We are here for a couple of days so breakfast and away.
The first viewpoint for the Dakar is just down the road about 15 miles or so. The road we are on the Dakar crosses 3 times and on arriving at te first we can either stay down by the road of some people have moved off the road a up the circuit. So we go up what looked like a road and it is sand and very deep sand in places. At one point my back wheel dug in and those who know how tall our bikes are, I was standing with about a 6 inch gat to my seat. We got there and there are lots of 4x4’s as you would expect but also quads, dirt bikes and sand buggy’s, most of which arnt registered by that doesn’t seem to be an issue here.
There is a lot of entertainment from those with suitable vehicles flying up the track and everywhere else, one chap decided the best vantage point was on the top of one of the peaks, so that’s where he went on his bike.
In the distance we can see a small dust cloud travelling across the desert in front of us, it is the leading bikes. Now the track that Martin and I traversed at 5 or 10 mph with trepidation they are coming up at 60-70mph bouncing around everywhere. 3 bikes come more or less together then a 10 minute gap, 1 more, then a 15 minute gap, another and gradually they become more frequent, cars, trucks aand quads as well. It is fantastic being so close and seeing a massive Tatra truck take off on a knarly bit.
We have crossed over now the cars and trucks are coming so that we are upwind of the dust and there is a ton of that.
Once we feel we are cooked enough we go on to the next stage and then decide to grab a bite and head for the bivouac near Copiaco. Its about 50 miles so we head for the tarmac.
We have been saying all day, ‘I wonder where you can buy Dakar merchandise’, in the UK there would be a vendor at every point available, well the answer is at the bivouac. Ther is one shop and you can but most things with Dakar on them.
We need to try to meet Simon Pavey as we hope to get into the secure part of the bivi where all the competitors are. Martin spots Simon and he has broken his rear subrame which has cost him about ½ an hour today. He obviously has to fix that, change the oil, tyres and have some dinner as well as grabbing some sleep, hopefully. We arrange to meet him tomorrow and if he has no dramas we may get in.
We continue wandering around the perimeter fence and are wearing our BMW suits, we are accosted several times for photos with various families, we don’t know if they like the look of us, think we are competetors or have mistaken us for Charley and Ewan. Martin said he feels like a filmstar wandering around.
It is now dark and competetors are still coming in, they must be shattered.
We then take off for our campsite which is 45 – 50 miles away, quite a challenge in the dark, but we are back safely.
It is now nearly 11 so we are not going to cook and we want Wifi, a stroll along the beach into town and we order 2 steaks with fries and 1 salad to share. We get a salad each on its own, no matter that can be a starter. After quite a wait we check on the steaks, no, sorry it will come, we then get a plate of fries each. No, where are the steaks, out comes the owner/manager who does speak and understand English, very sorry Ill do it now, so we eat the meal in instalments because the fries would have been cold had we waited. We are offered more fries or a salad on the house, we have another salad. So we ordered 2 steaks, 2 fries and 1 salad. We received 3 salads, 2 steaks and 2 fries, but all at different times.
I have downloaded another program to manage the photos and an experiment with about 4 works so I will try to do it daily with the blog now and we will catch up on some of the others as we go on.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Monday, 10 January 2011
Sunday, 9 January 2011
9th December La Serena – Bahia Inglses 252 miles
I know everyone is waiting for photos, please bear with us as we have now got them all transferred from Martins defunct computer to mine and are in the process of sorting an upload, sorry for the long delay.
Today, Martin is up first as usual, but not early, about 10.30, he has another cold shower. Another family staying at the same place sort the boiler and I have a hot shower. Martin is once again in damp clothes relying on his body to dry them but i have some dry stuff.
We meet a chap called Marcela Coleman, a good old English name but he is as Chilean as they come. Talking to him and his wife we establish where to camp near Copiopo.
So gas up and away and we soon go into the Atacama Region and it all feels quite desolate all of a sudden. Its amazing, we travel through miles of nothing and suddenly see a sign for children at school and a tiny village emerges and we the do another 50 – 60 miles and the same again. Again the roads are fantastic winding through the mountains, climbing, climbing and then descending.
This road on a map is a red road and there is a major town on it and being accustomed to maps at home it is strange to disappear into a desert and come into a town that you could blink through and yet on a map appears to be the size of Guildford.
We arrive at Copiapo and gas up and move off to find a campsite. We go past the mine, although we have seen no signs, where the miners were trapped, we will try to visit this tomorrow. We are finally set up in a campsite and also manage to get the route for the Dakar tomorrow.
Today, Martin is up first as usual, but not early, about 10.30, he has another cold shower. Another family staying at the same place sort the boiler and I have a hot shower. Martin is once again in damp clothes relying on his body to dry them but i have some dry stuff.
We meet a chap called Marcela Coleman, a good old English name but he is as Chilean as they come. Talking to him and his wife we establish where to camp near Copiopo.
