You will enjoy yourself immensely and you will be so overwhelmed that it will be impossible for you to blog about everything that you experience. In addition to all of that, your friends and family will understand your lack of blogging because they too are wonderful people! Congratulations on your showcase Holly on The Price Is Right!"
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Do you ever feel like you have just won something on a game show? Something too good to be true? I know the feeling!
I have so much to share with all of you and I will eventually catch up on my blog.
I would like to continue chronologically but in this case I will deviate a little bit to feature some wonderful people I have met. This may not be altogether interesting to all of you but it is extremely interesting and important to me and a big reason why I travel. I feel horrible that I have forgotten some names of these wonderful people and have since learned that I need to write things down!
I am leaving Chile today and crossing over into Bolivia. I am both excited and sad. Finally reaching Chile's north is a great milestone so I am happy to be leaving but I really enjoyed Chile so it is a bit sad too.
Many of you drop me a line via email (rather than a comment on the blog) when I post a new blog entry. For those who are not on that email list, if you would like to be notified when I post a new entry let me know; hollywould.allin@gmail.com.
The next blog will catch you up through all points in Chile and will have more amazing scenery photos as well as information about the cool things I have seen and done!
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| First and foremost I have to praise my bike for its great service. I have never named my bike although when I crossed the USA with my friend, Betty, on this bike in 1994 Betty would refer to it as my magic carpet ride. On this trip I have mentioned time and again to my friend, Eric, how I am impressed with my bike because it is holding up under all of this weight and at the ripe old age of 18 years and with over 4000 miles on it already! So, we started calling it "The Tank" and that evolved into a more appropriate name of Tankita, using the English spelling with a Spanish flare. I love my bici! |
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| Elias-owner of a bike shop in Victoria who fixed my broken gear cable and a few other small things for free! The lovely woman, Ana Maria, who worked at the tourist information center walked me over to this shop to be sure I found it. Many bike shop workers/owners have given me free labor and/or free minor parts along the way. I don't have photos of all of them though. One bike shop worker in Antofagasta actually gave me his derailleur and installed it on my bike since he had recently upgraded his and mine was acting kind of funny. I wasn't ready to buy a new one yet as I am getting a quality one from the states but his donation was enough to ensure I could get through the desert without worrying about a possible failure of my derailleur. |
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| Juan, his nanny Elli, and his children Isadora and Juaco. I met Juan through that same woman, Ana Maria, (mentioned above) at the tourist information center. She called Juan to come to the office since she knew he spoke English well. Both Juan and Ana Maria helped me find an economical place to stay.in Victoria. Juan invited me to have dinner at his house and then gave me a quick tour around town! |
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| Juan and Elba-I stopped at this couple's property to ask for a place to camp. There was nowhere to camp on the side of the road because there was major construction going on for miles. Initially when I walked up to the house all hell broke loose with mean looking dogs running up to me at full bore (only be to be stopped by their leashes attached to a runner thank goodness), and with Juan greeting me sternly with a face that said, "What do you want?"
