ARCHIVE BLOG - Previous Trip - panamericanrider

   Getting ready for South America. All the camping gear is packed, flights booked. There are three of us going, Chris, Al and myself. Al and I will arrive in Santiago, Chile on December 27th, late in the evening. Chris is booked on a slightly later flight and arrives the following afternoon. Keep an eye on this site to read more. We will update as we travel.  Once we arrive, we will have 3-4 days to explore Santiago, while also working on obtaining our bikes. Santiago is a very modern and safe city (the crime and safety index for Chile/Santiago is closer to that of Canada, and ranks quite a lot higher than the United States).

We have tentatively planned a 4500km journey, but of course, who knows what exactly will happen. The "general" idea is to head south from Santiago (with Mediterranean temperatures) towards southern Chile. Being the opposite hemisphere to Canada, this time of year as we head south it would be similar to Alaska in our summer.

At the southern point of our trip, we hope to make it to see the marble caves, carved out of rock by the waves of the lake they shore. At this point we may turn into Argentina and head back to Santiago while straddling the eastern side of the Andes.

   From LA we took Copa airlines to panama and then on to Santiago.  I have to say, I was originally worried about flying Copa air. Visions of those South American Airlines you see on tv cam to mind. Sitting on the floor of a twin prop cargo plane with chicken coups to lean on. Couldn't be further from the truth. Copa was nice, newer planes with tv entertainment systems that had games, musicandgps tracking to show where you are at. Great service too, would fly this airline any time.

Chris, who arrived 12 hours later than us, met us on time and at the correct Starbucks! He navigated his way around the city on his own without any issues.

Went out today to look at the bikes. It seems the ones we will go with are 150cc Hondas. We can get these for about $2000 and the dealer has already expressed interest in buying them back when done. Of the 3 dealers we saw, Pro circuit on vita curare was the most professional. They also offered us the service of doing all the paperwork and insurance for $120,000 Chilean pesos ( about $240). We could spend 2 days running around ourselves, but it would still cost about $200 so that is a decent deal. We now need to get our tax Id number Monday morning and can then buy the bikes. Tonight, we will go out for a dinner, and then probably crash for the night and catch up on all our missing sleep. Tomorrow, we will do the tourista version of Santiago, and go see the sights.

   Well, it's late, and we just got back to our hotel after our first full night in Santiago.  Sometimes, things just happen that make you have a warmer feeling for humanity in general.  It all started at about 10pm. We decided to go to zonal Bella vista.  This area of Santiago is the nightlife zone.  While walking thought it, we saw these strange tubes out on the tables, filled with beer. 

   Sunday is a day of rest for most of Santiago.  I suppose this is from the heavy catholic influence.  Pretty much everything is closed which has a certain charm to it.  We took the metro to plaza de armes and the catedral de metropolitana santiago. This was pretty much the only area that was open.  Lots of small shops and the church was amazing.  Walked around the area for hours.  Fantastic fun!   

 

  Ready to hit the road. Bikes are packed up, pretty loaded down too.  Happy we decided to go with the whopping extra 25cc's on the 150s.  Even  Though Santiago is one of the cleanest and nicest cities i have ever been in,   Driving in it makes me a little nervous. The drivers are totally crazy and it wouldn't surprise me if one of the taxi drivers we had over the past few days takes one of us out.  I think the best idea is to find the fastest route out of the city traffic, even if it means a longer ride.

Cooking in the dark without a table can be quite hard, Chris first had a wiener fall off his fork, and then spilled his cooking just as it finished.  Al and I laughed pretty hard, which is kinda cruel since we had already eaten.  Between luggage issues and food falling, Chris was a big part of Al and I's entertainment today.

We get up a little bit later than we wanted to (note to self: too much beer will do this, try just once in your life to remember this).  When we purchased the bikes, we had 5 days to do all the paperwork.  Because of weekends etc, today is our last day.

   Next we need insurance and once we have that we can get of permission to circulate, at yet another office, the municipality  building.   We wander around for a bit looking for insurance without success.  Finally, we end up in front of the municipality office but still without insurance.   A lady walks up to us and asks us if we need insurance!  She guides us over to a street corner where 3 women are hanging out.   Now, in Canada 3 women on the corner would probably translate into something else, but in Chile these women sell you insurance!

At about 3pm we head our of Chillan and continue south.  A couple hours down the road, Al gets pulled over by the carabineros... Just a random paperwork check, so it was good we had finished it all.

We made it to Puerto Montt.  Mostly an uneventful day today.  We took the fast highway, and I noticed many of the chilean drivers giggling and taking pictures of us on our overloaded little bikes trying to lie down as much as we could to get 100 kph out of it.   Was looking forward to seeing Vulcan Osorno, but it was a little clouded over ant the top oft he mountain was hidden.  Tomorrow we try to navigate the 3 ferries we have to take to get to the Carretera Austral.

Puerto Montt waterfront

  

a small market in Puerto Montt

  

more 4 legged friends

We left Puerto Montt just a few minutes before 8am and drove 45 minutes south of town.   As we arrived in this little village we saw a ferry loading.   We walked to the ticket booth but it was unattended.  As we stood around trying to figure out what to do we noticed a car just drive right up and on to the ferry, so we decided to do the same.  Was a good choice, as we pulled on to the ferry,t hey started to close the ramp behind us, and a guy came over and charged us the $15.

