Author: Luis

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Touring South America: Starry Night in the Atacama Desert

Chapter 11: April 7th, Atacama Desert, Chile. I spent the morning of April 6th in the hotel where I ended up the night before. I made good use of the WiFi and figured out my route for the day. The plan was to reach Chañaral taking the Ruta 1 that runs along the entire coast. I ended up leaving Antofagasta at around 2pm but I estimated that I would still have plenty of time to make it there and set up camp...

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Touring South America: Road to Salvation

Chapter 10: April 5th, Antofagasta, Chile. The next morning after breakfast I set out to find the town mechanic. He took his time to open up his shop but after taking a look at the broken chain it only took him an hour and a half to fix it. I walked out of there with a functional chain, albeit one link shorter. It took me another 40 minutes to slide it back in place and scoot the back wheel forward...

Roadside break to soak in some sun. 0

Touring South America: Road to Perdition

Chapter 9: April 4th, Mejillones, Chile. My girlfriend has a firm belief that there are people on this planet that possess an infinite source of kindness. These people aren’t aware of it but the aura that surrounds them allows others that are sensitive to it feel their presence. She calls them “angels” and has crossed paths with them in times of need. Keep in mind I’m not talking about winged celestial creatures. These are just incredibly benevolent people. To some it may...

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Touring South America: Stretching the Days in Iquique

Chapter 8: April 4th, Iquique, Chile. Iquique, Land of Sun and Sea. Unexpectedly gorgeous and a tremendous source of fun times. If I had thought before that Arica was a good place to relax in, Iquique was the non plus ultra. Shortly after arriving I met up with Emily, a friend I made back in Nazca. I was exhausted from having been riding all day and then getting lost in the city but she managed to convince me to come...

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Touring South America: Running on Dry

Chapter 7: April 1st, Iquique, Chile. Before leaving home my sister had given me a tiny keychain compass. Had it not been for this little compass staring at me as I mistakenly headed east towards Bolivia, I would’ve ended up in San Pedro de Atacama instead of Iquique. After a rightly deserved facepalm, I corrected my course and was back on the road cutting through the desert instead of a lush green valley. The winds seemed stronger than on previous days...

Chilean cannon at the top of the hill. 0

Touring South America: Tacna and Arica

Chapter 6: March 31st, Arica, Chile. After sleeping off the previous day’s long ride, I awoke early to meet my dad who had just flown in from Lima for business. We had breakfast together while he told me the latest news from home and I shared with him the few happenings on the road so far. Afterwards he took off towards the small town where he would be stationed and I continued my way further south. I had accomplished my first...

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Touring South America: Racing the Dunlop Truck

Chapter 5: March 28th, Tacna, Peru. I ended up making pretty good use of the medkit I had been urged to bring. I popped a couple of pills and by morning my intestinal situation had been… contained. I rushed out of my tiny room at 8am to a cloudy sky. I skipped breakfast dreading a repeat of the previous night’s misery. My meal that morning consisted in a packet of oral rehydration salts that I had dumped into my water bottle....

Beautiful sunset on the Panamerican Highway. 0

Touring South America: Operation Desert Storm

Chapter 4: March 27th, Ocoña, Peru. Getting the bike out of the Walk On Inn wasn’t as easy as getting it in. The single step up the front door was too steep and the little wooden board they brought to serve as a ramp only got the front wheel up. It split in half when the back wheel went over it. In the end, I was able to get it out with the help of the hostel’s manager and a Finnish guy who...

Nothing but gratitude for Officer Lizarzaburo. 1

Touring South America: Brake repairs with the Viper

Chapter 3: March 26th, Ica, Peru. I was in the middle of the Paracas Natural Reserve holding the broken brake handle that I had unsuccessfully tried to repair after a tumble in the sand dunes. I didn’t have a spare for it with me and I knew that this particular model was hard to find. However, my best bet was to try to find some sort of replacement in Ica. I nearly tossed out the broken handle but decided to...

Sunset at Puerto Viejo 0

Touring South America: Pisco and Paracas

Chapter 2: March 25th, Paracas, Peru. The first stop on the long road south was a camping site at a beach called Puerto Viejo, some 70km outside of Lima. I hadn’t been to this beach since the previous year and it was a great way to kick off the journey: camping out but somewhere familiar. Upon arrival, I quickly set up my tent and tossed my bags inside. I took the rest of the afternoon to relax and walk around. The...