His composure didn't change even when I gave him my best "I'm harmless" smile. I thought I had made my first instinctual mistake of the trip. I had some relief when I saw a young kid poke his head out the upstairs window of the other house on the property. I thought that at least there were witnesses now! Juan told me he had to ask the "Jefe" (boss) whom he then called out to in the direction of the side of the house. When Juan's wife Elba came out of the house (seemingly to find out what was going on) I gave her my best "I'm harmless" smile and started to relax a little while I waited to hear from the jefe. She then started speaking quickly to me about something which I only understood to be about the floor somewhere. When I didn't understand she encouraged me to follow her around the back of the house. Once we were there she showed me into the room in the photo below explaining it was a place for banquets/events but I could sleep here if I wanted instead of in my tent and that there was a bathroom right next door that I could use. It was a perfect place for me to stay and I thanked her profusely. She invited me to come into the house later for some cafesita (which means little coffee-Chileans elongate many words with "sita" at the end). When I did visit later she laid out their evening meal and invited me to please eat. I stayed and visited for the entire evening whilst different family members came over to say hello and to wish their grandson good luck in the soccer match in which he would participate in Santiago later that week. I did my best to explain how I had felt when I first walked up to the house and how scary Juan had looked to me. Everyone got a great laugh out of it and Juan explained how he had to protect his family at first until he had a feel for a person but that I must know now that he is a nice person (or something like that as my Spanish still isn't great). And it was super funny how the jefe (boss) turned out to be his wife Elba afterall! When a new family member came to say hello the story was retold to them and everyone laughed again about mean ol' Juan. Around 10:30pm my new family and I all went to the bus station in the neighboring town, Curanilahue, to send off the soccer playing grandson and his father. We returned and I went to my comfortable room to sleep. Since my first attempt at picking a door to knock on turned into no one being home and my sleeping on a sloping trail in the rain (blog entry "Don't cry for me Argentina, I cry for you Argentina") I considered this "Door Number Two" and it worked out quite well I must say! From now on I want Door Number Two! |
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| My spot in the banquet room. |
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| Elba, grandson Nieto, brother Juan, nephew Felipe, and not-so-stern looking Juan |
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| This wonderful gentleman who I think is named Hector is here with his cook. He met me on the street while I was waiting to check in to the neighboring pensione in Hualpen and out of the blue invited me to come over and have lunch. His neighbor who I would be staying with prompted me to go ahead since she was unable to give me a room just yet. The pensione owner, Loreto, was busy making a big neighborhood ceramic mural that she had to finish before the "glue" dried (Loreto is in two photos down). Loreto let me know that it is not unusual for Chileans to offer a meal upon first meeting a stranger. |
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| Lunch at Hector's house with fried fish, tomato salad, and fried bread. |
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| Loreto (muralist) with her daughter Kenya and grandson in front of two of Loreto's murals. |
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| This is my friend Sandra (right) and her family. You may remember Sandra, the cyclist I met on the Carretera Austral (posted about on "Trekking with Bici" blog post. When I passed through Concepcion I stayed with Sandra and her mother Laura, and brother Carlos shown here. Laura just turned 80 but doesn't look or act a day over 60! She is a great cook and introduced me to some typical Chilean dishes. Carlos taught me bits and pieces about the culture and history of Chile and Sandra showed me around Concepcion and went riding with me up in the hills nearby. I had a great 5 day stay there! |
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| One of Laura's creations and a very typical soup called cazuela. Yummy! |
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| Another of Laura's dishes, excellent fish. I would get fat if I stayed here too long! |
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| Jose, brother of Angelinas, and Angelinas. This was another out-of-the-blue invitation to eat lunch at someone's house. I was stopped at the auto parts store in Cauquenes inquiring about something to fix my handlebar bracket temporarily. The neighbor, Rene', stopped over to see what was going on as 3 guys were helping put the hose clamps on (in photo below). When they were all finished Rene' invited me to have lunch with his family. I didn't manage to get a photo of him as he had to leave but this is his son, brother in law (name unknown), and his super sweet wife at the lunch table where we had fish as well. His other son, Rene' junior who had lunch with us as well is not shown here. |
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| Temporary fix for my handlebar bracket as mentioned above. |
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| Gabriel was working at his family's roadside honey/marmalade/preserves shop near Licanten when I stopped to buy some honey and asked about nearby places to camp. He said he had to ask him mom but thought I might be able to camp behind their shop. Mom agreed and showed me a good spot and the adjoining bathroom which would be mine to use as well. In the morning they offered to let me use their internet and shower in their home.