  The ferry was about 30 minutes long, and although this area is usually windy and rainy, the beautiful sunny morning made the scenery quite spectacular.   The ferry dropped us off on a peninsula that we needed to drive across to Hornopiren, about 50 km away, to catch the second ferry.  Our research had shown that it either had 1 sailing a day at 11 am or 2 sailings a day at 10am and noon.  Chile can be quite vague with these things.  Also, signs seemed to indicate that reservations were required for vehicles, but since the website you had to reserve on uses "flash" all our apple products couldn't work.

   The drive across the peninsula was going well then all of a sudden, after about 10kms, the pavement ended and it was a dirt road.  We slowed to a reasonable speed and bounced around on the road, avoiding potholes the rest of the way.  We arrive at about 10:50.   Turns out the ferry is at noon, and they let us buy tickets right there.

  While waiting for the ferry, we started talking to a guy from Southern California.  He has been backpacking South America for about a year, and planned on at least another year more.  He was also going to Brazil for the world cup, and had a job lined up for it.  Later on in the day, we would see him again in Chaiten.   Seems hitching is just as fast as riding small motorcycles. 

  We also see a family, man and wife, with 2 small boys, walking on to each of the ferries. They seem to be poorer, and it appears they are carrying most of their belongings with them.  Once on board the ferry, Al notices the parents put life vests on the children.   Al, who is eating peanuts, goes over and and shares them with the family, who seem most grateful. 

Another stunning and scenic ride, this ferry lasted 4 hours, and was only $15.  I took out my air mattress and put it out in a seat on the upper deck.   Probably got a good hours sleep up there.  Upon docking from this ferry we had a 10 km ride before catching the last ferry.  The road once again was gravel, but in decent condition.  While waiting for the last ferry, Al had what he thought was a bee hovering around him. He swatted at it, it didn't leave.  He swore at it, but it still didn't leave. Next, he ran from it, so it followed,and invited some of it's insect friends to join.  He now had about 8 or 10 chasing him.  All the Chileans were laughing away.  All I was thinking was that as long as they all liked him they would leave me alone.  Turns out they aren't bees, they are a gigantic biting black fly, common in the area. 

  We board our last ferry, a short 30 minute trip, which was included in our previous fare.  At 5:30 in the evening, we arrive at Caletta Gonzalo, a port that contains a ferry ramp and a lodge, nothing else.

As we make our way along the gravel road, it truly is a different scenery from anything i have seen before.  We see the family Al had shared his peanuts with standing by the road, hoping to get a ride the 60 kms to civilization, and I wished I could have obliged.  The road is about a lane and a quarter wide, and the vegetation on each side is lush, like one would imagine the amazon to be.  Although this area would be the southern equivalent to lower Alaska, the constant rains help things grow densely.  Every once in a while through the trees, a snow capped mountain appears, or a river flowing in the greenest colour water can be.  60 kms and an hour and a half later we near Chaiten, where our gravel one lane "highway" does a strange thing.  All off a sudden the road has an open gate on it, it widens to about 6 lanes wide, still all of gravel, and signs guide us to a little strip to the far right.  About a half kilometer later, the reverse happens, and it is back to one lane. I stop at the end and look back and see a small control tower and a wind indicator flag.  This was the Chaiten airport... They just use the road!  As we neared Chaiten, we pulled over to take photos. A minivan came past us, honking and waving...looks like the peanut family had found a ride!  Not surprising, since so far in Chile everyone has seemed so nice, friendly and helpful.  Hopefully I can learn from this.

  In Chaiten, the road turns to pavement.  We motor along for about 50 kms, and then decide to look for somewhere to camp.  The road once again turns to gravel about now, and as we ride along it starts to get pretty rough.  About 15kms along the road, with my gps batteries dead, I ask Al to check on his gps.  Apparently we missed the main road,which made a 90 degree right, and had continued straight instead. We turned back, found the main road again, and appreciating the pavement, drove about another 30 kms until Lago Yelcho.  We crossed the huge, one lane suspension bridge, and then parked underneath it to camp for the night.  As we set up our tents, the wind picked up and darkness set in.  The sun sets here at around 10:30 this time of year.  As we all quickly tried to eat something, Chris once again drops his food on the ground.  I let him use my can opener, and it is one of those odd ones that removes the entire top of the can, so as it finished opening, the whole can dropped to the ground.   A short time after this, we all settle in to our tents.  It had been a beautiful day, with fantastic weather and something to look at around every corner.

Bikes on board the ferry

View from the boat

   Woke up, climbed out of my tent, and was greeted by 4 angry steers.  Seems they don't like people camping in their territory.  After a few minutes of tension, they wandered off, and I started to make coffee.  The plastic rack I made in Canada to use one the bike once here is working well, i have also been using it as my cooking table.  As we start to pack up, the winds continue to increase, and clouds are rolling in fast.  Doesn't look like we are going to have the same luck with the weather that we had the day before.  The road had again turned to gravel just as the bridge we camped under ended, so today started without pavement.  As we make our way along the road, the rain begins, but for the most part just sprinkling.  About 15 kms down the road, we hit road construction.. They are starting to add a lane for each direction and pave the carretera Austral.  The construction zones are terrifying on these little bikes.  A top surface of loose gravel, with potholes everywhere, we find ourselves battling the construction for 4 hours, while we manage to go an entire 90 kms.  Scenery is still beautiful, but I cant help but worry how a decent and paved highway will affect this place.  It will probably be an economic boom for the locals, bringing in more tourism, but will it be the right kind of tourism.   Will it bring in more logging?  Will the wealthy scoop up all the river fronts for part time homes?

