Tag: atacama desert blog

“What’s up from India, India?”No ghosts came, my friend. Only one fox came at night. Namaskar, Salaam, Sat Sri Akal, Ram-Ram ji.Once again, welcome to my channel, to the Pole to Pole journey, the Antarctica to Alaska expedition, the world bicycle journey. I don’t even know how many names to give it anymore. It has been 10 years now that I have been travelling on this bicycle. Last night we camped at this beautiful place, which you could actually call a cemetery. You saw in the last video how I set up my camp here. Now it is morning, and we are near the ocean, about 500 metres away from the sea. Because of that, there is mist in the air. Right now there is a very light drizzle-like mist — what I call “kinmin-kinmin”, my favourite word. Now we have packed up our camping gear and are preparing to leave. Let me tell you my morning routine. First, after waking up, I brush my teeth. After that I walk 100–200 metres away to find a suitable place for my morning routine. Then I pack my mattress and sleeping bag into the bag. After that I fold the tent. Then I arrange something to eat or drink. Sometimes I feel like having coffee or tea, so I make it. But today I had juice and fruit, so I ate those instead. Now I am preparing to leave this place. Today’s target is 85 kilometres. After that distance there will be a town. From Calama, the Bolivia border is still around 700–800 kilometres away. Last night there was no mobile network here at all. I was completely cut off from the world. But the stars were incredibly beautiful. I kept waking up again and again just to look at them. No ghosts came. Only a fox came near my tent, probably looking for food. But I had not cooked anything. I only had fruit and juice at night and again in the morning. I did not feel like cooking, and besides, it was clearly written there that lighting a fire is not allowed here. In the morning I also did one more thing. Let me show you. So friends, how did you like the drone footage? If you liked it, please like and share the video and comment to tell me how it was. Right now the fog is very dense, so let’s see how the ride goes today. Everything is ready.Baba is fine.Let’s move.   Come on Dhanno (my bicycle), let’s go. Look at these temple-like structures here. And these rocks are very unique. They have holes and natural designs all over them. You can see — I came from that direction, and those were the temple-like structures there. These formations are probably related to people who passed away, because normally people come here and offer things. Look at this — nature has carved these rocks itself. People come here and pour water as an offering. Here you can see small candle holders carved into the rock so that candles can be lit and protected from the wind. All of this looks like it has been naturally shaped by nature itself. Look at these holes — perfectly round shapes at the top. You really cannot compete with nature. Every country has something unique created by nature. If this had been in our country, people might have started worshipping these rocks in their own way. Look — these designs on the rocks are incredible. And here you can see helmets hanging. These belong to miners or workers, and they have hung them here as a kind of tribute. Now we will move towards the highway. I had parked Dhanno over there. From a distance she really looks beautiful, doesn’t she? Let’s do something fun today. Out of 10 marks, how many would you give Dhanno, and how many would you give me? Here there is a tourist information board explaining the Atacama region. We came from Caldera, and right now we are here on the map. We need to go towards this direction. This is a national park, and we will ride along its boundary. Going inside is probably not allowed. Today we will stop somewhere near this coastal area. Look — the sea is now very close. That truck driver has also stopped here and is brushing his teeth. [Music] It is already 10:30–11:00 a.m., and the fog still hasn’t cleared. My friend Dipanshu, who is doing his PhD in Germany, was researching this exact phenomenon. In the Atacama region, people actually collect water from fog. The mist condenses and they gather it using special methods. It must be a very scientific process. Some research centres here are able to collect up to 500 litres of water from fog. Look — suddenly the surroundings are becoming green. There might be a small river nearby. There are many dogs in this village. The mist is hitting my face, and water droplets are forming on it. Look at the clouds everywhere. Nature shows so many different moods in a single day. Once this fog clears, the temperature might suddenly jump to 30°C. You really cannot predict nature’s behaviour — not even the next moment. It is already 11:15 a.m., and the mist is still falling. Now it almost feels like light rain. “Kinmin-kinmin-kinmin.” Look at the artwork here. People here are quite artistic — they paint anything anywhere. For example, this rock had two shapes that looked like eyes, so someone painted it like a joker face. Now we have reached a small town. I am feeling a bit hungry, and I also feel like drinking coffee. But I am not sure whether there is a café here. I see Coca-Cola signs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there is a café. A mini-market would have been good, but I cannot see one yet. There are very few people around here. Mostly I see truck drivers. It is already around 11:15, and […]

