30,31/10/2013 Cunco to Temuco
D62 (46 around town) Tot21695, 11896
Cool, wet, with slight westerlies.
The sound of rain could be heard on the roof, early morning.
It was a good time to be in a motel. All things were ready about 0900. The ride through to Temuco and my Warmshowers host, Camillo, saw me riding for the first time with no money. I had run out of Chilean Pesos, as the only ATM here, did not like my card.
So with the couple of hundred pesos left, some bananas were bought leaving town .
The road, initially quiet, got busier and busier. It was very narrow with a shoulder nothing more than the white line, marking the edge of the lane in most places.
Really it was just a series of undulations through rich green valleys, trees lined the road all the way.
It was quite fresh, my raincoat was worn all the way.
The rain abated for most of the trip.
At one point, my left arm all but touched the side of an impatient bus drivers charge. It was quite scary in the aftermarth.
Sometimes you realise just how dangerous roads are and how one gets used to being in one of two objects hurling towards each other at a combined speed of sometimes 200km/hr. These objects then pass each other with only a metre or more separating them.
Things can and do go wrong.
Any problems a person has in their world are often taken into their cars and onto the road.
Many of these problems are inherent within our societies. Many are relevant only to the individual.
Problems like unrealistic timetables, monetary problems, social issues, family conflict and a myriad of other distractions.
These problems affect a person’s performance and concentration in the work place.
I feel the same thing frequently happens out on the roads.
I was getting close to heavily populated areas, this point has to be considered when riding. The odds were increasing that more of these drivers might be about.
This road, like those in Costa Rica was not improved as traffic flow had increased.
Getting close to Temuco, it looked like a storm was brewing.
An ATM was found, and wifi used in the Plaza.
Directions from people gave me an idea of how to get to Camillos, on the other side of town.
Temuco 045 / POP 259,102 With its leafy, palm-filled plaza, its pleasant Mercado Municipal and its intrinsic link to Mapuche culture, Temuco is the most palatable of all Sur Chico’s blue-collar cities to visit. The city is the former home of Pablo Neruda, one of most influential poets of the 20th century, who once called it the Wild West. It is also the regional transit hub, with steady transportation to Santiago and connections to everywhere in Sur Chico and beyond.
Planet, Lonely;
On the way out there the skies opened, refuge was sought, in a fruit shop, doing what the owner enjoyed, eating his fruit.
My raincoat that is used much of the time, let the water straight through, its water proofing inside skin is delaminating.
My trip to Santiago from Temuco will include getting a new raincoat.
When using all these items required for this kind of travel. Their constant use soon sorts out the good from the bad.
The coat lasted for 2 years, and at $100 was great value.
I am going to give Gortex a go this time.
I finally got to Camillos late in the afternoon.
He has just completed his law degree and speaks some English, so communication was easy for me.
The rest of his family spoke none so my basic Spanish skills were used much of the time.
He is embarking on a ride to Ushuaia in December and has bought all the gear, so we had much to talk about.
It was great to be in the company of such nice people.
2/11/2013 Temuco to Santiago
Bus 10 hrs
Camillo dropped me off at the bus. It was great to have a safe place to leave the bike and gear whilst spending time in Santiago and picking up Cal, my son who flies in from Australia with his bike, also a Surly.
For me, the final part of this southern passage to Ushuaia will be spent riding with Callum.
This will something special for both of us.
The bus, the Jac line had the most comfortable seats up stairs. It left at 1030.
I literally slept all night, Sleep overcame me before we got out of town, the next thing I knew was we were on the outskirts of Santiago.
Santiago gave the impression of a modern city. Most good quality brands can be purchased here at reasonable prices.
They have a shopping centre at La Provedencia called Mall Sports.
Here the centre is dedicated to sporting goods only. Luckily I can’t carry any more gear!
There is a wave machine and a small pond within the centre with yachts for sale floating in its waters.
Like many cities, businesses catering for a particular product or products are clustered together, it makes well informed purchases easy.
