We wanted to ride to the town of Parinacota today. 50 to 70 kilometer probably. There we would have internet, shops and even ATMs we had been told. Nice outlook.
Altiplano population in Chile
Nice gravel roads on the way. Mostly police traffic checking the nearby border for illegal immirgants from poor Bolivia.
Facing the enemy
Once they offered us a ride not knowing that we had come here especially to ride. And how could one jump on the back of a pick-up truck in this amazing atmosphere? The volcanoes always to our left, the dusty road under our tires. A dream for every adventure touring cyclist!
Cycling beside volcanoes
We arrive in Parinacota. Parinacota is empty! No shops, no people. I make out a bus with about 14 computer terminals … to develope the area. But probably everyone’s gone. We’re hungry, we’re exhausted and disappointed. We made a mistake: Having a strict goal for the day and looking forward to it too much.
Until three French scientists who explore the area, pick us up we prepare a soup with spaghetti. They’re really helpful, friendly and entertaining chaps and take us to the next truck-stop where we can change US $ to the local currency, Chilean Pesos, and get some energy, pure (food) and solved (juices and soda).
Funny French meteorologists
We then continue due to the high price and low quality of the habitacion and pitch our tent 100 m away from the road, on the southern side. The GPS map at the end of the article shows the spot exactly. Again Google has made really high resolution data available, really nice.
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