Gabriel and his aunt Claudia who spoke English also helped me figure out how to use my newly acquired USB modem so that I could have my own internet access wherever there was cell phone range. (You know, to keep my blog up). While I was at their house Claudia's mother Ena offered to let me stay in her guest cabin if I wanted to spend more time there. Well everything was all packed up but how could I refuse? Claudia also introduced me to
her work as a biomagnetic therapist and let me observe one of her sessions, it was very interesting. Pictured above is the beautiful family of Gabriel, Mom Marienela, aunt Ena, and nephew Nasim, (very pretty Claudia was camera shy). Pictured below is one shot of the guest cabin. |
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| Aunt Ena's guest cabin where I stayed. |
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| Saying goodbye to Gabriel |
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| Very sweet pensione owner Lina who insisted I come back and visit again. |
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| My friend, Juan, in Rancagua hard at work on a creation to permanently fix my handlebar bag bracket. Juan was the one who brought back the newspaper journalist and photographer who wrote the article in the blog entry "Paparazzi and Such." |
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| Group shot of Juan's friends and some of their family in Rancagua. The invitation started as a simple one from Francisca and husband Carlos asking Juan "Why don't you come over for lunch on Monday and bring Holly if she is still in town." Once at their house I met Francisca and Carlos' good friends Alma and husband Pedro. Alma insisted on my joining them for a barbecue at her house the next night. I told her I had planned to leave Rancagua but she insisted I had to go join them for this barbecue. I told them I would consider staying but I wasn't sure. In the course of her persisting that I should join them at the barbecue I asked her what was the occasion of the barbecue and she told me the barbecue was for me!!!! How could I refuse? Unbelievably wonderful people! |
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| Barbecue dinner at Alma and Pedro's house with their family members and my friend Juan of course. Alma phoned her brother in Panama and set me up with a connection in Panama City! They gave me a Chilean flag as a gift when I left. When Francisca and Carlos dropped Juan and I off at the end of the night she told me to be careful and to keep in touch and she looked like she was going to cry. Such a sweet group of people! |
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| I had to throw in a photo of Juan's awesome repair to my handlebar bag bracket. He guaranteed his work or my money back! ;) It is still going strong! |
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| Matt and his motorcycle with the Darth Vader tail light cover! I met Matt way down south in Puerto Natales near that fantastic national park Torres del Paine. He is a super cool American who started off riding his bike from the US down to Colombia and then switched it up a bit by buying a motorcycle to tour South America. Matt also unicycled the entire Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Yes, he rode a unicycle the length of the US between Canada and Mexico to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Some people ride for unselfish reasons I guess (not me). Matt rode the trail with his then girlfriend, Gracie, who I had met while I was working in Antarctica! What a small world! Matt put me in touch with Javier whom he had met while hiking in the park. Javier is a local Chileno who lives in Santiago and could maybe help me find what I needed for my bike. Javier offered to let me stay at his apartment whilst in Santiago and Matt even showed up there a few days later for a great reunion. |
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| Arriving at Javier's place in Santiago. Javier lives on the fifth floor and insisted he could get my bike and stuff to fit! I want him on my team for the competition of how many people you can fit in a Volkswagen Bug. |
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| Me, Javier, Carl and Heather (Matt's other friends), Javier, and Matt all in Javier's huge apartment in Santiago. He was an awesome host who loves to cook and made us sushi on this particular night. |
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| Javier and his mom in her home. She invited Matt, me, and Javier to have dinner at her house. She is a very interesting lady who used to race Mini Coopers down in her home town of Punta Arenas! |
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| Javier's mom, Matt, me, and Javier. Javier cooked again and spoiled us with several awesome pizzas including a dessert pizza. Matt made mouthwatering chocolate chip cookies. |
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| Bob of Smellybiker.com working on my computer and GPS problems. I purchased some GPS maps from Bob online and he just so happened to be a British expat who lives in Santiago now. I was having some trouble with my maps and he offered to help me with those problems if I wanted to stop in and see him when I got to Santiago. With a wave of his magic wand he fixed all my problems and even fixed another problem I was having with that darned USB modem (you know, the one I could use to make all those blog posts!). |
