chasingsummerp.029
Chasing Summer p.029
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March 16 - Geysers del Tatio to San Pedro de Atacama (140 km)
Interactive Maps: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1853
Early wake-up at 5:30 am because the recommended time (by the guide books and the guards) to visit the geysers is between 6 and 7 am, at the sunrise. It’s only a couple of km from where we slept so we’re there amongst the very first. After a while we’re wondering why we hurried that much: it’s still totally dark and although the view of the bright stars in the quiet sky is awesome there is not much to see on the ground.
Except of course when one of the numerous coming cars keeps its high beams on towards the smoking geysers. We get vainly irritated by that for a while, thinking that it was not the ‘close-to-nature-let’s-admire-the-sunrise’ experience that we were expecting. Then we give up and just patiently expect the first rays of light that took way too long to arrive in this freezing cold (-5 or -10 C).
First pictures at dawn...
The number of people present and that mountain blocking the first ray of sun prevent the experience to be ‘magic’ but it’s still nice and fun to go from one of the many geysers to the next that ‘wakes up’.
The advantage of being there that early is that the cold air makes the fumerolles even higher
Yes it was annoying to not have guards (like in the US) preventing people to keep their lights on or do stupid things but it's really nice to enjoy the freedom of getting just as close as we want from the geysers - using common sense of course!
The presence of minerals in the water created some great patterns and colors.
My advice is you go there is to check the sunrise time and not get there before or even a bit later since IMO the spectacle became much better with some direct light.
Sorry for the big number of geyser pics but the place was becoming nice by the minute with the sun rising and the people/tours leaving rapidly.
It's time to go. The geysers del Tatio are the highest of the world (4,300 m) and yes, it means cold!
We wait until the sun is warming up before to do the 100 km dirt road to San Pedro. Don’t believe the guides, it’s an easy road to go on by yourself and at the geysers themselves there is no need for a guide either. So… get there on your bikes and enjoy, especially since the scenery is quite nice and that you can see some alpacas (same family as the lamas)...
Teryk speeding along the mountains range...
I'm not sure what the name of this volcano is...
When we arrive in San Pedro we're surprised to see it that small. There are only a few sleepy dirt streets although everything is nicely done with adobe walls and such. What spoils the picture a bit is that 99% of the businesses are either tour agency, restaurants or internet places, all catering exclusively to tourists. It has still a nice feeling and relax feel to it and we find a rather nice campground for the night.
After a relaxing afternoon it's time to go visit the 2nd main attraction of the area: The Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) at about 10 km from SP.
Like for any attraction in Chile the entrance has a fee but it's reasonable and definitely worth it.
At sunset the colors are splendid and the reverberation on the salty surface is not as intense
Strange and fantastic rock formations...
The scenery offers many patterns and contrast of material and colors
Not a bad way to visit the valley either...
We climb to a high rocky formation to admire the sunset from there...
The view from there is absolutely fantastic!
Mandatory picture of the moon
We stay there enjoying every moment until dark
Last ray of the sun on the far away volcano Licancabur.
Two totally different wonders of nature in one day... not bad hey
.
This is why I wanted to visit the area on the way down rather than up: it's a sort of oasis of beauty vs. the rest of the not as attractive ride from Lima to Santiago.
March 17 - San Pedro de Atacama to Chanaral (900 km)
Interactive Maps: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1854
We have some dirt scheduled this morning but based on what we’ve seen so far it should be rather easy. But first we head south along the East side of the Salar de Atacama, huge flat surface covered by a jagged crust of salt.
Some softer (newer?) salt formation
We enter the Salar to get to the Laguna Chaxa to get a peek at the flamingos there.
As you all know I'm sure their pink color comes from the schrimps/krill they're eating with their filtering beak. what I don't know though is how those shrimps ended in this closed 'lake' and how they can survive in what seems a very salty water...
It's when they are flying that you realize the best how bigs those birds are!
