Uruguay, Montevideo, 5-10 March 2012

Posted on Friday, 9-March-2012 by Chris Desmond

I traveled from Buenos Aires to Montevideo using the Buquebus Company, you can buy tickets online or through a travel agent cost is the same. I chose the fast ferry (1:30hrs) to Colonia and then the bus (2:15hrs) from there to Montevideo, cost ARS$275 or US$61. They have their own Terminal which is a bit like an airport first checked in and dropped suitcase off, then security and immigration, finished by 1120 sat and waited departed at 1230, duty free shop on board, arrived at 1400, suitcase was on the belt when I arrived picked it up and walked out straight onto the bus, left at 1430, flat farmland with a few villages not much traffic, good road with a few tolls arrived at 1645 at the Montevideo TRES CRUCES bus terminal. The time here is 1745.

Went to book my bus to Asuncion while I was at the terminal and they said I needed a Visa in advance for Paraguay, surprise, they issued the ticket for Saturday UYU$2,658 or US$140 for a Sleeper seat.
I spent the next day getting the Paraguay visa, it poured all day, first went to the Embassy they said go to the Consulate across the road at Bulevar General Artigas 1191, the Consulate guy was nice and spoke good English, I had to submit the following docs

Visa Application
Passport
2 photos
Bus Ticket from Montevideo to Asuncion
Copy of Credit Card
Copy of Hotel Booking in Asuncion (had to go back make the booking and return)
USD$65 for a single entry Visa and $30 in Taxi fares.
This can be done in one day, I couldn’t be bothered waiting so came back the following morning.

I then did something unusual I went to a McDonalds and had a Quarter pounder $5 and a McFlurry Oreo $4 convert that into the local currency and you are not going to get fat eating McDonalds in this country.
I then decided to check on visas for Brazil, I thought one would be issued at the border, not so, I now had to get a Brazil visa, at least this Consulate was just up the road at Calle Convencion 1343, phone 09-901-2024, documents required were.

Visa Application
Passport
1 photo
Copy of Bus Ticket to Rio
Copy of Air Ticket out of Rio
Copy of Credit Card
Hotel Address and phone in Montevideo
UYU840 about USD$45 for a multiple entry Visa
You will need 2 full days (48hrs) to get this visa they will not issue it on the same day.

Otherwise there is not much else to report about Montevideo a truly unremarkable city.

General comments about this region (Argentina, Uruguay) – Stubble chic is the fashion, kissing in the street is not an uncommon sight, Hitch hikers, Bikes without mufflers, Tattoos, Lifts with Concertina doors, Air-con’s dripping onto the street, Smoking.

Posted in Argentina, Uruguay | Tagged | 4 Comments

Argentina, Buenos Aires, 26 Feb – 4 Mar 2012

Posted on Sunday, 4-March-2012 by Chris Desmond

First 3 days in BA were a long weekend and nothing was open, most restaurants are closed on weekends when it should be their busiest time.

I had advertised my bike for sale on the HUBB so I met the buyer a guy from California, the Title will be transferred in the US and payment is in US dollars so its basically a US sale in Argentina, its illegal for an Argentine to buy the bike because of the 300% import duty but sales between foreigners is common in South America. This will save me the cost of shipping ($2000) the bike back to the USA. Time to say good-bye after 2.5 years and 49,000 miles and let someone else do the driving.

Once that was over I wandered around the city, it’s the nicest city so far, no machine guns or razor wire here.

The subway is cheap and frequent, about 60 cents flat fare for a ride anywhere. Imported goods are very expensive due to the high import duties and there is a black market in US$, a simple suitcase that would have cost less than $40 anywhere else cost me $105 here. House prices are in US$ and there is a white and black component. Apparently there are 3 classes of people, the Whites, the Latinos and the Indigenous people and they do not mix, can’t say I saw any Indigenous people in this part of town

I went on a City Tour then a Gaucho Tour and a Dinner and Tango Show, there are also lots of Plaza’s with outdoor restaurants and Tango dancers. Tourism is well organised.