So today we will probably sleep in a cemetery. This is an amazing natural view that has emerged from beneath the earth. Travelling here is even more dangerous than travelling in Ladakh. There is a famous story about this city — people say do not go outside after dark. One thing I can say with certainty is that China has, in a way, taken control of Chile. Hello, Salaam, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, Ram Ram ji. Once again, welcome to my YouTube channel and to a new day of the Pole to Pole World Bicycle Journey. At this moment we are in Copiapó, the capital city of the Atacama Region in Chile. We reached the Atacama region this morning, but we have run into a problem — actually two problems. The first problem is that my laptop screen has started malfunctioning. The second problem is related to the data from the last four days. I tried to transfer my footage from the Osmo camera, but the data did not transfer and it is not even showing on the memory card. It is a 512 GB memory card, and I have kept it safely for now. If it ever starts working again, I will upload that video later. Something similar happened once before as well. The footage that is missing was from La Serena to Copiapó, which was a completely desert region. In between there were no big towns where I could stop for the night. There was a small city called Vallenar, but I reached there late at night and left early in the morning. From La Serena I have travelled about 300 kilometres, so about 300 kilometres of footage is missing. If I ever get the chance in the future, I will recreate that video. This place is famous for its copper, gold, and silver mines. Everywhere around here you will see mines after mines. Now we have properly entered the desert region. Right now it might look like a beautiful green place, and you might think there is no desert here at all. But in reality, there is desert all around this city. And not just any desert — the kind of desert you might never have imagined. I have seen many deserts around the world, but even I am seeing this kind of desert for the first time. This city is considered the capital of the Atacama Region of Chile. In old times, the first railway in Chile was started from this area. I arrived here around 11:00–11:30 in the morning, and right now we are standing in the city centre. Behind me you can see Plaza de Armas. In most Spanish cities, the city centre has a central park with historical statues, and that place is called Plaza de Armas. This small area is the only green part of the city. Apart from this, you will not see greenery anywhere else. Look — they have even built special chairs for shoe polish workers here. This city was actually established by the Spanish for mining, so it can also be called a mining city. When I was outside the city earlier, there was nothing but desert. For almost 100 kilometres there was absolutely nothing. The good thing for me was that the wind was blowing from behind, so I was able to ride very fast. Tomorrow morning we will see what the wind conditions are like, because now I have to go back towards the coast, which is about 70–75 kilometres away. I have booked a hotel here, which I will show you later. It costs $40 per night. Let me tell you one thing — if I talk about the countries where my expenses have been the highest, this country definitely comes in the top three. It is now 7:00 in the evening, and most of the market is closed. But there are many Chinese people here as well. Look at this — this shop is Chinese-owned. You will find Chinese markets everywhere. I can say one thing with confidence — China has, in a way, taken control of Chile. There is another reason behind this. These shops are just a way of moving money around. The real work Chinese companies are doing here is related to mining — especially copper and silver mines. They manage money in ways that we cannot even imagine. Chinese people are very sharp-minded — I have personally observed this. Now you will start seeing desert everywhere around. There is Unimarc supermarket. I will buy something to eat from there and tomorrow morning I will show you more of the city. You can see these old buildings here. Before going into Unimarc, let me show you the highway from where I came and where I have to go. I have been travelling on Ruta 5 highway. Look there — a Chinese man standing alone. He is probably running this casino. Chinese casinos handle huge amounts of money. Here you can find both Unimarc and Lider supermarkets, so it is a reasonably big city. Look at the name of this bar — Lolitas. This is the bus terminal. From here onwards you will see nothing but desert, both in front and behind. And this is a very large supermarket. One problem in this area is that you should not go out after dark. It is not safe, and I have personally felt that. You can sense it immediately. For example, that woman over there looked intoxicated and she was trying to talk to me. There is a meat section on one side and a bread section on the other side. Let me buy something from the bread section. These are good for instant energy while travelling, so I will take some of these. These cost about ₹1000. Six pieces cost ₹100. Let me buy a few things. Now the total has become around ₹12,000 — milk, juice, fruit, bread and a few other items. This country is expensive, whether you believe […]