So gas up and away and we soon go into the Atacama Region and it all feels quite desolate all of a sudden. Its amazing, we travel through miles of nothing and suddenly see a sign for children at school and a tiny village emerges and we the do another 50 – 60 miles and the same again. Again the roads are fantastic winding through the mountains, climbing, climbing and then descending.
This road on a map is a red road and there is a major town on it and being accustomed to maps at home it is strange to disappear into a desert and come into a town that you could blink through and yet on a map appears to be the size of Guildford.
We arrive at Copiapo and gas up and move off to find a campsite. We go past the mine, although we have seen no signs, where the miners were trapped, we will try to visit this tomorrow. We are finally set up in a campsite and also manage to get the route for the Dakar tomorrow.
8th January Quimembo – La Serena 322 miles
We eventually found a basic campsite with a frosty welcome which turned out really quite well. First of all we were told we had to leave by 9am but we had a reprieve until 10, we at first thought they were being frosty and awkward but when morning came a coach load arrived and it appeared they were being as accommodating as possible.
Martin had a cold shower and put on damp clothes, his mum will be looking down on him shaking her head. I passed on the cold shower and kept my dry clothes on, I don’t know who smelt better? Apparently there is hot water between 9 and 10.30, not a fat lot of use when you need to be off site early.
We now need to get moving north if we are to see the Dakar so we head off but rather than taking the coast road, which is the main road we use the mountain roiad which is a bit longer and a lot slower. Wow, what a fantastic road, Martin said ‘ that has got to be the best road I have travelled on’. It wound round the mountains and through tiny villages, in one village we saw signs for an observatory a few kilometres away, so we take off up the mountain and eventually arrive at the Combarbala Observatory. It has 4 domed telescopes in a square and a domed area in the centre similar to a mini planetarium. The telescopes are 16 inches in diameter and can rotate 360 degrees and pan 180 degrees. Therr are some fantastic photos af several planets in the reception area.
Onward and upward we continue on thiese mountain roads and run through some areas where a brown mountain has some well irrigated and maintained vines inregimented rows.
We eventually reach Monte Patria and stop at a fruiteria where they have about 4 mountains of water melons and a host of fruit and veg. We have certainly not been getting our 5 a day, when you buy a steak it comes with pappas fritas and that is it. We bought melon, kiwis, peaches, bananas, avocado, onion, olives etc. They had some seats and people were buying a drink so we asked for the same and got peach juice with corn and an overripe peach in it, sounds disgusting but it was fantastic. What an amasing place, people were stopping all the time and buying 2 and 3 watermelons, 4 guys stopped and bought one and cut it up into 4 there and then and munched on.
It is now 5.30 and it is another 80 miles to La Serena so we decide to find somewhere to stay soon as by the time we get there it will be dusking and the evening will be gone. There is a campsite 8 k away, fab. We head in that direction and find nothing and then are told the local hotel has camping. The hotel is Hasienda Junta, it is fantasticand they have a swimming pool and a hottub, but once again something is lost in translation and they do not have camping. As much as we would have loved to stay we have to watch our budget and camping is more cost effective option. The guys at the hotel were very understanding adnwe made our farewells. If I came back with Jo we would definitely stay here.
So no camping until Ovalle, no problem that is only 30 k, we ask on arrival and a few kilometres out of town, well we found three and they were all closed and desolate. We finally arrive in La Serena and there are no campsites, so a reasonable hotel or hostel? Few, you must be joking, they were all much dearer than the Hasienda that we could have been relaxing in some 3 or 4 hours ago. Finally Martin spots a place and it is perfect, no sea view just basic accommodation, which is exactly what we wanted.
Martin had a cold shower and put on damp clothes, his mum will be looking down on him shaking her head. I passed on the cold shower and kept my dry clothes on, I don’t know who smelt better? Apparently there is hot water between 9 and 10.30, not a fat lot of use when you need to be off site early.
We now need to get moving north if we are to see the Dakar so we head off but rather than taking the coast road, which is the main road we use the mountain roiad which is a bit longer and a lot slower. Wow, what a fantastic road, Martin said ‘ that has got to be the best road I have travelled on’. It wound round the mountains and through tiny villages, in one village we saw signs for an observatory a few kilometres away, so we take off up the mountain and eventually arrive at the Combarbala Observatory. It has 4 domed telescopes in a square and a domed area in the centre similar to a mini planetarium. The telescopes are 16 inches in diameter and can rotate 360 degrees and pan 180 degrees. Therr are some fantastic photos af several planets in the reception area.
Onward and upward we continue on thiese mountain roads and run through some areas where a brown mountain has some well irrigated and maintained vines inregimented rows.
We eventually reach Monte Patria and stop at a fruiteria where they have about 4 mountains of water melons and a host of fruit and veg. We have certainly not been getting our 5 a day, when you buy a steak it comes with pappas fritas and that is it. We bought melon, kiwis, peaches, bananas, avocado, onion, olives etc. They had some seats and people were buying a drink so we asked for the same and got peach juice with corn and an overripe peach in it, sounds disgusting but it was fantastic. What an amasing place, people were stopping all the time and buying 2 and 3 watermelons, 4 guys stopped and bought one and cut it up into 4 there and then and munched on.