   At around 4 pm we stop in a little town and have a coffee. The rains had picked up to pretty much a downpour over the last 30 minutes, so the coffee was warming.  We head back onto the road once the rain reduces to a shower, and decide to go a little further and find somewhere to camp.   At about 6 pm, 50 kms of so from town, we see a lodge on the shore of a river.  A little behind the lodge is a waterfall feeding into the river.  We stop in front of the lodge and jokingly wonder how much it is a night, but we continue on.  About 30 seconds later, we spot a little gravel access road to the river, almost right below the waterfall, but on the opposing bank.  We pull in and pitch our tents.  Its a little windy, and the rain is sporadic, but we have a million dollar view in 4 directions.  Best of all, its free.  We pull out our stoves, cook our food ( Chris doesn't spill his tonight) and eventually wander off to our tents after a wet but inspiring day.

Camping on the river's edge.  Waterfall in background

Chris NOT spilling his food.

We woke up on our private beach to less wind and the sun trying to break through.  Each of us took out our stoves and made our morning coffees. (Al actually made his coffee inside his tent, to avoid the remaining wind).  After coffee we cleaned up our dishes and I tried out one of this mini towels my daughter gave me for Christmas.   The little towel when stored is about the size of a mint.  you add a couple drops of water to it and it expands to about 24"x24".   I cleaned my helmet shield and my dishes with it.   Totally awesome!  We then packed up and hit the road.   A few kilometers along the road, it turned into single lane dirt, and a sign said "parque de quelat".  For the next 50kms we wound our way through the park, spending more time stopping for photos than actually riding.   The park looks almost prehistoric in many ways.  Huge ferns, lush vegitation and snow capped, jagged peaks.  The road, although ominous looking, was for the most part quite decent to ride on. 

Every valley that we see has a river running through it, and the water looks amazingly clean.  Scattered along the road is the occasional farmhouse.  It is a very unpopulated area, and you only see another car every 15 minutes or so.

  After about 2 hours, and 90 kms or so, the road turns to pavement.   Even though the dirt road had been beautiful, we were ready to give our asses a break and ride a normal road again.  The next 150 kms was paved all the way in to Coyhaique, or stop for the night.

We got in to Coyahique ( apparently pronounced Coy-Ya-Key, which people are more than happy to correct you on), and found a hotel.   

Next stop was to find a laundry, as all us had been recycling the cleanest clothes for a few days.  We found a lady in one laundromat that was able to do it the same day, she told us to come back at 7pm, and she charged each of us by the weight.  

We wasted a little time exploring the city.  It is the largest city for about 600 kms, and has about 20,000 people.  Nine of the others probably have more then 1000.  While exploring the city we meet a guy from France, Xavier.   He flew over and rented a bmw 800 adventure bike for 4 weeks, and is also touring the area (although he plans to go further south).  Later on, as we are heading to diner, Al sees Xavier across the street from us, and asks him to join us, since he was on his own (Al is always like this, which I must say, is a very admirable way of life). 

  Xavier joins us, and we find a nice little restaurant and get seated upstairs.  Xavier turns out to be quite an entertaining guy.  He tells us that the day before, when at the border crossing into Argentina, he decided to cut in between 2 parked cars, which is something he does all the time in France.  Unfortunately, he forgot he was on a rented bike with large metal saddlebags.  Ass he went through, he got wedged and stuck between the two cars.  He is telling as this, and all three of us are howling with laughter.  Then he shows us pictures of the scraped up cars.  He also mentions that in the restaurant downstairs are 8 guys from Manchester, England also doing a bike run, and that they had been at the same border.   Xavier is good fun to be with, and he laughs at himself as much as we did.

 Later ont hat night I met the Manchester guys.   One of them had moved to chile 3 years earlier and, along with his son, was taking all of his friends on a patagonian tour.   His son, the first of them I spoke too,  had only been riding about a year, so this is quite a challenging adventure for him.

The waitress, although no English at all was quite entertaining.  We find out that her husband is the cook and her sister is the other waitress.  upon leaving, we get a photo of our new friend, Xavier, as well as one with the restaurant folks too.

We head off to bed.

So far, with only a little bad weather and manageable winds, I questioned everything I had read about the constant rains and crazy winds.  Today, as we left Coyhaique, I started to understand.   The road, still paved but deteriorating condition, wound through the huge valley the city lies in.   As we wound our way out of town, the winds continued to grow.  at least the weather was cooperating and although a little cloudy, when the sun popped out it was quite nice.  we stopped in a village about 75km from town for a coffee, knowing the road again turned to gravel from this point.

Once on the road again, the winds became almost unmanageable.  You have to keep the bikes torqued with power to stay going the way you want, and if you coast, the wind tries to blow you off the closest cliff.  as I struggle with the wind, some guy on a BMW 800 drives along side of me and asks if I was going to Rio Tranquillo, and then said something along the lines of " on a 150cc!!" And laughed.

A few minutes later, I find myself behind him and he is struggling with the wind and loose gravel.  He is riding at just a few miles per hour and his feet are near the ground.  Because I am now going so slow, a gust of wind catches me and nearly blows me over.  All I can do is gun it, nearly clipping the back of his bike as the little 150 rockets past him.  Now, with better speed, everything seems to be easier and I let the guy that laughed at me eat my dust, the bastard.

With about 80 km to go, things get worse.  The pouring rains begin.  Al later points out, if you look at the size of the storm drains, what would you expect.   Between the rain, the wind, gravel/dirt road, and the fact that our little bikes don't have off road tires, we struggle on to Tranquillo.   I have personally never experienced riding in conditions this difficult, and can see why few come here.  It's grueling, and just a couple hours on the bike is exhausting. However, if you want to see this part pf the world, a beautiful, pristine and secluded land, then you have to deal with what gets thrown at you.  Even with good gear, we arrive soaked, and hide out in a restaurant for a bit.  We all have burgers, huge burgers.