Posted in Argentina | Tagged | 6 Comments

Argentina, Buenos Aires, 21-25 Feb 2012

Posted on Sunday, 26-February-2012 by Chris Desmond

21 Feb 2012, Ushuaia to Rio Gallegos, Argentina

After yesterdays snow and freezing temperatures I was not looking forward to today but when I woke up it felt warm and the roads were dry, the land lady said that the town had run out of petrol yesterday, tankers were expected overnight, then gave me direction to ride past 3 gas stations and if they were all empty to come back to the hotel hahaha.
Left at 0810 found the first gas station 2 cars queued up filled up and left at 0825 heat controllers only on half, neck warmer pulled up to just under my nose works really well stops fogging, no traffic winding roads through the mountains snow on the side of the road, once onto the plains on the other side the wind picked up and it started to get cold cranked up the controllers to full, wind started blowing a gale got to Rio Grande at 1030 queue at the YPF about 7-8 cars in front filled up and left at 1050, wind blowing even harder now and very cold got to San Sebastian Argentina border at 1140, the Aduana guy there took the TVIP off me and he shouldn’t have, left at 1150 dirt road now rode to the Chile border at 1215 had to be issued a new Chile TVIP again for the next 3 hrs, then the customs people made me open all three boxes, I am not even stopping in Chile, they also made them take all the bags out of the tourist busses and put them through the xray scanner and the busses are also driving through not stopping, not very intelligent, left at 1240, strong wind blowing me sideways in the dirt and a continuous stream of traffic coming towards me cars and trucks and the wind is now blowing the dust across to my side straight into my face, all the people returning from the mainland after the long weekend got to the end of the dirt at 1455, 2:15hrs 30min more than going the other way shows how bad the conditions were.
Still blowing hard but new concrete road got to the ferry at 1515, topped up tank with the 6lt gusts nearly blowing the bike over ferry arrived at 1600, rode on only half full got to the other side at 1615, rode off first did not want to get stuck behind the 3 tourist busses, got to the Chile border crossing at 1655, huge queue joined and after half an hour asked the Argentine Aduana guys if they could do the TVIP while I was waiting in the queue and the guy said I was in the wrong building to go to the one further down the road, the one I was told to bypass on the way in, wasted 35 min disorganised, rode 1k and parked again and went in, no queue thank god immigration took 2 min then aduana and the confusion started because the guy had taken the TVIP off me when he shouldn’t have, they got it sorted and then issued me with another TVIP left at 1810, wind had died down or maybe it was behind me flying along then 9k’s out of Rio Gallegos, police checkpoint and I had to go inside where they wrote down my passport details into a ledger and I rode on, queue around the block at the YPF hahaha, got to the hotel at 1900, 577k’s in 10:50hrs what a day, half of it spent queuing.

22 Feb 2012, Rio Gallegos to Caleta Olivia, Argentina

Left at 0740, queue at the YPF took 40min then discovered that I could have jumped the queue because they had 98 octane but how do you leave the queue to check when you are so far back, blue skies but cold and got colder with side winds blowing but not as bad as yesterday got to Piedra Buena at 1040 another queue but only a few cars, filled up and left at 1100, tail wind now very easy riding no buffeting and quiet very little traffic, got to San Julian and the YPF on the highway was out of gas, they said go into town hahahaha like last time rode in and there was a queue a mile long so turned around and headed for Tres Cerros, tail wind again sitting on 100kph now hardly using any fuel, they were out of gas as well (thats 500k’s and no petrol) but said Fitz Roy had gas, topped up with the 6lt container, tank showed full so I knew I could make it to Caleta Olivia without stopping and I did no problem, long straight stretches of flat treeless plains or null arbor, the pampas checked in at 1630, 710km in 8:50hrs.

