Another Postponement

The BMW dealer in Santiago, Chile
A nice place high in the Andes Mountains for lunch

Thurday Jan. 15

I have to stop visiting the BMW dealer here in Santiago, because every time I do, my trip gets pushed further and further back. Since my bike has two recalls, one relating to break lines and one to the system that recognizes the ignition key when it's inserted, I was told that if the bike is received by the dealer for any kind of service, the recalls MUST be done before the vehicle can go back out on the road. This work adds a lot more complexity to the job, and will take much more time. The short story....I can't head south until Tuesday. Moving on... I took a nice ride up into the Andes Mountains near Santiago this afternoon to the area of Farellones and Valle Nevado. Although it was over 90 degrees in Santiago when I left, by the time I reached Valle Nevado, at an altitude of nearly 7,900 ft., I had to turn around, because I had no jacket and the temperature changed drastically. As I began my ride back down, the temperature became more tolerable fairly quickly. By the time I reached Farellones, I was already comfortable again. Near Farellones I stopped at "Posada Farellones" for lunch since it was already about two o'clock in the afternoon. The areas of Farellones and Valle Nevado are very popular in winter since they are ski areas; consequently, there isn't much people traffic up here in the summer. Lunch at Posada Farellones was peaceful as you might expect, just me and the cook, but the meal at nearly 7,900 feet was very good. While up here in the mountains, I also took the opportunity to try the new Metzler Tourance tires out in some challenging off road. The tires handled very well in the lose dirt and very rocky terrain. They held the road without slipping or sliding in the rutty terrain. I’m very pleased with them so far. After that, it was back to the heat of Santiago. It’s going to be 91 and sunny again today. I’d like to be the weather man here, because you only need one forecast!......."91 and sunny today….now back to you in the studio! "

Good News and Bad News

Front tire on the left, rear tire on the right
The good news is the new Metzler Tourance tires are on the bike. A nice aggressive tread for the off road portions of the trip. The bad news is, they ain't going anywhere before Saturday. I stopped by the BMW dealer this afternoon to say hola, and in conversation, I discovered that the bike is just about due for the 10,000 km. (6200 mi.) service. So... tomorrow, Thursday, afternoon I will drop off my bike and pick up a little BMW 650 as a loaner. The service will be done on Friday, and I can pick my bike up on Fri. afternoon and start heading south early on Saturday. There was a guy from Mexico at the BMW dealer that is heading in the same direction as I am, and his bike is also in for service, so there is the slight possibility that we might travel together. Another guy I've been in email contact with is in the Bariloche, Argentina area and is also heading south at the same time. We'll see! Stay tuned. 91 and sunny! Again.

Sharon Is On Her Way Home

Arturo on the right

The Grill

Tues. Jan 13

Sharon is on her way home tonight and will be in Buffalo tomorrow afternoon. I took her to the airport this evening and made sure she got thru all the formalities without difficulty.
This afternoon, Sharon and I went back to the restaurant “Rancho Del Che”, which was closed yesterday, and had a fantastic meal. The restaurant is an Argentinean Grill where they specialize in meat dishes, like steak, ribs and things like that. We had the entire restaurant to ourselves, and where waited on very cordially by Arturo, our waiter and cook, since there was no one else there at that time of the afternoon (2:oo pm). The meat is cooked outside over a wood fired grill and comes to the table on a metal dish with hot coals underneath. So, if it's not cooked to your liking, you can literally grill it at your table. If you’re ever in the area, I recommend stopping in. Tomorrow morning I’m getting the new Metzler Tourance tires installed on the bike. I was very pleasantly surprised at the price. I expected the tires to cost me in the $600.00 range, like it did in the BMW dealer back home, but the total came to a little over $360.00 plus mount and balance. I can live with that. I plan to start the big trip to “Tierra Del Fuego” on Thursday if all goes as planned. Talking with the owner of the motorcycle tire shop, he told me that to get to Ushuaia should take me less than a week if you don’t stop too many times. Well, I want to see some of the spectacular scenery on my way, so I will go at my pace since I have the time. That’s it for now. Stay warm! 91 degrees here again today with a cloudless sky! Gotta love it?

