Santiago – La Serena - 558 kms
Total Distance So Far: 9,008 kms
It was great to get back on the bike today, although we had a late start waiting to clear a Fedex parcel meant we did not get away until 2pm, which was a bit of a pain as we had a fairly long day ahead.
When you leave Santiago you have to start climbing and punch through the ring of mountains that surround it. Within 30 minutes we had got to 1,500 meters and were treated to some big panoramic mountain views.
We made very good progress as the Pan-American along this stretch was like a dual carriageway. It hugged the coast for much of the way so the air was fresh and not too hot (about 25 degrees). The sun had started to set when we reached La Serena, we took a break for a cup of and watched the sun fully drop down over the far side La Serena which sits in a huge bay is a large but laid-back beach town with an 10 km long beach.
The night skies here are so clear, you really do get a carpet of thousands of stars. You only have to be 10 kms out of the city to get a really clear view away from its light pollution. I have never seen so many bright stars. Because the air is so dry, some parts of the Atacama have never recorded rain it is ideal for astronomy. I read there are 5 major observatories already here and a 6th one is being constructed near San Pedro de Atacama where we plan to spend New Year. The 6th one will consist of 64 separate large radio telescopes set in a 20km square array that will allow astronomers to see 100 times further into space than the current technology allows. It’s the first global astronomical project ever and is being jointly constructed by Europe, Asia, the US and Chile. It is expected to be completed in 2013.
The front of La Serena is lined with trendy apartment blocks and hotels. It also has some very up-market beach houses and apparently all the wealthy Chileans keep a second home here, and I have to admit it would be a nice place to hang out for a while.
A long but good day, and we look forward to getting into the Atacama tomorrow.
There were lots of big, mostly empty beaches. We saw a few VW combi's, old Dodge vans, and other campers with surfers dotted about.
Mostly trucks were our road partners, with car traffic to La Serena. The next day it thinned out mainly to just 18-wheelers.
Coming into La Serena we were treated to a grand old sunset so we parked up and climbed up a rock and watched it set with a cup of coffee.
La Serena had plenty of reasons to stay a day or two, including a lovely beach. Alas we have distance to cover.
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