Deane's Motorcycle Trip In SOUTH AMERICA
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Deane's Motorcycle Trip In SOUTH AMERICA |
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April 29 - Iquique, Chile Arica, Chile to Iquique, Chile - 208 miles |
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More desert - 200 miles of it down the north coast of Chile. We rode down the "Pan American Highway", Highway 5, about 20-30 miles inland of the coast. This is what it looks like - flat, with light tan sand and rocks, mountains hardly visible in the background, with a washed-out blue sky. It seems like the ocean air comes in with enough moisture that the sky is never quite clear.
A couple of times we went over a mountain range, and those were just as dry and brown as the flat part of the desert. At least it was fun riding the curves to go up and down the mountain range.
Riding parallel to the coast, in the flat, dry desert, we could see why the historic tales of ship wreck survivors on the coast of Chile never have them making it to civilization. This morning we wondered why our tour guides had scheduled us only for about 200 miles today, but we found out when we arrived at our destination city of Iquique. It's a posh resort, right on the coast of Chile, and our hotel rooms are right on the beach. We have quite the digs, and the Empanadas from a little outside food stand nearby are the best we've had on the whole trip.
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