maintaining the same speed while thinking a lot of things, or at least I thought I was maintaining the same speed.

Daniel was ahead when we started the climb, but after a while I passed him and finally reached the top. This was the first climb and was kind of hard but still we were ahead on time. My thinking also helped, I forgot being tired and just continued with the pedaling.

View from the top.

After having lunch in a nice area next to the road and using the twigs stove a.k.a. the nuclear we had enough rest to continue towards Rancagua.

The Copper highway and Coya.

We reached Rancagua kind of late, we took it too easy after lunch and got confident we would be on time for the sunset at Coya. We knew we were supposed to do a huge climb. There is a difference of 500 metres over the sea level between Rancagua and Coya and this in a distance of 25 kilometres. Suddenly after we passed Rancagua and climbed a little bit we realized the sun was going down too fast and we were climbing to slow. We decided to take a rest.

Entering the copper highway.

After 10 minutes of rest the climbing continued and the light started to fade away. Lots of buses started passing next to us, probably with workers from the mine up there. Also more cars started passing too. Suddenly there was no more light and the signs were telling us we had climbed 15.5 kilometers. We still had to go 10 kilometers up to reach our destination.

After another rest in the dark we continued this devil's climb. Buses passing at high speed next to us. We two trying to maintain balance in a narrow space, because as usual, the road is not made for a bike. Tired after 100 kilometres of pedaling. And now at the kilometer 16. Devil's climb. After going again into thinking mode while pedaling, suddenly we managed to reach top and surprise. A nice way down. This started at the kilometer 20, so our prize was 5 kilometers going down the hill.

Damn I love going down the hill at high speed. Add to that the clear night sky we had above our heads. The wind hitting your face and the realization you managed the climb. Perfection after a whole day of pedaling.

After going down we reached Coya and got to the house of our warmshower, Aldo and his wife Rosario. They welcomed us and we had "once"/dinner with them. Daniel was falling asleep since we got to the house so we went straight to sleep after some talking.

First day, 120 kilometres ridden. Mission accomplished. We were damn tired but happy for the day that had passed.

Warmshowers friends from Coya.

Next day we chilled a bit. We got up kind of late and our new friends joined us for a bit of a ride. After setting things we departed. They showed us Coya and told us a bit of the history of the place. After half and hour we said good bye to the pavement and received greetings from the gravel road. No more pavement till our return. The guys rode with us till a bridge around 1 hour from their place and we said our goodbyes.

The way up was hard, gravel, sun, and a really long climb. For this day we had to go 25 kilometres with lots of climbs and gravel.

The one one.

Daniel next to a sign stating that the next kilometer was a climb.

Again, going up was a never ending story. The weight and the heat wouldn't help but the landscape would keep us motivated enough to continue pedaling. We again pushed the pedals the whole day but we were not stressed by the hours. Still some climbs were never ending and we had to use the one one gear in an attempt to not have to walk and push the bike up the mountain. Sometimes, we failed miserably at this and had to push anyways because the road was too steep and with too much gravel to be able to maintain balance. Sometime only one of us would fall and the other one would continue at the slow one-one pace.

When we were about to stop pedaling to find a place where to sleep we found an arriero. This guy that take care of animals in the mountains. He asked us if we had seen some horses, which we hadn't, so we asked back how far was a bridge we were supposed to cross. He pointed it was only a kilometer, so we pushed forward some more and we found the police station up there.

Empty police post. Mandatory control with the spirits of  the police.

The police station was empty but had a water fountain so we camped in front of it. I think this police post gets manned during summer season as more people reaches to the area. We had a nice camping night with a nice moon that allowed me to get a long exposure picture. I set the camera for 1 hour exposure and got a nice shot. Problem is this killed my camera's battery.

Next day we woke up around eight and wandered a bit around our camping area. At noon we decided we had to go back so we could do good timing on the way back to Santiago. Plus we would avoid the horde of people coming back to the big city after the weekend.

The way back.

The way back was supposed to be easier and faster. It was indeed, but not as fast and easy as one would think. According to a scientific study done by Daniel in the field while we rode down, if you reach 21 kms/h over gravel, your chances of falling start to increase exponentially. True. My pace going down in order to not fall was around the 15 kms/h. Still, we had to test some more this theory so we started pushing harder till we reached 35 kms/h and felt a bit of adrenaline.

We reached Coya and after a couple of empanadas and juice we started pedaling in pavement again. This time we had to climb the 5 kilometres that we went down the first night. Before entering this torture we took a rest in a really nice spot.

Resting before a 5 kms climb.

It's amazing how many amazing spots you find while pedaling, in contrast, when you travel by bus or car, you just get a glimpse of this hidden places, or sometimes you don't even notice them. 

Right before starting the climb we noticed these huge trucks coming down the hill at full speed. You could read "Danger. Do not mix the acid with the water. Highly explosive". My instant thought, a huge wave of acid would appear suddenly on the road, coming down at full speed against me, passing over and leaving but my bones melting with the steel of the frame on my bike and exploding after 2 seconds because of the water in my water bottles. After laughing about my thought we started the climb screaming some chants to the old gods in order to get the strength to climb the mountain. 

