The Family of Alfredo - 25 February 2018

25 February 2018 – I didn’t leave till after 10:30 a.m. in the morning. Everything moved pretty slow…..it was Sunday. Valeria’s boyfriend Rene left around 10:30 a.m. and I left just before noon. After we ate breakfast Alfredo and I talked some about the most scenic passes to take to get into Argentina. There are two different passes I could take. The one has a smoking volcano. I would like to see that but I would be driving gravel and I’m not really interested in that. I have street tires on my bike and would prefer to stay out of the gravel. The other is a black top road to the pass which is nice but not as scenic. I’ll have to decide what to do when the time comes to change countries.

We all took a picture and I finished loading up my motorcycle for my ride into Santiago, Chile. Alfredo’s wife gave me a Chilean flag that she signed from the Family of Alfredo with affection, and dated it. I will treasure it. I eventually got my motorcycle loaded and was on the road by 12:00 p.m. I decided before I left that I wasn’t going to freeze like I did the day before. So I put on my sweater to be a little more comfortable.

Once I got back on Hwy 5 into Santiago the driving pace picked up considerably. I still drove 62 Mph / 100 Kph but for the most part most of the cars were driving 68 / 75 Mph / 110 / 120 Kph. I attribute it to better roads which allowed for faster speeds. I was about halfway to Santiago and stopped for gas. It was almost 90 Degrees Fahrenheit / 32 Degrees Celsius.  Man, I had to shed that sweater. I bought a bottle of water to hydrate some before I continued on to Santiago. Once I get into that city driving it’s going to get hotter. I didn’t know if I was going to be driving stop and go traffic.

As it turned out, I never had to drive any stop and go traffic. That was nice. I thought I set a new record for missing my turn for finding the hotel, but I didn’t. I may have missed 4 or 5 turns but I eventually found the Marriott hotel successfully. When I pulled in I knew I was going to be hollered at for parking in the incorrect space or spot. Security was all over me. They finally called down one of the girls from reception who could speak English and she explained to me that parking for the Courtyard by Marriott was on the 5th floor of the building and reception was on the 7th floor. Just getting to the 5th floor parking was quite a feat.

I had an individual waiting with a truck or cart to help move my bags to 7th floor Reception. We had a nice talk while I unloaded my motorcycle. Every time I stay at the Courtyard by Marriott I get viewed very suspiciously. The ever-friendly Security is always nearby when I walk in. So, I always have to be on my best behavior. To make a long story short I got checked in and moved into my room successfully. I was in my room by 5:00 p.m. I decided I was going to visit the Kawasaki, Yamaha and Harley-Davidson Dealers on Monday. Two for a visit and a t-shirt, and Yamaha for oil and a t-shirt. I looked up all their addresses and then got their GPS coordinates for Blanche. I put them into Blanche and had all three dealerships spot on. I then went to bed.

My Buddy Anna - 24 February 2018

24 February 2018 – I will ride from Copiapo to Los Vilos today. I will stay the night in Los Vilos in a hotel. It will be a 400 Miles / 650 Kilometer ride. Since I’ve been traveling I haven’t ridden this motorcycle 400 miles in one day. So, it’s going to be a challenge to see if I can pull it off. By 250 Miles / 400 Kilometers my butt is barking at me and that’s with all the shifting around that I do trying to keep the blood flowing.

I had my alarm set for one hour earlier. Instead of 5:30 a.m. I’m going to shoot for 4:30 a.m. That way if I oversleep some, I still will be awake earlier than 5:30 a.m. I did over sleep by 30 minutes but was able to get mobilized and departed at first light. I was on the road by 7:00 / 7:30 a.m.

It was a chilly morning with temperatures around 57 Degrees Fahrenheit / 14 Degrees Celsius. Within 20 Miles / 32 Kilometers I was in fog. I was in intermittent fog until 12:00 p.m. / 1:00 p.m. That just made the day a little colder. It never really went over 72 Degrees Fahrenheit / 22 Degrees Celsius all day. I never really warmed up all day till I arrived at Pichidangui where the hotel I was planning to stay in was located.