After eating, Xavier shows up, he has been riding with a couple from Brazil.  Apparently in the rain and wind, he had a minor crash, but was no worse for wear.  He said he was busy looking at scenery, and the next thing he knew....

A few minutes later, a man comes in the restaurant and asks us, using the waiter as an interpreter, if we are part ot a bike group.  Apparently about 30 km before town, a motorcyclist has crashed, and has been taken in the back of a truck to the nearest medical hospital.  We let him know all in our party are here, but hope whomever it was is ok.  A couple minutes later the Manchester guys show up, and i find out that the accident was the younger guy with them that i had met the night before.  Nobody knew his exact condition, since they had been ahead a little and had pulled over to wait.  By the time they went back, he was already in a truck.  Apparently the small local medical centre was sending him by ambulance back to Coyhaique.  I hope it is nothing serious, and wish them all the best.  We had already decided not to go further in this weather before this news, and certainly like our power restricting and light bikes more even now.

 Although the day came with bad news and bad weather, it was still an amazing day of views, and an experience not to be forgotten.

End of the day update:

Met a young man, 19 years old, names Julius from Germany.  He sat with us over coffee.  Julius has been backpacking for almost 8 months and has been through Canada and then headed down to south America.  He is doing it all by himself and was quite something to talk to.  At the beginning of his trip he stayed with an Aunt in Canada, and apparently about 5 or 6 days in she went to a family reunion.  There he met a whole bunch more relatives and managed to spend months and months visiting various ones.  Julius has arranged for a 9am boat to the marble caves and we are joining him, sharing in the costs.  Xavier may also join us.

Meet the Manchester guys again a little later in the evening.  Turns out the rest of the group stayed in Tranquillo and I Found out that he young guy who had fallen off earlier in the day is for the most part fine, just some scrapes and a concussion.  another batch of really nice guys, Rob, Simon and I had a few beers and chatted.  Sitting with these 2 guys didn't really seem like hanging with new friends, after a short time it felt like i had known them a while.  Simon at first made me feel comfortable and had a great sense of humour, and Rob races motorcycles, including the isle Of Man each year.  I hope to take him up on the offer of his hospitality for that race one day!

Woke up, at our breakfast and met Julius at the boat. a few minutes later, Xavier showed up, and brought along Mauricio and Kristina. We had met these 2 briefly the day before. Mauricio is from Columbia, and has spent a lot of time traveling the world. He met Kristina when he was traveling in Russia, her homeland. She went to Columbia with him, and just loves it. Mauricio works long enough to have enough money to travel, then he goes somewhere. Currently the 2 of them are motorcycling to the bottom of South America. Check them out at www.motoadventurist.com

the 7 of us took the boat out to the marble caves. Everyone on the boat had a good sense of humour, and it again felt that you were hanging with old friends, not new ones.

Marble caves

Our group on shore getting ready to go on the lake

One of my perro friends

After the trip to the caves, Mauricio lent us an adjustable wrench so we could adjust our chains, then we said our goodbyes to all of our friends and went on our way.

Rio Tranquillo sits on the shore of the largest lake in chile, Lago General Carrera, which we have to drive around today. the weather was semi-overcast, but not raining. the wind, although still very strong, was manageable. About 50kms down the road, we turned of the Carretera austral (which still continues 500 or so kms) and he headed along the southern shore towards Chile Chico, bordering Argentina. the ride followed the lake all day, and although the gravel road was for the most part good, we had a cliff on one side or the other of us the entire day. The scenery was spectacular, in particular as we crossed over the lower part of the Andes. At one point, we stop at a small waterfall to look over the bridge, and as I walk away from the bike, the side stand slowly starts sinking into the ground. I rushed back a few steps and tried to catch it, but it was too late and it crashes over. Seems the rock I placed the side stand on had slipped, and the bike sunk into the sand below. Picking up the bike, the left mirror was broken, but no other scratches. I tape the mirror in place as best as I can, and we continue on our way. I can still see out of it, so all is fine.

You have to watch for oncoming traffic on these roads

As we dropped down into Chile Chico, the mountains we had been surrounded by for days were replaced with a missive flatland plain that goes as far as the eye can see. We were now on the Patagonian steps. Things are also drier looking here, as the rain lessons after the clouds cross over the Andes. Crossing the Andes here really isn't as as much of a feat as in most of the other crossings, as the lake sits in a valley of sorts that creates a natural pass. This is probably one of the lowest altitude passes over the entire range, and I doubt we where even over 6000 feet (although I don't actually know).

In chile Chico we head for the Argentinian border. We stop at a border office and bring all of our paperwork in, and I go first to the counter. At one point, the border guard asks me for something, and expresses concern. I kinda know what she was asking me for, but just played stupid as if I new zero Spanish. After a few agitated sentences, she stamped my forms and sent me to the next window for part 2. Now the guy processes all my paperwork for the bike, and he doesn't seem concerned about any flaw in my paperwork. A few painless minutes later, I am told I can go. I head outside and wait for Chris and Al, who come out quickly. At this point, I let them know that the offices we had been in were only the Chilean "exit" office, and we still had to do Argentina's customs. We drove off and about 5 kms down the road hit the Argentina entry point, again heading in the building. After a few moments at the counter, we get told that we cant go in to Argentina, because we haven't paid the reciprocity fee, and we cant pay it at the border, it must be paid online, so we must go back to chile. The reciprocity fee, as it turns out, is basically a revenge fee. It seems a few years ago, Canada, The USA and Australia started charging people from only certain countries a processing fee. So, Argentina, chile and some others started doing it too. Thanks Canadian government, in the end, it is your own citizens paying this stupid fee.

