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, from dawn to dusk.
In my tent the previous night, 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 am, I was on the saddle, fighting a bit of a war with local drivers who would not dim their headlights for a lonely biker. My strategy was to try to blend them with my headlights, some then noticed it and dimmed their light in the last moment).
By 8 am, I had covered some 40 km, which for me is an acceptable distance, given the roller-coaster landscape. A few dogs thought of attacking me in the darkness, they must have wondered who that flashing monster was, but the attacks were half-hearted - they still scared me.
I found the road pretty impressive - especially how litte the traffic was
Apparently, a green car suffered an accident
The area I reached had some mentionable 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 to, lies in a free-trade zone. I have no idea how the customs control worked, but it did not apply to bikers.
Before sunrise (a good movie, too)
Later, I found a large beach but almost completely empty. I wanted to go in for a swim, but there was something strange in the water - was it a shark? I looked closer and it was a colony of seals, them looking at a weird human intruding their turf. Hmmm. I still ventured a bit in - but not too much, who knows, if there are seals there, there might be sharks...? Again, nobody could have helped me if I would have gotten in trouble.
An empty beach
Peekabo! So we kept inspecting each other
There was a strong incline up a dune, after which I discovered a restaurants, where a lot of truck drivers had stopped.
Quite an incline
For lunch, after the tárkonyos raguleves I had a few days prior, it was újházi tyúkleves that was served. The waiter at the restaurant politely pointed out that a shower for €2 would not hurt. It did wonders.
Hungarian chicken soup at the beach
Somewhere on a beach along the road
I reached a large mine and things changed. The road that had been so empty so far got now really busy, I even had to jump off the curb as I heard a truck was coming dangerously close. Their strategy was to honk, then drive - no place for appeals. Moreover, the curb was often in a very poor quality, so this was not my favorite place to ride in. In that area, I noticed a road carved in the mountainside, apparently for trucks heading to yet another mine.
A road carved into the mountain - impressive!
Then came the airport and I assumed - correctly - the road would get better. Now it was a 2-by-2 lane highway wiht a nice curb, super! The one thing that was not so super was that there were still close to 40 kilometer to Iquique.
It was almost dark by the time I had gotten close to Iquique. I booked a pleasant hotel.
Notice the large dunes and mountains behind the city
Someone had told me the town is unsafe. Well, it feels quite thr opposite, with a beachfront of multiple miles and people walking, running, skating etc. as far as the eye could see.
Joggers on the beach
What a palm tree!
This day I had ridden dome 192 km....with an ascent of 1,422 meters. My battery is completely drained...