End of the road in SA

Bittersweet...that's the word, or perhaps anticlimactic. Either way it always seems a bittersweet victory getting to your destination. On one hand, hey, we made it, mission accomplished! On the other hand, it’s over, booo! Yesterday we pedalled into downtown Santiago, Chile – our final destination south of the equator – and thus signifying our last day of riding in South America. Sitting here this morning sipping my nescafé, I already miss it.


Our ride out of Pichilemu and away from the coast was fantastic. Mostly because we waited out a few days of hard rain and ended up with a picture-perfect bluebird day to leave town. We had great views of the coast and, unknown to us, the Andes which loom large over this part of the world. Funny what you don’t see when shrouded in cloud and rain. The riding has actually been quite good here in Chile. It just seems so easy. No wind, no midday heat to deal with, no gigantic mountains to climb. Oh ya...we remember this, it’s just been a loooong time since we haven’t had to deal with wind, heat, and mountains. It’s been a nice treat.


From Pichimelu we made our way towards the Colchagua Valley – one of Chile’s premier wine valleys – and the town of Santa Cruz. We were tempted to stay a while and scope out some of the local wineries, but were then reminded of the price tag that goes along with wine tasting in this country. A cheapie is 20 bucks per head. Waking up to drizzle and fog, we packed up and headed towards the town of San Fernando and the Pan American highway leading back to Santiago. All in all, a nice area with great views of the Andes. A highlight of this time of year is the colours – who would have thought a vineyard could be so colourful?


The one exception to our serenity, however, was yesterday’s ride into Santiago. We both agree it was our 2nd-most heinous, and dangerous, day of riding of the trip (worst day was riding out of Guayaquil, Ecuador). The road leading into town is the Pan-American highway, also known as La Autopista – a 4-lane divided highway with the usual high-velocity, high-volume traffic, most of it industrial. 99% of the time there is a nice big paved shoulder, which provides a life-saving buffer between you and the transport trucks travelling 120 km/hr. However, 1% of the time, say for a bridge or tunnel, the shoulder disappears and makes cycling a life-threatening situation. And so it was for one 20-second ride through the one tunnel on the road. The highway authorities are kind enough to place a “no cycling” sign at the entrance to the tunnel. However, fail to provide any alternative. It was head down, legs pumpin’...no choice but to do it. It was, by far, the most terrifying 20 seconds of the trip. Our hands are still shaking. But alas, we survived, made our way through this city of 6 million souls, and are currently sitting comfortably in our downtown hostel enjoying the desayuno incluido (breakfast included). Whew.


So that’s a wrap. We’re putting the bikes aside for a while. It’s been a good haul through the backbone of South America. One we will always look back on with a smile on our faces – even the wind, heat, and mountains. The plan from here is a bit mixed, and evolving daily. We had originally planned on cycling south through Chile as far as we could, but as discussed in previous posts, changing seasons, cold rainy weather, and an insanely expensive wine scene has prompted us to rethink Chile – basically to cut it short. Not that there’s any one specific thing to dislike – nice scenery, good roads, good (if not expensive) accom –  it’s simply that Chile for us, at the moment, seems a tad uninspiring (too normal?) and has failed to capture our imaginations. Admittedly, it has a lot to do with the comparative highs and inspirations we have come from in the past 9 months. Combined with a doubling and tripling of costs, Chile is just not lighting us on fire. Hey, if we’re going to pay these kinds of prices, we might as well be somewhere special. And then, in a moment of brilliance, we thought of Easter Island, AKA Isla de Pascua (spanish), AKA Rapa Nui (polynesian) – a famous Polynesian island in the middle of the Pacific owned and operated by Chile (I believe “annexed” is the technical term).


As a territory of Chile, Rapa Nui is shockingly connected to the mainland by a relatively inexpensive domestic flight from Santiago, and therefore represents a unique opportunity to travel to one of the most remote (6-hr flight!) and intriguing places on the planet. So that’s the current focus. A few days exploring the sights and sounds of Santiago, and then organizing ourselves for a mission to Easter Island. Gotta keep that adrenalin flowing. We fly out on the weekend. As always, more on all of that soon. Chau.