A good close up
Then we continue on a dirt road to Peine, a very small pueblo at the South East corner of the Salar. There we hesitate a bit. One of our maps (and the GPS) indicates a road going though Tilomonte and then heading South West to Pan de Azucar. The other map doesn’t show it… We decide to give a try since it would be a more direct way.
The dirt road has a lot of washboard but seems large enough.
It ends however at the minuscule Tilomonte ‘pueblo’. We try an alternative towards Tilopozo, the only other name on the maps but we never find it. We learn later that it only describe some thermal activity. Anyway, we’ve used already more than half our gas range and there is a looong way to go in the driest desert in the world until reaching any kind of town with a good chance of having gas. The only solution is to go back to Peine to see if someone could sell us some gas and if not we would have to go back all the way to San Pedro which would be a bummer and a major loss of time.
Luckily there is an almacen (small general store) in Peine that sells gas in jugs. Yeah! We also get a quick snack there…
Most of the houses in Peine were like this one: big stones and roof covered with earth and stones
Then it’s full west across the Salar...
After crossing the Salar we turn left, full south... We pass a gigantic mine (Mina Escondida) with those huge and impressive engines and trucks. The whole site looks almost like a Sci-Fi scene.
It’s already late when we reach La Negra at the junction of the Panamerican, just 25 km south of Antofagasta. We gas up there since I’ve already hit the reserve for a while. It’s been a long day already and the temptation is to go sleep at Antofagasta, especially since there is not much else towards the south. However Teryk wants to be in Santiago by tomorrow night and that’s 1400 km further! He wants to have time to see a friend there, check things on his bike, buy tires, get the visa to get to Bolivia (recent measure for Americans only!) etc.
We decide to split for a bit with Andy heading towards Antofagasta while Teryk and me head south trying to pile as many miles as possible before tonight.
We keep a good pace on that road...
There is amazingly little traffic and little population around. Just a shop/restaurant every 200 km or so!
It’s now night and cold but we keep going until we finally reach Chanaral on the coast, the first town with accommodations. We realize one more time that with our ridiculously low US dollar the cost of traveling is expensive in Chile but we’re too tired to look elsewhere…
March 18 - Chanaral to Valparaiso (950 km)
Interactive Maps: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1855
(please stay awake there is NO pic on that day )
Another ‘let’s cover some ground’ day with almost 1,000 km to Santiago. A bit less for me since I will stop instead in Valparaiso. I don’t have a specific reason to go to Santiago and from what I’ve read and heard it is not especially interesting to visit. OTH Valparaiso, 120 km NW of it has always been a dream for me.
From Chanaral to Caldera the road follows the coast and for the first time since Lima it’s overcast, humid and cold when riding. I love the strong smell of the ocean, surprisingly much weaker in California. There are only a few villages on the way, just small houses build directly on the sand…
South of Caldera the road goes inland and we’re finally out of the Atacama Desert.
When we get to La Serena the weather is clear and sunny again and we have lunch there. The town has a nice vibe to it and must be the most attractive city we’ve seen in Chile so far. South of La Serena the Panamerican becomes a freeway and this time the motorcycles have to pay too but it's only about $5 to get to Santiago.
We depart with Teryk before La Ligua where I head towards the coast and the village of Papudo. The coast road is beautiful and reminds me sometimes of the 1 in North California and other times (cars, houses…) of South Europe. There are many beautiful houses right on the ocean… a long-time dream for me!
The village of Zapallar appears to be really high-end and beautiful. I learned later that many of the rich people of Valparaiso moved there to flee from the plebeian crowd of Vina del Mar.
