Geo: -22.9058, -68.1951That morning as I have left Iquique, I did not know how extreme that leg will turn...A nice early morning ride up onto the Ruta 5,, from Iquique on sea-level up to 2,600 metres within a very short distance...being part of the Pan-American Higway system that comes from Alaska all the way down to the deep south of Chile.First I did make the turn towards Arica, the border town to Peru...My initial plan was to go to Peru and cross over the mountains towards Cusco and into the Amazon region onto Ruta interoceánica Brasil-Perú but for some reason not entirely clear to me, I decided after 50 km driving, to simply turn round and cross into the high altitude border crossing between Chile and Argentina...not sure if I missed anything, I can only say ... read more

Geo: -23.6413, -70.3994or did I catch up with it?...Hmmh...not sure who got their first...The only thing I know is that right about 100km before Antofagasta I met a group of Germans with German registered cross bikes (huh...that must have been expensive to bring those all the way from Germany to Chile and back...why not just spend that money and buy a brand new one?)... Those Germans told me that they are here only for the purpose of following the Rally Dakar from stop to stop...Cool idea, why not...As I was driving into Antofagasta I was welcomed by big ads on the roadside...Rallye Dakar Chile 2014...Holy crap...The major stop of the Rally was in Antofagasta just one day after my arrival...Interesting indeed to watch it in reality... As I arrived in Antofagasta, Met up with the Germans ... read more

Geo: -29.9008, -71.2448I was arriving in La Serena very late in the evening and it was freezing cold in the summer...Chile...it's the chill that gets you...haha...I was searching for the guesthouse I have goggled on the Internet...Unfortunately fully booked but the lady at the entrance brought me to another guesthouse, which is not advertised on the Internet and therefore not fully booked so I got a nice room with a beautiful yard to relax in the morning (sorry, forgot to make pics)... In northern Chile you always have to make sure to stay in the cities a bit and relax...Little Oases in the vast bone dry desert that surrounds just about every city and town in northern regions of Chile. Anyhow, the next day I was fit again and brought my motorbike to the first scheduled ... read more

Geo: -32.7782, -71.5443Actually...it has been a very relaxing and nice visit to this summer vacation town...Since I was there during the southern hemisphere summer, it was stuffed with locals sunbathing... I simply relaxed in a nice room...went to the beach...drinking some wine...went to the beach once again...talk to some nice girls...and repeated the same procedure for another 3 relaxing days...Now the trip is turning into a real adventure...The Atacama Desert is awaiting me...Wish me luck...... read more

Geo: -33.4011, -71.6937I left Santiago in the morning and truly believed it will take me only a few hours down the modern Autopista del Sol (Ruta 78), how wrong was I...a huge wildfire alongside the road basically grinded all traffic to a halt at one time the police escorted about 20 motorists at a time through the entire stretch of 5 km, came back and repeated it again...That does take a long time...I was only one of two motorcycles riding through and had to ride close behind the police car... Afterwards we were forced off the highway and I have lost my way...I actually arrived in the early evening...10 hours for 150 km...I hope that does signal the usual for my upcoming trip... Anyway, El Quisco is a nice little town, I felt comfortable for a ... read more