Already about 6 pm, we turn back to Chile, and have to go thru Chilean customs to get back in. After about 20 minutes of forms etc, we re -enter Chile and find an internet cafe and fill out the forms, paying $75, we now have our fee, so its back to the border. We fill out all the same forms at the Chilean side, and once again proceed to the Argentinian side. This time all goes well and we are granted access to Argentina, finally entering at about 9pm.

Once in Argentina, we find a bank machine, since we have absolutely zero Argentine Pesos. I text Carolyn quickly to let me know what they are worth, since I had no idea. Thankfully, she gets the message and replies quickly, so I dont end up taking out $2000 or something foolish. After getting money, we find a campground to settle down in. There was a cherry festival going on (I guess we are in a cherry growing region) so the campground was full, and although we ended up in bed by midnight, the party outside of us went until 5 am. we joked about how much Lindsay would have hated that.

Not sure who is following all of this, and hope if you are you find it interesting. Again though, I need to put in a disclaimer, spelling, grammar and writing may lack due to using an ipad/iphone and typing in a tent sometimes.

    The first difference you notice is that it seems to be a much poorer country. The cars, houses and roads are all in bad condition in comparison to Chile. There also seems to be more military and police and they make themselves visible. Another noticeable difference would be the drop from 2 ply to single ply toilet paper, not going in to details on this one, but the Argentinian version would be better suited for light sanding applications.

    Most of the driving today is in the South American high desert, similar to those in Oregon and Idaho. We run in to road construction, and are deviated to a gravel side road running parallel to the highway. after about 50 kms, an oncoming car flashed his lights and waves at me to look back. I turn back to see Chris' bike on the ground with him underneath. We pick his bike up, while he checks himself over. All was fine with both the bike and Chris, although he was a little nervous after this.

    The road again turned to pavement, and we saw caution Yuanaco crossing signs, but never saw any (yuanacos are llama like animals). we did see a small flock of Rheas though ( ostrich like birds). we ended up riding over 500 kms today, with about 100 being gravel. We ended our day in a little town called Tecka. We head out for something to eat, and as we walk in to the restaurant, a little girl, who later told us she was 11, comes up all official and starts reading us today's menu, and then asks us what we would like. We are most amused all through diner at her mature, serious way of dealing with her job, and honestly, she did a better job than you usually see in Canada. Gotta love a family run restaurant!

Anyways, tomorrow.... Of to Bariloche. In the late 40's, home of the Nazi war criminals. Some even think Hitler didn't kill himself and lived until the 60's in this town..

We woke up to a bright, sunny and windless day. A nice change. We headed north to Esquel, Argentina (a gateway city to Southern chile) and had lunch. The lady in the restaurant spoke no English (what do we expect) but seems thrilled to have who she must have thought was 3 idiots in her establishment. All 3 of us had giant hamburgers, and the coffee came in a bag like tea does. I though about trying to buy some coffee like this for home, but it was absolutely terrible coffee.

The burgers took about an hour, as i guess perhaps they had to catch the cow first.

After lunch we continued north, leaving the high desert looking plains and heading back up the eastern slopes of the Andes. More beatiful scenery and a great paved road with lots of twisties. After about 400 kms, we arrived in Bariloche. Found a fantastic hotel, with a checkin guy who is quite the comedian. I asked for a room in spanish, asked how much etc etc. then, just to cover my ass i said habla espanol un poko (I speak little spanish). He tells me in spanish that i speak it well. After another couple of minutes we end up running in to a brick wall and I dont understand him. He then breaks in to perfect English. when I say to him "why didnt you let me know you speak english", he replies " I thought you needed the practice". The guy has been very helpful, maybe he pities us from seeing our tiny bikes.

Bariloche is one of the top destinations in South america. A ski resort town in winter, and a lake side beach resort in summer. they are also famous for their chocolate, with chocolaterias cramming the down town area.

Our hotel is nice but when I went to look out the window someone built this stupid building in the way

   Had a great night in Bariloche, went to a pub for a few beers while we waited for our reservation in a restaurant called Albertos.   It is supposed to be the best in Bariloche and one of the best in Argentina. Chris and Al had the lamb, and me, not wanting to eat something so cute and fuzzy, went with the steak.  Amazing meal, and huge.  I snuck about a third of mine out in a napkin for the street dogs.

Al with bottle cap shades on

The meal was huge

  Leaving a bariloche, we went through the seven lakes district and headed towards san martin De Los Andes.  We couldn't gas up in Bariloche as the two stations we tried were out of gas, so we limped in on reserve to Villa La Angostina,  here we found the gas station with the supply truck filling it.  we had to wait in a long line to get gas. 

Waiting for gas.  The station is around the corner

After about an hour or so, we again hit the road. The lakes region was absolutely stunning.  The road swept around the shore of one lake after another.  Each lake seemed to be filled with people on the beaches, and on the road we saw hundreds of hitch hikers and backpackers.  Seems to be quite the destination spot.  The road was great, fresh and new pavement, which should have been a warning to us.  they hadn't finished it yet!  All of a sudden in turns to gravel, and about 40 kms of bouncing around later, we get new pavement again. 