23 Feb 2012, Caleta Olivia to San Antonio Oeste, Argentina

Left at 0730 cool and cloudy and windy lots of traffic upto Comodoro Ravadavia with deeply rutted roads got through it ok and then flat open country sitting on 110-120kph very little traffic except near the big towns, no gas problems now small queues filled up as scheduled at Garayalde tailwind after that to Puerto Madryn filled up again then side and head winds all the way to San Antonio, stopped at an Esso and filled up cost 50% more ??, checked in 1530 way earlier than expected made really good time 773km in 8 hours, this is a sea side resort town and it is hot now.

24 Feb 2012, San Antonio Oeste to Benito Juarez, Argentina

Left at 0800 no heated vest or jacket, cold overcast went down 251 instead of 3 should be shorter and less traffic as it is inland not on the coast, countryside has changed from the null-arbor scrub desert to farmland with endless fields and eucalyptus have re-appeared, long straight roads no hills here, filled up at Rio Colorado, Esso again expensive, got to Bahia Blanca and went through down town instead of the bypass no signs making good time not much traffic sitting on 110kph cars overtaking me slow trucks but straight roads means easy overtaking, got to Tres Arroyos filled up at a YPF fuel only 5.199 instead of the 6 something at the Esso, could not find a hotel but only 1500 so decided to keep going stopped at Benito Juarez, checked in at 1630, 698km in 8:30hrs, nearly there only one more day to get to Buenos Aires.

25 Feb 2012, Benito Juarez to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Short ride today left at 0920, no liners, cool and cloudy wet road with a few drizzles no rain lots of traffic coming the other way with the usual crazy overtaking heading out of BA to the coast for the long weekend this is the second long weekend in a row, stopped at Flores for fuel and the roads were dry after that, put the Nokia around my neck got to a freeway about 70k’s out of BA that took me all the way to the centre checked the Nokia to make sure I was on the right track but I had also written down the names of the freeways, traffic built up as I got closer got to the hotel no problems checked in at 1430, 404k’s in 4:50hrs.

The hotel had scales in the bathroom and its official, my weight has gone from 81kg to 74kg in 4 months, its called the Ushuaia Diet hahahahaha.

Posted in Argentina, Chile | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Argentina, Ushuaia, 19-20 Feb 2012

Posted on Monday, 20-February-2012 by Chris Desmond

19 Feb 2012, Rio Gallegos to Ushuaia, Argentina

Left Rio Gallegos at 0730 straight to the gas station no one there filled up and on my way, freezing, road works out of town again, arrived at the border at 0820 stopped at the Argentine building and they said to go on to the Chile building about 1k down the road they were combined now, put my gear back on and rode there saw a queue of cars went to the front and parked near the entrance, stood in the queue and filled in the Immigration and Aduana forms, first Chile immigration had to show them passport and the bike title, stamps and then to the Argentine TVIP handed the old form in, then Chile TVIP filled in another form and was issued a new TVIP then to the Aduana got it stamped and went out and gave it to one of the inspectors had to open all three boxes then he said go at 0940, took 1:20min a full on border crossing.
Rode on to the ferry got there at 1015 queue of cars rode to the front, ferry left at 1045 and got to the other side at 1100, cost ARS45 or $9 but no one checked tickets and I only discovered where to buy when I went inside to have a look, half an hour on the pavement drizzled for a bit and then onto the dirt at 1130 first and last 20k’s not bad in between varied got to Chile Immigration at 1315, 115k’s of dirt in 1:45hrs, queue again, handed in the Chile TVIP after only 3.5 hours of being in Chile and got stamped out finished at 1345, 30min, rode off still on the dirt for another 15k’s, then Argentine Immigration queue again at 1355, got stamped in and issued another TVIP hahahaha, topped up tank with the 6lt of fuel and left at 1415.
Pavement now rode on to Rio Grande 120kph made good time, they launched the Falklands war from here, arrived there at 1530 filled up and left asked gas guy and got the wrong directions kept asking and one guy said follow me and showed me the way out, drizzled again very cold, strong winds all day making it even colder, road now winding through the mountains at the end slow local traffic and some idiots on quads and trail bikes throwing up clouds of dust riding alongside the road and trucks following them very slowly causing a road block, scenery like Alaska, snow on the mountains, 20k’s out started to feel dizzy, realised I hadn’t eaten all day except for a Coke and a Snickers and I was burning calories to keep warm probably low blood sugar levels, arrived at Ushuaia stopped and checked the Google cached maps to get my bearings and then rode straight to the hotel, arrived at 1805, 581k’s in 10:35.

