We started today's ride by walking the bicycles up the hill from hostal with the hope of avoiding the freeways heading out of Valparaiso. After about a kilometer or so we were stopped by two separate locals who warned us to turn back because we would be entering "una barrio peligrosa". Those are three Spanish words which I have no difficulty in understanding and the sign language that accompanied them left us in no doubt that we were in danger of having our throats cut and our wallets stolen. They were both quite earnest so we reluctantly turned around and headed back down towards town.

This meant the only way out was on the very busy Ruta 68. The advantage was that the gradients were less steep and it was an relatively easy ride in the safety of a wide shoulder. There had been a misty rain when we started out and it seemed to heavier the higher we rode. At Placilla, taking our queue from the hand gestures of a rather tense looking truck driver, we pulled off the freeway and stopped for some food before carrying on on the F-218. This was a lot more enjoyable than Ruta 68 and we had an enjoyable ride into Casablanca with the weather clearing as we approached the town.

Here we sought out the Cabanas Sante Fe whose details we had found on iOverlander and settled into a very nice cabana for the next two nights. Casablanca is Chile's "cool" wine region and is where most of its Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc is grown. We hope to get a wine tasting or two in tomorrow and also to visit a South African restaurant is called Casa Botha that is a few kilometers out of town.