We stop quickly San Martin, with the plan of camping a short distance out on the road to Chile, about 50 kms away.  Looking at the gps and the map, I realize that this road seems to be a very small, gravel tracked route, and sure enough, a few minutes later we are bouncing around washboard surfaced curves.  We end up stopping at about 5pm, one kilometer from the chilean border, and also the continental divide of South america.  We have found a nice little spot near a river, and settle down for a relaxed evening, washing our clothes in the river.  We will leave Argentina tomorrow, and although this leg of the trip has been enjoyable, with amazing scenery once we left the desert, the road conditions, gas shortages and other economic factors make Argentina a little less inviting that Chile.  Chile had exceeded all of our expectations, and all three of us cant wait to be back there tomorrow.  Maybe even empanadas again for breakfast!

Al Doing his laundry

Woke up, made coffee and packed up camp.  After a few minutes we reached the border crossing.  This crossing is one of the most remote between Chile and Argentina, due to the poor gravel road conditions for about 40 miles on both sides.  First we check in at the Argentinian side, and get permission to leave, then we proceed to the Chilean side and get permission to enter (only after Al gets his onion confiscated).  With this done, we continue on gravel about 15 kms, until the road basically drives in to a lake.  The ferry was just preparing to leave, and after a very short wait we drove on.  The ferry was about 2 hours, and an absolutely scenic ride, all for $9.00.

Al took the opportunity to dry his laundry a little bit more, while Chris and I chatted with 2 men from Buenos Ares who were heading to Chile to mountain bike.  

  Once of the ferry, we drove another 40 kms of gravel, and then the road changed back to pavement. We quickly rode the remaining 70km to a town for lunch.  We are now in the chilean lakes district, and it seems in every valley lies a fantastic lake.

Al with a volcano in the background

  After lunch, we continued on toward Pucon, every couple of turns, a snow capped volcanic peak would appear.  Unfortunately for is, the road again turned to gravel, and we bounced around for another 50k.  Once pavement re-appeared, we blasted off the last 100k into town in no time flat.  Pucon is a resort, lakeside town in Chile, with a still active volcano looming above it.  When you drive into town, a road side even warns you "danger, active volcano zone".

  We then head down to a spectacular beach, and go for a quick swim.  While I am in the water, 3 kids swim over towards me.  A cute little girl, probably about 8 or 9 looks at me and says in English "hello", i loom back and say in spanish "ola", Then she says "what is your name"?  I replied , Andy, com se llamos". And she replies " my name is Nia".  I spend a couple minutes talking to my 3 new friends, me speaking Spanish and them speaking English.  Apparently they have learned some English in school and they saw the redhead swimming and thought it would be a good chance to test it all out.

  After the swim be browsed around town a little longer.  this town is amazing, and of more people knew about it, i would imagine many north americans would skip Mexico and come here. Even with the long flight it would be worth it, you could easily spend a week vacationing here.   All the charm of Mexico but absolutely spotless and safe.  Also, with all the higher end construction going on, definitely doing well.

   After our time in town, we head back to camp, cooking and fiddling around with things.  Once again the little expanding towels my daughter gave me served their purpose, helping me clean my shield so I could see more than just shapes.   Headed off to my tent for sleep.

Not a lot to report on today.  we left Pucon and found our way back to the main super highway.  Our plan was to go back to Chillan to the shop we used before, as the 2nd service on the bikes is long overdue.

  The super highway is a toll road, with a toll about every 100 kms, costing $1.20 per bike.  To help speed things up we usually take turns paying, and they either let all of us through at once, or sometimes open and close the gate for each one of us.  It is done fairly inconsistently.  At one toll, it was my turn to pay, and when we reached the front of the long line to pay, i have the lady my money,  The gate opened and Al went through.  As she was handing me my receipt, she suddenly starts screaming "vende uno vende uno", I turn to watch Chris riding through and the gate closing.... It boinks off his head, and crumples at the base of the arm inwards.( i guess a safety mechanism). Alarms are going off, the girl is still screaming vende uno vende uno.   Once i see Chris is fine ( but confused) i apologize to the girl and let her know the last toll booth sent us all through together.  she, in a less panicked voice just repeats "vende uno".   With the alarms still going off, and with all the people behind us now finding themselves in a closed lane, we got the hell out of there.  sure glad we had Chilean license plates so we didn't make Canadians look bad.   Once on the road again, suddenly i saw how funny the whole thing was and was pretty much in tears laughing to myself in my helmet for an hour or so.

  Made it to Chillan, and the bikes are being serviced.  We get them back first thing in the morning.  i had thought this shop was interested in buying them and gave them a better price that we would get in Santiago, bit it looks like they may not want to (its a long drive for them to go get them).  Our friend from the previous stop here, Paulo, is on vacation.  would have been nice to see him again, but the other guys are nice too, and seemed happy to see us back.

Went back to the bike shop in the morning to get the bikes, and ended up making a deal with Christobal, the owner of the shop, to buy the bikes once we are back in Santiago.  Today we are making the long ride of about 500km to Valparaiso, a port city on the coast near Santiago.  Valparaiso and another city, Vina Del Mar are basically attached to one another.  Valparaiso is very old, with lots of tradition and architecture, Vina to the north is the newer, oceanside playground for the rich of Santiago.

   We left Chillan at about noon and headed north. Our route just cuts through the south and western side of Santiago before heading tO the coast.  We hit the Santiago part at about 5:30' rush hour!  At one point, in about 5 or 6 lannes of traffic, the gps lets me know the name of the road to take and I have to cut quickly across 3 lanes of traffic for the exit.  once I have made the road, I look in my mirror and see that Al and Chris didnt make it.  I park in front of the next gas station I see for about an hour, but they dont appear.  I guess this would be a good time for them to use the GPS's they have for the first time instead of just following!

