Chile and Argentina

Ok, time to get caught up and close this out.

The crossing into Chile was rather uneventful aside from the C19 Sworn Affidavit that we had forgotten to submit (promising that we had neither had COIVD or related symptoms). We went through the normal check-out/check-in process and then waited around a bit for someone to certify the inspection of our luggage. There was a slightly annoying back-and-forth of paperwork, and we wanted to get moving with plenty of daylight to scout the next hotel, which would be in Putre.

Putre was a tiny little mountain town with surprisingly easy access to our necessities, given the time of day in a town so small. When arriving at the hotel, we noticed a small group of Germans on a road trip staying there as well, happy to see some sense of normalcy return following the pandemic. The host at our hotel was one of the most energetic people I have ever seen. So excited to show us the room and get us checked in, with a wide smile she literally jogged around the property telling me to follow her to see the room and dining area. We thought perhaps the sudden influx of tourists might have caught her off guard, as she was jumping back and forth in between tasks in a hurry.

After the night we headed to the coastal town of Arica. In the downtown area we easily found warmer clothes to keep us warm in our new winter wonderland. The fuzzy jackets were cheap, warm, and abundant. You will see my green and orange jackets in following photos. As this was the first time that we really needed warm clothes, we thought it better not to ride halfway across the world with winter clothes in our luggage, only to bring them out at the end of the trip. A good choice. I would have hated dragging all the extra bulk around for no reason.

After Arica it was onto Iquique. Nothing major here, just a stopping point for the evening, but if my memory serves me, we found some of the best pizza on the entire trip here. We went twice, no regrets. The next major target was Antofagasta, to visit the Hand of the Desert, or “Mano de Desierto”, a sculpture carved out in the Atacama Desert back in the 80’s by Chilean Sculptor, Mario Irarrazabal.

After the Hand, we hopped along the coast until reaching Vina del Mar, which was probably the hardest place on our entire trip to find a hotel. In fact, until Chile, we only came across a couple of hotels in Peru that had no vacancy. Due to the mining activity in Southern Peru and Northern Chile, the mining companies use the nearby hotels to lodge their employees as they rotate in and out rather than building small mining towns. This is probably the most important takeaway if you plan to travel through Chile, that hotels can be tough to book without notice. Oh, the other major heads-up would be that for breakfast in all of Chile (literally EVERY hotel we stayed at) you are lucky if they serve even fruit. Unless you book with a large hotel, you will likely only be receiving extremely lightweight ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, or sometimes even just a couple tiny croissants (that they don’t mind charging $5-$7 USD for). A lot of locals only gnaw on a piece of bread for their first meal. So, if you like bigger, more flavorful, and nutritious breakfasts, buy your own food at supermarkets. We started doing this after reaching Santiago. Ham and cheese, and maybe salami and cheese sandwiches are mainly what you find at gas stations along the way as well.

As the weather was getting colder and snow more prevalent, we decided to head to Valparaiso to have the bikes shipped back home on a freighter and continue the trip in a rental car. By this point we had ridden through enough snow and ice patches that we did not want to test our luck any further south. With that, we arrived in Valparaiso and began tracking down freight companies. This would have a lot less stressful to arrange in advance, but we were not certain how far south we would make it before the winter weather reared its ugly head. After a quick search on Horizons Unlimited, we found “In Time Forwarding & Courier e.K.”. Though they are based in Germany, they have contacts in various locations in the world that help work out all the logistics. Our contact happened to be a German fellow named Ronny who lived in the next town over, Quilpue, and had been living in Chile for over 20 years. After a little back and forth with Gmail and a couple of Power of Attorney letters, we cleaned up the bikes and got them ready for drop off at Ronny’s house, which would be the last time we saw our bikes until well after we arrive home. The container ships will be underway with our bikes for around 34 days from San Antonio, Chile, to New York, after which they had to forward my bike to Dallas, and Mikes bike to Chicago (the nearest warehouse to the Detroit area where Mike and I are both from). After dropping the bikes for shipment, Ronny gave us a lift to the train station which brought us directly to our hotel, which shared a building with the terminal. Now, all we needed were bus tickets to Santiago were we would pick up the rental car and continue south.

Some time before we reached Santiago I had decided to fly my wife down to finish the trip with us. She had been visiting her family in Bangkok since I left for this trip, and we had planned all along to fly her down at some point to at least visit. With the airlines in their current state of disaster, she was stuck with a flight with two connections rather than one, which added several hours to the already painfully long flight that she was up against. After four months I was excited to see her again (other than video call, of course). I lit up with joy when she entered the airport lobby from the baggage claim. I was also very happy that she would be able to share the experience of reaching the tip of South America with me.

By this time Mike and I had already reserved the rental car. We wanted a 4x4 in case of heavy snow. It turns out the only 4x4 they were able to provide was a 2022 SsangYong Rexton, which is quite large, but fit all our luggage perfectly. It also was large enough to serve as a hotel room in the event we ended up stranded or could not secure a hotel room at any point. It was a diesel, provided good gas mileage and was fully loaded. Heated seats, moonroof… more than we needed. A dose of luxury after having tooled through Latin America on a couple of street-legal dirt bikes for 4 months.

*TIP: For those looking to rent a car on this route will need special permission to cross into Argentina, which usually takes around 7 days for approval. Luckily, ours only took 3 or 4 days to come through.

