Clotaire Mandel’s latest video from his massive around-the-world bikepacking trip follows his time on the Ruta de las Vicuñas, a remote route across northern Chile’s high altiplano. Watch it here…

Clotaire Mandel is currently eight years into an impressive bikepacking trip around the world and has been sharing stunning video updates from his travels. The latest episode features his time in northern Chile riding the Ruta de las Vicuñas, a 182-mile (293-kilometer) off-road route that links three swathes of protected land: Lauca National Park, the Reserva Nacional Las Vicuñas, and Isluga National Park. Watch the video below, then scroll down for trip notes from Clotaire.

Words and photos by Clotaire Mandel

How could you not fall in love with Chile when this road is your first encounter with the country? The road winds through the Chilean highlands, where water and resupply stops are scarce, if they exist at all. These are the roads you’ll aim for if you’re about desertic stretches. Here is one for beauty and tranquility, the two feeding off one another.

We were surprised by the trucks on the first stretch, but only at a very specific time of day. The ones coming and going to the salar and its endless salt flats at the foot of the surrounding high peaks. Beyond that, there’s no one left. Just sand and rock. Exactly what we’d come looking for.

What surprised us most was undoubtedly the cold. The nights are clear and starry, but they come with temperatures dropping to around -14°C. A good excuse to stay snuggled in the sleeping bag, sipping coffee while reading a good book. This isn’t the kind of road where you can hurry.

The nights and mornings are cold. The place calls for a certain kind of contemplation, and progress is slow anyway, given the altitude, terrain, and elevation changes. It was right in this middle-of-nowhere that I ended up with a tooth infection. Not exactly the best place to deal with a problem like that. I was advised to rinse my mouth with salt water. I never carry salt with me, my cooking kit being pretty basic. Luckily, all I had to do was bend down, find some salt, and do my multiple daily mouth rinses!

The two natural hot springs are worth the detour. It’s not every day you get to soak in hot water, right in the middle of the Andean highlands, amid the silence of desert nights and under a starry sky. Funnily enough, we only met vicuñas on the first stretch we rode from the border, which isn’t technically on the bikepacking route. But as we stocked up on food in Bolivia, we skipped the resupply in Putre. That let us reach another hot pool!

The wind is harsh. Really harsh. We planned not around our resources and the daily mileage we wanted to do, but around the sheltered options we had each night.

Skirting the Chilean and Bolivian border, the Ruta de las Vicuñas route provides both a standalone means of exploring the beautiful national parks of northern Chile’s altiplano, or an alternative piece in the jigsaw that connects the high plateaux between Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni and its capital of La Paz. Set against a backdrop of snow-capped volcanoes, it promises abundant wildlife, hot springs, well-preserved Jesuit missions, and guaranteed starry nights. Explore the route guide here.

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