Because my last post provided a good morning coffee reading :), i shall continue. The following day, in a carton that i placed on the back of the trolley i wrote in spanish im hitchhiking. if you have a heart and room please take me, hoping to find an altruist helping hand on the way. Without being bothered by the wind, i kept pedaling north on the ups and downs of the panamerican route. By the end of the day, quite tired, in a practically deserted road, i luckily reached Eremita Padre Alberto Hurtado (the founder of Hogar de Cristo, a place in Santiago that helps and hosts people in need), where i set camp, cooked and spent the night. Early the following day, i kept on going on a relaxed pace but with the intention of arriving to the following service station at Termas de Socos, which made me pedal during nighttime. Still during the day, bad luck for some, good luck for others and me :), i crossed the place where a truck carrying potatoes and onions had turned over some time before: i collected 15-20 kgs of tasty potatoes and onions, that i would completely use during several days. Pedaling at night involves dangers, like not being totally aware of problems on the road, bicycle problems, etc. Around 1a.m., 7kms before the service station i proposed myself to reach that night, a strange, stupid but maybe prophetic problem on the bike, while descending a steep hill, made me go out of the road and fall into a ditch. Though the speed and gravity of the accident, i was not harmed neither the bicycle or the trailer damaged apart from a partially twisted wheel that i managed to repair the following morning. I slowly arrived to the promised service land where i slept till late. In the morning i cooked and just after i had a long conversation and shared tea with a villager that used to search the station garbage for food that truck and normal drivers threw away. A normal conversation quickly turned into a dissertation about UFOs and the things he had seen and thought about them. This was not the first time i had heard about UFO sightings in Chiles 4th region and i promised myself to watch the night sky more attentively :). I had a request from the welder of the trolley to pass by the house where he had lived for 7 years when very young and reestablish contact between them. It was not far and thats where i spent the night, in a road shop by the road where they sold goat cheese and a few other land products. That was a really tasty half kilo cheese that i ate while watching a movie :)... impossible to resist after the first bite. Advised by one of them, i stopped near a bridge a few kilometers after where 2-3 days before a big truck full of tomatoes had turned over: the result was a full bag of tomatoes added to the already heavy charged trailer. The road to Coquimbo was practically plain and the wind was giving a hand, so i thought i was being given a break that day and my arrival to the city would be early... When running against time, never expect things too easy, i should know :)... the bikes Shimano cassette simply opened and the unusually very small balls that are inside got lost on the way till i realized the problem and stopped. Repairing was not possible and the next certain bicycle repair shop was in Coquimbo, 30kms away. I pushed the bicycle these 30kms and arrived to a petrol station where i camped around midnight. By morning i went to the nearest bicycle repairer who not only gave me a cassette, but also lunch and seasonings to take. Realizing i had only one week and over 1500kms till a crossable border, i followed good advice and began hitchhiking on a service station after the city LaSerena. That same night a truck took me to Vallenar, i was finally on the 3rd region, Atacama, the beginning of the most arid and dry desert (the Atacama desert) in the world, they say; in Vallenar i met 3 travelers, all passing by, although the couple was staying there already 4 days. We all went to these couple camping site and cooked some of the potatoes and onions and made a very tasty tomato and onion salad. By the morning i cooked more potatoes and joined lentils for a powerful breakfast. After this, we split ways, they were going south, i got a ride to the hot city of Copiapó with a man that had already been in the continent last placed on my list to visit :), Antarctica. That day i did not manage to hitchhike out of this city but i was invited to dinner by a very nice group of truck drivers inside a well equipped truck trailer. One of them inclusively, the next morning just before leaving, shared breakfast with me and offered me warm pants and other clothes. One hour after i was already quickly heading to the city of Antofagasta, Chiles 2nd region... i arrived to the bifurcation of the panamerican road to the city by nightfall, and descended to the city where i had a friend i had met in my desserts party in Santiago waiting to receive me. After a warm tea, i warmly slept on a bed-couch and had a warm morning bath. I went back up to the panamerican route and didnt have any luck hitchhiking till the next morning when a very nice route checkpoint policeman started talking to the truck drivers he was stopping and was able to put me in a truck to Arica, the last city before the border. We did not arrive to Arica before the following day. During this trip crossing the desert, we stopped a few times to unload cargo, the most interesting one in a orange and other fruits farm where two big bags of juicy oranges were given to us. Also, a very unlucky accident occurred, i hadnt closed properly the lock of a trucks side trunk where i kept my food and tent, and so it opened on the way; it was noticed 2kms after and still in time to recover the food but not the tent or the trunks door... i had lost my trustful companion of this south american trip and the last material remainder of France, my strong and light Quechua tent :(. The stupid way it occurred showed me some things are just meant to happen... No need to regret about it, buy another :). We arrived to Arica in the evening and i slept in the huge private parking lot with the stars as rooftop... Aricas nights are warm and there are no flying bugs at this time. Following the advice of the truck driver, i proposed for a position as cook helper in the parking lots restaurant. After 20 minutes peeling potatoes, i was sent to a new work, washing buses and trucks and letting them shine! Although not a difficult job to learn, it does have some tricks to make it perfect :). The next day, the administrator, sent me to sweep a large portion of the lot. Apparently i made such a good and efficient job (i guess this was Frances teachings :) ) that she proposed me to clean the whole garbage accumulated during years on the terrain on the side of the parking lot and to work there permanently. I excused me out of this work saying i would have to cross the border the following day because of visa termination and because my adventure in Chile was done. The next day i crossed the border with Peru and was given a 183-days-visa! :), double than any other country in South America. x days have been since the crossing...
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 07:25:29 +0000
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