A little background on Chufquen

This is the front side of my Aunt's house in Chufquen
Machinery buildings and warehouses for wheat

The main road into the Ranch. Building on the right is a repair shop. Office and one room school house are to the right behind the trees.

Some of the wheat fields

Oat fields Mon. Jan 12

Well, yesterday’s trip from Chufquen to Santiago took us eight hours with stops, just like the trip down. I thought I would give you a little look at what the farm looks like, so Sharon and I jumped on the bike and went out to take pictures. The main house dates back to, probably the early 1800's. Near as I can figure, the Ranch is about 2500 Acres total. Today, Monday, I had to run around re registering the motorcycle, and I also had to get more time on my Internet service, because the introductory amount ran out a few days ago. Those few things took all morning. In the afternoon, I took Sharon to the restaurant where I had such a good steak here in Santiago last year. Unfortunately today is Monday, and all the restaurants in that area where closed. Better luck tomorrow I hope. So we ended up at a little place here in Chile called “TGI Friday’s”. A decent meal, but no Argentinean steak. That’s it! Stay warm….no problemo here!! 91degrees today and not a cloud!

Very Special Thanks To Don Miller

Don to the rescue!
I want to thank my very good friend Don Miller for saving the day, by over nighting me something very important, that I left at home (unfortunately it took a week for it to get to me Overnight!...Thanks UPS!!). I have a jacket liner and pants that can be plugged into my motorcycles battery power, to heat the clothing. The clothing is made by a company named Gerbing. Seems I remembered to bring the clothing, but left the controller for the pants and jacket back in the good old US of A. So, Don came to the rescue and had the item "over nighted" by UPS. Since I will be encountering temperatures in the 40's and 50's when I head to Tierra Del Fuego, I will really need this heated clothing. Thanks again, Pal!

Back To Chufquen

Entrance to my Aunt's house in Chufquen
That's in Letres

On the Villarica volcano

Fri. Jan 9

This morning, before leaving the Gran Hotel Pucon, Sharon and I went down to the main dining room for a very nice buffet breakfast at the hotel. Everything you could possible want was there for you to enjoy. After breakfast we checked out and headed back to Chufquen, but this time we rode into the city of Temuco to do some shopping. The traffic was nuts! As usual. We did our shopping and got out of there as fast as we could. That place is a chore to drive thru. The ride from Temuco back to my Aunt’s place took about an hour, taking the back roads.

The Resort Town Of Pucon, Chile

The "Gran Hotel Pucon" right on Lake Villarica
Sharon in Pucon

Lunch is on the Parrilla!

Thur. Jan. 8

This morning at about 9:30am Sharon and I left the Ranch and headed to Pucon. The ride took about two and a half to three hours including stops. We took the “By Pass” around the city of Temuco, Chile’s second largest city, on the advice of my Aunt’s driver, Eduardo. Temuco is an extremely busy city to drive thru at any time of day so going around it was very easy. All expressway! As we approached Lake Villarica, we drove thru the town by the same name. You pretty much have to drive thru Villarica to get to Pucon, because leaving the town of Villarica you must stay on the road that borders the lake all the way to Pucon. It’s about a twenty five minute ride from Villarica to Pucon and you go by some very beautiful lakeside homes and resorts. Once we arrived at the hotel in Pucon, we had about a three hour wait before we could get into our room, so we left our things at the hotel and walked into the town to have a look around and find a place to have lunch. Can anyone guess what we had for lunch? After we checked into our room we thought we should take advantage of the absolutely beautiful day to take a ride up to the Volcan Villarica. The temperature was warm and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. You don’t always get a day like this in southern Chile so you have to take advantage of it. They do have clouds here! Pucon is not very big, so as we headed out of the town we soon encountered the rough gravel road that leads to the base of the volcano. We drove all the way to the ski resort that is on the slopes of the volcano, just below the snow cap, where the view of the area was breathtaking. After walking from the parking area to the observation deck, I doubt that I will be climbing Mt. Everest any time soon.

