Villa Santa Lucia to La Junta (Mon 2/15)

Stats:
- 44 miles (all dirt)
- 2500 feet of climbing
- roadkill: 1 rabbit
- precipitation = zero
- season = summer
- winds = zero 

Well, well, well....we have ridden 529 miles and have climbed 30,500 feet to reach the Carretera Austral. Today's ride was our first day on the Carretera.  Cutting to the chase, Arn described it as, "the best scenery ever on a bike".   

Santigo, Arn and I woke up to a freezing cold cabana. Arn toughed the night out under the wool blankets on his bed. I slept in my sleeping bag and was much warmer. The cabana was not heated, not well insulated, and had a few gaps to the outdoors. Still, it was warmer than a tent!  Arn headed off to the "panaderia" to buy bread. The woman was pulling bread out of the oven as he arrived. We enjoyed hard boiled eggs, warm bread, cheese and dulce de leche for breakfast. The coffee was instant, but that is coffee all over Chile. 

Without a cloud in the sky and crisp temperatures, we headed south for our first taste of the Carretera Austral. The ripio was sweet. The views were smashing. The traffic was nil and the motorists we did see were reasonable. We actually saw a number of supply trucks. 

Okay, I need to share a few bits of history about the Carretera Austral. The road was the idea of Pinochet. He built the road to protect the sovereignity of Southern Chile from Argentina. With the presence of a road, Pinochet wanted to encourage the creation of settlements in this part of the country. While most people remember the bad deeds of Pinochet, in Chile and especially in this part of the country, people remember the good things he did for the people.  The road itself is an engineering feat snaking through mountains and valleys and navigating lakes. 

As the day warmed up, we removed layer upon layers of clothes. Eventually, I enjoyed the summer weather in a tank top. I never expected to ride the Carretera in a tank top!  The valleys were dotted with homesteads and farms. We passed a few places offering homemade bread and cheese for sale. We probably passed more cows on the road than cars. At one point, we had a very unexpected car --- it was a pick up truck with Washington State license plates. We recognized it too late to flag down the driver. 

We passed a solo cyclist headed northbound. He was from Belguim. I think he smiled more than any cyclist we have met so far. We exchanged ideas, experiences and notes.  Things like where to stay, where to eat, what can you get in the store, how far is it really between points A and B, ripio quality, rumors of pavement, rumors of big climbs, best scenery, weather and wind patterns, etc are the subject of every conversation.  Shortly after passing the Belguim, Santiago, Arn and I took a lunch break: more bread, cheese, cookies, chocolate, and peanut butter (my stash is quickly dwindling).  While sitting the sun and enjoying our break, three northbound riders passed us and they never said more than 'hola' and never stopped. It was strange behavior because everyone seems to be glad to meet other riders. 

Our views continued to be stellar all day long...clusters of mountains that looked like something out of Yosemite or Torres del Paine. Everything was capped in snow and the largest peaks were wrapped in glaciers. Occassionally, Arn would start singing something about the Carretera Austral. Our eyes feasted all day long with awesome scenery. Arn declared it the new best day of the trip. 

Eventually, we reached the town of La Junta. It is certainly bigger than where we were last night in Villa Santa Lucia, but it was still very small. There was a gas station and small grocery store. To put things in perspective, these small towns have NO bank. People have to drive anywhere from an hour to several hours to reach a bank or ATM.

The Belguim suggested a hosteria. We stopped to check it out. Santiago decided it would work for him. Arn declared he would kill himself -- banging his head into low ceilings and doorways.  So, Arn and I found a place around the corner and we all met up later at the internet cafe. Of course, Santiago arrived explaining that he had already smashed his head once (he is actually slightly taller than Arn).  

As we left the Internet cafe, we found three loaded bikes. One of the guys was with the bikes. They were a group of college students from Brazil and they were struggling with a busted rack. Arn retrieved our repair kit and gave them a couple of hose clamps to try and patch things back together. As Santiago, Arn and I headed off for dinner, we came upon two more riders. It was a couple from Greece. I said I had never met anyone from Greece traveling in South America. They guy was very funny and explained that in Greece, "they only let them leave two at the time".  They were headed northbound and again, we exchanged the typical set of information and ideas. 

Our dinner was in a tiny shack with three tables. There were two choices for dinner -- braised beef or beef braised. With beef ordered all around, I was the only one who noticed the cockroaches on the table. I covered them with the placemats and pretended they didn't exist. 

After dinner, Arn and I picked up a small box of wine. We returned to hosteria and spent a couple of hours sitting in the living room and chatting with the people working at the hosteria. They each had different views and experiences of living along the Carretera. The man has only been working here for a month and his family is still living much further north in Chile in a large city. The woman has been here longer, but is not from this area. They described a place with many young girls that leave school to have babies. This cycle repeats and there are a lot of women and children with no men or fathers in the picture. As time went on, I grew sleepy and my "not so great Spansish" turned into no Spanish. We called it a night.