After 5 days in San Pedro and a total of almost 3 weeks of doing (almost) nothing, it was time to start the very hard trip to and over the Paso de Jama to Argentina. The Paso de Jama is the bordercrossing between both countries, but to get there you have to cross 2 passes of over 4800 m (14.500 ft). Just as high as the Mont Blanc in France… Continue reading
After 2 weeks of doing nothing and 1,5 great week at Jan and Antonia’s, it was time to say goodbye and go on. We had booked a bustrip to Calama, a trip that would take about 22 hours. From there we had to take another bus to San Pedro de Atacama. Because it was such a long journey, we had booked the most luxurious seats they had, seats you can turn into a bed. Just like 1st class on a plane. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
After a few days in Valparaiso it was time to move on. It was only 2 days cycling to San Felipe/Santa Maria. Finally we had arrived. The boxes with panniers, tires and other small materials were already waiting for us there.
After a day of rest in Pichilemu we cycled to Valparaiso in 2 days. This harbor city is built on 45 hills and is on the Unesco world heritage list. Continue reading
After 2 nights in the very nice hostal in Curacautin to recover from stomach problems a bit, we got back on the road. We needed to move on. We wanted to cross the country to get to the shore at Concepcion. That proved to be a pretty long trip. Continue reading
After another restday, forced by the bad weather, we did a sidetrip to the next vulcano; Lonquimay. The town is at an altitude of about 950 meters (3000 ft) and we had to go up to 1815 meters (5500 ft), where a hike to a sidecrater of the volcano started. The volcano last erupted in December 1988 and on Christmasday of that year, there was a second eruption from this sidecrater. Continue reading
The campground close to the not-so-interesting town of Cunco was very nice, so we decided to stay there for a day. We had a great and big spot with a picknicktable with a roof, light and electricity. And also, just, view on the volcano Villarrica in the distance. There also was a pool; the water was pretty cold, but it was nice to just sit there in the sunshine with the legs in the water. Continue reading
After a day of rest (which are always filled with doing little things) in Pucon, we went to the National Park Huerquehue. Continue reading
There are 2 different routes from Junin toward the Chilean border. The one is a sheltered route through a forest of monkey trees and the other is more open and passes the base of the volcano Lanin. Because the wind was going to be favorable for a change, south/southeast instead of the usual west, we decided to do the open route. With tailwind on a paved road that should not be a problem. Continue reading