06.07.09
Las Lajas Santiago
65km, 5:21h, 1046hm, Ø12km/h, (+ 60km/400hm by bus)
It was pretty togh riding today, hills and hills and hills… When I reached the highest point of the road the bump in the tire of the trailer became worse. I was exhausted and knew I couldn‘ t make it to Santiago today. So I took bus to Santiago (3$, bike free). I didn‘ t want to stay at the motel near the bus-terminal and cycled towards what I thought was downtown. I found the places, asked for a hotel but couldn‘ t find it. An english-speaking fellow told me that I‘ d have to go back to the Interamericana, there would be some hotels. So I did. I stopped at the Hotel Gran David, which looked so nice at first that I was almost afraid to ask for the price. It turned out that it was 14$, so I stayed. The AC in my room was louder than it cooled off the roon though. There was no hot water and internet cost 1$/h on an internet-terminal.
I was happy to find a new tire (6$) for my trailer at a store that had everything, kind of like Walmart. When I tightened my spokes again I saw that I had a flat rear tire (maybe that made the cycling a bit harder, too…). So I changed the tube, ate a big salad and a gyros-pita at the restaurant next door and went to bed exhausted.