Ruta 5 Norte — OWN THE UNKNOWN

Next up on our journey was 3 days of hilly insanity. Following the main highway that connects the thousands of kilometers of Chile's coast our actual views of the ocean were few and far between as we continued North. We spent hour after hour crawling to the tops of hills only to be able to see the next hill we would have to climb looming in the distance.

The stretch of highway North from Los Molles was quite a bit less populated forcing us to hop a barbed wire fence just to find somewhere we could pitch our tent for the night. The area we found ended up being quite spectacular as we shared some cactus filled ranchland with a few cows.

Ended up being a pretty nice place to stop for the night

Our journey continued along empty stretches of highway dotted by small shacks selling food and the occasional restaurant. We looked forward for 70km to being able to stop in a small village famous for its cheese. The deep fried cheese empanadas were worth every pedal stroke.

Only 7 more kilometers to delicious cheese!

Back on the bike after a mid morning fuel stop.

The hills eventually flattened as we found an empty campground down a nice gravel road to call home for a night.

We continued onwards to La Serena with a stop in the small fishing town of Tongoy. The best part of being back by the ocean was the fresh seafood including empanadas stuffed full of all sorts of sea creatures.

All smiles to have reached the safety of the bike lane along the beach in La Serena

In La Serena we rested for a few days and stocked up on supplies in order to head over the Andes and into Argentina. Our journey inland led us on a gradual climb through an open valley full of vineyards and pisco distilleries.

Laundry, bike maintenance and resting up in La Serena

The views of La Serena from the roof of our hostel

Unfortunately despite being told the pass was still open we reached a sign stating otherwise. Disappointed we consoled ourselves with ice cream at the nearest gas station before deciding to take a detour up another gorgeous valley before having no other option, but to return back to La Serena.

Finding out the  hard way the pass we intended to take is closed until November — Finding out the hard way the pass we intended to take is closed until November

The trip up the Elqui valley to the town of Pisco Elqui turned out to be very worthy of the detour as we traveled higher into the mountains surrounded by stunning scenery and the surprise of finding a campsite in a small river side oasis.

On our return to La Serena what transpired was a frustrating sequence of events. Not wanting to ride 1200km of isolated desert highway to reach the north of Chile we decided to catch an 18 hour bus to San Pedro de Atacama. After being assured we could bring our bikes on the bus when buying tickets we were curtly refused entry into the bus by the driver. Returning to the same hostel in La Serena for the third time it was beginning to feel like we would be trapped forever. Not willing to risk being refused entry on another bus we decided to rent a car and drive ourselves. We somehow managed to fit our two bikes and all of our luggage into a small hatch back and finally we were away. The drive north only confirmed that we had made the right decision not to cycle. We passed through hundreds of kilometers of road construction and detours due to recent flooding, through a town still decimated by the flood, sections with no shoulder to ride on and hundreds of kilometers of nothing but desolate desert.

A picture is worth a thousand words: Stuck in La Serena once again

On the road again finally, strange feeling being in a car

Our last night by the ocean. A stop in the tiny town of Bahia Inglesa

Quite glad to not be riding these sections of the highway.

More misadventures ensued in our car journey including arriving in a city where we intended to stay for the night only to find all of the accommodation booked due to a Mining Expo and multiple times having to pull over to avoid being hit head-on by oncoming vehicles making risky passes.

Strange tourist attraction literally in the middle of nowhere on the way north

Our car journey landed us in San Pedro de Atacama, our last stop in Chile before crossing into Bolivia. The scenery around San Pedro is quite spectacular and a day ride around the area was just what we needed to relax.

From the rugged inhospitable terrain to having to wait in line for 30 minutes just to get cash out of an ATM Chile has challenged us every single day. Even things that we thought would be simple always seemed to turn into adventures. Like trying to order a combo meal at McDonalds only to learn after a lot of language confusion that they had no French fries available. We are looking forward to closing our chapter in Chile and seeing what Bolivia has to offer.