Advertisement
Published: April 10th 2008
Sargent Mike reporting
Mike standing in as our personal Police assistant....Well, here we are back in Chile, having sucessfully crossed 7 borders, with varying degrees of stress and frustration, especially with Charlie's dead 1150 GS on the back of the truck for the last 6,000kms and Zane riding Alec's 1200 GS, with relevant paper work that had to be understood by ALL the officials at each border crossing.
Today we have packed the motos onto the platforms and are currently working through the red tape to ship them home.
Here is another blog from Mike to bring you up to date......Sorry still having problems with photo down loads.
Hola Again,
Today we crossed the Andes yet again, (3 times -1 more to go) over the Paseo de San Francisco - 4726m. Spectacular scenery, great roads some gravel, some slick clay, some perfect seal (on the Argentinian side)! The scenery you cannot describe... including cresting a ridge to have the vista of a spectacularly bright green lake before us! This lake also had natural hot swimming holes at its edge in one place which would have been nice - but today was a big distance so we had to keep moving. The roads were a mixture.Some slowish ascents on
slippery gravel marbles, followed by some fast hard packed gravel with some exciting dippers which were great fun at 120kph. Then as soon as crossing the border at Paseo de San Francisco, beautiful sweeping sealed roads on the descent to the Argentinian border post. The most noticeable thing here was the temperature. It was freezing. A beautiful clear-blue sky but felt like about 2 degrees. 2 Stops to don an extra layer of thermals and then we arrived at the first border crossing - exiting Chile. Here we met 3 truck drivers we had seen on the road the day before & they gave us some good advice on road conditions in the next 100kms. Namely big pot holes filled with white dust - easy to dissappear into without warning with the possibilty you may never reappear!
Back to our exit through Chilean border formalities - after 10 minutes of stamping passports and forms we were told "completo". Whilst we were outside discussing how easy it had been here, and waiting for the last couple to be processed, the young Cabineros de Chile Officer came out, called us back into his office for another 40 minutes of form stamping,
Man on the Moon ?
Or is this Bolivia ??? waiting and more waiting whilst he seriously signed,stamped double checked, entered, cross referenced etc every form possible. All boring beauracratic bullshit but also a bit of fun. Whilst this Cabineros de Chile Officer went out of his office I put his cap on & got Alan to photograph me! Then a similar photo of Rosco and then a photo of me (making rude gestures) standing between photos of the President de Chile Republic (a woman - much more attractive than our Helen) and the Head of the Cabineros de Chile. Both photos in pride of place on his office wall. Probably a treason offence that carries a capital punishment but luckily he didnt catch me! This is not as trivial as it may sound, as here they all take themselves very seriously and carry shooters! (often with an extra magazine in a pouch on their bullet proof vest,and sometimes the odd AK47 type weapon is being toted)
Eventually we were on our way only to have to go through a similar experience entering Argentina 90kms further on. Bear in mind these border posts are at 4500m approx, freezing cold, crappy austere building construction with no home comforts. (I wonder what offence they have committed to be posted here?) These guards/officials live in these places for a few months at a time. Generally we have found the Argentinian officials at border crossings to be more relaxed, less humourless than all the others, however they still take ages to process in a non systematic way what seems to us to be a straightforward matter. The Argentinians have rugby in common with us and given the Los Pumas result at last years world cup they wanted to talk about it. At least after all the formalities are over (including searching one bag on each bike) the Argentinian guards came out, looked at the bikes - would pose for photos if you asked them, and then wished us a safe trip. The Chileans seem to stay in their office probably re-inking their stamp pads and reconditioning the stamps!!! We also managed to buy 10 litres of fuel for each bike from a local entreprenuer at this post as our journey today was 490kms with no gas stations. All in all the border crossings were a bit tedious but also part of the experience we were here for. However give me the Peruvian system any day .....a bit of form filling and stamping of documents and then pay a $20 bribe and you are on your way!!
Eventually we arrived around 6pm that night in Fiambala to find Tom waiting for us on the outskirts (head in hands) having already been to the town and visited the hotel to find the hotel owner claimed not to have heard of us or our booking!! (All this after being chased down during his trip by a Black Bull who thought he was looking too amorously at his cows!!) Eventually the booking issue sorted we checked in to the "hotel".