Brother, this city is really very beautiful. Good morning, salaam, namaste, sat sri akal, Ram Ram ji to everyone. Once again, welcome. Right now we are in Chile, and from Chile we are heading towards Bolivia. In the previous video you saw that we stopped about 40 kilometres before La Serena. La Serena is a big city here and you can also call it a port city. Today there was a India vs Pakistan cricket match. Normally I had to check out at 11:00 am, but I checked out at 1:00 pm. By 4:00 pm I will reach my hostel. I have already booked a hostel in La Serena. The 14th (Valentine’s Day) has just passed. On Valentine’s Day there was no hotel or hostel available anywhere. Now we will leave. It is only 40 kilometres today, so we will ride easily and enjoy the journey. See you on the road. So friends, we have entered the city area. The atmosphere here is amazing. I will explore the city properly later. Honestly, this city is extremely beautiful. Look at the roads — there are hills on one side, and on top of the hill there is a historical statue built there. It looks amazing. Look here — the city is built along the coastline. That building there looks like a bus terminal, and even on that there is writing in Chinese. Maybe there is a mall above and a bus terminal below. Look at this building — it is quite beautiful. Now we have come right along the coast, and we will continue riding along the coast for the next 500 kilometres until La Higuera. This is the fish market. Today is Sunday, so it is not very crowded. Look at all these seagulls flying around. Someone must have thrown fish here. This is the fish market area. You can see the remains of big fish that have been cut — they throw away the front parts sometimes. The smell here is very strong. Actually, this is a twin city. The city ahead is La Serena, and this one is called Coquimbo. Coquimbo is the older city, while La Serena was built later. Coquimbo is the port city, one of the oldest in this region. I stopped Dhanno here for a while and took out some dry fruits. Someone had gifted me about 1.5–2 kilograms of dry fruits, so thank you very much to that brother. This was the original old port city, and you can see the port here with ships. La Serena is the newer city, built later. You can compare it like Delhi and Gurgaon, or Delhi and Noida, or maybe Chandigarh and Panchkula/Mohali. I feel like flying my drone (which I call “parinda”) here once. Let’s try. Yes, we have launched the drone. I was a little worried that the large birds flying around might collide with the drone because they are quite big. Normally the beaches here are very clean. I noticed many clean beaches earlier, but this particular beach does not look very clean. Now we say goodbye to Coquimbo. There is also a beautiful church here and a large statue which was built around 1970 and is about 40 metres tall. It is quite famous. When the Spanish settlers came here, they used this port city for trading and business. Later they developed La Serena according to their own plans, but this older city existed even before that. So this was the main historical port city. Now we are leaving the port city. Look how nicely everything has been built here. This area here seems to be a scrap or storage area, and nearby there is a public gym. It is not just for display — people actually use it. Right in front there is a Vivo Mall. I have noticed that almost every city here has a Vivo Mall. And of course, you can see Chinese businesses everywhere. So friends, we are now heading towards the next city — La Serena. I am recording using my 360-degree camera. Let’s see how the footage turns out. The camera is shaking a little, so I will need to find a way to stabilise it later. Between these two cities there is just one river, and that river connects them. Now we are entering the fishermen’s area. All the fishing boats are parked here. On the other side there are many seafood restaurants — the whole road is filled with them. People here must really love seafood. If fish are caught here, people will definitely eat them, along with other seafood dishes. The beach here actually looks quite clean compared to the earlier one. People have set up their tents on the beach. Since today is Sunday, there are many people enjoying themselves. People here are crazy about beaches, just like people in India love mountains. As you go further north, the weather becomes hotter. In the south it remains cold throughout the year. The atmosphere here is really nice. Look — there are public gyms everywhere along the beach. The combined population of these two cities is around 300,000 to 400,000 people, and still they have provided so many public facilities like beach gyms. That’s really good. I also keep seeing Maruti Alto and Maruti 800 cars here, which reminds me of India. There is a place here called Tantra Club. I just came here while exploring. There is a signboard for La Serena. Look at these beautiful graffiti artworks on the road and walls — very impressive. Oh, we have been stopped! It looks like we have been given a fine. Yes, they stopped me and issued a traffic challan. There are many bars and restaurants in this area, and somewhere here is my hostel called The Cool Hostel. Yes, I have reached my hostel. Honestly, the room is not very good. This is the bed I got. I was very tired, so after reaching the hostel I went straight to sleep. […]