P.S. Don't tease Sharon about her hair, in the picture above! ;-)

To Pucon Tomorrow

Wed. Jan. 7

Not a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze here today with a temperature of about 79 degrees. I finally resolved the cell phone situation by buying a very simple pre paid Nokia phone. That will make one of my Aunt’s very happy, because she is such a worry wart. I made reservations for tomorrow night at the “Gran Hotel Pucon” in, where else but Pucon, Chile. Pucon is a VERY busy tourist town, about two hours drive,that has gone from a sleepy little dirt street town in the mid 70’s to one of the best places to visit in southern Chile. It’s situated on Lake Villarica with the huge Villarica volcano looming behind the town. Very picturesque! So, we will leave for Pucon early tomorrow morning and return to my Aunt’s ranch on Friday evening.

Off To The Ranch

A New Addition To The Herd

Tuesday Jan. 6

At 8:00am this morning Sharon and I headed across Santiago to get on the Pan-American Highway (Rt. 5) and head south to my Aunt’s ranch in Chufquen, Chile. The ride was long, 8 hours, even with a 75mph max speed limit, but the weather was spectacular. I just realized something….they don’t have clouds down here, just sun and blue sky. We would stop to rest or fill up with gas about every two hours, and to get some blood back in certain parts of our anatomy. Given Sharon’s time constraints, we decided not to go to Bariloche, Argentina and opted to do a couple of day trips in this area instead. That’s it for now. Stay warm!

The Latest From Sunny, Hot South America

Valparaiso Monument

Mon. Jan. 5

Very hot here again. Not too much to report today. Ran some errands for my Aunt this morning, then this afternoon we drove all over Santiago trying to get a cell phone activated. I spent ALL of this afternoon going from place to place to place trying to get this thing activated and never did. Talk about frustrating! The cell phone companies here leave a little to be desired, to say the least. First thing in the morning, Sharon and I are heading seven hours south to my Aunt’s ranch. We plan on spending about five days exploring the Lake District of Chile and a trip over the Andes Mountains to Bariloche, Argentina That’s it for now. Stay warm :-)

Day Trip To The Coast

Radiance of the Seas in Valparaiso, Chile
Lunch in Zapallar at "El Chinguirito" an excelent experience

Sun. Jan. 4, 2009
This morning Sharon and I left Santiago on the bike and headed to Valparaiso on the Pacific Ocean. As I mentioned before, Valparaiso is Chile’s main port city. The two hour ride from Santiago to Valparaiso was surprisingly warmer than I expected. I was expecting much cooler air in the morning. As we entered the city, we went straight to the port where we where came face to face with the largest cruise ship that I had ever seen. It seemed to take up the entire wharf where it was tied up. The ship was the Royal Caribbean's “Radiance of the Seas”. It dwarfed the other large cruise ship that was moored near by. The Radiance of the Seas is 962 ft. long and more than 105 ft. wide. We walked around the port for a while, then I approached a couple of police officers to ask them about the up coming visit of the Dakar Race which is due to arrive in Valparaiso the 10th of January. One of the officers told me that the race participants would be arriving at the Naval Academy, and pointed me in that direction. As we entered the Naval Academy gate we where met by two very sharply uniformed Chilean Navy men, that unfortunately knew nothing about the world famous “Dakar Rally”. So the hunt was on. Unfortunately we were unable to gain any information regarding the race. So what do you do in a case like that? You go to lunch, of course! Getting back on the bike, we passed thru the near by city of Vina del Mar. Vina del Mar is like the “Chilean Riviera” (pronounced: Vinia del Mar), very expensive and full of beautiful beach homes and large hotels dangling from the surrounding hills. Vina is so close to Valparaiso that the too are more like one big city. Once past Vina, we headed to a small, but very quaint ocean side town called Zapallar. Zapallar is a beautiful little town tucked around a small bay, off the Pacific Ocean, full of little fishing boats. In Zapallar there is a restaurant called “El Chiringuito” that is perched in one of the most beautiful locations I have seen in a while. The restaurant literally sits on the rocks at the edge of the Pacific Ocean overlooking the little bay with mountains in the background and the sea gulls at your table, no kidding! We had a great meal and met some very interesting people as well. The return trip to Santiago took us east to RT 5, the PanAmerican Highway, and then South on Rt 5 directly into Santiago arriving at about 6:00pm

