Day 29 – Tuesday, February 24, 2026

if I want to sum up the day; I played Forest Gump on to wheels. I just rode and rode and rode on the road and road and toad, from dawn to dusk. In my tent, I dozed off immediately, 10:30-ish being an early time for me. I woke up around 4 am, completely rested and thought I might as well start riding. By 5, I was on 4he saddle, fighting a bit of a war with local drivers who would not dim their headlights. . By 8 am, I had over 40 km, which for me is an acceptable distance, given the roller-coaster. A few dogs thought of attacking me in the darkness, but they must have thought who that flashing monster was. The area I reached had some mentionabkr events. I had a smaller breakfast at a kiosk, during which the sun just rose from behind the mountains of the desert. More interestingly, there was a control station, with the sign "CUSTOMS" Eh? Why here? It turned out that Iquique, the city I was headed liesmm in a free-rrade zone. I have nio idea how the control wotks.

Later, I found a huge but almost completely empty. I wanted to swim, but there was something strange in the water - was it a shark? I looked closer and it was a colony of seals. Hmmm. For lunch. I actually found a pleasant restaurant- and after the tárkonyos raguleves I had újhàzi tyúkleves. The water at the restaurant politely pointed out that a shower for €2 would not hurt. It did wonders Close to darkness, I suddenly spotted the skyline of Iquique. I booked a pleasant hotel. Some gad told me the town is unsafe. We'll, it feels quite thr opposite, with a beachfront of multiple miles and people walking, running, skating etc as far as the eye could see. This day I had ridden dome 192 km....with an ascent of 1,422 meters. My battery is completely drained...