The Hostel La Chimba was booked, very central, friendly and has all facilities, try it.
The some 40 minute trip to the airport by subway and airport bus amounted to about $5.
Cals plane was late, we were elated to see each other. It was the first time for 10 months I was in the company of someone I had known for any length of time, though much more importantly, family.
This and other social aspects, early in the trip were sometimes difficult to come to terms with.
Though now for me, the rewards that this lifestyle offers far outweigh these temporary social costs.
The bike box, suitcase and a bag, along with us found our way back to the hostal using public transport. All be it in a couple of hours, for we were in no hurry.
Another phase in this fascinating, excitingly different journey through South America for me had begun.
Temuco till 9th November
Time with Camillo and his family has been so easy to say the least.
It was great to have space, friends and resources to regroup with Callum for the trip ahead of us.
We had to upgrade Callums brakes. He cantilever brakes, these were replaced with vee brakes. This involved visiting every bike shop in Temuco, there were plenty of them. Without Camillo this would have been quite a task.
Gustavo, Camillos dad bought home a heap of typical empanadas one day for lunch, each one always contains an olive and half an egg along with the normal ingredients of the meat.
Though these ones had chunks of steak.
Last night a typical Chilean asado was enjoyed at the house with their friends and family. Chunchules,a sausage using the intestines and other offal from cows, along with beef and pork was BBQ’d. For me, the Chunchules were very different though enjoyable as long as it was on a fork with vegetables and your mind was on the conversation at the table.
It took awhile to get Cals bike ready for the road, it was second hand and had a few modifications on the racks, these brackets took some time placing correctly, not to mention having to fit new brakes.
This was all done after a long lunch at a friend of Camillos.
Camillo is joining us for the trip to Pucón, his mum lives there, so we will ride together for a couple of days.
I have seen more clouds and rain here in the last 5 days than in the last 5 months.
The weather is very much like that of many parts of NZ.
D62 (46 around town) Tot21695, 11896
Cool, wet, with slight westerlies.
The sound of rain could be heard on the roof, early morning.
It was a good time to be in a motel. All things were ready about 0900. The ride through to Temuco and my Warmshowers host, Camillo, saw me riding for the first time with no money. I had run out of Chilean Pesos, as the only ATM here, did not like my card.
So with the couple of hundred pesos left, some bananas were bought leaving town .
The road, initially quiet, got busier and busier. It was very narrow with a shoulder nothing more than the white line, marking the edge of the lane in most places.
Really it was just a series of undulations through rich green valleys, trees lined the road all the way.
It was quite fresh, my raincoat was worn all the way.
The rain abated for most of the trip.
At one point, my left arm all but touched the side of an impatient bus drivers charge. It was quite scary in the aftermarth.
Sometimes you realise just how dangerous roads are and how one gets used to being in one of two objects hurling towards each other at a combined speed of sometimes 200km/hr. These objects then pass each other with only a metre or more separating them.
Things can and do go wrong.
Any problems a person has in their world are often taken into their cars and onto the road.
Many of these problems are inherent within our societies. Many are relevant only to the individual.
Problems like unrealistic timetables, monetary problems, social issues, family conflict and a myriad of other distractions.
These problems affect a person’s performance and concentration in the work place.
I feel the same thing frequently happens out on the roads.
I was getting close to heavily populated areas, this point has to be considered when riding. The odds were increasing that more of these drivers might be about.
This road, like those in Costa Rica was not improved as traffic flow had increased.
Getting close to Temuco, it looked like a storm was brewing.
An ATM was found, and wifi used in the Plaza.
Directions from people gave me an idea of how to get to Camillos, on the other side of town.
Temuco 045 / POP 259,102 With its leafy, palm-filled plaza, its pleasant Mercado Municipal and its intrinsic link to Mapuche culture, Temuco is the most palatable of all Sur Chico’s blue-collar cities to visit. The city is the former home of Pablo Neruda, one of most influential poets of the 20th century, who once called it the Wild West. It is also the regional transit hub, with steady transportation to Santiago and connections to everywhere in Sur Chico and beyond.