Sunset On San Cristobal

Santiago Sunset
Sharon On San Cristobal

Don't Drink The Water

This evening Sharon and I took a bike ride to the top of Cerro San Cristobal (Hill San Cristobal), in the center of Santiago. The place was mobbed with people enjoying the warm evening and the views over looking the city. The funniest thing happened when this dog came over to the drinking fountain to try and get a drink of water, problem was he had a hard time trying to turn the knob cuz he had no thumbs, so this guy helped him out by taking a few mouths full of water and spitting it into the dogs mouth. One thing this guy hadn't seen, was the little kid that had just finished washing his hair in the same drinking fountain, and the gentleman that washed his Son's dirty face in the same drinking fountain, and the other man that just finished washing his dirty hands in the same water fountain. Now you know why they say DON'T DRINK THE WATER! Early tomorrow morning Sharon and I are off for a day trip to Valparaiso, Chile's pricipal port city and site of this years Paris to Dakar Race that is going from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Buenos Aires, Argentina passing thru Chile and stopping for a day of rest in Valparaiso. The racers are not scheduled to be in Valparaiso until the 10th, but I'm sure that with an event this big there will be plenty of pre-race activity there. Boy was I wrong!!!!

Man Is It HOT!

Sat. Jan 3, 2009

Hello from HOT Chile! The temperature here in Santiago today has to be over 90 degrees. No snow anywhere, except the tops of the Andes Mountains. If you are reading this, you must have gathered by now that I managed to obtain an Internet Connection. Sharon and I rode the bike over to one of the big malls near my Aunt’s house this morning. What woman would pass up a chance to go to a Mall no matter where it is? There we found a kiosk where they sold Cell Phones and the like. There is a mobile phone company here called “Claro” and they offer a mobile broad band service for your lap top, so we got it and now we are good to go with the Net. The unit is not much larger than a USB Flash Drive, and plugs into a USB port on the computer. As a matter of fact, it has a Flash Drive built in. How’s that for practical? Also, if you want to contact me by eMail, please send all eMail to thebmwrider@live.com while I am in Chile. I’ve spent most of the afternoon installing all the accessories I had brought down here for the bike, and now everything is on the bike and ready to go. I think Sharon and I might take a ride up to Cerro San Cristobal to watch the sunset over Santiago tonight. Cerro San Cristobal is a small mountain that the city of Santiago wraps around. I’ll update you later on how that went. Hasta luego for now!

Here We Are In Sunny Chile!!

Fri. Jan. 2, 2009

Arrived in Santiago, Chile this morning at 8:40am, local time, after a very long ten hour direct flight from New York’s JFK International. First thing was to go thru customs and then to baggage claim where the drug dogs where checking everyone’s luggage as they went from bag to bag. Then as we where exiting the baggage claim, Sharon got nabbed by customs officials for smuggling and falsifying a customs document. Seems she was trying to enter the country with a bag of salted peanuts. Looks like she will be doing some hard time in a South American jail. JUST KIDDING!! The customs official was quite pleasant as he explained why even an innocuous thing like a small bag of peanuts could carry contaminants into the country effecting the agricultural industry here. Chile is a very agricultural country, so they take this very seriously. After the explanation the customs official wished us a nice day, and sent us on our way.

