Day 16 – Wednesday, February 11, 2026
I bid farewell to the amazing family, they made sure I had enough water.
Thanks for the hospitality at your tent!
After a quick ride, I reached the not‑so‑nice town of Chañaral.
Not so nice town
Here I had a choice – I could continue on the PanAmerican Highway 5 or take a detour through the Pan de Azúcar National Park. I went for the latter, even though this was about 20 km longer. Oh well.
Road to the national park
Not a lot of vegetation
Leading to the park in this barren area, I came across a covered shrine with beautiful flowers.
A wonderful shrine
What wonderful flowers...
There were also beaches with white sand like in the Caribbean – and not a single person enjoying it.
White sand on the beach – and not a single person
Within the park itself, I marvelled at the abundance of cacti – plus those wonderful pyramid‑like mountains.
Sand dunes running up the mountains
Interesting‑looking cactii
Alas, a visit to the major highlight of the park – the Humboldt penguins on a nearby island – was not possible due to the rough seas. Too bad. Within the national park, there were three campgrounds close to each other; I took a short rest at one of them. There were many eagles in this area.
Taking a short rest
Just one of the many eagles
The area was barren, it felt like being on another planet altogether.
Within the national park
Rolling hills without any vegetation
Suddenly, without any transition, came a surprise. While one side of the road was all barren, the other side was green. It is a herb called quinchihue.
Without any transition it became all green
The road of the national park veered uphill towards Ruta 5. I was actually looking forward to it – now I could again start making distance, it was like meeting a good old buddy. When I reached it, it showed a completely different face. It continued to incline, but there was absolutely nothing for like 50 kilometers – no houses, no kiosks, nowhere to take a rest. Where would I get water or something to eat? Where am I going to sleep in this barren area?
A sign showing two touristic highlights in an otherwise completely barren area
A lot worse was that it was now just a two‑lane highway, with the majority of vehicles being huge lorries. Being at around 700 m of elevation and not far from the ocean, there were strong gusts of wind coming from pretty much all directions. Now a lorry traveling at 120 km/h creates a whirlwind on top, where I felt like a leaf in a storm.
I started assessing my options. One would be to stop every time a truck passed, put down my feet to stabilize myself, but even the ones coming the other way meant danger. Even with my feet down, the whirlwinds almost knocked me off. My other option was to ride on a dirt road next to the highway; I tried it, but the wheels of my fully loaded bike kept getting stuck.
My last viable option was to give up biking and do hitchhiking. My readers will by now know that Chileans are great – and after just 15 minutes, a huge Mercedes lorry stopped. We loaded my bike to the bulkhead and off we rode. I was in a bit of shock after the experience, feeling like a leaf in a storm, and was wondering if I would be able to proceed with my trip altogether. When two lorries riding in the opposite direction got next to each other, there was a huge pressure wave, which was loud and shook the entire lorry. I was startled; the driver kept his calm – it was business as usual for him.
He drove me some 50 km and dropped me off at an intersection, with a fork leading back to the shore, a seaside town called Taltal. What if he hadn’t stopped? Riding there would have been a struggle and really very dangerous... again, muchas gracias!
Taltal was still some 25 kilometers away – but it was all downhill, so I needed less than an hour to get there.
In town, I found a clean hostel for just €15 (all hotels were sold out). This price is a steal; I had a room to myself. I am looking forward to continuing my trip on Highway 1 the following day, a road running right next to the coast.