The truckstop
The fruit lorry
Lunar landscape
One small step.......
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
12th January – Bahia Inglses – Antafugasta 300 miles
Having had little sleep due to our neighbours, the young guys from Santiago, drinking several bottles of Pisco and sitting chatting, but they were shouting although they didn’t know it, until 7 am when they crashed out.
So pack up and say our farewells to an apologetic group of young lads, they were great. We are heading for Antafugasta today which is straight north through the beginning of the Atacama desert which is a bit unnearving in some respects. We have been told that there is a 400 k stint with no fuel and it was stressed to have enough water.
Initially we are running along the coast and suddenly come across the police stopping all the traffic and getting us to pull right off the road, we are at a loss as what this is all about and then after about 5 minutes the police car moves on and 2 artics come around the corner, the first carrying the truck without the tipper body followed by the 2nd with the body on it. This is one of those earthmoving trucks and it is the width of the whole road. They move on with a police car following and we are on our way. At home they would have closed roads and all sorts but this just went on its way with 2 policecars.
Once we leave civilisation we start climbing and will reach over 2000 meters during our journey. Martin said it was different to his expectations as there were rocks etc which he hadn’t fully expected in a desert. The fact that it is a desert in the middle of a massive mountain range I guess accounts for this but I certainly couldn’t have begun to describe it before we went. The road cuts its way through the mountains so we have a few turns and curves and then many long straight sections before another curve to weave its way through the lowest valleys where it can. Martin takes some photos of what looks like a lunar landscape, we feel like Neil Armstrong et al.
After 80 or 100 miles we stop at a truck stop, this is a large hut in the middle of nowhere with a massive parking area. Several trucks are stopped there so we pull over to see if food is an option. What a friendly bunch, all the truckers greet us as we go in and then discover our first hurdle, no one speaks any English. We gesture food and are offered something which contains chicken so let’s have that. A bowl arrives looking a bit like soup but it has a boiled potato and a piece of chicken in it, it tasted great and came with a bread bun each. We are then asked if we would like something else and after rummaging through my phrase book we are being offered fish, the waitress takes us to a table where several truckers are eating and shows us, what turns out to be the main course. No we want something small, perhaps a desert, I did use the Spanish by the way, oh and off she goes and brings us a massive nectarine each. It certainly filled Martin and I up and there is no way we could have gone all three courses. Including a litre bottle of Sprite and a litre of water, six pounds, we now know where to stop in future, a truck stop where lots of lorry’s are stopped.
Whilst we were having our lunch a fruit lorry was right outside and one of the ladies from the cafe climbed on top of the load and was selecting things she wanted which were brought in. There was a ton of fruit and veg unloaded, she then climbed down and came back in to carry on what she normally does, the driver was just following orders from her.
Refreshed we continue towards our destination and suddenly there on the hill to the left is the ‘Hand in the Sand’, a feature we want to see. This is about 40 miles from Antofagasta and someone has cast in concrete half a palm with 4 fingers and a thumb sticking up out of the sand, at a guess it is about 15 – 20 feet tall. It is a very unusual and original feature I must say.
On to Antofagasta and we drive along the coast and find one of the 2 campsites Martin had sourced.
Pitched and eaten we are now off to get a bit of shopping and have a quick drink.
So pack up and say our farewells to an apologetic group of young lads, they were great. We are heading for Antafugasta today which is straight north through the beginning of the Atacama desert which is a bit unnearving in some respects. We have been told that there is a 400 k stint with no fuel and it was stressed to have enough water.
Initially we are running along the coast and suddenly come across the police stopping all the traffic and getting us to pull right off the road, we are at a loss as what this is all about and then after about 5 minutes the police car moves on and 2 artics come around the corner, the first carrying the truck without the tipper body followed by the 2nd with the body on it. This is one of those earthmoving trucks and it is the width of the whole road. They move on with a police car following and we are on our way. At home they would have closed roads and all sorts but this just went on its way with 2 policecars.
Once we leave civilisation we start climbing and will reach over 2000 meters during our journey. Martin said it was different to his expectations as there were rocks etc which he hadn’t fully expected in a desert. The fact that it is a desert in the middle of a massive mountain range I guess accounts for this but I certainly couldn’t have begun to describe it before we went. The road cuts its way through the mountains so we have a few turns and curves and then many long straight sections before another curve to weave its way through the lowest valleys where it can. Martin takes some photos of what looks like a lunar landscape, we feel like Neil Armstrong et al.
After 80 or 100 miles we stop at a truck stop, this is a large hut in the middle of nowhere with a massive parking area. Several trucks are stopped there so we pull over to see if food is an option. What a friendly bunch, all the truckers greet us as we go in and then discover our first hurdle, no one speaks any English. We gesture food and are offered something which contains chicken so let’s have that. A bowl arrives looking a bit like soup but it has a boiled potato and a piece of chicken in it, it tasted great and came with a bread bun each. We are then asked if we would like something else and after rummaging through my phrase book we are being offered fish, the waitress takes us to a table where several truckers are eating and shows us, what turns out to be the main course. No we want something small, perhaps a desert, I did use the Spanish by the way, oh and off she goes and brings us a massive nectarine each. It certainly filled Martin and I up and there is no way we could have gone all three courses. Including a litre bottle of Sprite and a litre of water, six pounds, we now know where to stop in future, a truck stop where lots of lorry’s are stopped.