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| At dinner in Santiago with fellow Americans Stuart and Deb. I met Stuart on the road on the Carretera Austral. He is teaching English in Santiago and offered to let me use his address in Santiago in order to have new tires (remember the blow outs I had?) sent to me if needed. On a side note: I didn't end up needing new tires shipped to me as the bike shop in Anchorage refunded me the entire amount I paid for both tires which failed me. They admitted that they probably sold me the wrong tires for the job and refunded me immediately! Kudos to Chain Reaction Cycles! I did end up accepting Stuart's offer to use his address to have new zipper sliders for my tent shipped to me. While keeping in touch prior to my reaching Santiago, Stuart offered to let me crash at his place if I needed. This was more than just a simple act of kindness, it meant he would vacate his studio apartment and stay with his girlfriend Deb so I could crash at his place!! Can you believe it??? How could I refuse? :) We all ate at Deb's house one night where she cooked an awesome meal. Stuart helped me find some things for my bike and a cellular phone I could buy to use for emergencies. He is fluent in Spanish as he was raised in Uruguay. Such cool people I meet on the road! |
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| It was great getting to know Stuart and Deb and they invited me to join them at their friend's house for a wine tasting dinner. The lasagna dinner was great and the mixed company of Americans teaching English in Santiago and some other Chileans was great too! On another side note; the zipper sliders never ended up arriving at Stuart's address while I was still in Santiago. They arrived much later. I ended up getting them through the efforts of Matt and Stuart whom had never met but rendezvoused for me to pass off the sliders. Matt then left the sliders under rocks at a signpost along the highway on a route where I would later pass! Genius! |
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| Jon with his charming daughter and son and my smiling mug at his restaurant in Santiago. Jon's friends Indira and Marc (other cyclists I met on the Carretera Austral shown in photo of blog "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road") put me in touch with Jon stating I would enjoy meeting him in Santiago "to visit with another American." Jon has lived in Chile for over 20 years now and has a very successful restaurant called The Tortilla Factory. He had offered via email to let me stay with him and his kids at his house in the surrounding hillside east of Santiago before he ever met me!. The visit to his house didn't work out on my end but he hosted me for lunch at his restaurant. That was such a treat and it was super nice to hear about his venture living in a foreign country and such. I had my first margarita in months and months and it was so good! Okay, so I had two! One was with jalapenos in it. I had to drag myself away from there as my weakness is definitely margaritas and pairing that with great people and my second love of spicy foods, aye, yay, aye! |
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| Owner of Hotel and Cabanas Sol y Mar (Hotel and Cabins Sun and Sea) with me in front of the hotel in Concon. I asked at this hotel where I could find a camping place since the police in the neighboring city pointed me down the road near this hotel. The owner didn't know of any camping but offered a good price on the cabins on the property. I told him I didn't want to pay that much since I was used to camping. Then he offered to let me camp for free on the property and use the bathroom inside the hotel lobby. |
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| Renalda and Victor near La Ligua. I asked about camping spots at a mini-market and suggested that I just needed a yard. The woman in the shop suggested I ask at the house next door as they had a yard. I knocked and met Renalda who probably didn't know what to do with the idea that someone recommended that I could sleep in her yard but she politely said she would ask her husband and he approved. I found a spot to pitch my tent and asked if it was okay to use my stove in their yard. They insisted I could use their kitchen. How could I refuse? The younger family members from the house next door came over to meet the gringa camping in their parent's and grandparent's yard and tried the few words each knew of English. The next morning Renalda invited me in for coffee and breakfast before I left even though I told her I had already eaten my cereal in my tent. |
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| Super sweet guy, Abel, near Los Molles who offered to escort me by bike to find the house of one of Matt's friends, Lorraine (in photo below). He noticed me struggling with my bike in the deep sand and offered multiple times to push my bike. Finally, who was I to refuse? |
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| Lorraine and me at Lorraine's beautiful house on the coast near Los Molle. Lorraine is one of Matt's friends and he put me in touch with her via email. Matt had actually just gotten to meet Lorraine because she needed a house sitter and dog sitter and a mutual friend put them in touch! Matt thought Lorraine and I would get along well because she is a wandering soul and has traveled a lot. He thought we might even know some of the same people in that "six degrees of separation" sort of way. I could have stayed with Lorraine many days longer than the three that I spent there as she is super interesting and is a published writer. I was very interested in her book about joining a camel train across the desert in Africa where she also lived in Kenya for 6 years! |
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| Lorraine's great house on the coast. |