The temperature has dropped a bit now. Oh wow, there’s a long line outside the liquor shop. Come on my Dhanno, let’s go. Good morning, salaam, namaste, sat sri akal, Ram Ram ji. Once again, welcome everyone to my Chile journey, the Pole-to-Pole expedition, in my 132nd country. I had taken a room here — room number 212 — and now I am checking out. I will talk to you once I get downstairs. I had just come here to greet everyone. Now I have to take my bicycle down the stairs. Alright, we are leaving. This is the hotel we stayed in, and this town is called La Ligua. Honestly, even their names are difficult to pronounce. Come on Dhanno, today we won’t ride too much — maybe 100 kilometres, or perhaps even 90 kilometres. The next town is Los Vilos, so we will ride until Los Vilos today. Look here — there is parking on one side of the road and they have made the road one-way. They could have made it two-way, but then there would be parking problems, so they made it one-way. You see empanadas here — they are like Argentinian samosas. So friends, we have left the city. Today we will stop at Los Vilos, which is about 90–95 kilometres from here. I have chosen a single road instead of the highway for now. Tomorrow I will try to reach La Serena, which is a much bigger city. From Los Vilos it is about 200 kilometres away. Tomorrow I will ride faster and hopefully reach comfortably. Today my plan is to go a little beyond Los Vilos so that tomorrow’s distance becomes shorter. The hotel I stayed in yesterday cost about $40 (around ₹3600). It was quite expensive, especially for such a small rural town. Chile is generally quite expensive. Look at the farming here — agriculture seems to be happening quite well in this region. After a few kilometres I will probably get back onto the highway. I tried to avoid the highway as much as possible, but it’s not really possible to avoid it completely. After La Serena, the traffic should reduce a lot because the further north we go, the fewer people live there. This area also has a bit of a crime reputation. Many people told me, “Be careful while travelling here.” I don’t know exactly why, but everyone warned me. Anyway, when travelling is your work, you just keep moving forward. You can still see mud houses here. Travelling through these local roads has its own charm because you meet local people and interact with them. But the roads are not very well developed and often pass through the mountains. Look here — a small vegetable stall. This lady is selling pumpkins, onions, tomatoes and other vegetables. And here is another roadside memorial. Whenever someone dies in an accident here, people build small memorials like this. Alright, we are back on the highway again. The noise of vehicles has returned. I stopped Dhanno here for a moment. I have two muffins with me that I bought from a supermarket yesterday. I will eat them now — that will be my breakfast. Look behind — there are eucalyptus trees everywhere. The road here keeps going up and down, up and down. It’s quite fun to ride, especially because the wind is in my favour, so my speed is good today. I might reach early. One thing I must say about Chile — bakery items here are extremely delicious. Bread and other bakery products are famous worldwide, and people consume a lot of them here. I have rarely seen bakery products this tasty. As we move further north, rice consumption increases, but in this region bread is used much more. Breakfast is done, and Dhanno is ready again. Today I am using a Nano camera instead of my Insta360, just to test how the result looks. While climbing a hill I noticed something again. Look here — so many teddy bears placed at a roadside memorial. A young boy died here. He was born in 1991 and passed away in 2016. In his memory, people have placed all these teddy bears here. It seems to be a trend here — people keep leaving toys and gifts at such memorial spots. This young man died here on 13 January 2016, only 25 years old. And look ahead — you can now see the Pacific Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean. For the next few kilometres I will ride alongside the ocean. Look at this view — absolutely beautiful. We are now right along the coastline. Some beaches here are extremely beautiful. That beach ahead must be at least 10 kilometres long. I stepped down from the highway for a bit and bought some melon to eat. There is a small town nearby, and there are many people coming here today. Today is Valentine’s Day, so many couples are visiting the beach. The beach here is really beautiful. I will try to fly my drone (which I call “parinda”) and show you the view. But first — food for the stomach, then we’ll fly the bird. What a different world this is. There are hawks flying above, and the ocean beside me. Sometimes I ride very close to the sea, sometimes a bit farther away. The cool sea breeze makes the ride even more enjoyable. Look at these strange bushes here. After a few kilometres even these bushes will disappear. In the last few villages I noticed something interesting — most houses are built raised on pillars, leaving space below the floor. Some are built on wooden pillars, some on concrete ones. Maybe it is because strong winds blow from the sea and the air needs to pass underneath the houses. I am not entirely sure of the reason though. I bought a coffee, and I still had some parathas from yesterday, so I am eating parathas with coffee. The view is amazing […]