  I head back on the road and make Valparaiso at about 9:30.  I stopped and wait where the GPS directions ended, hoping they might show up there.  After about 30 more minutes, I decide to get a hotel, finding a nice one near the centre square.

  In the hotel room, I connect to Wifi and get an email from Chris, they are in Valparaiso, at a gas station.  I let them know where I am, and they pull in at about 11:00.   Seems they got crossed up in Santiago for a while, and in the end used the GPS and found there way here.  They also had help from some friendly Chileans giving them directions.  Chileans are friendly and helpful it seems, except when driving.  when driving, they are complete psychopaths, with absolutely no regard for anything outside of their little cage.

  tomorrow, we will sight see these twin cities.  Here is a couple of views from my hotel window.

Looking left

Looking right

Spent the day sightseeing.  First, rode the bikes up the hill of Valparaiso.  Think San Francisco but less paved roads and fewer building codes.  Next we rode the 10km to Vina Del mar and walked around the beach area, stopping for a coffee and watching the horse drawn carriages pass by.

After a short time in Vina, we decided to head back to Valparaiso and check out more of the sights there.  With a richer and longer history, Valparaiso has some amazing Architecture.  We spent the entire day wandering the streets, taking photos and enjoying the culture.  At one point, I go to a store and buy a cheap package of hot dogs, feeding some of the street dogs as i go by. 

   Late afternoon, we started to head back to the hotel, and stopped at a bar on the way for a beer.  sitting outside on the sidewalk seating, we meet 2 Chileans sitting at the table next to us and start a spanglish conversation.  Nice guys, so when we order our next beer, we add one to our tab for them.  Another few minutes goes by and they end up sitting with us.  We have a good 2 hours of conversation with Alex and Luis, both longshoreman in Valparaiso.  when it comes time to say goodbye, we ask for our bar tab and get told it has all been taken care of.  Apparently our new Chilean friends had paid our entire tab.

   After a late dinner, we head back to the hotel.  Al takes a little of his leftovers and finds a grateful dog.  In the morning, we ride about 130 km back to Santiago, where we sell the bikes.

Woke up early in Valparaiso, packed up the bikes for our final ride on them, and drove the 130kms back to Santiago.  We are meeting the guy who is buying the bikes (one of Christobal's friends) at noon, and we arrive a half hour early, so does he.  We exchange greetings, and once again, a really nice guy. We cram all 3 motorcycles in the back of his truck and head off to find a notary.

Once at the notary, out comes our whack of paperwork and an agreement of sale letter is created. We sign and fingerprint the letter and then head back to the hotel, where we finalize the transaction with the exchange of money.

 We sold the bikes quite cheaply, but it was to our advantage to not have to waste time trying to sell them.  In the end, if you consider it a rental, the bikes cost $1000 for 3 weeks. Most of the guys we met on the road that had rented paid $185 per day, plus insurance. So, although we had to settle on smaller bikes, we saved about $2500 over renting.  As the truck pulled away with my little friend in the back, I was saddened to see her go. My final odometer reading was 4861.4, so we had spent a lot of time together.

  At 3pm I wander around for a bit, but Providencia, the area of Santiago we are in, isn't the best place for souvenirs.  After a complete waste of 3 hours (although I did go to a Starbucks for a normal coffee), I decide to do my shopping tomorrow, when I can search out a little more authentic Chilean wares.  Al has the same luck as me, while Chris looks for a accommodation since he has one extra night before heading home. 

   I am now eating a Chilean dish called Churrasco Chorrillana, which is basically fries on the bottom, mixed. With onions and peppers, sliced beef on top of that, and the  an egg on top.  In Chile, the egg is often on the top of things.

The Palace

5 dogs sleeping under the police van, nobody is bothered by it

Cerro San Lucia

Just a cool street shot

Outdoor art/garden

We are heading to the airport, with our 26 hours of travel ahead, Chile 2014 has come to a close. This will be the longest post of this blog, as I try to sum up the entire adventure. Once home, I will also go back over all the blog postings and add more details, taking advantage of the real keyboard and no longer typing with 2 fingers.

First, let me say, Chile is not a destination for everyone. For those of you that are impatient, or want to be served at every moment of your vacation, an all inclusive in a Mexican resort probably is more suited. Things take longer in Chile, from ordering food to shopping in a store. However, if your idea of a great vacation includes immersing yourself in another culture, meeting locals and seeing the hustle and bustle of everyday life in a perspective different than your accustomed too, then Chile is it.

Our trip was a motorcycle adventure, and with 5000 kilometers driven, it certainly was. We saw the diversity of the people and the landscape (and we didn't even touch the northern half of the country). In the central region of Santiago and Valparaiso, The culture is Latin American, metropolitan, and with a distinct European influence. In the south, still influenced by Europeans (Dutch, German, Etc), it has a very rural feel, even within the cities. We could have gone further South than we even did if time had permitted, and unfortunately missed out on the huge glaciers and Torres De Paine in the extreme south of Chile. Apparently one needs a week or more for this alone.

If one was to visit Chile and not have the convenience of a motorcycle, I think my young German friend has figured it out. Chile has an amazing bus system, often with double decker tour buses with fold flat, bed type seating upstairs. Julius often plans his bus rides to be at night, saving on a hotel and taking advantage of the beds on board. He then awakens to a new town and new sights to see. I would think that for the more typical vacationer a 14 day trip with perhaps 3 days in Santiago, another 1 or 2 in Valparaiso, 2 in Pucon, and a couple more across the border in San Carlos De Bariloche. With travel days in between, this would be a fantastic start. I would also recommend planning on Valparaiso for a Sunday, as most places still close on a Sunday in Chile, but ValPo can be fun to walk around a photograph the old architecture in its various conditions of repair or decay. The Chilean summer is opposite to ours, so January or February would be the nicest. I also feel that Chile is very family friendly, so if you have kids, it would be a great way to let them experience all the beauty the differences of our world provides.

