I packed my things and was surprised to see how much clobber there was. I thought I had reduced my clothing but must have brought back more than I took to the UK. There will have to be a rationalisation later on in the trip!
Google made it look very complicated to find Ruta 5 North so I waved down a taxi and asked him to lead me to the highway. I think it worked out cheaper than me using up fuel to try to find it!
There was nothing on the list to see before La Serena so I took the dull option of the motorway. It is a bit harsh to call it dull when you have the crashing surf of the Pacific on your left and the high Andes on your right for a large portion of the journey. It has a similar "wilderness" feel to Patagonia but without the remoteness, it just didn't have the same drama.
The weather was odd. One minute I was in 20 degrees of warmth, then through a canyon and the other side was 6 degrees cooler. Then another and it reversed, it wasn't altitude that was causing the changes. They certainly don't get much/any rain as the ground is bone dry with cactus and woody shrubs the only vegetation.This is the only picture I took on the trip but it shows the flora.
I bumped in to two Chilean bikers at this petrol station who were on their way to La Serena to watch one of their sons play football. An 8 hour round trip for a football match! I suppose their are many in the UK who do that every Saturday.
After 4 hours I made it to the outskirts of La Serena. In the books it gets a good write up. In reality I was horrified. It is a big ugly sprawling city with little to recommend it as far as I could see (sorry to any Chileans who may be reading this). I knew that just a few miles more was a beautiful place called Elqui Valley so I decided to keep going. I wasn't disappointed.
The valley is known for it grapes and soft fruit, all because of a river that runs through it making it highly productive compared to the scrub land nearby.
It is surrounded by the mountains and on some of these you can see the Observatories perched a few thousand meters up. At least one of which I hope to visit. I will try to take some pictures that do the area justice over the next day or so.
I got to a small town called Vicuna in the heart of the valley. I did a tour of the town on the bike and I was beginning to think they did not have any hotels at all! I asked a taxi driver and was pointed down a small road off the main square.
It wasn't much to look at but it was an Hotel (note the white double doors)!
The owner was very friendly and showed me a room that was not quite shabby chic, just shabby. The best bit was when I asked if they had somewhere secure I could park my bike (no tittering at the back). She showed me another room. I assumed she had not understood my "perfect" Spanish. But no, she was quite aware of what I wanted. she opened the double doors on to the street and waved me & my bike in to Room 1.
I think Vicuna is a one horse town but the horse probably died some years ago. I am being unkind, it is really pretty and tranquil and I will enjoy getting the bike out of bed tomorrow morning and ride some of the roads in the in the Valley.
Best of all it is nice to be on the move again with the bike being fit for purpose.
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