I’m back. A combination of feeling down, not being able to sit down and wanting to head down, south, has put me a bit behind in blog world. So, today I’m actually feeling slightly more upbeat and feel I’ll be able to continue but at a slower pace. With a couple of backup plans like flying to Mexico or back to Bolivia, or even back home until I’m sorted.

I made a plan to head south from Antofagasta to Santiago (1350kms) as it was not helping me mentally just hanging around in my nice hotel. I decided to try and do 200kms a day with lots of breaks off the bike. I had my last physio appointment at 1:00pm in Antofagasta and then headed off to the “Hand in the Desert” (La Mano del Desierto) which you may recognise and was created by the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal in 1992. It’s in the middle of nowhere in the Atacama Desert and only a 15km detour in the direction I was heading. And about an hour’s ride. It was another must see thing on my list.

It was pretty cool, and I was the only one there. I had thought it may be a nice place to camp under the stars but not in my current condition and not that day as it was so windy. It is 11metres tall and a striking monument against the barren desert and the deep blue sky. Apparently, he also made a lesser known one in Brazil somewhere, so I’ll go and check that out probably while I’m there.

I headed back to the coast and to a little fishing village called Paposo. It only had one accommodation place which was a hostel for workers. I had managed to book a room over the phone the night before and was pleased that when I arrived they were expecting me. It was a bit late but I’d only done 200kms and was feeling okay. About the time I was going to find somewhere to eat, about twenty workers turned up, and for a few bucks I was able to eat with them. I then wandered around town at sunset and then slept peacefully with my bike outside my window.

Due to the strong winds I had used a bit of fuel. The gauge on my bike isn’t very accurate. It shows full until you only have half a tank left and then drop quickly. I could open it up and peer in and see how much I have, but I don’t. I probably had enough to get to the next town, but I’d heard that the lady on the corner sold fuel so I thought I’d grab a couple of litres just in case. She was more business savvy than other places and only had 5 litre plastic bottles and was 2 bucks a litre. Probably the most expensive fuel so far but I decided to take it anyway.

The morning I left Paposo was the last day of 2024. I planned to make it to Caldera and have a quiet New Years Eve. The winds don’t seem as strong in the morning and I had a nice ride. Stopping every 40kms or so, and getting off the bike for a walk or to take a couple of photos. When the road hugged the coast, it was pretty rocky and wild with the occasional small beach and then where it went inland a bit it was back to barren desert. But I thought it was lovely. I think I like deserts. And also you would go high up into the clouds and then back down through them. I was still a bit sore, but mentally I was much better and was excited to see the Santiago 1000kms sign appear.

The Hotel Changos Backpacker in Caldera was nice enough about $40AUD, a small room with a shared bathroom. Seems about the average price for somewhere cheap in Chile. My daily budget is $85AUD so it’s almost half. The lady who ran the place was nice and there were only a couple of people staying. I was looking for a physio for a back rub and saw an ambulance depot so I popped in to ask them if they knew anywhere. Turns out the paramedic had just spent a year working in Australia, as a barista, so we had a long chat. Mostly in English. Being NYE I couldn’t find a physio open. I had a beer in the street outside a beer shop and later watched the fireworks from a balcony and saw all the stray dogs running around in circles. Welcome to 2025.

In the morning, I went for a walk along the beach which I am doing everyday now as I find it more comfortable when I wake up a bit sore. After the walk I had breakfast but only because the lady had gone to so much trouble.  My next destination was Vallenar, which was another 200kms down the road. It was a public holiday and not much traffic. Similar views to the day before. Stopped at some little town for lunch and passed a weird collection of memorial shrines on the way into town. There’s lots of big roadside shrines that I pass each day but this one place had hundreds of them grouped together.

The first couple of hotels I checked out seemed closed for the holiday and then I was standing in front of the closed Hotel Atacama and a lady pulled up and was able to check me in. A bit more pricey than the previous night but at least it was somewhere to stay. My bike had to stay a few blocks away but it seemed safe. I had to search around to find somewhere open to get a feed but ended up with a nice big late lunch. Slept okay and woke feeling a bit better. I’m still taking a couple of anti inflammatories each day and doing a few exercises and I think it’s working. Free breakfast wasn’t worth the money.