We may have grown old, but we are still lions. Hey, you shouldn’t say things like that! Tell me this — in Chile, who has sat on the Pan-American National Highway and eaten parathas with vegetable curry? From that alone you can guess how things are here. Even Chinese people have started setting up street stalls here. So today I stopped just because someone was selling bhindi (okra) curry. And there it is — the punch has landed! Even the house here belongs to an Indian. This mall is also owned by an Indian. Someone is even selling medicines on a small street stall. They are sitting with boxes of Tramadol. Back in India it is totally banned. Namaskar, Salaam, Sat Sri Akal, Ram-Ram to everyone. Once again, welcome to Santiago, the capital city of Chile. I have spent quite a long time in Chile now. In Santiago alone, I have been here for about 10–12 days. In between, I did not make any videos. I took proper rest because my body really needed it. Right now I am standing under a 95-year-old tree in the middle of the road. The road actually bends around the tree, but they did not cut it down. There is even a sign here that says “95 years”. They have decorated it with lights and preserved it. In the last video you saw that I finally got my Bolivia visa. Now I have two options to reach Bolivia from here. One route is through Chile, and the second route is through Argentina and then to Bolivia. The Argentina route is a little longer — about 600 kilometres extra. However, the Salta region of Argentina is said to be very beautiful. The Chile route, on the other hand, is easier. Most of the way the wind will be behind me, which is good for cycling. But it is not as scenic as the places we covered earlier. In the previous seven days we covered about 1,000 kilometres, and this route will be somewhat similar. I had been staying here because there is an Indian restaurant called Mandala. It belongs to Vinod bhai, and his staff stay here as well. For the past two or three days I have been staying with them. I had already left my Airbnb, as it was getting quite expensive. You might have seen Vinod bhai in some of my previous videos. Now we will go and greet everyone here because there is another Indian restaurant nearby. In Santiago you can find around 10–12 Indian restaurants, and they are all running quite well. Indians are doing good business here. First we will go say hello, then we will go to Mandala, and after that we will continue our journey. Today I will not ride much — only about 40–50 kilometres. The proper ride will start from tomorrow. Besides, today is Sunday, and Sunday is usually a day to relax. “How are you?”“I’m good, sir. Welcome back!” You have set this place up really nicely. Many congratulations. Your restaurant’s name itself says it all — “Sabko Namaste” (Greetings to Everyone). We will have some tea here and then leave. Thank you so much. We will miss you a lot. “No, no. Don’t say that. Nobody misses anyone for long. The world keeps moving. Keep moving morning and evening, and we will meet again somewhere on a new road, in a new place.” After leaving Santiago and riding about 10–15 kilometres, I entered the highway. But as soon as I got on the highway, I was stopped by the authorities. So I had to turn back. I returned and stayed again in a hostel in Santiago. This was the hostel where I stayed. I had checked out earlier, but now I had to come back again. The reason is that for the next 500 kilometres, there is a tunnel where bicycles are not allowed. That is why they stopped me. After the tunnel, cycling is allowed again. This is the same Route 5 that we used earlier when we travelled from Puerto Montt to Santiago. Now we are going from Santiago to Calama. From here there are two routes. One goes through Argentina, and the other goes along the Chilean coast. I could not decide for a long time which one to choose. I spoke to many people about it. Finally I decided that I will continue through Chile, because my Chile visa is still valid for another 20–25 days. In those 20–25 days, I will cover about 1,000 to 1,500 kilometres on the Chilean side. After that, I will enter Bolivia. To be honest, I feel a little shy when making videos on the road. Even if someone simply walks past me, I feel awkward filming. That is probably why I cannot make videos the way some other YouTubers do. Yesterday after returning, I messaged Karan bhai and told him that I needed a cloth scarf — what we call parna or angochha in Haryana. It helps protect from the sun because the heat here is quite strong, and sunlight comes through my cap. Karan bhai then gave me the number of Sahil bhai, and Sahil bhai gave me the contact of Manoj bhai. Yesterday I had dinner with Manoj bhai and spoke with him for a long time. He is from Kaithal in Haryana, which is actually close to my hometown. I had no idea that someone from my neighbouring district was living here. Now we are going to his shop in the city centre. I need to buy a few things — my reading glasses broke, so I need new ones. I also need some bicycle equipment, and of course I will pick up that angochha. After that I will ask them to drop me at the bus station, because I need to take a bus for the next 70–80 kilometres of the journey. Look at this hostel — it is very beautiful. Both of these buildings belong to […]