I exited off the highway into Pichidangui and Blanche navigated me right to Pichidangui Hotel. One look at it and I had a bad feeling I wasn’t going to be staying there. I got out my translation cards and cell phone in case no one spoke English. I walked in the door and asked if they had a room. They said, yes with the look whether it was going to be worth taking their time to talk to me. I asked the price and they provided it to me. $135 USD / $80,000 Pesos. I thought about it, declined the room and left. $135 is a bit much for my palate when I’m in a one-horse town. This town was a small resort town on a beautiful beach, hence the high prices. The town mostly rented cabins and not hotel rooms. I checked 4 other places and everything was booked up. One of the hostels actually helped me find the home I ended up staying in. The gentlemen spoke limited English but helped me find a place to stay for the night.

We stopped at 3 different cabins with no luck, when a family offered me a bed for the night. I couldn’t turn it down. The price was right, they had wi-fi, their children and friends spoke some English, and most of all they were friendly. Off course, Anna the dog was too funny. She and I became buddies right away.

With my bed for the night came evening lunch and a morning breakfast. Supper and breakfast both started with some type of raspberry cake. It was very delicious along with all the other food served. With the wi-fi I was able to get my route planned for my trip into Santiago the next day and Skype Mary.

Planning Day - 23 February 2018

23 February 2018 – I woke with the alarm ringing at 5:30 a.m. and went back to sleep till 10:30 a.m. I am not going anywhere today. I will be staying in Copiapo today and will move on tomorrow. At 12:00 p.m. I paid for another day. I started off doing some forward thinking. Where am I going to cross from Chile into Argentina? What mountain pass should I use? I checked different routes to see what will work to my advantage. I have to have my motorcycle tuned up for the ride to Ushuaia, Argentina. My tires are the big concern. Will my street tires last or should I change them while I’m in Chile? I looked around Santiago at the different motorcycle dealerships. I found the Yamaha, Kawasaki and Harley-Davidson dealers. I might buy oil for my next oil change while I’m there. I also looked some at my route and where I will stay for the night tomorrow.

















Here is something I found amazing.  I couldn't help but notice this giant statue in town.   It looked familiar.  I remembered I saw the same statue in Belgium when I rode through Europe.  Here is the photo I took in Belgium.  Crazy, huh?

Desert Landscape - 22 February 2018

22 February 2018 – I’m planning on riding from Antofagasta to Caldera / Copiapo and maybe as far Vellenar today. It depends on how the day goes and the road conditions. Well, all my best laid intentions went awry. I was hoping to leave by 7 or 8 a.m. but didn’t get rolling till after 10:30 in the morning. It was a nice cool morning and all day never really got over 85 Degrees / 29 Degrees Celsius. There was nothing but a lot of worn down mountains and brown sand. In the big scheme of things, the whole landscape and mountains are very beautiful. The usual dead car bodies dotted the land scape. They came in all kinds of shapes and were well mangled. Some were burned and they all for sure were dead.

I stopped for gas even though I didn’t need it. I can only tell you that desert is some very lonely country and the thought of setting out in that desert without gas is very scary thought. I met Alex in that gas station and he told me all the places I should visit while I was in Chile. I could easily spend a month alone checking out what he recommended. He owns some kind of a motorcycle customizing shop and recommended I stop by. If I needed anything on my motorcycle repaired or fixed he could help me out with it. He gave me his number told me to give him a call and he continued on his way.

Blanche guided me right into my hotel. Actually, right to the door step. My new system with Blanche works well but is very time tedious and time consuming. You also have to use the internet to get Blanche spot on. Most every hotel has Wi-Fi so it is not always a problem. I was very tired after today’s ride and I didn’t get to bed before 1:30 a.m. in the morning. I was working on my route with Blanche and finding a place to stay for the night. That can keep you working a couple of hours. I went to sleep pretty sure I wouldn’t be on the road tomorrow.