Great news the town was out of Gaselinas and the hotel (& the town) was particularly basic - unusual for Argentina which is quite sophisticated. Never mind, its an adventure we need to experience a bit of this stuff. A walk into town for a pizza meal in a fly ridden restaurant (accidently ordering a bottle of great quality Malbec) then back to bed (using sleeping bag liners)
Today was a good day, as we had decided last night we didnt want to spend our day off in Fiambala (Fliambala as some people were calling it) due to its dump like ambience. It was one of those towns that was just dust, dust & more dust. Got our washing up to date at the "hotel" changed rear tyres on Keiths and Gregs bikes that morning and then rode 45kms to Tinogasta where there was petrol. By chance we encountered a lady who when we asked for directions - rushed into her house and returned with a NZ Souvenir brass bell with a kiwi on top that someone had given her!!! (& directions)
Using her directions we proceeded to Aimogasta where we had an icecream stop and then onto to La Rioja. (pronounced La Rioccch - with a severe spitting sound!) This was only a total of 260kms so an easy day allowed us to arrive around 2pm. Along the way it was interesting to note the change of vegetation, rivers with water in them, trees (and moths that splattered on your visor) and acres and acres of olive groves. La Rioja is a lovely city (A city you would enjoy if you like Spain & its citys) very European/Spanish and the plaza/square here is very pleasant with a Catredal on one side, shops and restaurants every where else, statues and fountains in the middle.We walked around after arriving but as it was around 3pm everything was shut for siesta.
When in Rome etc... so we retired to the hotel, had an afternoon nap then out for a walk around the plaza. A different city after 6pm. People everywhere, teenagers/school kids meeting in groups,families etc etc. Really a nice tradition they have. We had a drink in a sidewalk cafe admiring the world going by, especially the attractive beautifully presented ladies giving a bunch of geriatric motorcyclists something to watch and comment on!
We then walked to a restaurant the hotel had recommended.Most Restaurants dont open til 8.30pm so we wandered around til then & eventually had a beautiful meal - total cost $NZ20 each! (Argentinian beef & great local wine)
The next day (Saturday) was a day off the bikes so hoping to do a vineyard tour we spoke to the hotel desk & the city information centre but in the end we gave up as it all seemed to difficult to organise. They are advertised on the internet but trying to organise one is a different issue!!. Spent an hour doing a bit of minor bike maintenance then sat around the hotel pool waiting for our booked massage. The massage was great - but weird. Hot rocks, clanging chimes,weird music, was a bit nevous I may have a kidney or something whipped out, but all turned out well and our tired muscles appreciated the attention. Again a brief siesta and again hit the town this time to sample some Saturday night action in downtown La Rioja.(a.ka. walking the Plaza with hundreds of others & then going back to the same restaurant for another meal of great Argentinian beef and wine accompanied by great service from a friendly waiter who now treated us as regulars..
We left La Rioja early Sunday morning after chatting with 2 policeman who took photos of our bikes with their cell phones, and had photos taken with us. They gave Keith 2 live bullets from their gun holsters (imagine in NZ if a couple of police bullets went missing!)
After gassing up we left this city that generally was a very enjoyable experience for the 2 days we were there. We were heading for the Valle de la Luna. Along the way we stopped outside a remote farmhouse for a break and after some friendly discussion with a lot of sign language between Keith & the farmer, he invited us in to see his prize bull and beef cattle. We saw 2 or 3 cowboys saddleing up to leave on some farm chore (including a 12 ish year old boy who looked as experienced as the rest)
After some more cruisey riding on good sealed roads we arrived and met our tour guide who was leading us on a 3 hour ride through the park. Apparantely this is a paelentologists (is that how its spelt?) dream as many dinosaur bones have been discovered here as we saw in the museum at the end of the tour. The tour was semi-interesting but a bit lengthy standing at each stop for 20 minutes listening to the explanations all in Spanish (other people on the tour were Sth Americans.) Gerardo translated some of the more interesting stuff for us (info regarding the strata layers of the rock providing evidence going back millions of years and how some of the perfectly round boulders were created also containing much evidence of previous eras). After 3 stops we were allowed to proceed on our own through a landscape that was "lunar" and unique.
After exiting the park we proceeded on to our accomodation - a hotel perched high on a hill overlooking San Augustin de Valle Fertil which is a small dusty town in the middle of what for South America is a very flat, and as the name suggests, fertile area. This is due to a river running through the valley allowing irrigation and the large lake - obviously water storage for the town and valley which our Hotel overlooked. Another late afternoon taxi tour followed through this sleepy town - when we got to the local river we found most of the townsfolk picnicking, wading in the water or playing football which explained the lack of people in the town on this warm Sunday afternoon. A very family atmosphere. Later we belatedly celebrated Keith´s birthday at dinner in the hotel complete with a cake. (On his actual birthday he had been indisposed with Montazumas revenge!)
