Day 11 – Friday, February 6, 2026
This was yet another day full of adventurous discoveries. I spent half the day discovering La Serena ' and felt (yet again) that that I was somewhere in Italy. Supposedly there are indeed quite a few Sicilians living in this town.
When I arrived the previous day, and seeing all those high-rise buildings, I could not have imagined that there would be such a vibrant historic center. Actually, my hostel, in front of which I was chased by the stray dogs the previous night, was right in this center and during the day there was a lively vibe there - a fish market right next to my hotel (which was kept spotless), a large bazaar, churches, street music and lots of food stands.
This view, from my hostel, could be in Italky
The odorless Fish market right next to my hotel
Pretty buildings...
...in La Serena...
...this, for exampple, is a museum
I found a bank where the rate was better than on the street. A security guard, with very good English knowledge, helped fulfill the transaction - he mentioned his fourth baby was to be born the following week. Then, as he put it, "the factory is closed". Nice way of prrasing it!
A lively bazaar
On this day, too, I spent a couple of futile hours looking for a solution for my dynamo - no success, so I just purchased a battery operated light. With my laundry all washed, money exchanged and, I set off really late, around 2 pm, having ridden over 15 kilometers just i the town.
The usual drill started - strong inclines close to the sea, but me cruising at an acceptable pace. At one point, the road dropped, that was fun, then came a 10 km-long climb with lots of switch-bacms, well, that never seemedto end.
Uphill from La Senera
See the outline of the road
A long climb with switchbacks
...halfway up...
After the climb, I arrived to the moon. Barren, otherworldly hills followed. Little did I know back then that this would become a typical scenery for pretty much the rest of my trip - though I must admit I did enjoy the view.
Writing this story, I did ask AI whether La Serena is really a sort of a border to the open vastness of the Atacame desert. The answer was a definitive "yes". This was the longer answer: "The landscape becomes increasingly barren north of La Serena, transitioning into true desert as you approach the Atacama, one of the driest places on Earth. The region around La Serena already has a cold desert climate with very low rainfall, and conditions grow progressively drier as you move north". One more lovely sentence: "It’s a beautiful transition if you enjoy stark, open terrain". And mind you, I do enjoy stark, open terrain.
It was now luckily downhill, but daylight was quickly fading. I reached the small town of Trapiche after sunset. Here Jonny greeted me - he runs a small food kiosk and confirmed there were no hotels in town. Luckily, I was carrying a tent. Jonny directed me to the playground pretty much in the middle of the settlement and told me to ignore the neighbors. In fact, they ignored me - except for the some dogs, that were rather aggrevated at me turning the playgrounf into a private camping.
I arrived at highlands that looked like being on the moon
With no other options, I pitched my tent in the middle of the town, at a playground
Meanwhile, Jonny prepared dinner for me, two yummy hot dogs and a tea, which was accompanied by blaring Latin American music.
I felt safe under the supervision of Jonny
Maybe it is a false sense of security, but I felt completely safe. Everyone had been friendly and accommodating. This was the end of a tiring day.