Desert, desert, desert

Location:	Vallenar
Mileage:	15,050

It feels like the whole world is one big desert! Since we entered Peru, we have ridden nothing but desert roads. Some that run the coast, vast sandy deserts of huge curved dunes of creamy yellow fine sands, sharp ridges peppering you with tiny granules as your ride. Others are barren, grey, hard, with huge craggy outcrops, no life and shrouded in heavy mists. Yet again the landscape will change to bright reds and oranges set aginst deep blue skies. All different and yet all desert.

As the road turns towards Copiapo, finally, finally, life seems to take hold again. The valley is green and we see trees again. Although our plan was to stop in Copiapo that night, the need to get the bike to Santiago sooner rather than later, pushes us onto the next big town of Vallenar.

We arrive under a pitch black sky, with thousands of stars lighting the sky in a way we never see at home. We come down to earth with a bump when we do our nightly check of the bike - another back spoke has broken. When we think back on the days riding, we figure that it could have only happened when we were forced to ride on a diversion that made for 10 miles of so of dirt of the PanAm and it was corrugated iron dirt that banged us so much that we felt our teeth would drop out!

Ever since our pothole of Costa Rica, our back wheel has dogged us. We pull the broken one out and both silently keep our fingers crossed that the spokes sent from England have arrived in Santiago and will be ready for us.