It took us one hour to reach the top. Finally, we were waiting for this the whole day, going down the 20 kilometres climb. 20 kilometres just going down over pavement. Everything started really well. I reached in no time 40 kms/h and suddenly was about to reach my cruise speed, 48 kms/h. Everything was going damn awesome till suddenly a roar right next to me made the bicycle loose some balance because of the wind. The buses from the mine were passing again. Same buses we saw during the climb, but now they were also going down. This time the scenario was different though. Most of the road down I would be riding at cruise speed. The buses would pass in groups of three, all of them fast. At the beginning I thought I would loose balance and fall, but then I realized I was like a small motorbike so I could do some maneuvers not so close to the border of the road. Still the wind made the bike tremble when the buses passed.

Finally we reached Rancagua after around 30 minutes. We had a completo and crossed Rancagua towards Santiago. A bit after sunset and after we crossed Rancagua we decided we had to find a place where to sleep. Problem was, there was too much people around. Lots of houses and fields with fruit trees, vineyards, vegetable fields, etc. This means fences everywhere. Dogs barking everywhere. People looking at two weird guys bicycling with big packs. We got lucky, and following a bit of instinct we found a nice spot in a field full of apple trees. We hid there close to darkness and decided to sleep at open air. Around 8 PM we were already sleeping. What else could we do? We were hiding and we had to leave early so nobody would notice us. 

The final push. Going into the city again.

Because we fell asleep so early we woke up at 4 am, not tired at all, and it was kind of cold. The craziness lead us to pedal at that hour. We picked our things and started pedaling at 4.30 am in complete darkness. Without noticing it was suddenly 7 am and we had advanced over 30 kms. We decided to stop to make a fire and had something warm while we waited for the sun to appear and warm us up a little bit.

Waiting for the sun to come out.

We managed the way back pretty quickly and around 1 pm we were already in the same dirt road from the first day. This time, entering the city. At around 2.30 pm I managed to get home and called it a successful 4 days tour.

What the road gave.

The road gave us lots of things and we lacked others. We lacked flat tires!. I think we got really lucky, neither Daniel nor I got a flat tire during the trip. We didn't have any mechanical problem with the bikes, they behaved as the best touring bikes ever. We also lacked days, the spot in the mountains was so nice I wished we could have stayed longer. A week up there would be enough to get to know the surroundings. Weather was the best we could ever get in the mountains. It wasn't too hot. It wasn't too cold. I was just perfect for a long and enjoyable time.

Boiling water with the nuclear in the morning.

The road gave us a slower living style. It's amazing how many details you notice while traveling by bike, while in contrast, if you travel by bus or car, it's harder to spot. It was really noticeable the difference between living in the city and living outside the city. People lives really different outside big cities, they take more time to do things. They stop to talk to each other. They wave at you or say hi to you even if they don't know you. You can get an easy short talk with a stranger with no fear of him robbing you.

Talking to a Huaso about the area.

Our friends at Coya, Aldo and Rosario, got out of the city because they also wanted a different life style. They worked in Coya as volunteers and stayed there ever since. Now they have their house and a family and still work there on their own.

The road gave us freedom, we knew we had to reach the Cajon Las Leñas, but we had no pressure to get to the place. We took it really easy, we even got behind the scheduled. We had to ride at night because we took it too easy. We faced the buses and trucks at night in a hard climb with no lane for the bicycles. We didn't even reach the furthermost point we wanted to reach. But, who cares?. We pedal because we like it, we pedal because we enjoy it, we pedal because pedaling gets you to see things you don't see while in the city, in the office, in the car, in the bus, in the hotel, wherever else. We don't pedal to get to a particular place in a determined amount of time. We just pedal because it sets us free. And that is exactly what we got. We lived those four days at a different pace from our daily life at the office. And we had lots of fun while getting all of the above.

For Daniel, this was his first bicycle tour. From what he has told me. He is already thinking where to go next. He is kind of thinking bigger now which is a really good thing. He will probably join me next year for a stretch of my tour. He's thinking in going with me from Temuco to Puerto Montt. A 10 days tour during summer which will hone his bicycle touring skills.

Daniel in a climb.

What's next?

Next, I will be getting the last things of the gear I need. Two friends from Germany are coming and they are bringing some more gear (front rack and converter for the dynamo hub). I'm thinking in taking some overnight tours during some weekends, also to the mountains but this time closer to the city. I still need to get the rabies vaccine series. And have to finish things at work. Also better weather is coming and it's time to do that I haven't done because of time/money. Jumping from a plane. Rafting. Bungee jump. Yes, I'm going crazy, but there is to live. Life is not about working inside the office 5 days to spend the other 2 days resting at home. Life shouldn't be working during the week to be able to have only 2 days to relax and do fun things. Life should be fun everyday. Life is to get out and enjoy what it's out there. And that's is what I have to do in the next months. Enjoy things here in order to be able to enjoy what's waiting for me on the road.

Coming back from Las Leñas.