Whilst we were having our lunch a fruit lorry was right outside and one of the ladies from the cafe climbed on top of the load and was selecting things she wanted which were brought in. There was a ton of fruit and veg unloaded, she then climbed down and came back in to carry on what she normally does, the driver was just following orders from her.
Refreshed we continue towards our destination and suddenly there on the hill to the left is the ‘Hand in the Sand’, a feature we want to see. This is about 40 miles from Antofagasta and someone has cast in concrete half a palm with 4 fingers and a thumb sticking up out of the sand, at a guess it is about 15 – 20 feet tall. It is a very unusual and original feature I must say.
On to Antofagasta and we drive along the coast and find one of the 2 campsites Martin had sourced.
Pitched and eaten we are now off to get a bit of shopping and have a quick drink.
11th January – Bahia Inglses (round trip) Dakar 93 miles
Off to watch the Dakar again today, they are doing a loop around Copiapo and the viewing stages are similar to yesterday. We go on to the third area todat to see a different section, here the trucks and cars finish when they get to the checkpoint by the road but the bikes and quads go on and do another section.
We enquire at the checkpoint about Simon and he hasn’t been through yet. Today we park our bikes by the roadand walk in because with the weight we are carrying our bikes are quite unmanageable in the sand, looking at the way some of these guys manage perhaps a bit more experience would help.
The vehicles come up a ridge and then dive down diagonally over this steep slope sliding sideways as they progress down. Some of the lorrys come straight down, I guess rather than chancing overturning when traversing diagonally, it is hugely impressive and some just keep their foot in all the way.
Whilst we are there various spectator bikes and cars are attempting to go straight up some of these hills, one wothy of mention is a guy on a street bike with normal tyres who attempts to go straight up and does very well until he hits a big dip which throws him up in the air and slightly off to the side, everyone thought he was off but he somehow recovered it and turned and came back down. We went and spoke to him and his friend said he was not skilful just mad, he took off across the sand at speeds of about 70 mph, just shows that half of it is confidence or stupidity.
Still no Simon but we venture off towards the bivouac and go to see the mine where the miners were trappedfor three months. The mine is now closed down but we cannot get beyond a barrier about 100 of so feet from the entrance, a few photos and we continue on.
The road we are on has a varied surface from rough tarmac to a ripio finish and then as we wind around the mountains sand has blown across and in some cases is quite deep. The descent to the bivouac is spectacular with views right down the valley.
We arrive at the bivi and go to check on Simon, he apparently had an engine problem between checkpoint 1 and CP2. We tried to get info from race control but security is so tight we are not allowed in but finally an organiser went to check for us and Si is 40k out not moving at the moment. If he can fix it and get back he is still in but if he is rescued then thats it. We certainly didn’t bring him any luck.
Nothing more we can do here so back to base camp for us. When we get back there are 4 18 old guys from Santiago camping camped next to us and they introduce themselves and are really outgoing and friendly, so more photos and then Martin and I go off for dinner and meet an English guy called Simon who now lives in Peru and owns a restaurant there. He gives us some info and then we retire.
We enquire at the checkpoint about Simon and he hasn’t been through yet. Today we park our bikes by the roadand walk in because with the weight we are carrying our bikes are quite unmanageable in the sand, looking at the way some of these guys manage perhaps a bit more experience would help.
The vehicles come up a ridge and then dive down diagonally over this steep slope sliding sideways as they progress down. Some of the lorrys come straight down, I guess rather than chancing overturning when traversing diagonally, it is hugely impressive and some just keep their foot in all the way.
Whilst we are there various spectator bikes and cars are attempting to go straight up some of these hills, one wothy of mention is a guy on a street bike with normal tyres who attempts to go straight up and does very well until he hits a big dip which throws him up in the air and slightly off to the side, everyone thought he was off but he somehow recovered it and turned and came back down. We went and spoke to him and his friend said he was not skilful just mad, he took off across the sand at speeds of about 70 mph, just shows that half of it is confidence or stupidity.
Still no Simon but we venture off towards the bivouac and go to see the mine where the miners were trappedfor three months. The mine is now closed down but we cannot get beyond a barrier about 100 of so feet from the entrance, a few photos and we continue on.
The road we are on has a varied surface from rough tarmac to a ripio finish and then as we wind around the mountains sand has blown across and in some cases is quite deep. The descent to the bivouac is spectacular with views right down the valley.
We arrive at the bivi and go to check on Simon, he apparently had an engine problem between checkpoint 1 and CP2. We tried to get info from race control but security is so tight we are not allowed in but finally an organiser went to check for us and Si is 40k out not moving at the moment. If he can fix it and get back he is still in but if he is rescued then thats it. We certainly didn’t bring him any luck.
Nothing more we can do here so back to base camp for us. When we get back there are 4 18 old guys from Santiago camping camped next to us and they introduce themselves and are really outgoing and friendly, so more photos and then Martin and I go off for dinner and meet an English guy called Simon who now lives in Peru and owns a restaurant there. He gives us some info and then we retire.
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