Day 12 – Saturday, February 7, 2026
The night was really peaceful, nobody bothered me. I saw wonderful flowers decorating this tiny settlement. Later, I asked how these settlements finance the modern playgrounds and the public parks. The answer was that it is the mining companies that finance these. Approximately 12% of Chile´s GDP comes from mining – with copper, lithium, gold and silver being the main products.
Wonderful flowers decorating the town
Here is a line in the musical Evita which reads: “It seems crazy, but you must believe, there was nothing calculated, nothing planned.” This could be my motto for this – and actually all of – my biking trips. In the morning I chatted with a friend and told her that the Atacama desert was still about 1,000 km north of me...
...Just a couple of kilometers later, I saw a sign welcoming me to the Atacama region... To err is human, it seems.
Welcome to the Atacama region!
Some of my fellow riders check Google Street View to see what would be ahead – I would never even think of doing that – as it eliminates half the fun, which is exploring the unknown.
The day was quite tough, with two never‑ending ascents. I rode 117 km and ascended 1,500 m.
Yes, indeed it was barren...
...but I still loved it, especially this incline and the hillside...
...no need to call the SOS hotline
It was so hot that my water ran out more than once (despite me carrying about 7 liters). A nice memory – in the spirit of Chilean generosity – was a truck driver, who not only gave me water, but also cheese, bread and a piece of fruit. Gracias, amigo!
I also rode by a large observatory. Funny detail: the visiting hours were until 2 pm on each Saturday. I got there just about 2 pm, but it was still some 14 kilometers away and uphill... so I decided to put it off for later (spoiler: I actually did end up visiting another one).
An observatory too far
The road was not particularly busy, there was a small herd of sheep; they did not seem to mind the cars, but when I showed up on my bike, they scrambled, running across the highway.
This bicycle beast meant danger for these sheep
Talking about sheep, I entered a small restaurant where the owner had painstakingly built a model of a ship. If I understood correctly, he needed some 6 months for the project.
Must have been a lot of work
Other highlights were a white wooden church and a sort of art installation on the side of the road.
Pretty white church
I really wondered who planned, financed and executed this installation in the middle of the desert...
The MAJOR highlight of the day, though, was a tree in a valley, with dozens and dozens of parrots loudly squawking. Nowhere else in the desert did I see any other parrots and I really wondered what made them stick to this narrow valley.
A tiny fraction of the parrots squawking
The last 20 kilometers were fun – it was all downhill! I rolled into a large town called Vallemar...
All downhill to Vallemar
...Let us pause for a second. The words of my Dad echoed in my ears: he told me a lot of accidents happen in the last couple of miles of a trip – I was therefore extra cautious rolling downhill with the speed of about 30 km/h. Suddenly, two dogs jolted at me, with a speed that would put Usain Bolt to shame. One, coming from behind and below me, sped up so much it was suddenly in front of me, the other slightly behind me. There was also quite a bit of traffic near the town, so the margin of error was minimal. I applied emergency brakes and shouted/screamed so loud that it startled the dogs for a split second. I thought they had given up – no, it was really just for a split second; they came for a second attack. I screamed even louder, I don’t think I had been that loud this century – then they gave up finally. I had to laugh at myself for this – but it was not an immaterial event.
In town, I picked a nice cabin with a kitchen and a pool right in front – the price of which I haggled down to €40 – a good price... and went in for a nice swim.
Altogether, a tough but fun day.