May 15, 2016
Up: km1065 to 1173.
I slept soundly. The sun-baked bed of the lagoon as comfortable as sand, or leaf-mulch in a woodland campsite. Clear sky this morning and air frosty, so I breakfast in my warm down jacket with sleeping-bag zipped up round my waist and wait until the sun is well up before starting to break camp.
Back up on the road and steadily climbing, I notice the dry lagoon where I'd camped follow the depression of the valley for quite a bit before thinning to a white ribbon continuing up the narrower valley as a dry river.
After 25 kilometres I crest a rise and am glad to see houses ahead. Houses with trucks parked outside: a posada. It being only half eleven, a little early for lunch, but suspecting it will be a long way to the next posada, I stop. The menu of the day choice is pollo (chicken), or charrasco (fried steak) with a choice of rice, or mixed salad. I order charrasco and salad and take a seat. When my food come out, it is a big oval plate a third full of steak, the rest salad, complete with potatoes, cauliflower and beetroot with the usual lettuce, tomatoes and onions. I am well pleased and shouldn't die of hunger in the afternoon. Such a meal come at a standard 3500 pesos price (£3.50). Cheap. On the other hand soft drinks are expensive. They usually serve a little 227ml bottle of coke for 800-1000, or a 2L bottle of coke for 2000 (£2). However, instant coffee is included in the meal price, so I have coffee and buy a 2L bottle of coke for the road.
A little ahead in quick succession are three more posadas opposite the turning for Taltal, a coastal town which I had thought to head for, but having no map, don't know if there's a reliably good road continuing north along the coast to Antofagasta, so I continue straight on, which follows up a valley again, before swinging sharp left and up a long steep climb. The early afternoon warm and humid and I'm sweating profusely leading to the thought of stopping to break open the bottle of coke, but there is no shade and I hold off as it may be a long day and I'll need it later.
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About four o'clock I'm sweeping down using the brakes a lot to stop the bike picking up too much speed. I think the fastest I've ever gone downhill when I'd a computer to show me, was 56kmph. Much faster on a heavily loaded bike is suicidal. Anyway, I soon cover 8 kilometres downhill in an extremely barren orange and white hued valley until the road saddles out and rises again for a few kilometres. On cresting the rise I see greenery ahead. An oasis no less. I find a Carabinero (police) post and a little further a petrol station and a posada. The place itself is called "Agua Verde", which I remember now seeing on the google map. I stop and have a ham sandwich and a 1,1/2 bottle of orange juice.
Like yesterday I continue until after sunset, finding a place to camp behind a mound of road building rubble.
Today's ride: 108 km (67 miles)
Total: 9,769 km (6,067 miles)
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