3 border crossings unbelievable with the number of tourists coming through they should have streamlined this crossing, booked a bus ticket to the National park ARS 85 return $17.

20 Feb 2012, Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina

Decided I had to eat as much as possible today, probably lost 5kg in the last 4 months, started snowing at 0930, the forecast was for snow but I did not think it would happen its summer here and at only 55 degrees South which is about the same latitude as Edmonton, Canada is in the North it should not be that cold, Prudhoe Bay, Arctic sea was 70 degrees North and no snow there in summer another micro climate, glad I decided to take the bus and not ride.
Bus arrived early went around picking up other people got to the park 20k’s away at 1030 got dropped off at the visitors centre still snowing wandered around inside bought a fridge magnet and a sticker and a neck warmer like I used in Alaska should keep my face warm tomorrow, then had a snack and a coffee big cafeteria with views all round very well done eventually snow stopped and I walked to the Lake Roca café and back campground there with lots of tents and bon fires, bus came at 1300 got on and then did 2 circuits of the park picking people up and dropping them off, back to the hotel at 1400.

Posted in Argentina, Chile | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Argentina, Rio Gallegos, 16-18 Feb 2012

Posted on Saturday, 18-February-2012 by Chris Desmond

16 Feb 2012, Bariloche to Esquel, Argentina

Bariloche must have a micro-climate of its own because I opened a window and it was still warm last night, walked to the car park carrying all my stuff pouring with sweat, packed away heated gear left at 0930 out of town by 1000 started to get cold then drizzle through the mountains winding roads steady flow of traffic so lots of overtaking, freezing now thinking of stopping and putting on my heated gear, arrived in the La Bolson area hundreds of camp grounds and tourist attractions, took a wrong turn somewhere and got lost, stopped at a Tourist Info place and got a map and directions back to R40 put on heated gear while there, continuous drizzle.

Arrived in Esquel stopped for gas filled up and bought a gas container as well have been looking for one since Santiago, Nokia and Google cached maps showed me to the hotel, checked in at 1410, 307km in 4:40hrs, so far all hotels in Argentina have bidets, wandered around the town in a drizzle, completely deserted as it is a ski resort and this is summer.

17 Feb 2012, Esquel to Caleta Olivia, Argentina

Very narrow bed, turned hit my head against the bedside table corner, small cut but lots of blood on the sheet hahahaha. Left at 0720 in a drizzle, freezing and my gloves were not connected properly so hands cold, overcast and wet, wet, wet got to Tecka and filled up, rain eased except for a few spits now and then making good time sitting on 105-110kph very little traffic now long straight stretches with some rough bits, arrived at Sariemento long queue waiting to fill up, so far there has been a queue to fill up at every gas station in Argentina, crazy in a small country town.

Oil wells around here, about 50k’s out of Comodoro Rivadavia it started to rain again and it became hilly, altitude now at sea level before it was a plateau at 800m most of the way, there was a road block, some locals with a grievance had blocked off a major roundabout with burning tyres long queue of cars and trucks at all entrances rode to the front but they would not let me through chatted to some truck drivers, they suggested I drive around on another road to bypass the road block, so went back and had a look but it was a very steep hill with a sandy track leading up not a hope of making it to the top without falling off hahahaha, they also said go on to Caleta Olivia it has good hotels, as it was still early decided to ride on instead of stopping at CR, block opened up at 1400 road now follows the coast and is bumpy arrived at 1445, filled up and checked in at 1500, 635k’s in 7:40hrs. This is an oil town big statue of an oil man in the centre. Bought a steak and cheese roll at a deli and after I had eaten it noticed the expiry date on the packet was 15 Feb and today is 17 Feb, so far so good hahahaha.