Arriving at my Aunt’s house we where greeted by the house keeper and informed that my Aunt was still in the shower, so I took the opportunity to remove the cocoon that I wrapped my motorcycle in for it’s eleven month hibernation period. After removing the plastic sheet and the cover under that, I stuck the key in and turned it. The Beemer sprang to life almost immediately, although with a few grunts and groans from the lack of oil cursing thru its veins. After a few quick starts and stops to get the oil moving, I let the engine run and the noises went away.

After replacing the rear tire, that I had removed to make it harder for thieves to steal the bike, Sharon and I took a ride to the BMW dealer to let them know I was back in town. They where very glad to see me again. Actually, I went there to discus the recalls on the bike that they had informed me about by mail.

Then, we took a ride around town ending up at Ruby Tuesdays for some refreshments. One thing I noticed is that after just a couple of hours out in the sun today, I am already visibly sunburned. Apparently the Ozone layer here in the Southern Hemisphere is quite thin, and consequently you do not have much protection from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. It’s highly recommended that you apply sun block to exposed skin to protect from skin cancer. We don’t have to worry too much about that in western New York.

See You In Sunny South America

Friday's forecast for Santiago: Scattered Clouds. High: 87 °F . Wind SSW 20 mph

Strong Earthquakes Shake Central Chile

A Small Part Of Santiago Yesterday, Dec. 18,2008, the central part of Chile, including the capital city of Santiago, as well as the countries main port city of Valparaiso was shaken by an earthquake magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale. The initial earthquake was followed by a second quake of 5.8 Richter degrees, according to the USGS. After shocks continued today with smaller quakes being felt in Santiago this morning. Head of the Chilean Emergency Office (ONEMI) Carmen Fernandez said that "there are no reports of damages due to the quake. It's part of a normal seismic activity."

Metzler Bike Tires In Chile

MX Moto, Santiago, Chile

Good news on the Tire front. Eric Cleaveland, a good friend of mine that just returned from a ride from the southern most point in South America to Alaska, recommended the Metzler Tourance tires for the rough gravel roads in Chile and Argentina. So I did a little investigating and found a Metzler dealer in Santiago, Chile http://www.mx.cl/ . Yesterday I called the dealer in Chile and spoke with Jorge to see what the availability would be for the Tourance tires. Jorge told me "No Problemo" and has set two tires aside for me so when I start my trip to Ushuaia, I will start on a new set of Tourance tires.

As you can see from the picture above, the Tourance has a nice aggressive tread, but is also a good highway and wet road tire. Users of this tire have reported very good off road handling as well as long life for this tire.

REVISED ROUTE

I have been studying the maps a little closer lately to see if there is a route that would take me primarily down the Chilean side of the Andes Mountains staying on the road called "La Carretera Austral" ("The Southern Road" marked in YELLOW). Taking this route would mean that there would be some Ferry crossings involved (marked in BLUE), so this morning I contacted the Ferry company http://www.navieraustral.cl/, in that part of Chile,to get some up to date information. I had hoped to ride to the town of Hornopiren and take the Ferry from there to the town of Caleta Gonzalo (marked in RED) and then ride on to Chaiten and points south. Good thing I called, because I found out that the Ferry between Hornopiren and Caleta Gonzalo is not running. Instead, I will have to take the short Ferry from Pargua, on the mainland just south of Puerto Montt, to Chacao on the island of Chiloe, a trip I have made before. Once on the island, I will ride to the town of Castro about half way down the island of Chiloe, where I can board a Ferry that will take me to Chaiten. I am a bit surprised that the Ferry is still running to Chaiten since the town was pretty much destroyed by the eruption of the near-by volcano back in May of this year, but I was assured the Ferry is running to Chaiten.

