The hostel I stayed in, is best described as Bohemian. The facilities were very basic, as was the hygiene 😉
It was the first time I was actually reluctant to crawl beneath the sheets. Therefore I used my own travel sheet. Other than that (and the faint smell of cat urine in the room) things were fine.

Spending an hour in the morning, drinking Bolivian herbal tea with Amandine, a french girl who worked as caretaker of the hostel, was not a waste of time… 🙂
Eventually I did leave and found myself on perfect roads. Practically all of ruta 5 from La Serena to Santiago is 4 lanes.

At a certain point however, everything came to a full stop. A traffic jam built up for about 1,5 hours. I manoeuvred the bike and myself all the way to the front and waited there until the road was released again. 500 meter down the road a truck combination had tipped over and people were cleaning the mess.

Notwithstanding the many toll booths, the journey went smooth from there on. In the hostel in La Serena, on internet I found custom maps of Argentina and Chile for the Garmin. http://www.proyectomapear.com.ar
These were spot on. Without a single mistake, the Garmin led me straight to the apartment building of Sebastian Brain in Santiago.
Sebastian travelled with 6 friends through Brazil in 2011. We met in a poussada in Salvador de Bahia.

He invited me to crash at his couch and took me along to a couple of friends that night. It goes without saying that this is hugely appreciated 😀

Tomorrow will be a rest day. As in: not riding but administration and maintenance.