We picked up the Rexton, visited the local supermarket for non-perishables and an electric kettle (for more “American” sized cups of coffee in the hotel room), loaded it into the truck, and continued our way south. We made our way down Route 5, jumping west a bit on Route 202 to stop in Valdivia for a night before continuing on through Puerto Montt, where we picked up the world-famous Ruta 7, and onto our first waterway crossing at La Arena. This was a short crossing of maybe an hour or so, the next crossing would be the Hornopiren – Leptepu crossing, which would take 5 or 6 hours. We left that crossing for the following day. Hornopiren is one of my favorite stops along the entire trip. It has the cool, overcast climate that I like, coupled with mountains and inland waterways. Though difficult and timely to get to, I wouldn’t mind visiting this town again someday in the future.

The next morning took us through the longer waterway crossing, followed by another of 30-45 minutes, arriving at Caleta Gonzalo. Making our way down the scenic Route 7, and after a night in Coyhaique, we eventually broke east onto Route 260 and crossed into Argentina at Balmaceda. The border crossing was not bad at all, and FINALLY we were in the last country of the journey. One little surprise, however, is that once past the border, Route 260 is a horrific dirt road all the way until Route 40. According to a GPS this leg should only take about 2.5 hours, but because of the horrible road condition, it took closer to 4 hours.

The next decent length of the trip was Route 40 south. The drive to El Calafate was rather smooth, with lots of llamas, sheep, and cows, as well as a couple armadillos and foxes. The fences that line the highways all the way down are literally draped in dead llamas, or what we now refer to as “Argentinian Fence Jerky”. Llamas blend in with the terrain very well, so everyone kept a watchful eye for them, they were everywhere.

El Calafate was a nice little town, situated in front of Los Glaciers National Park, where we would visit the Perito Moreno Glacier on the drive back to Santiago. I feel obligated to go on record saying that steak in Argentina is not all it’s cracked up to be. I ordered many steaks throughout the country hoping to find the steak of legends, but even the best steaks were OK at best. I ordered many of the steaks in El Calafate and believe me they cost at least as much there than they do in the United States. Anyway, after making our typical pass through the little strip of gift shops we retired to the hotel to rest up for the next day of driving.

We were now on the final stretch. All that stood between us and Tierra del Fuego was a few more border crossings and an hour long ferry ride across the famous Straight of Magellan. I have not yet investigated why the southern tip of Argentina is separated from the rest, but in order to reach Tierra del Fuego, you must cross through Chile. After a 3.5 hour drive from El Calafate, we finally reached the next border crossing INTO Chile, at Monte Aymond. Naturally, the station was closed for their 1-hour break. Afterall, why would anyone be so efficient as to simply stagger break times? A healthy 15 minutes after the scheduled reopening, the customs agents started rolling back in. Due to poor signage, we waited through a great deal of the line before reaching near the front, where there was sign telling everyone heading south to have their documents checked at the Conex box out front, rather than in the customs building. Of course, why would you put this information at the very entrance? That would make too much sense. So, after a bit of running about, we were back in Chile and on our way to Argentina. Again.

We hopped in line to jump on the ferry that would take us across the Straight of Magellan, and we were right on time! We weren’t there more than a minute when the ferry dropped its gate, and we were driving onboard. It was an uneventful 30 minutes, and it went by quickly. It wasn’t long before we were back on land, finally on the home stretch. We had finally set foot on Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego! I was getting excited now as we were heading down 257 to San Sabastian, where we would again enter Argentina at Paso Fronterizo San Sabastian. This crossing went quickly, and I assume that they have the process down pretty good at this office since so many foreigners come through playing the same in and out game.

From San Sabastian it was a straight shot to Ushuaia down National Road 3. Only a few hours now, but it was getting foggy, dark, and snowy, and we again found ourselves snaking through mountain roads, except this time with poor visibility. After pushing through the conditions until reaching the hotel, we were there! It has been nearly four years since I started planning this trip in 2018. I set aside two years for saving and planning, and then had my plans delayed for nearly two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since it was dark, and the park was closed, we couldn’t officially complete the trip until the next day. On Saturday, August 6, 2022, myself, Mike, and my wife reached The End of the World at the southern most road on Earth when we entered Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. Four months after waving goodbye to my wife as we rode away from our home in Plano, TX, we finally reached the end of the journey. Naturally, there was no grand finale at the end, just the taking of pictures and taking in the sights.

Originally, we had planned to visit all the other countries in South America as well, but I think I speak for both me and Mike that we were satisfied with what we had already completed. It also leaves more for me to come back to in the future.

Would I do it again? Hell yes!! I would recommend the trip to anybody who is interested in going. The hardest parts of the trip for me were the frustrations at border crossings. There were only a couple moments during the entire trip where I felt in any amount of danger, and most of those could be blamed on the icing road conditions. We met a lot of nice people, saw beautiful scenery, and rode exhilarating roads through rainforests, deserts, mountains, and coastline. It will be a few years before I take another long journey like this, it takes quite a bit time to research and of course save the money to put life on hold for so long.

All that is left now is to drive this rental car back to Santiago and fly home, with the bikes already having been dropped off for shipping.

Thanks to everybody who followed the story. As I had probably told you and now you have seen, I am not much of a writer. I don’t even take a lot of photos, as I prefer to live in the moment rather than get too fussy with my camera. It wasn’t the best story, but it’s my story. And trust me, it was better in person!

Thanks for reading!!