Mad Max Landscape - 21 February 2018

21 February 2018 – Leaving Pozo Almonte driving toward Antofagasta, Chile. I typed some in my blog before I left. If I don’t, the finer details get lost as more and more details accrue day after day. If you’re wondering why the posts come in chunks, it’s because it takes a couple of days in one place with good Wi-Fi to organize and send all the pictures.  When Mary gets them she has to match up the pictures with the right dates and edit the Word document before posting it all.  It’s a lot of monkey business.

I bought a tank of gas and was off. It was endless brown desert again and weather worn mountains. The road was the best I had driven through Central and South America so far. I pretty much drove 56 and 62 Mph / 90 and 100 Kph all day. I actually saw a campground along side the road. That was a first. Along the side the road I saw many vehicle wrecks left abandon and cannibalized. The engines, drive trains, interiors and wheels all striped off. Basically, all that was left was the sheet metal body bleaching in the sun. I think one of two things happened with these vehicles and drivers. First and least likely they were passing a vehicle, misjudged the speed of the oncoming car and were forced off the road to their untimely demise. Second and mostly likely, they fell asleep at the wheel and drove off the road to their death. Some of these vehicles looked like accordions, others had been rolled several times and others lay upside down.

Most of the desert I drove thru and the ditches were filled with large boulders and rocks. I can assure you, if your vehicle was driven into the ditch it would be wrecked even if you lived. I also passed multiple sights where some kind of a salt or mineral processing was / is going on. That’s the best I can say because I couldn’t translate the signs as I was driving. There was also a copper mine near the Tropic of Capricorn. I stopped and took some pictures of these two signs. I wanted to take this same kind of picture by the equator but there were no signs. I was let down by that. I took a souvenir chip of green stone with me. It almost looked like jade. I thought maybe with the right handling I could have a necklace made out of it. I texted Mary three pictures from the signs and ate an apple before I continued on into Antofagasta. I found the hostel I was planning to stay at. I Knocked on the door and no one answered so I moved on to a nearby hotel. I’m sure I’m happier here than at the hostel. I worked on my route and where I plan to stay the rest of the night. Blanche again navigated me right to the door step of both hotels.

Chile - 20 February 2018

20 February 2018 – I got up late because of the 2 hour time change when I crossed the border. I started planning my day which I didn’t do last night because of the work I did on my motorcycle and the time I spent talking with Russ. I went to eat breakfast at 8:00 a.m. and then finished planning my day. Russ stopped by again and we talked some more. He told me he had a cut in his front tire that went all the way around it. It kind of sounded suspicious like someone may have slashed his tire. He said the German guy looked at it and said to him it looked like someone had tried to slash his tire. I am inclined to believe the German guy because if your motorcycle is rolling it’s hard to cut the tire 360 degrees. You would have one slash mark and not a cut going 360 degrees around the tire on the side wall. I asked him if he noticed any suspicious activity around his motorcycle when that happened. He said no. We parted ways saying that we hoped to see each other down the road again.

I barely left Arica, Chile before noon and was on my way Iquique, Chile. The roads were good and a day of endless brown sand desert with occasional green valley with a river. You could almost call them an Oasis in the desert. I saw two shantytowns, one leaving Arica and another farther on down the road. I stayed the night in Pozo Almonte. A nice little town. It seems everything is more expensive in Chile. I found out if it says $33 Pesos it means $33,000 Pesos. I made that mistake at the ATM.

The women at the hotel cooked me up a real nice meal. It was almost too much to eat. I later planned my route and hotel in Autofagasta, Chile. Finding a hotel is getting more and more challenging. I plan on being in Antofagasta tomorrow night. So, time to get Blanche on track etc. etc.