Planet, Lonely;
On the way out there the skies opened, refuge was sought, in a fruit shop, doing what the owner enjoyed, eating his fruit.
My raincoat that is used much of the time, let the water straight through, its water proofing inside skin is delaminating.
My trip to Santiago from Temuco will include getting a new raincoat.
When using all these items required for this kind of travel. Their constant use soon sorts out the good from the bad.
The coat lasted for 2 years, and at $100 was great value.
I am going to give Gortex a go this time.
I finally got to Camillos late in the afternoon.
He has just completed his law degree and speaks some English, so communication was easy for me.
The rest of his family spoke none so my basic Spanish skills were used much of the time.
He is embarking on a ride to Ushuaia in December and has bought all the gear, so we had much to talk about.
It was great to be in the company of such nice people.
2/11/2013 Temuco to Santiago
Bus 10 hrs
Camillo dropped me off at the bus. It was great to have a safe place to leave the bike and gear whilst spending time in Santiago and picking up Cal, my son who flies in from Australia with his bike, also a Surly.
For me, the final part of this southern passage to Ushuaia will be spent riding with Callum.
This will something special for both of us.
The bus, the Jac line had the most comfortable seats up stairs. It left at 1030.
I literally slept all night, Sleep overcame me before we got out of town, the next thing I knew was we were on the outskirts of Santiago.
Santiago gave the impression of a modern city. Most good quality brands can be purchased here at reasonable prices.
They have a shopping centre at La Provedencia called Mall Sports.
Here the centre is dedicated to sporting goods only. Luckily I can’t carry any more gear!
There is a wave machine and a small pond within the centre with yachts for sale floating in its waters.
Like many cities, businesses catering for a particular product or products are clustered together, it makes well informed purchases easy.
The Hostel La Chimba was booked, very central, friendly and has all facilities, try it.
The some 40 minute trip to the airport by subway and airport bus amounted to about $5.
Cals plane was late, we were elated to see each other. It was the first time for 10 months I was in the company of someone I had known for any length of time, though much more importantly, family.
This and other social aspects, early in the trip were sometimes difficult to come to terms with.
Though now for me, the rewards that this lifestyle offers far outweigh these temporary social costs.
The bike box, suitcase and a bag, along with us found our way back to the hostal using public transport. All be it in a couple of hours, for we were in no hurry.
Another phase in this fascinating, excitingly different journey through South America for me had begun.
Temuco till 9th November
Time with Camillo and his family has been so easy to say the least.
It was great to have space, friends and resources to regroup with Callum for the trip ahead of us.
We had to upgrade Callums brakes. He cantilever brakes, these were replaced with vee brakes. This involved visiting every bike shop in Temuco, there were plenty of them. Without Camillo this would have been quite a task.
Gustavo, Camillos dad bought home a heap of typical empanadas one day for lunch, each one always contains an olive and half an egg along with the normal ingredients of the meat.
Though these ones had chunks of steak.
Last night a typical Chilean asado was enjoyed at the house with their friends and family. Chunchules,a sausage using the intestines and other offal from cows, along with beef and pork was BBQ’d. For me, the Chunchules were very different though enjoyable as long as it was on a fork with vegetables and your mind was on the conversation at the table.
It took awhile to get Cals bike ready for the road, it was second hand and had a few modifications on the racks, these brackets took some time placing correctly, not to mention having to fit new brakes.
This was all done after a long lunch at a friend of Camillos.
Camillo is joining us for the trip to Pucón, his mum lives there, so we will ride together for a couple of days.
I have seen more clouds and rain here in the last 5 days than in the last 5 months.
The weather is very much like that of many parts of NZ.
 Provedencia, Santiago
 Valparaiso
 Pescadores
|
Graffiti, Valparaiso
 Gustavo, Cal y Camillo
|