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| Alejandro and Doris with me at the beach just down the road from their house. Their statue business (in photo below) was the only place I found to ask about camping. Doris didn't know of a place in their town but called her husband to see if it was okay for me to camp on their property. He offered their patio instead. Who was I to refuse? Doris then invited me in for coffee and their evening meal. We talked for a while and when Alejandro returned home we all talked some more. At the end of the evening they offered their upstairs spare bedroom with its own bathroom as a place for me to sleep instead of camping on their patio. The next morning after I had packed up they insisted on taking me down the road to see their beautiful beach. It was a super nice beach and a warm day as far as I was concerned even though they are bundled up. I could have sunbathed their all day but the road was calling me. |
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| Doris and Alejandro's business making all of these statues and figurine. They make all of the pieces themselves. |
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| Eduardo, manager of the Copec gas station, and I in La Serena just before I headed out from my camping on the property the night before. I specifically asked if I could camp on this property. I was told that the road ahead was desolate and there would be no place to camp. Eduardo answered with an immediate yes and proceeded to show me spots I might want to consider. He said I was welcome to have hot water for drinking, to use the facilities, and to ask about anything I might need. He mentioned he would tell "las chicas" (the girls, the ones working there) to help me any way I might need help. The next morning as I was packing up I saw him and thanked for his hospitality and he gave me a present to remember Copec (shown in the photo below) and gave me his email address and cell phone number stating that he has a lot of contacts north of there where I would be traveling and if I needed anything I should contact him and he will try to help me by putting me in touch with one of his friends! |
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| Gift from Eduardo mounted on my handlebars. I am calling her Chicka. She has little magnets inside the hands and feet so she sticks to the metal hose clamps but I have a safety belt around her next just in case. |
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| Jacob, the truck driver. Jacob stopped on the side of the road shortly north of La Serena and flagged me down when I was riding by him. He asked me where I was going and told me about the road ahead and how dangerous it is for a cyclist. He offered me a ride and at first I declined. He then reported how there really was no shoulder to speak of and a lot of truck traffic and again advised me of how dangerous it is. I started to recall how many truck drivers who I had talked to during my stay at the Copec station had advised me to get a ride as well. Well I'm not stupid or that pig headed but I figured I would ride as far as I could until it became risky and then I would hitchhike but here I was being offered a ride immediately so I accepted the ride for as far as it would take to get out of the dangerous part. Once I was on board and through the part everyone advised against (and rightfully so, it was horrific for a cyclist) then I was kind of comfy. I was looking around at the desert and thinking, "Why would I want to stop this truck now to get out and ride in this?!" Jacob, who I think just like the company, kept telling me how further up it was dangerous in other parts too. So, about 800km later I got out near Antofagasta! A lot of those areas were fine for me to ride in and had plenty of shoulder but there were a several sketchy parts. I decided there was a reason I should be in that truck and why look a gift horse in the mouth, right? :) |
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| Jacob noticed I was trying to take photos through the windshield so he stopped the truck and cleaned the windshield for me! He also bought me lunch and dinner while on the road and would not accept my insistence of at least each of us paying for our own. My friend Kim and I experienced much of the same hospitality years ago when we hitchhiked and ended up with a lot of rides with truckers through Australia and New Zealand. |
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| Camila-what a beautiful young girl. I met Camila at her work in the internet/phone/copier shop when I went in there to print out some map sections of Bolivia. She asked me where I was from and started talking to me about my travels. She also wants to travel, wants to learn English better and is studying film production at college. We talked for a while in between her helping customers and ended up exchanging email addresses. She didn't charge me for my printouts (shhhh) and offered the same for any further printings I needed. Such a sweetie! |
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Pedro the carabinero (name for policeman in Chile) at one of the passes I went over when crossing the desert. This is a checkpoint where everyone has to stop at Paso Fronterizo Ascotan. The idea is to try and check for drug smuggling from Bolivia since it is very close to the border with Bolivia here. Pedro offered me some water which I really needed as I was down to the last liter and a half out of the ten liters I was carrying. He also offered to let me use the bathroom here at the police post and gave me an orange for the road. When he found out I had camped in the desert the night before he asked why I hadn't come to the carabineros checkpoint and slept in one of their spaces instead. Well, I didn't even know this place existed as none of my information about the route showed this place but it is good to know for the future!
That brings you up to date with the awesome folks I have met along the way and who have helped me out or showed me some sort of hospitality. I didn't have pictures of everyone and there were plenty of other folks who were super nice to me who are not featured here. It has been a great journey so far!!! |