About Chile

TORRES DEL PAINE NATIONAL PARK , CHILE

GREY GLACIER, CHILE

I thought I would include some facts about Chile that you may or may not know, to give you a feel for the land that I will be traveling thru. The following comes from http://www.ecovoyager.com/destinations/Chile/index.asp :

From north to south, Chile extends 2,269 miles, and yet it only averages 110 miles east to west. On a map, Chile looks like a long ribbon reaching from the middle of South America's west coast straight down to the southern tip of the continent, where it curves slightly eastward. Chile's northern neighbors are Peru and Bolivia, and its border with Argentina to the east is one of the worlds longest.Chile's shape was determined by the fact that it began as a Spanish settlement on the western side of the mighty cordillera of the Andes, in the central part of the country. This range, which includes the two tallest peaks in the Americas--Aconcagua and Nevado Ojos del Salado--is a formidable barrier, whose passes to the Argentine side are covered by a heavy blanket of snow during the winter months. As a result, Chile could expand beyond its original colonial territory only to the south and north. The colony grew southward by occupying lands populated by indigenous groups, and it grew northward by occupying sections of both Peru and Bolivia that were eventually awarded to Chile. The main tourist regions are the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world, the Central Valley, where Santiago, the capital city, the wine country and the main ski resorts in the country are located, the Lake Region, famous for its beautiful landscapes and colonial architecture, Patagonia, the land of glaciers, cold rainforests, imposing national parks and endless plains, and Easter Island, the most remote island in the world and home to the world famous stone statues and one of the most enigmatic civilizations on earth.

The Route

A few days ago, I sat down with some maps of Chile and Argentina, to plan my route for the trip from Santiago, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina this coming January and February. The route will take me from Santiago heading south on the Pan-American Highway (Rt.5) to my Aunt's ranch near Temuco, Chile. I will spend a few days at the ranch, and then head south to the city of Osorno, Chile. From Osorno I will head east, thru the Puyehue Pass, over the Andes Mountains to the Argentine city of San Carlos de Bariloche. Interestingly enough, while doing some research for places to spend the nights along this trip, I came across some very interesting facts. It seems that a pair of Americans called Robert Leroy Parker and Harry A. Longabaugh, better known by their outlaw names: Buch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (part of "The Wild Bunch"), had escaped to this area of Argentina in 1901 to evade the Law back in the United States. Seems that these two had some banking problems back in the U.S.. They went as far as to buy a ranch (with the stolen money of course) in this part of Argentina, changed their names, and then commenced to ply their trade in Argentina. There still exists a General Store, near Bariloche, where the boys would go to get their provisions. I've got to find THIS store!

The Wild Bunch

From Bariloche I head south on Rt. 258 to the town of Esquel. From Esquel, I want to go to the Chilean town of Chaiten. Here, I may run into a problem. The town of Chaiten was pretty much wiped out by a violent volcanic eruption earlier this year. The ash from the near by volcano fell into the river that runs thru Chaiten and caused the river to over run it’s banks and flood the entire town with a concrete like mixture of water and volcanic ash. I won't know, until I get to the region, if the authorities will let me into the area, because the ENTIRE population of Chaiten was ordered to evacuate, and to the best of my knowledge, have not been allowed to return. There are plans to relocate the town of Chaiten.

From Chaiten, I will head south to the town of Coihaique. From what the map shows, these will be unpaved roads. From Coihaique, I will cross back into Argentina and on to Perito Moreno. Now, I will be getting into glacier country. Chile has a large amount of glaciers in its southern extremes, and I want to get to see some of them. From Perito Moreno, I will head south on the famous Route 40. This is the road that leads to Tierra Del Fuego and on to the End Of The Earth in Ushuaia, Argentina. One place that I want to stop before reaching Ushuaia is the Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile. This park is said to be one of the most beautiful and picturesque places on earth.

The return trip will take me up the eastern side of South America on Argentina route 3 that hugs the Atlantic coast to the town of Trelew. From Trelew I will ride west across Argentina back to Osorno, Chile and on to my Aunts ranch again before returning to Santiago.