The following day we set of for a big day of riding (485kms) from Valle de Fertil to Uspallata (still in Argentinia). The majority of roads we travelled towards Mendoza were good sealed roads and very straight which made for some boring riding - occassional whoopdees and dry fords with sand breaking the boredom. However compensation was coming after we left the Mendoza area (Argentinia´s wine Capital) as we turned onto a windy road climbing over a mountain range to a height of around 3000m. After a few kms the seal turned to gravel and we were on Argentinia´s version of the road of death! The road was very rocky (many protruding waiting for a tyre to destroy) narrow and had the mandatory huge drop off on the right as we climbed. Great riding, challenging, exciting, slightly risky, scenic and exactly what we came to South America for. As we descended off the 70kms of awesome riding road we arrived into Uspallata - the approach was breathtaking, huge mountains, some with snow on and very green in the valley. The road leading into Uspallata was lined with poplars in various shades of green and made a fitting entrance to probably one of the prettiest small towns we have visited. This a ski resort town in winter. Our Hotel "the Gran Hotel Uspallata" was exactly that - if somewhat tired. However set in beautiful park like grounds with a long tree lined drive leading up to the Grand entrance made a fitting end to a great days riding.
Today was nearly as good but in a very different way. Expecting 450kms it turned out to be only 300kms. We started off on winding seal climbing into the Andes for our last crossing at 3000m through the Paseo de Libertados. It was freezing - 0 degrees, handle bar warmers and extra layers of thermals on. The first two hours or so the sun was still hidden behind the mountains so when we got to the top at the border we were pleased to stop and thaw out. Some of the guys reckoned there was ice patches on the road!
We passed through the immigration, customs and police formalities and then started the descent on a windy sealed switchback dropping from 3000m to around 1000m in what seemed like very little distance. Many things to be aware of as there were heaps of trucks on the road - big rigs with big loads descending at around 10 - 30kph - a bit frightening as we were doing 100 - 120 kph -suddenly the truck ahead is a lot closer than you estimated (because of the steep descent they crawl down hill to avoid losing control - for some reason that we cant get to the bottom of, here none of the trucks including brand new rigs, have engine brakes, so they relying completely on wheel air brakes) Murphy´s law says that the truck you are catching a bit quick and need to pass - you can´t because there is another grinding uphill towards you!
We had also been warned about a prehistoric animal still evident here especially on highways................Pantechnicon Retreadicuras mostly seen as roadkill. We had been seeing these off & on for the previous few days - as these were large, solid and often in the middle of the road when cresting a rise, you had to be alert, especially on a steep descent like this one. Fortunately no-one hit one and after a few close encounters we were all on the alert for the distinctive rubber odour which warns you when following a large truck that now is a good time to pass and clear off!
After descending to around 1000m we were in sunshine on relatively sophisticated Chilean roads amongst better quality traffic and passing through beautiful countryside with vineyards on either side. We even had a chance to stop at a roadside cafe for a coffee in the sun before the last 100kms. We gradually descended to sea level at Concon and then had a beautiful ride down the coast to Vina del Mar.
Keith & I were the first to arrive at the Ankara Hotel at Vina that we had set off from in early March. We were shortly followed by Alan and String. The Hotel staff were quickly outside to greet us like old friends, take photos and generally join in our celebration of a successful 9120km trip. The only disappointment was that Alec and Charlie weren´t with us to enjoy the moment.
After unpacking, checking in and cleaning up we adjourned to the bar to toast our trip with a Pisco sour or two, only to find Tom and Greg like true adventurers already "Pisco Souring" even before unpacking or checking in. Tom was in particular revved-up as Nadine was to arrive within the hour - hopefully she hadn´t read my "excitor" comments!
This afternoon we had our bikes water blasted and cleaned ready for packing in the crates tomorrow. This evening Keith & I did a taxi City tour which was interesting with some spectacular (there´s that word again) views of the city and the Pacific - if you stared hard enough you could just make out the East coast of NZ...............mmmmm how many pisco sours??
Another superb meal in a nearby seafood restaurant followed and now my final entry to the tale of a fantastic journey.
Tomorrow, after crating the bikes we have a farewell dinner & then a free day Thursday before flying out at 10.45pm.
Hasta la bye bye (as Tom would say) until the next adventure!!
Mooy Bueno!
Mike V
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0319s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Su Anderson
non-member comment
Thanks for the journey
Hi Team Thank you sooo much for giving me such a great tour of Sth America. I've enjoyed every turn of a tyre and my heart ached during your trials. Well done on such an amazing venture. From Su Anderson safe in Dunedin!