Tandem Cycling around San Pedro de Atacama

Have you ever cycled on a tandem bicycle? We got on a tandem for the first time yesterday. We had such a fun day cycling around town!

Holly and Ian were in our Ripley’s group and suffered the whole Cesar experience with us. So none of us were in the mood to book any formal tour. There are many places in San Pedro de Atacama who rent out bicycles. It was Holly’s idea to hire two tandem bikes. We paid 7000 chilean pesos for 6 hours on the bikes. (That’s about R140.)

It takes a bit of getting used to but once you are pedaling it’s not difficult. It is more tricky to be in the front because then you have to pedal and steer. I did try being in front but it’s quite scary especially when going through a dip and the handle bars are heavy to turn. So Marc was the driver most of the time but he did a much better job than I did.

We cycled to the Atacama Ruins and to a little church nearby. We attempted cycling uphill to a tunnel but it was a bit far and a bit too steep. It was fun going downhill on our way back! Two random dogs followed us almost everywhere we went.

So far Chile has been nice and you can clearly notice that you are no longer in Bolivia or Peru. The streets are wider, the bus drivers drive slower and the local people look different. Everything is much more expensive though! They still sell empanadas and you still can’t flush the toilet paper.