Similar coast and desert for another day. Pretty. I ended up in La Serena which is a bit bigger city. I was able to get the last room in a really nice backpackers hostel called El Punto. I unloaded my gear and then wandered around with google trying to find a physio. Somehow, I found myself in the middle of nowhere with lots of humpies in the bush and druggies wandering around. Obviously google doesn’t care about those sorts of things. I was 15 minutes in and looked like 15 minutes to go and I didn’t want to walk back on the same track. I was beginning to question my safety as my normal safety backup plan is that if I’ve got a head start, I could outrun most people that might be a threat to me. And I can’t do that with my sciatica problem. Anyway, suddenly there was a clearing and a building near some fields and it was a sports clinic. Inside was a reception desk and a waiting room.

It was about 4:00pm by now and I was hot and sweaty and a bit sore from the long walk but they said I could see a physio straight away. For $40AUD. Despite its weird location it was a reasonable size place and lots of sporting and rehab stuff. A lovely young physio took me into a consulting room, and I explained my problem and she gave me an amazing one hour massage. Her English was way better than my Spanish and we had a lovely chat. When she finished, I felt so good. No pain at all. She told me I was the bravest person she had met. No idea why. And gave me a hug goodbye and wished me a safe trip. All a bit surreal. A bit like the castle on the beach.

I looked at the map and headed directly in the opposite direction to the way I had come and ended up at the beach. Lots of people and real roads. I snapped a few pics and then stopped off at a timely bar to rest my new body and have a local beer before wandering the last kilometre back to the hostel. Through a strangely graffitied park.

I was feeling so good the next morning that I thought I could ride all the way to Santiago but I resisted the urge and only did my 200kms to the town of Los Vilos. Nice little fishing town. Found a poorly marked place to stay. Had a lovely little separate room and good parking and about $30AUD which was good value. Went for a walk around. My massage had worn off but I still feel okay.

I found a few interesting eating places along the coast. I had a great cheese empanada and at this little hut below I had a great empanada and a corn pie cooked in wood ovens. I also managed another milestone when I clocked over 20,000kms.

I was so tempted to ride all the way to Santiago and to make sure I didn’t, I booked a hotel in Valparaiso on the coast and only 125kms from there to Santiago. And also booked a couple of nights from Sunday in Santiago so that my plans were fixed. Valparaiso turned out to be an interesting city. Before the opening of the Panama Canal the city was the main port for the trade routes between the Americas, Europe, and Asia. It would have been an amazing place back then with ships from all around the world pulling in there. I booked into a private room at the La Joya Hostel. Nice place. Lots of young people and local Chileans.

I wandered down around the waterfront and saw and smelt some elephant seals. They were hanging out on an old concrete structure in the water. I stayed for a while and watched them climb up on to it. And knock each other off it. I also went for a ride on the towns famous old funiculars. They used to have 30 of them but now only 15 operate. They were built in the late 1800’s to make the higher areas of the city more accessible. The have a carriage at the top and another at the bottom and work together to counterbalance each other with a big cable. 15 cents for the one minute ride up or down. A nice little tourist thing to do but also used by the locals as a way to climb the hills.

Next morning I wanted to leave but I was jammed in the back of the parking garage. When I parked the night before I put the bike out of the way with two options of getting out. I thought I’ll be checking out early so no new cars will come in but at some stage one of the cars left and a big Ramm truck parked in the same spot on a funny angle and blocked both my exits. I can’t say I was impressed. Reception was apologetic and tried to find the owner but he had parked and then gone out for the day. There was one other car that could allow me to get out but those people weren’t around either. But they were due to check out at ten. They came back to the hostel just before checkout and fluffed around and eventually left and I was able to get out. It was hot in all my riding gear.

I had looked at the map and thought it was an easy exit, so I didn’t worry about setting a route to Santiago. Then I missed a turn and ended up on what would have been the original route into town 20 years ago. Interesting ride but lots of dogs rushing at me. 3 of them came too close and will probably have second thoughts about getting too close to a motorbike rider with heavy boots next time.

I forgot to mention that the road had lots of tolls and in Chile, motorbikes have to pay which is annoying. Usually around a dollar but it’s the inconvenience of having to stop and take your gloves off and get the money out and then do the reverse while cars are backing up behind you. The people in the booths are cool about it. On the short ride into Santiago I saw a few toll booths off to the side but no one was using them. By the time I got to the last one I realised that the cars all had tags and I should have been stopping to pay. But then in Santiago itself I was following my phone and passed through several tolls with no option of manual payment. I’m not sure what’s going to happen about those ones? Lots of cameras?  But that’s a problem for another day. I arrived at my pre booked and recommended accommodation, and it was great. I was feeling okay, a little tired and a little sore but happy that I was 1400kms south from where I had started a week ago and had a system that looked like it might work. Slow and a bit frustrating but workable. Hello Santiago.