18 Feb 2012, Caleta Olivia to Rio Gallegos, Argentina

Left by 0720 in a drizzle, cold and miserable, road works with wet dirt leading out of town not nice then drizzle until about 1000 saw a petrol station at Fitz Roy but too wet and cold did not stop, then Tres Cerro stopped and joined the queue but looked like I would be there for an hour so left after 7min, bike chewing up gas must be a headwind even though I am sitting on 105kph, slowed to 90 then 80kph and got to San Julian and there was an even bigger queue extending onto the highway, hahahaha enquired and rode into the town but the gas station there was out of gas stopped at the side of the road and emptied the 5lt container into my tank, should make the 120k’s to Piedra Buena if I sit on 80kph slow and steady and got to PB at 1300.
Just as I rolled into the gas station huge queue 4 lanes wide they ran out of gas, asked one of the cops at the road block and he said get a room in town, another guy said ask when the gas is coming, so went and joined the queue and asked around one guy said gas would be here at 1700 in 4 hours hahahaha no choice but to wait, got a roll and a coke, Buenos Aires guy and his wife turned up on a Harley coming from Ushuaia chatted in Spanish some YPF tankers rolled in and filled the tanks one moron had left his locked car in the queue right at the front and disappeared and we had to go around him filled up and 6lt in the container got going again at 1430, not bad.
Sat on 120-30kph cars were passing me, saw small herds of llama like animals and a couple that looked like miniature emu’s weather cleared after PB and blue skies all the way hope it stays that way, forecast looks good.
Got to Rio Gallegos at 1440 went past a YPF gas station with a small queue found the hotel and then thought I would fill up, saw an Esso and stopped and was shown the queue it went around the block hahahaha, decided to try again tomorrow early morning, this gas shortage is totally primitive and like one guy in the queue said “Only in Argentina” checked in at 1715, 714km in 9:55, two hours wasted with this gas problem. Went for a walk, another town nothing to see.

Posted in Argentina | Tagged | 2 Comments

Argentina, Bariloche, 15 Feb 2012

Posted on Wednesday, 15-February-2012 by Chris Desmond

Up at 0600 freezing, got heated jacket and gloves put them on and left at 0720 straight onto the highway no traffic doing 110kph most of the time, warm in the heated gear got to the Chile Border at 0830 stopped at a booth in the middle of the road with two guys inside one immigration and one aduana, they took my passport and TVIP stamped them entered details in their system and said go took 5min and I did not even take my helmet off.

A volcano nearby went off a few months ago and this road was closed so the next 30min was a nightmare ride to the Argentine Immigration through clouds of ash being thrown up by the trucks and cars on the road, could not see a thing, covered in the stuff hair, beard, clothes, bike, filthy now and probably air-filter as well, first I had to stop and get a slip from a booth at the entry point with my Plate No. on it then to immigration the guy filled in a form for me a few people in the queue and he stamped the slip of paper, then Aduana for the TVIP showed him the title and he entered it into his system and gave me the TVIP valid for 8 months and stamped the slip of paper as well, back on the bike and out handed in the paper with the stamps at the exit at 0935 easy.
Road on the Argentine side has been washed so no ash thank you, good ride to Villa La Angostura where I asked for directions to an ATM and withdrew ARS1000 or $200 max with a $3.50 fee like Peru so I had to do it twice to get ARS2000, filled up petrol, cheaper here at $1.20/litre compared to Chile at $1.60/litre and bought a map $8 only an hours ride to Bariloche around the Lake thought it would be longer got there at 1120 and filled up first only 4 litres turned on the Nokia, then rode to the hotel street and it was a one way sloping steeply, the whole town is on a hill sloping up from the Lake rode around a few blocks and down the street very steep parked with the front wheel against the curb checked in at 1145, 245km in 4:25hrs, went for a walk this is a tourist town looks like an Alpine ski resort.