As far as safety goes, at no time did I ever feel threatened or in any type of danger (although cab rides are similar to amusement park thrill rides). When it comes to safety, Chileans tend to be their own worst enemy, as multiple times they would try to protect us and warn us of pick pockets or other petty criminal threats. I think they are so worried of the impression it may leave on visitors that they exaggerate the dangers. A little Spanish would also help, as English is not prevalent, and it seems the Chileans appreciate an attempt at their language.

Although it wont break the bank, Chile isn't cheap. Most things are on par with north America, with the exception of transit being cheaper, and accommodation being a little pricey. (Although hostels are quite affordable). Oh, and if your moody without a good cup of coffee in the morning, bring a coffee press or something. Outside of Santiago, a good coffee is impossible to find.

in the areas of Chile we visited, it was very clean. Although there are much poorer areas, and driving by you can see garbage for those barrios, unlike Mexico, overall it is cleaner than many areas in North America. In Mexico, I often remember the smell of garbage. in Santiago, only once did i experience this, and when i finished walking around the corner i saw a garbage truck doing it's pickups.

We met many new friends along the way. 9 Chileans, 2 Brazilians, 2 Argentinians, 7 Brits, a Frenchman, German, Colombian and a Russian. Each one of them contributed to making this a fantastic ride. Xavier, our french friend, whose sense of humour had us laughing for hours. His story of all of his money blowing away in the wind as he crossed the border, or wedging his bike between 2 cars lane splitting. Xavier was fun, and someone I would love to see again. Although he is quite accident prone it seems, and discovering he works in airline maintenance is a little disconcerting. Julius, at 19 years old, backpacking alone in South America. Thank you for starting that conversation in the coffee shop, and not only becoming our friend, but also something of an inspiration. Paulo from the Chillan motorcycle shop, thank you for the gift of the wine and your company for the evening. Unfortunately we didn't see you on our way back through and never did pickup the wine, but we will visit again one day. My Colombian friend Mauricio, with his beautiful Russian girlfriend, it wasn't just because Kristina has the most beautiful eyes in the Southern Hemisphere that got us talking to you (although it did help). Thank you for translating on the boat to the caves, and with all your proud talk of Colombia, hopefully soon we will visit. My English friends, it was a blast having drinks with you. I wish our route and yours would have crossed once more, but Isle of Man for the race sounds like a future plan. I hope the rest of your adventure went well and without further incident. To all the others who showed us kindness and welcomed us as visitors in their country, Gracias y incantado. To all of my new friends, if you are ever in western Canada I would be honoured to show you the same hospitality.

The street dogs always seemed to be entertaining but I am a little torn when it comes to them. Although at one point they must have been abandoned, they are still accepted and treated as a part of the overall community. The dogs wander around, minding their own business, and usually look quite happy doing it. Nobody ever yells at them to get out of the way, and when eating in outdoor restaurant, often a dog will be laying down in there, waiting to clean the floor once you leave. In bad weather, they pick doorways to lay in and you just step around them, you don't force them to leave. All perfectly acceptable here.

in many ways, although considered third world, Chile is more advanced than us. In a few hotels, the door would open to your floor and all you would see is darkness. As you move to exit the elevator the motion sensor would see you and the lights would go on. once in your room, the room key slides into a slot near the door, and only after this will the lights in the room turn on. When exiting the room, you take your key with you, and all the lights go out. We ordered food once and received a little plastic box to bring to our table. once the food was ready, the box lit up and beeped. we then proceeded to the counter to pickup our order.

Not everything is advanced however. When in Puerto Rio Tranquillo, we found ourselves without hot water for our morning shower. Once they stoked the fire and got it going better, the hot water came back quickly. The paperwork for the motorcycles was also a little much. My guess is that some of this process is only recently being computerized, and in a few years the process will improve. Wireless internet also leaves a lot to be desired, but one cool thing is that many of the towns have free WiFi in their centre squares (Plaza De Armes) and other public parks. Even the smallest of towns always seems to have a beautiful Plaza de Armes and in Santiago, there is plentiful green space throughout the city.

I am leaving South America with an even more enhanced view of how I've been seeing life lately. In the typical North American way of life, we are a consumerist rat race. We go to work and we earn, then spend on things we don't really need. We buy houses too big for our needs, then fill the rooms with more stuff we don't require. When those rooms are full, we either renovate with an addition, or we get a mini storage locker. Julius, Mauricio and others we met along our way have what they need in a bag, their house is a tent or hostel. They go to work only to save the money to once again hit the road. They spend what they make on "life experiences", not more made in China disposable junk. Mauricio searched Tranquillo so he could save $5 more on his accommodation, and by doing so probably added an extra day to his voyage. It is my belief that we need to see more and do more, not own more.

Thanks to Chris and Al for joining me on this adventure. We certainly do have an abundance of memories, big and small. To many that we met, we will always be those crazy Canadians who rode Chile on a 150 cc motorcycle.

I hope my children read this and decide to spend at least a part of their younger years on the road. Seeing how others live and with the discovery of available WiFi being the biggest electronic treat one finds.

To all you you who have followed along, thank you. I hope you have enjoyed our little insight into Chile and decide to visit yourselves one day.