Day 27 – Sunday, February 22, 2026

I doubt this day would make road biking particularly popular. At the end of it, I still felt great.

The start of this this Sunday was lovely. As mentioned, my hotel, Aqua del Deserto (Aqua?? Non!! A nod for fans of the movie "Adventures of Pablo Picasso") was hitherto the best one on this trip, with an excellent buffet breakfast (I tried pretty much everything - for sure I would need the energy) . with two friendly waiters. There was jazz playing and the lady sang along as she served the food, I sang with her, we had a good laugh.

Excellent breakfast, friendly staff

At the start, I ran (biked) across a colorful flower shop, after which the road veered through nice streets with ample shade (mind you, we are in the desert at 2,250m).

Flower shop with beautiful sunflowers

Shady road at this elevation

Even though I was full to the brink (what my belly is concerned) and was pretty sure I would eventually run into a populated area, I stopped just outside town and bought some food items and then one more bottle of water. I was schlepping over 6 liters.

The riding can be divided in four parts

The first one was up to the mine Chuquicamata - where I had been by bus three days prior - and had been dreading the elevation since. I knew it would be an exhausting 21 km uphill ride. It went better than expected, an uphill of some 400 meters (to approx. 2,650m).

The so-called "cake" at Chuquicamata

The next section was much, much worse than I thought it would he. I knew it would veer downhill after the mine and I wasn't wrong - just that the the downhill section was a bloody far - and the altitude would go to over 3,000 meters. Big deal, you might say, I climbed 750 meters, just that most of the road after the mine was under construction. I was dodging huge lorries on a very rough "road" - which it hardly was. It was excruciating.

Close to 3,000 meters

Not a single road in the world ascends forever - naking it to the top gave me a huge mental boost. This was the third section - pretty much downhill for a looong time. No photo or video can truly return the atmosphere I was in. This section was seemingly endless - it ran STRAIGHT downhill as far as the eye could see. I doubt I had ever seen anything like this. Downhill is good, but as I was nearing the coast (I was heading westward), the wind pucked up more and more. There was an increasing number of smaller whirlwinds.

It seemed to run downhill forever

Running into infinity

This car has already reached infinity

Ladies and gentlemen- I can't but emphasize just how nice Chilean people are. Not one, not teo, but three lorries stopped seeing me on this road and giving a bottle of water. Honestly, I get a bit emotional...

Now I was nearing PanAmerican Highway 5, with signs carryingg the fancy name of a settlement of Rio Loa. I was looking forward to a nice restaurant to relax at and some shops to fill uo my supplies. It had been 91 km of riding that far - should I be able to find a hotel, I might as well stay for the night and continue the following day.The closer I got to Rio Loa, the stronger the wind got - even though it was generally downhill, the going got quite though. I crossed a bridge - with sone murky water under it; and if there is water, there is also green - and this was my "town" of Rio Loa.. To set rhd record straight, I am not that dumb not to know that Rio means river. Well, there are other cities with Rio in their names - just think of a metropol in Brazil famous for its carnival.

Here no carnival, as no city, no town, no settlement. It was but a crossing of Highway 5, granted, with^a shabby kiosk, with excruciating prices (a good example of demand and supply).

Well, no restaurant at Rio Loa

Here I met the first long-range bikers of my entire trip so far. They were from Uruguay and had been on the road for 10 months (!) having visited Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru - crossing many passes of 5,000 meters. Now THAT is quite an achievement! They were only halfway there, they were heading to Argentina via a pass as high as a smaller plane flies. Bon voyage! Thanks to the lorry drivers, I had plenty of water, so I gave them a bottle.

The only road bikers on this trip that I have spoken to

I decided to push on (there were not a lot of alternatives), the coast was still 75 km away. My map showed a small incline, after which came a large drop to sea level. It was 5 pm, by sunset, I should be at the coast.

So began the fourth and last section of rhe day. The small incline meant just 250m altitude gain, no biggie. Oh yes, very much biggie. For the longest time, I had the strongest headwind of my entire biking career. In three hours, I covered just 20 hm. Around me was an unfriendly, rocky and extremely windy desert - no country for old men.

Here it was a struggle - see all the sand being blown in my direction

So my only viable option was to reach the coast. I turned all my lights on at around 8 pm, set them to blinking mode, I must have looked like a bloody Christmas tree. All the more I wondered why the drivers coming the opposite way did not swith off their high beams - roughly half did not bother, thus blinding me for a few seconds.

Last rays of the sun in the sand desert with lots of whirlwind

I still had 50 km to go and I told myself the drop would cone. For the longest time, it did not. Granted, the going got easier, but there was still bit of a headwind. Darn. The surface of the road was anything but perfect - so I had to pay attention, especially when I was blinded by a headlight.

With some 20 km to go, I was still at an altitude of 1,000 meters. Finally, at last, the long awaited drop came. Here, im contrast to the previous road surface, rhe asphalt was probably Swiss-made, it was apparently brand-new, with lots of reflective material marking the hairpin turns. There was hardly any traffic, it was nearing 11 pm.

I reached town, called Tocoplla - and it was surprisingly lively. Well, it is summer and there are beaches around. A funny scene happened: as I rolled into town fromn the hills, I knew the town was at the coast. Now I saw a huge structure that was well lit. From far, I imagined it was a huge cruise ship docked at the shore. I was wondering why they would make a stop at a port called Tocopila - it was a small settlement...and a cruise ship sailing through the desert. When I got closer, it became clear what it wass - a football amtch was going on in a stadion with floodlights.

I went for a one-star hostel, they wanted €50, the same amount as my luxury hotel in Calama just a few hours prior! Even though I was tired, I rode to another place, here I am paying €30. It has the weirdest corridor and my window opens to this corridor, not nice, but whatever.

So ended my 165 km ride... Even though it was around 11:30 pm, I was full of adrenaline. At bar next to the hotel, I had two beers and a bite to eat and it was around 1 am when I finally got to bed.