Further south the scenery is not always as nice, with some oil refineries on the way. I finally reach the tall habitation buildings and the beaches of Vina del Mar. Not my cup of tea. Then, without a clear transition I end up in Valparaiso…
March 19-20 - Valparaiso
Valparaiso’s name is almost mythical in France (as well in many other countries I’m sure). It has a perfume of adventure and big sailboats braving the Cap Horn…
Yes it has known some bad days since then but I’m seduced right away by it. I must have a ‘city type’ somewhere in my subconscious since Valparaiso offers many similarities with my city of election, San Francisco. Here are just a few that came to my mind wandering in the charming Valparaiso streets…
- They have both a previously big harbor that’s not so big anymore
- On the pacific coast with moderate temperatures
- Steep hills (+40 each!) and streets
- Colorful houses, some on 'poles'
- Both dramatically destroyed by an earthquake in 1906 and with regular seismic activity
- They both had a huge rush of population. Valparaiso went from 5,000 h in 1818 to 55,000 in 1850 and 100,000 in 1880. What’s even more interesting is that a good part of this increase came from the huge demand in Chilean wheat to feed San Francisco and the California gold rush!
- They both had and still have an intense artistic activity with poets as renown as Pablo Neruda who made his city famous overseas.
- One has cable cars, the other has ‘ascensores’ both designed at the end of the 19th century to help climbing the steepest hills.
- Both have a bohemian feeling to them even though it has quite faded in San Francisco
Of course there are also many differences and the economic situation is one of them since Valparaiso never really recovered from the crash in lost traffic after the Panama canal was achieved. Stuck between the hills and the ocean, many companies incapable of expanding also moved to Santiago. However there is more recently a slow rebirth of the town that is palpable everywhere.
I really had a great time during those 2 days here! Without doing anything special though, just walking and wandering in the maze of steep streets and stairs of the different ceros (hills/neighborhoods) or in the narrow flat area (the Plan) on the shore, the downtown if you will. The Plan avenues are connecting 6 or 7 main plazas. One of them (Plaza Victoria):
It was sometimes a stressful effort on my ankle but I figured it was good PT and after all I was able to pause and rest regularly to update this RR.
Views of the Plan and the harbor
Vina del Mar in the background
But my favorite parts of the city are the famous ceros with some of them considered as World Heritage by Unesco...
The charm of one of the many pasaje (small pedestrians passages)
Typical corrugated iron facades
Other more rusted...
... or at the contrary, freshly painted of bright colors
With some wood colombages those facades can even look Victorians. Another unfortunate ressemblance with SF is the number of cables in the streets!
BTW, I got the explanation for the corrugated iron facades: when the sailboats were coming empty in town they needed some lest and were using those corrugated iron plaques as such. They were then selling them cheaply for the house builders who needed to protect the adobe of the walls. Some of those old ones, very thick at the time (a century ago) are still in place even though they can be rusted. Today it became a trait of the Valparaiso architecture and even the modern buildings often use them.
I just took my bike once, to get to the very top (of course
) of the city...
One of the most visible proofs of Valparaiso being a city of artists is the number of great quality mural paintings. Here are just a few:
There is a serie of similar style paintings in my hostal neighborhood. You can see on the pic but they all integrated a mosaic of mirror fragment that make them even better...
It looks like the artists start quite young
I also loved that many garbage cans were also decorated. A good example on how to recycle oil barrels
A last one...
Another cerro. You can see one of the ascensores on the right...
This is a close-up on a different one. I used a couple of times and every part seems to be indeed more than a century old!
Another one visible on the left...
The city has a U-shape (with the hollow part being the ocean) facing the North which here is the sunny exposition. From what I heard the weather is mostly sunny the whole year and it was a perfect temperature to walk around.
More paseos and narrow streets...
Some extremes like this small passerelle in a poorer cerro
Or the longuest stairs that I have ever seen
(sorry, it's kind of hard to see)
The city is very lively and the streets were filled with people (many students), cafes, restaurants and little shops of all sorts.
The only bad side I could see is that there is barely an access to the sea from the center of the town, blocked by train tracks and the port infrastructure.
It must have a huge impact on the touristic potential (which explains the success of Vina del Mar) and Valparaiso gets almost no financial compensation for it since the port got offered a permanent tax break when the times were tough.
At least you can now access to a small part of the harbor to get a small boat that takes you around the bay for just a few bucks.
A few more random pictures to help you feel the vibes of a city that I loved...
PS: It's already midnight but I'm enjoying the sweet but so ephemeral feeling of finally being current in my RR
