Yes, David and I decided to take the bus from Lima to Santiago, an estimated 55h ride. After our 27 hour trip from Guayaquil to Lima, which was only a warm-up, we doubled the time in the bus. The first night was short and the seats less comfortable as I wished them to be. We spent 3h passing the boarder from Peru (Tacna) to Chile (Arica) this morning. My bag got fully searched under the eyes of many people. They are very strict on not bringing fruits, seeds, cheese and meat into Chile, which is the same hassle regardless where you enter the country. It’s about protecting their flora and fauna. The second half of the bus ride has been flying. Well, having said that it’s been a very long ride and 2 long nights but it’s true that after the first 24h in the bus, the end is getting in sight. The second night was very long and not very comfortable either: no space for legs, too hot or too cold and my knees were killing me. I am not sure how many movies had been displayed: maybe 10? Of course all in Spanish with English subtitles. In the end the trip felt much shorter than I had expected. The movie marathon certainly helped as my brain felt a bit dazed.
We gave us a week to get prepared to cycle the region of Los Lagos and Patagonia and down to Punta Arenas in Tierra del Fuego. We needed some bikes and racks, spare parts and some special equipment. From a friend we got the contact of Wilfried and Reinhild, 2 Germans working in Santiago. We dropped them a short e-mail asking some questions about bike shops and so one. We got some very useful answers back with the bonus of where to buy German bread. Lovely, really!
Our apartment in Santiago was great and well located. One could call it small – I would rather call it cosy and it came with a fully equipped kitchen.
The first day we went straight for the Wally City Tour (Tour4Tips). A wise decision as we got some more travel advises about Patagonia and the Lake District. I really liked the daily 10am tour which does not target main sights in Santiago down-town but the Mercado Central: the main fish and “La Vega”, a huge vegetable market. It’s where we could feel the real South American flair. Otherwise Santiago is a very modern and lively city, a bit sleepy though for it’s size but that’s maybe the reason why I quite liked it after I had set a foot into the town. The tour continued with a visit of one of the biggest cemetery of South America, the Cementerio General de Santiago. Indeed it’s a bit unusual that LCD displays give everybody an overview of where and when a funeral was scheduled or even if it was cancelled. It feels a bit like checking departures at the airport.
One day we took a break from the usual activity of comparing bike prices and got on the bus to Valparaiso, a lovely harbor town 2h west of Santiago. Again, we decided to join the Wally tour (tips4tours) and we did not regret it. Valparaiso is build on several hills and has a long history as a wealthy harbour town before the Panama Canal was opened in 1914. Until that event Valparaiso was the last convenient stop before circumnavigating Cape Horn and to get to the Atlantic coast line of South America. With the opening of the Panama Canal the town experienced a loss of importance and a loss of many jobs. But all the little stories about Valparaiso is what actually makes the town so interesting besides its colourful houses, the graffiti and watching sea lions sunbathing on an abandoned concrete platform in the sea; oh and not mentioning the Valparaisian’s preferences for very unhealthy food.
Back in Santiago we eventually decided to buy a second hand bike for me and a new one for David. We spent almost 2 full days on San Diego Street in Santiago with its numerous bike shop where we, apart from David’s bike, also found our bike racks, helmets, spare parts and got my second hand bike repaired for almost no money. Great place to prepare a trip like ours.
After one week in Santiago we were ready to leave. There was only one big challenge left: getting our bikes onto the public bus to Osorno. There are several bus companies but none of them wanted to guarantee us the transport of our equipment. So we went early enough on a Saturday afternoon to catch a bus. We finally found a nice guy from the Condor bus company that confirmed us they would surely take our stuff. Trusting him, as we had no other option anyway, we bought a cama-ticket again. Cama means wider and more comfortable seats. After a bit of negotiation with the bus driver and a little extra payment they eventually took our bikes so that we arrived at 6:30am the next day in Osorno where our trip started.