December 27: Christmas in Chile
Desert meets ocean along the near the Peru / Chile border
We arrived in Tacna on Dec 23, with our eye on Chile. We settled into a hostel and went out for a walk.
Just like in the US, people are everywhere shopping and getting all of their last-minute Christmas errands completed. The streets were packed with people and vendors. We made our way to the look local market, and around the corner, we found all kinds of food vendors grilling and serving up local Peruvian fare. Jugo, meat on a stick, fried rice. All so good!
Christmas Eve, we woke early and headed to the border. We arrived at the border around 10, and by noon we were out of Peru and heading to Chile. While at the Chilean border, we realized there was a 2-hour time change, so our plan to continue south changed as we decided to stop in Arica for the night, which is Chile's northernmost city being located only 18 km (11 mi) south of the border with Peru.
We explored the city, watched locals in the town square, and ate at the local market. We found a hostel outside of the city center, thinking it would be quiet and allow us some rest to head out towards the desert tomorrow. Chileans like to celebrate with noise. Fireworks, music, singing and family parties filled the streets on Christmas Eve. I put in my headphones and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" online, one of my favorite Christmas movies.
Hoping we don’t need to tap into our reserve gas along this stretch of desert on the Pan-American highway in northern Chile
Christmas Day we began our crossing of the Atacama desert. Covering a 1,000-kilometre (600 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains, it is the driest non-polar desert in the world. Most of the desert is composed of stony terrain, salt lakes, sand, and felsic lava that flows towards the Andes. Some areas have been compared to the terrain of Mars. For the first 200 miles, there were no gas stations around so a conservative speed was necessary. Each of us had a reserve 2-gallon gas can in our saddlebags just in case, but luckily we did not need them.
Dirty Larry in the Atacama Desert on Christmas Day
The terrain begins with desert mountains, with sand everywhere. We ran into a sandstorm, with high winds and numerous dust devils swirling around. The wind would shift unpredictably as we navigated up and down the mountains. From there, the road led us to the coast, where there were mountains but more rocky terrain and long, windy curves. The ocean waves crashing along the rocks are breathtaking.
We stopped in Tocopilla, a shipping town, for the night and ate at the first restaurant we saw was open and enjoyed fresh fish and empanadas for Christmas dinner. Dec 26th, we planned to get an early start and have breakfast at 7:30. With the time change, I overslept (and so did Jay), so we got a later start than we wanted. More desert riding was ahead of us today.
As we go further south, it is getting colder, especially along the coast. We stopped at a small hotel for the night that reminded me of something you would see in the WI Northwoods. Today, we made some pretty good miles.
About mid-day, we stopped and hiked up to an old abandoned mining cave, which was a nice break in the ride. We should arrive in Santiago tomorrow! My ride has definitely gotten back to normal since Peru. We are not in as high of elevation as we were in Peru.
Looking down at the Pan-American Highway in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
Along the coast, the roads are nice sweeping curves, making for a much more chill ride. I'm thankful that my mind is more relaxed and I am keeping up much better.
For now.
Mileage log:
244 miles from Camana, Peru to Tacna, Peru
37 miles to the border from Tacna, Puerto Arica, Chile on Christmas Eve (2-hour time change)
334 miles from Arica, Chile to Tocopilla, Chile
262 miles from Tocopilla, Chile to Talta, Chile
280 miles from Taltal, Chile to Vallenar, Chile
