diary week 1 [03.04.2006-09.04.2006]

don't forget to take a look at the related albums in the  photo gallery. click  here to go to the  main page of this journey report or  here to see  my other journey reports.

day 01 [03.04.2006] - flight from zurich to santiago

today was the first day of our second bicycle journey. i have not slept so much, i was too nervous. even if i was sure that all preparation was done correctly. with two cars we went to zurich airport. this time the cardboard boxes were much bigger than the first time, when we went to norway. the reason: this time we decided to take some trailers with us for the luggage. the trailers are very good, but i wasn't sure if we have to pay an extra fee for them. i also wasn't sure if the boxes were too big. but it seems that buying special transportation  boxes from "kartonfritze", was a good idea.

we had to pay the normal "bicycle transportation fee" at the desk. i was very lucky, when our luggage and the bikes were checked in. for the next hours we only had to sit in the aeroplane, eat and sleep. there was a stop-over in madrid (aeropuerto barachas). from there we took the longer flight directly to santiago de chile. right before boarding, we saw how the skycaps tried to squeeze our bicycles into the luggage room of the new plane. we looked at them until we had to enter the plane. we had a curious feeling about that. i hoped, that the bikes will arrive in santiago in a good condition.

day 02 [04.04.2006] - arrival in santiago / by bike to san bernardo

i was very happy to arrive in santiago de chile. the flight was everything else than comfortable. the cheeseburger from madrid, the red wine in the plane and the absence of agitation were responsible for the worst pyrosis i ever had. the airport "aeropuerto commodore arturo merino benitez" is not very big, but quite new. we had no problems at the passport control. we hurried directly to the baggage claim area. half an hour later, our bicycles were carried though the emergency exit.

then the exhausting unpacking began. we were reall lucky, that the bikes arrived in good condition. the only thing we had to do then is to "find the panamericana"! we asked a nice old women, that works at the tourist information desk, what the best way would be to get to the panamericana. i think not many tourists did ask this before. even if she spoke a bit german, it was impossible to get a qualified answer from her. instead of that, she told us her life story in short time.

to get away from the airport to the panamericana was an expedition itself. we straied along big highways, up and down. it needed some time to find the right exit. a few km's later we arrived in "san bernardo" (south of santiago). we spent the night in a motel. the first stage was done!

- 35 km -

day 03 [05.04.2006] - on the "panamaricana" to rancagua

our motel was situated directly beside the " panamericana". so it wasn't really complicated to find this interamerican highway. we entered in general direction "al sur"! it was very hot again. on the first 35 km's from yesterday, we got a small sunburn. today we cycled about 70 km's on the panamericana to  rancagua. we had to search for some time until we have found a hostal (hostal san francisco). it was very cheap and the owner were very nice. this was the first evening in a chilean city.

- 70 km -

day 04 [06.04.2006] - san fernando & curicó

we sallied out at about 9.30 am, after a small breakfast (that was at least included in the room price). what we didn't know is, that this wasn't the last time we got that kind of tiny breakfast. it seems, that the chileans usually don't eat so much in the morning. while packing, i've found a note from the young, nice employee. she wrote, that we should write her from our journey. i've totally forgotten to do so. it was pretty hot again and we continued our journey on the "panamericana".

the first 35-40 km it went a bit downward. there was almost no wind. so we got ahead very quickly. after 55 km we arrived in " san fernando", a not so beautiful town. because it was to early to stay here, we decided to cycle some more km's to " curicó". after almost 120 km we arrived there in a very nice town. we didn't need much time to find a hostal (residencial el colonial). it was very cheap. for only 10'000 pesos we gat a room with breakfast. there are about two bicycle clubs in this town. we saw everywhere cyclists in the town. that is way the people seemed to be very interested in our journey.

- 118 km -

day 05 [07.04.2006] - from curicó to talca

this day we started again on about 9.30 am. already the first meters i felt some pain. it seems not every part of me was accustomed to sit the whole day on the saddle. even my legs felt heavier than yesterday. what also changed was the course of the panamericana. we had to cycle much more height difference. after about 30 km later the worst enemy of every cyclist went to visit us: the front wind! with the burden from yesterday, it got a hard stage.

between curicó and  talca, there is nothing worth to be seen. the location "san rafael" (mentionned in the map) is nothing than a exit from the panamericana to nowhere. after about 70 km we arrived in talca. i was quite happy to get off the saddle. we went directly to the " hostal del puente", which is mentionned in the backpackers-prospect. talca is a very beautiful city, with a big and famous university. all the students gave a special ambience to this city. worth to visit!

- 68 km -

day 06 [08.04.2006] - day of rest in talca

in the night, i woke up because of an unknown noise. it shaped up to be christian was violently ill. this because of the fresh fish from yesterday. it seems this fish has not seen the pacific for longer time. i wondered, talca is not so far away from the coast. this morning it wasn't possible to get on the bikes again. we decided to have a day of rest. i was happy, to have a break from the saddle. we went to an internet café. it was very interesting to see, that there are a lot of them. i estimated it should be harder to find one in a country that isn't so rich. but it was exactly the other way around: the people have not the mony to buy a own computer. the rest of the day we celebrated with having siesta.

day 07 [09.04.2006] - linares, "la puerta del sur"

today we cycled about 60 km to  linares. linares is also called "la puerta del sur de chile" (the door to the south of chile). we already saw that the climate and vegetation changes from here. it gets colder and greener. linares is a small town that altough doesn't abandon a " plaza de armas" in the center. in this region you can find in every city a staue of the "libertador general o'higgins". the region itself is named by this famous liberator, which reminds of the colonial time. we hope that we can soon sleep in our tent.

- 60 km -