On the road on two wheels

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After a week acclimatising to a different culture, climate and economic situation, we are finally, at last, on the road on our bikes.

Santiago is a huge, flat sprawl. The smog is really bad at this time of year, and this meant that the only time we saw the Andes that are a famous backdrop to Chile´s capital was the day we arrived. We spent the week preparing our bikes for the road, buying supplies, and planning our route out of Santiago, breaking these tasks up with a little sightseeing. The highlight was a visit to the fabulous museum dedicated to the 15 or more Indian cultures that lived in Central America and the north-eastern South American continent in the few thousand years until Columbus arrived in 1492. The inspiring collection concentrates on stone carvings, pottery, jewellery and textiles, and contains many beautifully crafted pieces, including some that are contemporary or minimalist looking in design.

We also happened to spend a day in Valparaiso on one of the two official days of the national independence celebtrations, Fiestas Patria, which Chileans participate in with gusto. We walked straight into an empanada competition in one of the main city squares. During the cueca competition that followed it, the empanada-cooking matrons of Valparaiso handed out their handiwork to the watching crowd. (The empanada is a national institution, a baked pastry pocket which is usually filled with mince, onion, half a boiled egg and an olive. The cueca is a courtship dance in which the man and the woman use a handkerchief to communicate as they are not allowed to touch each other or talk to each other during the dance.) Valparaiso is built haphazardly along a narrow coastal plain and all over 42 surrounding hills that jut steeply out of the flat land. We climbed a few of the hills, some of which give fantastic views of the city and bay. In about 1834, 25-year-old Charles Darwin dropped in on this area when he was aboard the Beagle, and climbed a similar hill a little south of here, at Viña del Mar. The seashells he saw embedded at the top fed his thinking on the evolution of species.

Although it proved quite difficult finding a way out of Santiago, we finally boarded the train with our bikes, and headed a few hundred kilometres of polluted urban sprawl and huge agribusiness vineyards south, to Talca, in central Chile.

We had a cool, raw day for our first ride, out of Talca, but we were at last on our bikes, and heading towards the Andes, which remained in full view all day. We spent a couple of days following the road along the Río Maule, one of the five rivers that cross the Central Valley from the Andes to empty into the Pacific Ocean. This road continues to a pass into Argentina, but at this time of year it is covered in 5m of snow, so we cycled around Lago Colbún, created by the damming of the Río Maule. The first part of the ride was on quiet paved road with a good shoulder. That was a gentle warm-up: most of the roads around the lake and to the rural town of Colbún are dirt, gravel, and slippery clay, and loose rubble that we had to walk the bikes over. It was bliss getting back to bitumen, and onto a secondary road that has cycle path all along it. Many country people ride bicycles for transport, or drive horses and carts, and they all use the cycle lanes, which are separated from the main road by concrete blocks. The country towns we have passed through, Colbún, Linares, and Parral, remind Claire of the towns of her childhood. They serve the local farming community (and are not focused on tourism), and are full of small shops such as stationers that also sell a selection of books, school supplies and gift lines. The shops even smell similar!

Apart from views of the Andes (yes, we really are here!) and a lovely campsite at the end of our second day´s riding, the other highlights have been the locals we´ve met along the way. It is these small things that give such a hearty flavour to our travelling. On our second day in the saddle, four motorbikers roared up the hill behind us, and paused to ask us where we were from and where we were going. We happened to pull up at the same café at the top of the hill, and they welcomed us to their table for talk over tortillas served with chilli paste. They shared some tales and local knowledge on nice roads to ride, and were on their way again with a wave.

We were treated to more local hospitality on the slog around Lago Colbún, when we came across a bridge that had been partly washed out by rains 3 or 4 years earlier. The farmer who owned the land we were traversing happened to pass by and insisted on helping us lug our bikes and all our gear across a rough causeway and up a ladder to what remained of the bridge. His adult son, who was with him, told us about his own cycling holiday a little further south a few years ago.

The area we have been travelling through is the province known as Maule (or Región VII) . It is the centre of Chile´s huge wine industry, which is possible partly because of a mediterranean climate. Before the Spanish arrived, this region was the home of the Mapuche people---and still is---who were feisty protectors of their land and prevented the further southward spread of the Inca people. Later, the Mapuches also prevented the Spanish conquistadors from moving south, but only for a while. If we hadn´t just started riding, we would be tempted to stay and explore this area further, as there is some great hiking in the Andes here.

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Photos

Santiago disappears in smog
From the top of Cerro San Cristobal, in the centre of Santiago

Empanadas anyone?
Valparaiso locals celebrate Chile´s independence holidays

Dogs and people cross at the lights
Dogs roam freely everywhere

Rooms with a view
These houses look out from a steep Valparaiso hill over the bay. Below them, a local funicular balances precariously as it moves up and down the hill.

With los quatro amigos
Some Talca bikers out for a holiday ride share their tortillas with chilli, and a few stories

Lake Colbún
That´s the precordillera of the Andes forming the backdrop of our first camping spot

A taste of the dirt roads of our first few days´ riding
Around Lago Colbún

Hey, Claire, where´s the bridge gone?
Part of the bridge was washed away 3 or 4 years ago. Some friendly locals helped us cart our gear across half the river and up the ladder.

Comments

[Pam Taylor]

Happy Trails
Hi: I love getting your travelblog and photo's. You guys sure seem to be having a great time with lots of experiences and memories to bring home. I have just got back from a trip upto Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. Had the opportunity to go scuba diving and I loved it. Was a little apprehensive at the start but once in the water I was fine. Sadly it was the day after Steve Irwin was killed so everyone was a bit sad. Jim and I have just got back from camping at Neurum Creek Folk Festival and it was fun. Love Pam

[Mark and Becky]

La la la la la la 'merica
You're there! It doesn't look as warm as I imagined it might be. You must be quite high up - any good skiing? You blog is so well written and the pictures are so good to see. Love, Mark and Becky

[katina]

cueca
Hey guys, Thanks for explaining the cueca. We were supposedly dancing the cueca in our community choir musical theatre last week, so that was very informative for me. Fabulous journal! Luv, Katina

[Jules]

great pics, great stories and typical
that you should be in a wine growing region. Not much has changed other than geographically. Wonderful travelogue and I feel so much a part of your trip. Thankyou,my friends for the updates. The highlight of my week is hearing from you guys. Cheers!!!!! Jules