Posted in Argentina, Chile | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Chile, Santiago and Osorno, 11-14 Feb 2012

Posted on Wednesday, 15-February-2012 by Chris Desmond

Day 1 – Took it easy went for a walk around the local area Bellavista full of tourists updated blog did some research.

Day 2 – Caught a taxi to the Plaza Armas $3, checked out the Museum, the Cathedral, Centro shopping Mall and a Market back to the hotel more research.

Day 3 – Went to the Bike workshop at 1030 and they hadn’t even started on the bike hahaha that’s Latin America for you in fact the mechanic had not even come in so I went for a walk back at 1200 and the Supervisor who is also a mechanic was just starting on the bike, I sat around and showed them the easy way to do a couple of things and they used my spark plug tool to get one of the plugs out and my hex bit to get the front wheel off, the mechanic turned up at 1400, then they had to go out and get oil and the air filter finished at 1800. If I hadn’t sat there all day it would never have been finished today.

1. Oil & Filter change, 10w-40 Silkolene Super 4 Semi-synthetic Oil – CPL$39,200 – $78.40 – 4 litres = $19.60/litre. I supplied the filter.

2. Fitted 2 new tyres Michelin Anakee 2, Front and Rear.

110/80R-19 (59V) Michelin Anakee 2 Front – CPL$101,800 – $203
150/70R-17 (69V) Michelin Anakee 2 Rear – CPL$100,000 – $200

3. New Suzuki Air Filter – CPL$30,000 – $60 (It was filthy and full of bugs)

4. New Brake pads front and rear, EBC. I supplied the pads (rear were still good, one front was bad)

5. New NGK Spark plugs – I supplied the plugs (Gap was out to 1mm otherwise looked ok)

6. Labour Charges – CPL$25,000 – $50 for about 4hrs.

Total CLP$294,000 or $588.

Parts are expensive but Labour cheap

Back to the hotel, even in rush hour there is very little traffic in this city and got ready for tomorrows departure, booked hotels for the next three stops.

14 Feb 2012, Santiago to Osorno, Chile

Left Santiago at 0715, onto the freeway in about 10min, I had done my homework not much traffic upto 100kph and then about 30min later to 120kph countryside is now green with farms totally different to the north of Santiago steady stream of traffic but no problems overtaking 4 lanes all the way and maintaining 120kph stopped twice for petrol and 11 times for tolls $600 ($1.20) each except for the last at Osorno which was $100, cars pay around $2000 each checked in at 1700, 933km in 9:45hrs, best average so far.

Posted in Chile | Tagged | 2 Comments

Chile, Santiago, 8-10, Feb 2012

Posted on Saturday, 11-February-2012 by Chris Desmond

8 Feb 2012, Arica to Antofagasta, Chile

Left Arica at 0700 pitch black due to the 2 hours time difference its really 0400 in the morning, the Chileans have 2 hours of daylight saving all year round, it only got light at 0800, straight into some low mountains upto 1200m cold as I had taken the liner out of my jacket and wasn’t wearing the pants, descended to Iquique and sea level warmed up this is a big city stopped on the outskirts at a Shell service station did not want to have to ride through a huge town, guy there knew English and gave me direction to the highway plus the Nokia has maps of Chile, they also had a Peru map, out of town and along the coast all the way to Antofagasta beautiful views winding roads not a blade of grass or tree in sight, desert all the way, hardly any traffic, 110kph most of the time cops with a radar at a small town where the speed was 60kph I could see them from a mile away, stopped again at Tocopilla for gas small dusty town, then about 50k’s out of Antofagasta road works and diversions slowed and took ages to get through, got the Nokia out and followed it to the hotel, arrived at 1600, 723km in 9hrs. I booked the hotel online and thought it was $48 but turned out to be $48,000 pesos or $101 plus parking was another $10 and it was nothing special, have to open my eyes next time.