It is now 5.30 and it is another 80 miles to La Serena so we decide to find somewhere to stay soon as by the time we get there it will be dusking and the evening will be gone. There is a campsite 8 k away, fab. We head in that direction and find nothing and then are told the local hotel has camping. The hotel is Hasienda Junta, it is fantasticand they have a swimming pool and a hottub, but once again something is lost in translation and they do not have camping. As much as we would have loved to stay we have to watch our budget and camping is more cost effective option. The guys at the hotel were very understanding adnwe made our farewells. If I came back with Jo we would definitely stay here.
So no camping until Ovalle, no problem that is only 30 k, we ask on arrival and a few kilometres out of town, well we found three and they were all closed and desolate. We finally arrive in La Serena and there are no campsites, so a reasonable hotel or hostel? Few, you must be joking, they were all much dearer than the Hasienda that we could have been relaxing in some 3 or 4 hours ago. Finally Martin spots a place and it is perfect, no sea view just basic accommodation, which is exactly what we wanted.
7th January Santiago - Quimembo 142 miles
Up early and off to play with the traffic after a hearty breakfast of 2 slices of toast and a coffee. On the way in Martin and I got split up so we said we would see each other at the garage. Bikes booked in we go off to a shopping mall and spend quite a while trying to sort Martins netbook but without success.
We go to collect the bikes but they are not quite ready so about an hour or so late we are off to visit a vineyard, thanks to my friend Mike who has set up the visit. Having taken about an hour and a half to get out of the city on the right road and coupled with the delay in getting the bikes we arrive about 2 hours late.
Not a problem, we are shown around the cellar and the production and bottling area and then taken to the tasting rooms and sampled some of their wines. It was really interesting and a fantastic experience, many thanks Mike and Christian at the vineyard.
We now go off to find somewhere to stay and head North towards our Dakar objective and eventually find a campsite, there were lots in Argentina but they are quite sparse in Chile.
Off tomorrow towards Copiapo, we have 2 days to get there as the Dakar will arrive there on Monday.
We go to collect the bikes but they are not quite ready so about an hour or so late we are off to visit a vineyard, thanks to my friend Mike who has set up the visit. Having taken about an hour and a half to get out of the city on the right road and coupled with the delay in getting the bikes we arrive about 2 hours late.
Not a problem, we are shown around the cellar and the production and bottling area and then taken to the tasting rooms and sampled some of their wines. It was really interesting and a fantastic experience, many thanks Mike and Christian at the vineyard.
We now go off to find somewhere to stay and head North towards our Dakar objective and eventually find a campsite, there were lots in Argentina but they are quite sparse in Chile.
Off tomorrow towards Copiapo, we have 2 days to get there as the Dakar will arrive there on Monday.
6th January Curico – Santiago 142 miles
Up early and a pre breakfast swim, well Martin did, it was too cold for me. Off reasonable and we get to Santiago, the traffic gradually built up until eventually it wass horrendous, worse than London, and that is no joke.
We drove straight to the BMW dealer to check our booking for tomorrow, good job too as we had to stress that we wanted them finished on Friday. We then went and sorted tyres, Moto Venture sent a pickup truck for us to follow and we had Martins wheels balanced and my spare front put on mine. We now hope to get at least to Lima with these tyres and then we will ditch the spares and have road tyres fitted. Dominique was extremely helpful to us allowing us to use their Wifi ands helping us sort hotels.
Thank goodness we got here early this has all taken hours, we head off to find a hotel. It took us 45 minutes to travel 8.5 miles. After a few stops we found a hotel who said they had secure parking, we were shown an ally alongside the hotel but were told a gate was erected at night. We went to get the bikes from the end of the road and on arriving at the hotel a man was ushering us to drive the bikes into the hotel hallway. Up the marble slope next to the steps, and I thought that was for disabled, straight through and locked away in an annex.
We drove straight to the BMW dealer to check our booking for tomorrow, good job too as we had to stress that we wanted them finished on Friday. We then went and sorted tyres, Moto Venture sent a pickup truck for us to follow and we had Martins wheels balanced and my spare front put on mine. We now hope to get at least to Lima with these tyres and then we will ditch the spares and have road tyres fitted. Dominique was extremely helpful to us allowing us to use their Wifi ands helping us sort hotels.
Thank goodness we got here early this has all taken hours, we head off to find a hotel. It took us 45 minutes to travel 8.5 miles. After a few stops we found a hotel who said they had secure parking, we were shown an ally alongside the hotel but were told a gate was erected at night. We went to get the bikes from the end of the road and on arriving at the hotel a man was ushering us to drive the bikes into the hotel hallway. Up the marble slope next to the steps, and I thought that was for disabled, straight through and locked away in an annex.
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