This morning I woke up quite a bit later than I had planned. Apparently Chilean time is 2 hours ahead of Peru’s  😦

It wasn’t until past 10:00 that I left. Getting out of Arica was not hard, and soon I found myself on the highway. In the distance I noticed 3 other motorbikes. Within 10 minutes I caught up with them. 5 Brazilians on 3 bikes heading for Iquique….. For approximately 2 hours I rode along until their turn off to Iquique. I decided to press on.

At first it was nice riding in the mountains. Eventually we descended and that’s when the wind was taking an interest. Strong winds from the side made us lean in to it the whole way. Even after I left the group and continued on the highway towards Santiago, it wasn’t easy at times. The winds were so strong that it felt as if the front wheel was being blown out from under me……

The scenery for almost the whole way was nothing more than sand and rock. 717 km  I rode today, to try and make up a little for lost time. The town that was my destination is called Antofagasta and everything around it seems to be asphalt. The town itself however is more like a mediterranean holiday place. The sand dunes outside of town show some remarkable patterns.

If I can keep up this pace, I can be in Santiago in 2 more days.
No photos of today, simply because there wasn’t anything worth stopping for.