From Peru to Chile - 19 February 2018

19 February 2018 – I got up and prepared to leave Tacna, Peru. I was preparing to cross the border from Peru to Chile. Getting out of Tacna was quite simple. I picked a wrong exit on a roundabout which was a good thing because I had to turn around and Eureka! There was a gas station just when I needed gas. Getting to the border was pretty uneventful. It was freshly paved four lane black top which was nice. No pot holes to avoid. The Peru side of the border was now incorporated into the Chile Customs and Immigration side of the border. The old Peru Customs and Immigration building now sets empty void of a job. Chris sent me all the instruction on how to get thru the border which was very helpful. I had to purchase insurance for Chile which wasn’t available at the border. You had to purchase it online or buy at an Office downtown Arica, Chile.

I took a couple of pictures of the signs crossing the border with my camera, when low and behold, it suddenly stopped working. This time I think it died for good. That does not make me happy. I get to the border and get most of my forms. One form I had to purchase from the 2^nd floor. I filled it out in the air-conditioned cafeteria. I translated all Spanish with the help of my cell phone. Two women helped with two questions. One was my passport number and the second was my birthday. The questions were abbreviated and didn’t translate.

I went and stood in line next to a German motorcycle rider. I lent him my pen because he didn’t have one. I asked if he would return it because it was a pen I got in Russia and he said he would. I told him about the forms and where to get them etc. etc.

I went through Migration and everything was flowing smoothly. But then one of Immigration people noticed I was missing a stamp on my form. The missing stamp caused a big delay for me and I also had to fill out a blue form all Spanish. Again, I translated it with my cell phone. I had a couple of questions. I asked a man setting at my table. He spoke fluent English and answered all my questions I had. I had to get back in line and wait for 50 people ahead of me to pass thru the same window I already went thru once. That was just to get the missing stamp. Everything from then on flowed smoothly thru Customs / Aduana.

I met Russ, the guy from Chicago, Illinois again. I told him about all the forms and where to find them. I got my bags inspected and then my motorcycle inspected by Agricultural and Aduana Officials. I repacked my motorcycle and I was good to go. I asked the customs officials if I had all my stamps and they said I did. I saw two more motorcycles going thru the border but I didn’t speak with them. They seemed to get through so much faster than I. I wondered how that could happen. They may have had all their forms filled out before arriving and spoke Spanish - a big plus when crossing borders. The German guy got thru the border a good hour and half before I did. I saw him leave and commented to myself that he did not return my pen which made me think less of him.

But I had bigger worries to deal with than the loss of a pen. When I returned to my motorcycle to have the bags inspected there was my pen. He left it visibly attached to my bags. I had to take back all the bad things I said about him. Mary found the office for purchasing motorcycle insurance. I drove into Arica and went to the address. Actually, I had some help from a young married couple who took an immediate liking to my motorcycle. They used their phone and the address to track down the location. I was only about 100 Yards / 100 meters away from the address. I thanked them for their help and they replied that they were glad to have helped.

I went inside and guess what - they didn’t sell the insurance. They said, it had to be purchased online / internet. The guy very graciously told me of another insurance agency which did sell the insurance I was looking for. It was only 3 blocks away. I walked over to the insurance agency and they told me they didn’t sell the insurance either. Fortunately, one of the ladies spoke fairly good English and said she would help me purchase the insurance online. She went to the website, filled in all the information and I paid for it with my credit card. She printed out a hard copy for my records and the police in case I was stopped. I could not thank her enough for her help and left.

While I was in the downtown plaza I purchased Chilean Pesos and ate at McDonalds. I then drove to the hotel which Blanche graciously guided me to. My new system of keeping Blanche on track seems to be working. I was in reception getting checked in and guess who just walked in the door. Russ from Chicago. You could have blown me over. We talked briefly and he departed for town. We agreed to talk some more later that night.

In the meantime, I had to put in new front brake pads. The steel backing on one of the pads was starting to rub on the disk rotator. The front brake pads had 1/16 Inch / 1.5 Millimeter left on them. It was a small ear on the pads that was starting to rub. After I replaced the brake pads I adjusted the chain and oiled it. I had everything completed before dark. I have a long ride in front of me tomorrow. Russ and I hooked up later and talked some more about our experiences traveling thru Mexico, Central America and South America. Before long it was almost 11:00 p.m. and I had to get to bed.