We got picked up in Santa Maria by Jan and Antonia from Santiago. We met them in Los Alerces NP in Argentina (when we were going north and they were going south) and they invited us to stay with them if we wanted to go to Santiago. It was a very nice evening. We all had dinner and it was already pretty late when we left for the city. The bikes and panniers all fit in the back of the pick up easily.

The next day we explored the city with Antonia as a guide. It’s nicer to visit a city with a local, who can tell you lots about it, than with just a travel guide. The city doesn’t have too many interesting spots, most of the old buildings are torn down and replaced by new ones. That’s a shame.

Mel and Chris also returned to the city (after a trip to Valparaiso for a few days), so we spent a nice afternoon together in the city. The weather is great here, still like summer, so we sat outside, had drinks and talked about our adventures and adventures to come.

We went to the shore for the weekend, to the beach house of Antonia’s family. A beautiful spot where the rich and famous of Chili have their summer homes. Some even have their own helicopter landing area! For example the president and the owner of the Chilean airline company have a house there. We had a great time, sitting by the fireplace with some wine and a bbq in the yard. We even cycled a bit.

We spent the last (hot) days doing necessary things, like sending more stuff home and read about the next stage which takes us through the dessert. And, of course, relaxing, doing nothing and enjoying being in a house/ having a home again.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), we leave Santiago after 1,5 weeks. We’re taking the bus north for about 1700 kms (1000 miles) to San Pedro de Atacama in the Atacama dessert. That’s a whole different and according to many people scenery. It’s the driest and highest dessert on earth, it almost never rains there. In some areas there has never been a recording of precipitation.
We’re taking the bus because it’s a long way and the area is not very interesting. It will cost us to much time.

After a few days of acclimatizing in and around the town to check out the area and get used to the altitude (the town is at an altitude of almost 2500 meters, 7500 ft), it’s time to hit the road and start cycling again. It’s going to be a hard stretch, through the dessert and at high altitude to go back to Argentina. We need to go over a 4800 meter (14.500 ft) high pass to get to the border with Argentina. There, we leave Chile behind us for the last time.