9 Feb 2012, Antofagasta to La Serena, Chile

Left Antofagasta at 0615 the parking guy said the ticket was $20 but if I gave him $10 he would be happy hahahaha, dark again took about 30min to get onto R5 not much traffic through the hills got to over 2000m cold, sun rose at 0730 and it slowly warmed up, started to run low on gas and had to go 22km off the highway and back, to Taltal to fill up, 40min delay, crazy no gas station on the highway only in the towns, doing 110kph most of the time and sometimes 120kph, 4 lane toll road from Caldera got to Copiapo and same thing again had to leave the highway and go into town to fill up still 4 lanes upto Vallera, cheaper toll for bikes unlike Peru. Ecuador and Bogota where bikes are free, several long road works with a mile of traffic waiting I rode down the side and got to the front saving a lot of time, last 50k’s into La Serena was through some hills, lots of trucks and slow going finally got there and it was a madhouse, thousands of local tourists this must be a popular holiday spot, asked a taxi driver for a Hotel I found on the web got there at 1715, 958km in 11hrs, expensive dump, there must be a shortage of hotels in these coastal towns. Fuel is the most expensive so far as well at $1.64/litre or $6.23/US gal, so todays ride cost me $78.55 in fuel alone, a long day.

10 Feb 2012, La Serena to Santiago, Chile

Left La Serena at 0710, no traffic 5 min to the highway then 4 lanes all the way to Santiago with the speed limit now at 120kph most of the time, a bit of green now for a while along the coast, stopped for fuel at one of the few fuel stops along the highway bike chewing up the gas at the higher speeds plus freezing cold for the first 3 hours, stopped about 50k’s out of Santiago and put the Nokia around my neck, soon after traffic started building up and some crazy behaviour but nothing too bad, followed the freeway and when it merged with another freeway it took me on the wrong freeway, got off at the first exit and using the Nokia found my way across the downtown area to the other side, first looked for the Suzuki dealer on Bella Vista Ave but he did not exist, gave up and rode to the hotel which is just around the corner, one way as usual and the booking.com location was wrong again asked a few people and finally rode back the wrong way down the street and checked in at 1300hrs, 484km in 5:50hrs, really nice apartment, kitchen, sitting room, bedroom, walk-in cupboard and bathroom everything new and modern and the price is normal as well, contacted a workshop recommended on two other blogs, the owner Paul Celery speaks English and organised to have new tyres fitted, bike washed and new plugs, brake pads and air filter, work could only be done on Monday as everything is closed on the weekend, sent a guy on a bike to the hotel to guide me to the workshop where they started by cleaning over 3 months’ worth of dirt and oil off the bike, left the bike there and got dropped off at my hotel, that’s what you call service. http://www.motolatam.cl . Tyres still had some life in them but not enough to get me down to Ushuaia and then to Buenos Aires, better play it safe as down south there is nothing but bush, another long day.

Posted in Chile | Tagged | 2 Comments

Chile, Arica, 6-7 Feb 2012

Posted on Saturday, 11-February-2012 by Chris Desmond

6 Feb 2012, La Paz, Bolivia to Puno, Peru

Bus picked me up from the hotel in La Paz at 0740, big with lots of legroom and only half full, all the tourist traffic is in the other direction, took about an hour to get out of the city, drizzled all the way to Taquina where we crossed over the lake on the ferry, then Copacabana where we had to change busses to a Peruvian bus about an hours wait for the bus to arrive from Puno, next stop the border with Peru, stamp, stamp, they don’t even look at your face, sun came out as we entered Peru and it warmed up, freezing before that, arrived in Puno at 1700.

7 Feb 2012, Puno, Peru to Arica, Chile

Altitude is still affecting me, headaches, breathlessness, weird. As I was checking out the guy at reception told me about a shortcut to Mosquegua, it shows as half dirt road on the map but he said he had driven it 2 months ago and it was a new paved road, this cuts the time and distance almost in half, thank you Sir, it means I can cross the border into Chile today, left at 0700 and got a taxi to show me through the town onto this road as it is not the main highway, one of the hotel staff came with the taxi to make sure I got out ok, the road is the Transoceania Sur 34B, on the way out of town there were drifts of ice on the road and surroundings looked like snow, brilliant road most of it around 4500m cold hands freezing but unbelievable views, no traffic, no villages and no speed bumps some potholes and landslides and one toll plaza which was fenced off and traffic had to go through a muddy diversion with water flowing across nasty, I rode around the fence and through the plaza instead hahaha, camera battery went flat due to the cold and came good as I descended to Mosquegua arrived there at 1100, a classic ride, arrived at the border at 1320.
Peru first handed in the TVIP and Immigration exit form, filled in a form for the bike in quadruplicate gave one copy to immigration and then rode to the Chile side filled in an Immigration form and a Customs form stood in the queue and one of the Peru bike copies went to the immigration girl and she stamped one and gave it back to me, then I had to put my knapsack through the x-ray, then a customs guy and Agriculture guy looked in my panniers and each stamped the bike form and told me to go at 1420, rode past a checkpoint no one visible, guy must have been asleep and about 5k’s down the road got stopped and turned back, the checkpoint guy awake now said I need 4 stamps not three so went back and asked and was directed to another booth where they looked at the bikes Title and gave me another form and stamped the other form so it now had 4 stamps back to the check point and the guy took the form with the stamps off me and I was free to go, BUREAUCRACY, still only 1440, 1.5 hours not bad.
The time is now 1640 Chilean time 2 hours difference, crazy got to Arica in 30min, amazing, traffic staying in their lanes and even giving way to pedestrians and letting other cars from side streets into the traffic, started looking for a hotel, a normal one which would cost around $50 anywhere else was $100+ here, I managed to find something a little cheaper then I went looking for an ATM most were being serviced but with the help of a bank person I found one and the ATM fee was $6.50 and I thought Peru was expensive at $4 but at least you can withdraw $400, next strange thing the electric plugs here are round like in Asia instead of flat like the other American countries and gas is now dispensed in litres instead of US gallons.

Posted in Chile | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Bolivia, La Paz, 3-5 Feb 2012

Posted on Sunday, 5-February-2012 by Chris Desmond

When you book a bus ticket it includes pickup from your hotel which was at 0715, the bus full of foreign tourists left Puno at 0730, got to the Kasani border crossing at 0930, took about an hour to exit Peru walk to the Bolivia side and enter Bolivia. Next stop Copacabana a resort town on the Lake shore at 1100 and the time changed to 1200 Bolivian time, total confusion at this point, there were about 10 busses hanging around and no-one knew who was getting on what bus and they were all going to La Paz hahahaha, that’s Latin America for you, I was taken to 4 different busses before I got on one, we left at 1330.

After about half an hour we came to a ferry at Tiquina and had to get off the bus which went across the water on its own ferry and the passengers went across on smaller boats, took about an hour and we were off again at 1505, got to the outskirts of La Paz, traffic as usual was a total mess and I thought, on my bike this would not be fun, until we got to a short stretch of toll road and it was empty hahahaha, no one wants to pay the toll, a bit like Mexico, then back into the traffic and arrived at my hotel at 1730, it drizzled on and off most of the way, this is the rainy season here in the mountains.

Nearly all the buildings in this city are made of large red clay bricks with no plaster or paint so the whole place looks red, all was revealed the next day by the tour guide, apparently these buildings are considered unfinished and pay less tax but that law was changed 2 years ago and they now have to pay the full tax regardless, the Government is hoping that people will start to plaster and paint their houses, so far no such luck.
The southern lower part of the city is the upmarket area and the higher (alto) part of the city with the views is where all the poor people live, apparently the lower part has better weather more sun and less rain. Also about 180 houses slide down the cliffs they are built on every year.
Guns have also disappeared from view, petty theft is common but not major crime, there are no security guards at every shop with AK47’s or shotguns, lots of police without guns around the tourist area, we were warned not to go out of these areas as there are no police.


Posted in Bolivia | Tagged | 4 Comments